ABIT SP50 Home Theater Speakers & AU10 Sound Card

Conclusion

ABIT has made a strong first effort with their entrance into the computer sound market.  They set the basis for many promising ideas—the integrated amplifier with large heat sinks, the remote control for DVDs, and the metal casing for the speakers.   However, some of their compromises on quality in the audio chip on the AU10 card and the extensive dependence on software based features serve to limit the performance of the system.  With a retail price around $279, it presents a certain financial commitment to the sound system.  The speaker set seems to fall short of these expectations in that it could not fully replace a home theatre system, nor serve as the strongest gaming system because of the CPU utilization issues.

In a small room without a TV or large stereo, the SP50 Home Theatre System could come into its own.  With a limited number of viewers or for anyone that likes immersive games without the most expensive equipment, this speaker system would meet their needs.  The system is sized to a personal computer format, contrary to its name as a home theatre system.  When sitting back and listening to a DVD at the computer, the remote adds a nice amount of functionality without needing the keyboard or mouse.  It is an excellent idea from ABIT and fairly well implemented, though the customized WinDVD software would lose the remote functionality in any upgrade not also customized by ABIT.

Sonically, the sound is a little tinny, most likely a result of the audio chip used for D/A conversion.  This affected the overall quality of the system as it was noticeable during both DVD and music playback.  The AU10 sound card is designed fairly specifically to provide surround sound playback; it is not destined to be a home musician’s card as it isn’t geared to getting audio or MIDI info into the computer very easily.  The lack of SPDIF support on the sound card was disappointing, especially that it was not on the same development and manufacturing track because this indicates to me that ABIT is emphasizing this feature, which could increase the audio quality of connections to the card.  Be wary of buying a card that doesn’t have the accessories you want in production as of the purchase date.

One major concern is the software based nature of this card.  While multitasking or running CPU intensive programs, this could compromise the quality of the audio.  The MIDI support, being based solely in software, limits the card for MIDI recording.  The speaker system is best suited to gaming and DVD playback, although the card doesn’t host the audio processing for much of the required support in each situation, preventing it from being the most effective solution for the demanding gamer.

For $279, the ABIT system represents a relatively large investment in what your computer will sound like.  Its strong selling point is the surround sound support and 6 channel card; this will be reinforced once they receive Dolby Digital certification.  For gaming, it offers an immersive experience, though also could be potentially CPU hungry.  After gleaning the truth out of the specifications, the speakers live up fairly well.  However, their power rating at 10%THD indicates the quality level decreases as the system reaches what would be a moderate operating level, limiting the overall listening experience.

The ABIT SP50 Home Theater System and AU10 6 channel audio card package are slightly above average for a computer speaker system, though falls short of high sonic quality.  The speaker system fulfills its specifications, but higher expectations could have led to a better system with more warmth in the tonal quality.  It is a promising first step for ABIT, indicating that some strong engineering went into the design.  Building upon this experience could produce some excellent products in the future, but for now, their system is best suited for use in a small room with limited listening requirements.