NewQ Gold DSP Review

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Well guys, here it is. I finally have the review up of the NewQ Gold DSP. And as far as I know, it's the first one I have seen. That sweet little EQ type thingy you have seen pimped around the internet lately. I have always been an audio enthusiast and when I saw this, I just couldn't resist myself. I had to have one in my box. Thus providing for me the best of both worlds. Excellent PC audio, as well as a smokin' overclocked system. Throw in a 12pack of your favorite beverage, and we have the makings of some of the best things in life.

 

Street Price: $99 Retail
Manufacturer:NewQ PCAudio  www.newq.com
Availability: Now in stores, and on-line.
Reviewed: Sept. 2000

Introduction:  Well guys, here it is. I finally have the review up of the NewQ Gold DSP. And as far as I know, it's the first one I have seen. That sweet little EQ type thingy you have seen pimped around the internet lately. I have always been an audio enthusiast and when I saw this, I just couldn't resist myself. I had to have one in my box. Thus providing for me the best of both worlds. Excellent PC audio, as well as a smokin' overclocked system. Throw in a 12pack of your favorite beverage, and we have the makings of some of the best things in life.

 

Overview:  The first thing I noticed about this unit when I pulled it out of my box, was the quality. I was very impressed with the workmanship with which this was assembled. Basically like a miniature rack system device you would have sitting in your home theater ensemble. I'm going to go over a few functions of this unit here.

One of the main features this unit is boasting is 3D surround & TruSurround. Here is a blurb straight from their website that may explain this for you in detail.

"SRS, the Sound Retrieval System, came about many years of research on the psychoacoustics of sound and the dynamics of the human hearing system. SRS retrieves the spatial information from recordings and restores the original three- dimensional sound field. As a result, the reproduced sound is much closer to a live performance. Like live performances, SRS has no critical listening position (sweet spot). Listeners can move around the room and continue to be immersed in full three-dimensional sound."

I like how these guys put things in layman's terms, so us geeks can understand it. Here is a graphical representation of what you would actually be hearing.

  

Here are some other functions that are included in the users manual:

3D Surround and TruSurround Function

•  Normal Mode

• 3d SRS surround Sound Mode  When playing cd-Music, MP3 file and games, it provides not only 3 dimensional surround sound by dynamic sound as well.

• TruSurround Mode  When playing DVD titles which are recorded by Dolby Digital Sound, it provides virtual 6 speaker effects with 2 or 3 speakers through TruSurround

• The NewQ (with its 5.25-inch wide Bay) consists of the equalizer unit and interface cards for easy installation. Installing the NewQ is as simple as installing a CDROM drive.

 

7 Band digital graphic equalizer

(60Hz, 150Hz, 400Hz, 1KHz, 2.4KHZ, 6KHZ, 15KHZ)

• 3 User setting Modes

• 4 Preset Modes (Normal, Rock, Pop, Classic)

 

DSP Functions

• 4Modes (Provide more effective sounds) Hall, Live, Club, Stadium

 

Auxiliary Function

• Can play cassette Tape or Radio through the Microphone Jack.

 

Microphone Function

• Support condeser microphone

 

Digital Sophisticated VFD

• vacuum Fluourescence Display Panel

 

Various digital display modes of sound signal

• Spectrum Analyzer

 

Electric Master Volume Control

Headphone Jack

Mute Function

Here are some benefits of the unit itself.

• Natural 3D sound image from any two speaker stereo system.
• Based on characteristics of the human hearing system for natural, non-fatiguing sound.
• Supports mono, stereo, and surround sound for enjoyment with any input material.
• Fully immersive sound without a discernible sweet spot, allowing superb sound from any listening position.
• 60 U.S. and foreign patents issued.

 

 

Here are some more features and specifications:

 

If you noticed, this thing supports ANY soundcard. That means you can have a low budget soundcard in your system and the NewQ Gold DSP will still make it sound KICKASS, as long as you have some halfway decent speakers. This is a real plus for me, because upgrading sound cards really does not make much sense, especially since the technology itself is somewhat at a standstill. Lets face it, how many more enhancements, or how much more upgradeablility are we going to see concerning sound cards? Who knows? But time will surly tell.

Here is the exact definition of  TruSurround from SRS Technologies, straight from their website:

TruSurround is a Dolby®-certified technology that allows for a virtualized surround sound experience from a two-speaker playback using any multichannel audio source, including Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround or Dolby Pro Logic. TruSurround retains all of the original audio information of the multi-channel audio source giving the listener the sensory perception that they are surrounded by additional "phantom" speakers. This completely immersive sound experience is achieved through only two standard stereo speakers.

 

Ok guys, now that we have gotten past the technical jargon of this review, here are a few homebrew pics of the unit. Sorry for the low quality pics, but the Official OCA Digital Cam was not available at the time of review.

The Box

      

 

Back of the Unit

 

Front Pic's

  

Next: NewQ Gold DSP Review >>
 

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