Is the Philps Acoustic Edge the only sound card to do this true 5.1 support in games,dvds,and music? I dont think the Santa Cruz does this true 5.1 but not sure.
 
The Philps Acoustic Edge actually outputs discrete channels unlike the Santa Cruz or Live!. Those cards just take the stereo source and mirror the sound to the rear speakers. The front left speaker has the exact same sound coming out of it as the rear left speaker and so on. The AE sends discrete, seperate signals to each speaker. This clip fro mthe Neoseeker review explains it best...
 
 
 
"Philips believes this card sets itself apart from the SBLive 5.1 and the Santa Cruz because it is the very first card to enable true 5.1 audio from ANY source. That means that even stereo sources will output in 6 discrete channels using Qsound’s patented Multi-Speaker System technology. This technology essentially extracts positional information from a stereo stream, and maps it to a 5.1 or 4.1 setup to produce discrete and distinctive channels of surround sound. This is a pretty good pitch, because right now all surround sound cards will output the exact same sound on the front channel as on the rear channel, so that the rear channel is nothing more than a mirror image of the front stereo signals. This applies to anything based on the Vortex2 or the Sensaura Canyon3D chips, and even to the newest SBLive 5.1 and Turtle Beach Santa Cruz cards. I’ve been playing with sound cards for a fair while now, and most 3D algorithms have failed to impress me to any degree. Obviously this changed when the EAX and A3D API’s were introduced. But still, all those Qsound algorithms in the specs wouldn’t have made me bat an eye, had you simply listed them to me. But this time around, these algorithms actually made me sit up and take notice. Why you ask? They work. And they work very well. "
 
 
 
 
 
"The star feature of the Thunderbird Avenger DSP chip is its QMSS (QSound Multi-Speaker System) processing. This processing will take a standard stereo (2 channel) source, and extrapolate it into a 4 speaker, or even 5.1 speaker experience. The audio wizards at Qlabs are among some of the most experienced in extracting as much positional data possible from a stereo stream, and the results are fairly good in both games and in movies.
 
 
 
Now when we say you can get a 4 or 5.1 speaker experience from a stereo stream, we mean that you actually get discrete sounds from each of the speakers. The draw of QMSS comes from a simple fact: you have a LOT of material in pure stereo format, and if you have a 4.1 or 5.1, you definitely want to take advantage of your speaker setup. And because the QMSS algorithms can be applied to internal and external sources, you can plug your stereo system into the audio-in jack of the sound card, and QMSS will be able to turn your stereo CDs into a whole new immersive experience. This means that your MP3s, your CDs, your MIDIs, and just about any other audio material you may have, can be played back in surround sound.
 
 
 
One strong appeal of QMSS processing is that you can get an enhanced 5.1 playback from movies that give out a simple stereo stream. If you have a DVD player, you can choose between using true Dolby Digital decoding, or using QMSS to simulate an altogether different 5.1 experience. The difference lay in the encoding of the two streams: a true DD recording has rear channel information coded by the studio, while the QMSS extrapolated 5.1 playback is merely trying to produce a 5.1 sound stream from a stereo source. The interesting thing is that since Dolby Digital is intended for a theater audience, the rear channel effects are used sparingly, and only in situations where it is best suited for a large room. So for example, a lot of music and effects do NOT get sent to the rear channels in Dolby Digital, because in a theater, they don’t want to ruin the experience for the audience in the back rows where too much rear sound may result in a reduced quality of the overall experience.
 
 
 
Now when you take movies into the home or personal theater, things are different. The audience is in a specific location, and so there won’t be a problem with some people getting too much rear, or too much forward channel sound. That’s where Dolby Digital fails, according to some enthusiasts, because the rear channels may not contain enough information to satisfy an intimate environment like a home or personal theater. That’s also where QMSS steps in. QMSS puts a LOT more information into the rear channels than Dolby Digital does. And though this information is taken from the front channels, it isn’t just a mirror of the front soundstage. That makes for a very convincing surround soundstage that can be very exciting in some movies.
 
 
 
I tested the Acoustic Edge on several DVD titles, and did some basic A-B comparisons between true Dolby Digital playback, and QMSS enhanced 5.1 playback, and the benefits of either can be quite convincing. There’s definitely something to be said about the overall enhanced surround sound coming from the QMSS processing: music is appropriately phased into the rear, and some scenes where there’s a lot of echo information become an absolute delight as the sounds literally envelop your entire listening area. In Titan AE for instance, the music sequences gain a lot of energy, and scenes like the ice field chase benefit from the heightened information on the rear channels.
 
 
 
On the other hand, some movies are better off in true Dolby Digital, because QMSS doesn’t provide as clear a center channel, nor does it offer the absolute precision of a true Dolby Digital stream (this due to the fact that it is trying to create rear channels from front stereo streams). The great thing is that QMSS isn’t FORCED onto the user, it is merely another option that you can choose to use when playing back movies, and I find that to be a very powerful option indeed.
 
 
 
Having been subjected to a lot of these types of algorithms, the most impressive thing about QMSS with movies is that it works very accurately. You won’t hear too much leakage into the rear channels, and I didn’t once find any inappropriate sound information being sent to the rear channels (like center channel speech, or certain sound effects that should only come from the front). Forward-rear pans weren’t as precise as with Dolby Digital, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that forward-rear pans were actually quite convincing, considering this type of information just doesn’t exist in the original stream. My guess is that a lot of movie fans with personal home theaters will enjoy the QMSS feature on some of their movies, and yet prefer to stick with DD on their other movies. Even a purist will find some scenes in any movie that are actually better off with QMSS than with true DD. "
 
 
 
Sorry for the length, but it explains it better than I can. Also, I like to use my H+ card to output to my Panasonic Super Flat TV, and I connect to the AE via the SPDIF connection. I choose PCM output on the H+, and I let the QMSS do the decoding to my 8.2 Promedia setup...trust me...it works well.
 
Well is this Philps Acoustic Edge really a better sound card than the Santa Cruz by alittle, alot, or its about the same? Because if i remember right the Santa Cruz only supports virtal 5.1 support
 
 
Not sure if there is a big difference.
 
Ok and here the link of the Philps Acoustic Edge review which really does seem to be very impressive sense it seems to be the only sound to have true 5.1 support in games,dvds,and music i think.
 
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/acousticedge_psc706/index.html http://www.ocaddiction.com/reviews/sound/acousticedge/
 
Any help appreicated
 
Thanks