DS 500 speakers
abit iDome speakers comprise of two separate products. First up there's the DS 500 stereo speakers and then there's the SW 510 subwoofer. You can have one without the other, that's no problem, but it's clear that abit intended the two products to be paired up.
abit iDome DS 500 speakers
The idea behind abit's digital speakers is to process the audio digitally at every stage, up to the point where the speakers are driven, which is unavoidably analogue. When a digital audio signal comes into the speakers, the amplifier processes the audio without converting it to analogue at any stage. abit reckons that by reducing the number of conversions taking place, there's less loss in audio quality.
These speakers stand approximately 25cm tall, making them somewhat larger than your average PC speakers or satellites, but relatively small compared to a set of speakers you'd find hooked up to a decent hi-fi.
The glossy black front of the speakers is very attractive, but does present reflecto-porn issues for the photographer. The 2-way speakers should provide better clarity over a greater frequency range compared to 1-way speakers.
The right speaker contains the DS 500's amplifier and thus control panel. On the front we have a power button, uGuru SFX mode knob, along with bass, treble and volume settings. The right three knobs will lock lightly into place at 50% so that you know what you've got them turned half-way.
The SFX knob controls the uGuru chip within the DS 500 speakers. uGuru branding has been put on motherboards and graphics cards before, usually providing overclocking and monitoring features. In the case of the iDome speakers, uGuru provides various preset tweaks to the sound output, just like you'd see on a lot of hi-fi EQs or indeed audio playback software.
The rear of the right speaker has the I/O panel for the DS 500s. There are RCA analogue stereo inputs and outputs, along with optical S/PDIF inputs and outputs. A switch must be set depending on which connection type is in use. Either connectivity method provides input for the speaker's amp and a pass-through so that further speakers (or more likely a subwoofer) can be connected up. Obviously, if audio input is over RCA, it'll be converted into digital signals prior to processing by the amp.
There is also an LED on/off switch on the back panel. More on the LEDs shortly.
Both speakers have clips for speaker-cable attachments. These are used to connect left and right speakers together.
Now, about that light.
The clear plastic at the bottom of the right speaker can be lit up in red LEDs. It's a good job that there's an on/off switch for it, though, for two reasons. Firstly, it won't be to everyone's taste, but more significantly, the left speaker has no power feed going to it, only speaker cabling, meaning there's no light on it. So, only one speaker has pretty red lights, which might seem a little wrong to some. Still, it does look nice, providing you don't mind only having it on one of the two speakers.
Bundle
The DS 500 speakers come with an instruction booklet, warranty card, 'kettle lead' power cable, optical cable, stereo RCA cable and a speaker cable. In essence, they're bundled with everything needed to get them connected up using RCA or optical.
