Racking Up Great Sound

Eric Dahl

The latest sound board from Hercules, the $149 Game Theater XP, offers a twist on the latest Dolby Digital 5.1-compatible sound cards. Like most of the 5.1-capable boards we've tested, my shipping copy pumped out great sound and convincing 3D game effects. But this board's biggest attraction is a stylish rack of connectors that offers enough audio options to rival what the Live Drive from Creative Labs' $199 Sound Blaster Live Platinum offers.

Instead of housing audio connections in a drive bay, as the Live Drive does, Game Theater XP uses an external breakout box that is slightly smaller than a cigar box. The usual six-speaker outputs are present, along with optical and coaxial digital-in and-out jacks. There's even a four-port USB hub and game port--a good place to hook up game controllers or other USB devices.

The Game Theater XP bundles good software, including MusicMatch Jukebox, PowerDVD, and Sonic Foundry's Acid and Siren music-editing packages. Also included are MIDI in/out jacks, line-level analog inputs, and headphone and microphone jacks with separate volume controls.

My only quibble is with how few internal audio connectors there are. My DVD and CD-RW drives occupied the two internal audio connectors, leaving my modem and TV tuner cards out in the cold. The Game Theater XP also lacks a high-quality internal S/PDIF connector--one that resides on the PCI sound card instead of on the rack--so you can't get digital audio straight from your DVD drive either.

Buying Information

Game Theater XP Sturdy construction; impressive array of connections. Fewer internal audio inputs. Full-featured Dolby 5.1 upgrade makes a great choice if your drive bays are full. List price: $149 Hercules 877/484-5536 http://www.hercules.com