MDK2 has gone gold - Mikael @ 01:13 EST

Gone Gold also got the word from Interplay that MDK 2 has gone gold. The game is expected to support A3D 3.0 and DS3D with EAX. As always you can buy the game and find more info at Gamestop.

Evolva goes gold - Mikael @ 01:06 EST

Gone Gold has got the word from Interplay that their third-person tactical action game has gone gold.~Evolva should support DS3D with EAX unless there have been some last minute changes. You can pre-order the game from gamestop where you can also find more info about the game. You can also download a demo of it from Interplay
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Think tank to take Napster proposals to Congress - Mikael @ 01:02 EST

A centrist Democratic think tank said Friday it will suggest measures to Congress next week to reduce piracy associated with controversial song-swap company Napster and similar online services. Not that many details were revealed about the proposal but they did mention they would propose a specific timeframe for ISPs to remove infringing users once they're identified and that Napster should collect identifiable and verifiable information from its users, such as addresses and credit card information. Judges should also have greater flexibility in granting injunctions against services like Napster.
News Source: Reuters

Another E3 report - Mikael @ 01:01 EST

Anandtech has finally posted their E3 report focusing on the hardware. When it comes to sound the only company they visited was Creative Labs. Here's a snip

Creative Labs' main focus was EAX and its use in more than just sound cards. Besides the PlayWorks gear, EAX is now in the Nomad Jukebox as well. With the touch of a button, EAX performs a very nice surround sound effect; great for that concert hall type of music. There weren't any tasty news of what's going to happen after the success of the Live! Series of cards; but there is going to be something else -- more will follow later this year.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption - Mark @ 00:35 EST

Avault has posted a preview of the above noted title. No specific mention of sound other than A3D and DS3D with EAX support. According to Aureal's list, the A3D will be 2.0 but based on the preview and other info I have seen this does look to be a very enticing title. You can check out some MP3 tracks over at Activision's Vampire site and you can also preorder the Vampire: The Masquerade-Redemption Collector's Edition from GameStop! for only $5.00 more than the standard edition. Gamers who pre-order the Collector's Edition before May 23 will receive a free game soundtrack featuring Type O Negative, Ministry, Gravity Kills, Primus, Darling Violetta, Cubanate, Youth Engine and Kevin Manthei. For more details on the extras in the Collector's Edition check out the Gamestop! link above.

Friday, May 19, 2000

Carmageddon TDR 2000 ALPHA Demo - Mark @ 23:45 EST

Sci Software has released an Alpha test demo for Carmageddon TDR 2000. They note that this demo offers you a "limited taste of the best all out action racer ever!" and go on warn that because its an Alpha in progress demo, the system requirements are higher, it may crash, blow up or not even run. Its also 127 MB. According to the Sci Software site, the game will support 3D audio. No additional details were offered at their site but its listed on Aureal's site as an A3D 2.0 title. If you do want to check out the demo, you can grab it from 3Dfiles.

Diamond Monster Sound MX400 1.02 Win9x Drivers - Mark @ 23:13 EST

S3/Diamond today posted new drivers for their Canyon3D based Monster Sound MX400 on their FTP site. As of when I post this there is no link from the MX400 drivers section of the website. Here' s a list of whats new from the read me file.

v1.02 Win9x Web
Web release of Win9x VxD v4.12.01.2008 driver, AICT, and Update Wizard.

Incorporates new Sensaura code.

Program Group entries for driver, Audio InControl Tools and Update Wizard all include uninstall option.

Fixed: Front and Rear speaker outputs are no longer out-of-phase. Corrects low frequency loss on speaker systems that combine bass signals into a single sub woofer. (Klipsch ProMedia, etc.) [Ed. note: the bass probs is news to me but that "etc." based on their criteria is every 4.1 multimedia speaker system that I am aware of!]

Fixed: "Enable S/PDIF" settings are retained after system reboot.

Fixed: Occasional blue screen error in "CRLDS3D.VXD" while playing Rogue Spear on some platforms for extended sessions.

