Ordered a sound card – you were the beating heart of my DIY home theater systems
As you get older, nostalgia is a constant threat. To see my niece completely enthralled watching Mysterious Cities of Goldor the Ataris cover of Boys of Summer I’m just not expecting it on my radio, these days it’s so easy for that faint feeling to catch me off guard.
The point is this: this week, when the press release about the new Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro sound card landed in my inbox, I was hit hard.
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Well, it had nothing to do with a specific, high-end card on today’s market (designed for PC builders who want hi-res audio playback, a bespoke headphone amp and 7.1 surround sound functionality in their build).
There was a certain moment in time when a media PC (sometimes also known as a home theater PC or media center) became the beating heart of many people’s home AV systems.
They were desktop PCs that were intended to act as an amp and source, and offer better than average audio and video performance.
We had one at the center of my family’s home cinema system, replacing a traditional AVR, powering a 5.1 surround setup and acting as our main source, with our disk drive unit and internal storage.
Connected to my parent’s current vintage Epson projector, I enjoyed many a movie night with the family unit using one of the VCDs, or later DVDs, that we had in our collection or rented from Blockbuster (remember those!?).
They were not popular in high-end hi-fi circles – it was simplicity over quality to some extent.
I actually used a desktop PC that my dad helped me build, which also had a Sound Blaster sound card. Before I got a CD and MiniDisc stereo system, it was my trust A disaster (homework) channel that provided most of my sound for my room.
The card had a decent amp, meanwhile, that allowed me to listen to albums with a “Parental Advisory” label that my parents didn’t know I had, using Sony MDR-G52LP headphones, and without worrying about getting caught.
Now I get why devices including Chromecast sticks and Apple TV 4K boxes are eliminating the need for a media PC. Nor will I miss the driver issues, which haunt nightmares to this day.
And I’m not thinking about building a media PC. My home setup and tendency to stream a lot of stuff with my Hisense PX3, or the LG C2’s inbuilt OS and apps means I don’t need it. My desktop and office listening is also integrated with the Chord Mojo 2 over the phone and connected wired headphones.
But still, I can’t help but feel a slight pang of nostalgia for the devices, given their pivotal place in my youth and how they helped me get into AV hardware. Without them, I probably wouldn’t be in the job I’m in today.
That’s why seeing the announcement of the new Sound Blaster card still makes me smile.
To the growing group of people who still want, without the wealth of simple home cinema and hi-fi solutions available in today’s world, I truly salute you.
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