14. Hercules XPS 510

With its experience in sound cards in the Fortissimo and Muse XL range, Hercules had no option but to come up with a 5.1 system to round it all off. And so we have the XPS 510, designed first and foremost for gaming and DVD. It has a subwoofer of 20 RMS watts and four speakers, plus a center channel of 8 watts each. The speakers are encased in plastic, but heavy enough not to cause much echo. The sound card or AC-3 decoder is connected via mini-jack inputs. Settings on the subwoofer are no more than the mandatory minimum - volume and low frequencies - which is inadequate and inconvenient.

The sound at 3/4 volume is strong enough for the average-sized room and does not saturate. Melodiousness is good - the instruments are distinct and quite audible. As is so often the case with this kind of system, the medium frequencies are inadequate. This gives a rather light spectrum but on the whole, the balance is fine. Low frequencies are satisfactory and well defined, although not as efficient and percussive as on the Inspire 5300. The results in games and DVD are generally positive, especially when you think about how much an XPS 510 costs. For music, fidelity is obviously not as good as an Altec Lansing 641, but will still satisfy the majority of users.