MixJuice DirectMusic Application - Mark @ 22:32 EST

While reading the X-Box audio article note below I came across a link to a company called inis. At E3, Microsoft demonstrated a DirectMusic-based program called MixJuice that was developed by inis. While it was used in the X-Box demo, it may be of broader interest since DirectMusic is of course supported on the PC via DirectX7. The MixJuice demo employs the INIS's MixJuice Realtime Composition Engine (RCE) which in turn uses DirectMusic to allow for real-time modulation of music parameters for song creation. You can read more about it from their website as well as in the PR they put out prior to E3. MixJuice provides users the ability to generate music data and then flexibly control it in real-time while maintaining the highest level of musicality. This allows for real-time mixing and matching of generated music while keeping coherence and allowing for interaction with all musical parameters including the groove, harmony, and melody. According to the PR, the RCE allows for music composition via user interfaces and experiences that previously were not even imaginable and opens up new possibilities to musicians and non-musicians alike in home, studio, and live performance settings.

Game Audio & Interactivity - Mark @ 21:37 EST

MSXBox has posted an article entitled Game Audio & Interactivity which takes a look at the X-Box audio. The article includes an intro to some of the 3d sound terminology as well as looks at the number of voices and what they can be used for including 3D positioning and DirectMusic support. This article, unlike some others I have read, distinguishes between the 256 audio voices and the fact that it will position "only" 64 of them in 3D space. Its also worth noting that by supporting I3DL2 the X-Box has reverb support as I3DL2 is pretty close to EAX 2.0. This is one of the better X-Box audio articles I have read and well worth the read. Noting on the chip itself btw.
News Source: 3D Audio Immersion

Live! Center Opens Forums - Mark @ 21:10 EST

Lars from Live! center asked us to pass along the message that they have opened their own forums, noting that it has been the most requested feature by Live! center users by a good margin. Of course, we would like you to also visit our forums, but it never hurts to have more than once place to seek advice :)

NEC ships World's First Notebook PC With Dolby Headphone - Mikael @ 02:40 EST

Dolby Laboratories announced that NEC has selected Dolby Headphone technology for NEC's new LaVie S consumer notebook PC, which became available yesterday in Japan.

The computer manufacturer will also incorporate Dolby Headphone on its forthcoming desktop PCs, the VALUESTAR T and VALUESTAR simplem systems. With any of these models, users can listen to high-quality theatre-like surround audio from DVD-Video discs.

Beginning in June, NEC and NEC Personal System will place ``Experience Dolby Headphone'' stands alongside demonstration LaVie S laptops at major retail stores in Japan, allowing shoppers to experience Dolby Headphone firsthand. Hopefully someone will do the same in US and Europe in the near future. For more details about Dolby Headphone read the press release.

Terminus Goes Gold - Mikael @ 02:38 EST

Game creator Vicarious Visions has announced that their space combat game Terminus has gone gold. Not sure if it will support 3D sound out of the box but sometime ago they said it would support DS3D and A3D 1.X. You can find out more about the game from the link below.
News Source: Avault

Cirrus Logic Licenses SRS Labs' TruSurround Technology - Mikael @ 02:37 EST

SRS Labs and Cirrus Logic yesterday announced a licensing agreement for SRS Labs' TruSurround technology. On the heels of their recent Circle Surround licensing agreement, Cirrus will include SRS Labs' patented TruSurround technology as a customer-selected option on their CS49300 family of audio decoders. These decoder products are renowned for their applications in DVD, Set-Top Boxes, and AV Receivers. You can check out the press release if you want to learn more about TruSurround.

QSound Labs Reports First Quarter Results for 2000 - Mikael @ 02:36 EST

QSound Labs reported revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2000 of $835,351 as compared $799,406 for the same period in 1999.
The operating loss for the quarter was $(270,791) or $(0.01) as compared to an operating profit of $23,313 or $0.00 for the same period last year. Including depreciation and amortization of goodwill, the net loss for the period was $(554,375) or $(0.02) per share as compared to net income of $3,809 or $0.00 for the same period in 1999.

Overall, product margins increased from 81% to 93% over the same period last year and the Company has working capital of $4.2 million, with no long-term debt.

