Onkyo APX-2 HD Audio PC

Filed under: Home Audio > Computer Audio > Media Servers



Onkyo's new APX-2 "HD Audio PC" is the latest product to join the new market of home theater PCs with built in amplifiers. The APX-2 was released in cooperation with Japanese PC manufacturer SOTEC, and is being sold in Japan through SOTEC's distribution channel. At the heart of the APX-2 is an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66Ghz CPU on an Intel 945GM motherboard with 1GB of ram, and a 500GB hard drive contained in a "Super Floating HDD Unit" developed by Onkyo to reduce platter and seek noise by up to 22dB.

The most interesting aspect of the APX-2 is a special soundcard which uses Pure Direct Audio Path (PDAP) to bypass Windows Vista's sound quality degrading volume mixer and send signals directly to the DAC and on to the 2 x 100 watt internal digital amplifier. Unfortunately HD video playback with the APX-2 is not possible as the 945GM video processor has no hardware HD support of its own, and there is not enough CPU power for a software H.264 decoder such as CoreAVC.