Issues and USB

It's not perfect

One shortcoming of the systems was that the satellites seemed eager and ready for higher volumes, although the sub seemed over extended at high volumes. Where no distortion was present in the satellites, some could be heard from the sub. The port on the sub, is a standard, 2 inch port, not one of those fancy flared ports, so at high volumes, we are talking really high volumes, you can hear some air turbulence from the port.

The optimum upgrade that Cambridge could make to a higher level version of the FPS 2000 Digital, would be to bulk up the subwoofer. I think this system could easily be extended to reach more dangerous sound pressure levels, over even larger areas. Next time I speak with you, remember to talk loudly and directly at me, so I can read your lips. :)

Another annoyance was the volume control module. On this volume control, there is also a control for the front and rear speaker balance, also known as a fader in car stereo circles. There is a tactile notch where the sound between the front and rear speakers are balanced. There is also a visual indicator of this location, with painted markers. These two feedback aids should be identical, but they weren't. At the midway point, the visual indicators were just a bit misaligned, this would probably be ignored by most, but I kept trying the make the lines line up. Here, take a look for yourself.

Slightly misaligned

The good news

Well, we're talking about digital audio here, and of course the subject of USB has to come up. How does the FPS2K differ and compare to that recent PC audio fad? Well, you can already tell what we feel about USB audio. As described further in the review, the digital nature of USB moves the DAC to the actual output unit, rather than converting the signal on the sound card.

The big problem with USB isn't quality, it's bandwidth. USB's 12Mbps (and that's bit, not byte) isn't all that much, especially when dealing with other potential signals aside from a digital audio stream. Even if there was no contention for the bus, USB still relies on the CPU, and certain interrupts or operations can cause halts and stutters in the sound. Anyone who now uses a USB mouse probably remembers how the cursor stops and freezes momentarily (for example when the CD tray is opened) - much more frequently than was ever the case with serial or PS/2.

By working from the Digital DIN of the SBLive, the FPS2000 is freed from this easily-congested interface, and there's little that can be done to interrupt the flow. Of course, this does mean that the FPS2000 only functions with a DIN-equipped sound card (as a proprietary Creative standard, only the SBLive! has), but if you've got one already, you've got digital in the bag!