You can find all the numbers in the full press release

Baby DVD Drive - Mikael @ 02:02 EST

PC Stats got their hands on an interesting portable DVD-ROM drive from Amacom, named Baby DVD. It's about the size of a portable CD-player and can be connected to your notebook via PCMCIA port and to the USB port of your home PC. The review includes a several benchmarks and many other details. As you may guess performance isn't up to par with your standard DVD-ROM drive.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Toshiba SD-R1002 CD-RW/DVD-ROM review - Mikael @ 02:00 EST

CNET's Computers.com (I wonder how much money CNet spent on buying domain names) has put Toshiba's CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive to the test and found it to be a great choice even though the performance wasn't top notch(4X write, 4X rewrite and 24x read). The drive also comes with a decent software bundle including PowerDVD, Adaptec's CD-burning suite: DirectCD 3 and Easy CD Creator 4. A game sampler, which features Outcast and Demolition Racer. The price tag of $350 is the only major downside.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Interview with John Gildred, CEO of Indrema - Mikael @ 01:58 EST

Gamesfirst got a chance to sit down with John Gildred, Founder and CEO of Indrema, at E3. A great interview if you want to learn more about their upcoming Linux based game console. Here's a snip:

John Gildred: Well Indrema is announcing the first ever Linux-based game console. The unit will eventually offer more than just gaming, in fact, the first product will offer MP3 Personal Music System, web browsing, and a high-speed Internet port. So there are several features that it has that break out of games. But we don't see software products outside of games growing as much this year as in the future. Eventually there will be a tremendous amount of titles that don't necessarily fall into the gaming category that will include video and audio applications.

E3 report about Playworks, Nomad II and Nomad Jukebox - Mikael @ 01:58 EST

3DGPU has finished their E3 report and on day 2 they talk about Creative Labs Playstation 2 speaker (the virtual surround one), Nomad II and the Nomad Jukebox.

Thursday, May 18, 2000

KISS Music Interview - Mark @ 22:50 EST

The KISS Psycho Circus The Nightmare Child website interviews Will Locotano talking with the sound designer from Third Law Interactive about his work on music and sound for KISS: Psycho Circus--The Nightmare Child, Third Law's upcoming shooter loosely based on the KISS Psycho Circus comic series. Here's a snip:

Q: Can you explain how DirectMusic is implemented in the game?

A: For our implementation of it, I composed several intensities in each song. The mappers and coders place triggers in the levels and in the code changing the music at times they think are appropriate. This way we can have encounters, locations, or even specific actions that change the music as you play the game.

A kiosk is still a kiosk - Mark @ 22:33 EST

The word "kiosk" comes from the Turkish word for pavilion, "kiushk." In 20th-century business-speak, however, the meaning of kiosk was "take your money and run." Now Internet music companies are betting that a growing demand for digital music will revive the kiosk idea. Redwood City, Calif.-based Liquid Audio (LQID) teamed up with Korea's SK Group to create the world's first all-kiosk music store in Seoul last October. In a "cybercafe" environment, patrons choose up to 10 songs to create CDs complete with their own personalized titles and artwork. The discs take less than 20 minutes to make and cost about the same as traditional CDs. For the whole story head over to Upside Today
News Source: Audio Today

MusicCompressor PJB-100 Review - Mark @ 22:23 EST

Target PC has posted a review of the Hy-Tek MusicCompressor PJB-100. Here is a snip from the intro of this portable device that uses a laptop harddrive for storage:

Like the portable MP3 concept but despise the lack of music memory? Have I got the solution for you. Storing up to 81 hours of 128Kb/s music, Hy-Tek's MusicCompressor is the MP3 maniac's dream. Don't fret over battery life either as the space age Lithium cell holds out for a whopping 10 hours of continuous play. Put your entire collection on one machine. Don't have enough CD's to fill the PJB-100? Borrow you friends collection or run down to the local disc dealer; this baby can handle it!

Hired Team Music - Mark @ 21:58 EST

The Daily Telefrag has a new MP3 up with some of the music from Hired Team: Trial. This is the official theme of the game and is written and performed by a young Russian band - Dirty Moleculas. Grab it from Daily Telefrag.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

PC Magazine Speaker Round-up - Mark @ 13:49 EST

ZDNet has reprinted a PC Speaker round-up that was featured in the April 3rd issue of PC Magazine. The first thing I thought on reading it was different people must have done the reviews of each system, but a quick check back shows the same author for each. I say that, as I don't find the comments to be consistent between systems. I also don't follow how they arrived at many of their comments. Rather than me going into specifics, you can check out what they have to say and if you are looking for additional impressions, you can compare their comments against our reviews of many of the same systems.

Diamond Audio Technology Pro Media 3025 Review - Mark @ 04:34 EST

A little known company in the US, Diamond Audio Technology, Inc. are the people that designed, engineered and manufactured the widely acclaimed S2 4100 and S2 4030 systems for MidiLand. In this review we look at the flagship of their new Pro Media line, the 3025. This $79.99 2.1 system offers a total of 25 watts RMS along with an impressive list of features that rivals more expensive systems. For example, the system features a digital volume control with quiet on-off circuitry, an independent bass level control, a built in loudness curve, complete amplifier protection circuitry and, a patent pending DLPT (Distortion Limiting Processor)! Best of all, it offers some great quality sound to go with the feature list and low price! Read on for all the details.

Future Home - Mark @ 04:31 EST

ZDNet has a feature on the Future Home that has a whole bunch of info on the hot wired home including pieces on DVD, MP3, CD and Jukeboxes.
News Source: AGNHardware

Powered Subwoofer Review - Mark @ 03:52 EST

ZDNet's, Equip has posted a 20 page feature which takes a look at six powered subwoofers to shake you out of home and house. It's worth noting that you don't have to own a full stereo system to use a powered subwoofer. For example, the Cambridge SoundWorks DTT2500 has an output for a powered subwoofer so if you have one of those systems and are looking for a step up in your bass you may want to take a look.
News Source: AGNHardware

JHexen Update - Mikael @ 02:20 EST

A new version (0.99.5) of the 3D accelerated port of Raven Software's Hexen, JHexen, has been released. The game/port supports DS3D with EAX and A3D 3.0.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Sensory Science Ships New RaveMP 2200 MP3 Player - Mikael @ 02:05 EST

Sensory Science Corporation has announced it has commenced shipping its new RaveMP 2200 portable digital media players to stores throughout North America. The newest portable player in Sensory Science's line of Internet devices, the RaveMP 2200 offers innovative feature enhancements including FM radio, USB connectivity, built-in voice recorder, SmartMedia expansion capability, and up to 128MB storage capacity. It will have a price tag of $280. Check out the press release for more details.

Build your own MP3 player - Mikael @ 01:55 EST

ZDNet Music has written an article about Takeshi Akamatsu that decided to build his own MP3 player. He also started a website with detailed instructions on how to compile the proper materials and build your own MP3 player. It's just one problem he has no idea where you can buy the components required outside of Japan. The advantage of building your own MP3 player according to Akamatsu is that it's fun and you can get better audio quality but it will be more expensive than buying one in the shop.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Plantronics HS1 Gaming Headset review - Mikael @ 01:54 EST

Gamecenter has done a review of Plantronics' gaming headset, HS1 and found it good enough to give it a rating of 9 out of 10. Only major complaint was the $80 price.
News Source: AGN Hardware

E3 reports about Nvidia, Creative Labs and Turtle Beach - Mikael @ 01:23 EST

Beyond3D has posted their E3 report. When it comes to audio they have very short bit on Santa Cruz, slightly more about Turtle Beach's AudioTron and mention that Nvidia will do the audio chip for the X-Box. Never seen the last bit officially announced but some other reports mentioned the same thing even though Nvidia actually denied that in an interview a few months ago. I guess Beyond3D got the info directly from Nvidia so it's most likely true. The important part IMO isn't who will make the chips but what 3D audio technology they will use.

A second E3 report that also has some audio bits is posted on Tech-report. Starting on page 4 they talk about Turtle Beach's Santa Cruz, Audio Tron and the distribution deal with VideoLogic Systems. On page 5 they have a bit on Creative Labs NOMAD Jukebox and that Creative's Playstation 2 speakers look silly.

Sony to Launch New Version of High-End CD System - Mikael @ 01:23 EST

According to a Reuters story Sony plans to launch a new version of its high-end audio system known as SACD next month priced at 80,000 yen ($730). Not directly cheap but a lot less than their current SACD which cost you 350,000 yen ($3,200). That may help boost sales that so far been rather poor with just 2000 SACD sold.

The article also mentions that Sony's launch coincides with the planned launch of a rival DVD audio player format by Matsushita. Both DVD-audio and SACD offers multiple channels and superior audio quality compared to CD audio. Exactly how much of that superior audio quality humans can hear is questionable.

Wednesday, May 17, 2000

Revenant 1.2 Patch - Mark @ 20:46 EST

A v1.2 patch for the A3D 1.x and DS3D with EAX supporting action/RPG, Revenant has been released adding new functionality to provide module builders with the ability to create true MUD style multiplayer coop levels. These modules can be set to run in 'dedicated' mode, and allow users to log in and play a persistent character on that server. There's a couple of bug fixes and other multiplayer support features as well.

If you have the game you may want to grab this 2.1 MB patch from 3Dfiles where you will also some of the fixes. If you want to check out the game, grab the demo from 3Dfiles and if you like it you can order Revenant from Gamestop! for $29.99.

TeamSound 5.0 Released! - Mark @ 20:39 EST

TeamSound is a voice communication program for game players that provides clear sound quality, text-to-speech synthesis for coordinating actions on the battlefield and a robust command and control system for listening on multiple channels, talking across channels and much more. Features added in this new release are:

Added 22050Hz record mode for weaker sounds cards that cannot enable full duplex mode

Added EverQuest support game module

Improved the time to transmit by reducing transmit indicator latency

Fixed ACM related fault that occurs on some systems

Doomsday Engine Updated (JHexen/JHeretic) - Mark @ 20:34 EST

Jaakko Ker,nen has released a new version (0.92) of his Doomsday engine port of Raven's Heretic, JHeretic (OpenGL port of Heretic). There are a number of changes but the big one for sound is 3D sounds with reverberation much like in JHexen. I know that JHexen has DS3D with EAX and A3D 3.0 support so I expect its the same for JHeretic. For more details head to the JHeretic page.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

InfoRadio FM-250 Stereo Transmitter - Mark @ 13:38 EST

Target PC a while back posted an article on the InfoRadio FM-250 Stereo Transmitter. Here's a snip from the intro to set the table:

Since the 1950's, technology has been such that FM radio has dominated the airwaves. Advertisers prefer FM over AM for obvious reasons: clearer signal, stereo capability, and more efficient local marketability. Yes, AM stereo does exist but so few car radios are equipped with the proper decoding chip and so few stations actually broadcast in AM stereo. Prices for startup FM stereo stations easily soar in to the hundreds of thousands and even stretch into the millions of dollars. What if, for a few hundred bucks, you could start your very own FM stereo radio station? Is this possible? Is this legal? The answer is yes to both because the FCC rules and the InfoRadio FM-250 transmitter makes everything possible!

Utopia Live! Update - Mark @ 13:34 EST

If any of you picked up the excellent Utopia!Live soundfont that we recently reviewed you should be interested to learn that they have posted a small (142 kB) patch which fixes some minor bugs and updates Utopia Live! to version 1.2 in the process. It's downloadable from their web site at www.utopialive.com.

LAVA! 2.0 Plug-in for WinAmp - Mikael @ 02:06 EST

Creative Labs has released a new LAVA! 2.0 Plug-in (Beta Release) for WinAmp (English Version) for users running Windows 95 and Windows 98 only.

Tuesday, May 16, 2000

DVD Roundup - Mark @ 20:31 EST

Gamespot UK has posted quite an extensive DVD Roundup they offer an overview of DVD, look at a number of drives (AOpen DVD-1040 Pro, Creative PC-DVD Blaster 6x, Samsung SD-608, LG Electronics DRD-8080B, Memorex Tri-Maxx 200 and Memorex DVD-632) and offer a guide to what the pros and cons of DVD vs CD are. One bit that I will add is they talk about the benefit of Dolby Surround from DVDs and that should of course be the benefit of Dolby Digital and DTS.
News Source: AGNHardware

Napster says 30,000 Metallica fans appeal ban - Mark @ 20:17 EST

That's the title of a story over at CNet News. Napster says that the users appealing the ban claim they didn't do anything illegal. According to the story, this sets up a dilemma for Metallica. Under US federal copyright law, the band has to individually sue each one of those people or see them reinstated on the service! As you can imagine, that would be a financial and public relations nightmare. For more on this story head over to CNet.

CPX Computer Port Extension - Mark @ 20:03 EST

Wan Akmal dropped us a line about a new product that you might have seen mentioned in our news a couple of times. Its an accessory to relocate the soundcard ports (or any port) to the front of the PC system (via a unit that fits in the 5 1/4" drive bay). The product is called PX Computer Port Extension and you can check it out at www.frontx.com. We hope to take a hands on look at this new product in the coming weeks, but I can already say that for those of you who are always fumbling around the back of the PC to change to a different joystick or connecting your MP3 player, etc to the line-in ports, this looks to be a handy product (provided of course that you have the empty drive bay).

Labtec introduces New Flat Panel Speaker System - Mikael @ 15:59 EST

Labtec today announced the introduction of its Edge-418 flat panel speaker system. Initially available exclusively at Best Buy, the Edge-418 uses flat panel technology to deliver, according to Labtec, top-quality audio performance from two incredibly thin satellite speakers and a separate wood-enclosed subwoofer. The suggested retail price of the system is $79.99.

In the Edge-418 satellite speakers, Labtec engineers combined their own proprietary design solutions with Slab(TM) flat panel technology, to produce flat speakers that outperform other existing flat panel designs. The system provides wide-field sound dispersion, smooth frequency response, and a very open, spacious sound quality. The high-tech flat panel speakers are powered by 11 watts (5 1/2W + 5 1/2W). The subwoofer is powered by 19 watts and features a 5 1/4" Max-X(TM) high-excursion driver to move more air and produce outstanding bass response, optimal dynamic range and improved bass. The subwoofer utilizes exclusive Real-Time Dynamic Bass Equalization(TM) that actively adjusts sound for optimum bass, without distortion, at every listening level.

Ricoh Introduces World's First 10x CD-RW Discs and Drives - Mikael @ 15:59 EST

Ricoh Company's Disc Media and Systems Center (DMS-C) Division yesterday announced the technological development of "RICOH CD-RW 74 minute 10X media," the world's fastest CD-RW disc. Ricoh has developed this new disc compatible with writing/rewriting speeds of 4x to 10x to conform with the most recent version of the CD-RW standard, Orange Book Part III, Volume 2, Ver. 1.0. Simultaneously, Ricoh DMS announced it has developed a multi-function drive that records CD-RW at 10X. Announcements on both products will follow pending general availability sometime during the second quarter. You can find more details in the press release including sales of CD-RW discs this and last year.

Turtle Beach and VideoLogic Announce Cross-Distribution Alliance - Mikael @ 15:58 EST

We already mentioned last week that Turtle Beach will sell VideoLogic's speaker line in North America, while VideoLogic will distribute the forthcoming Turtle Beach Santa Cruz(TM) audio accelerator in Europe and Australia. I think the only difference with this week's press release is that Turtle Beach wrote it while the two others were written by VideoLogic Systems.

CDDB, Inc. Announces Its CDDB2 Link Delivery Services - Mikael @ 15:58 EST

Yesterday, CDDB(TM), the standard music recognition protocol and information exchange on the Net, made its unique Link Delivery Services fully available to the marketplace. CDDB's Link Delivery Services gives content owners the ability to associate highly targeted URLs with specific data records in CDDB's massive database of audio CD titles. The result is the contextual delivery of content related directly to the music while it is played in CDDB2 applications. If you want to know more about CDDB read the full press release.

Creative Labs Digital I/O 2 Reviewed - Mikael @ 00:21 EST

When Creative introduced the very first Live they bundled it with a daughter-card that offered Coaxial in/out connections and a DIN connection, as well as MIDI in and out connections. While many users were happy with these options, some others, especially MiniDisc users, wanted Optical connections. Creative has responded by introducing a new Optical daughter-card that goes by the unsurprising name of Optical Digital I/O 2. This new card can be used with the original Live as well as the new Live boards (all of which use a 2x20 pin header) with full functionality. It can also be used with the original Live!Value's 2x6 pin header, but with limited functionality. In this review we will test the Optical Digital I/O 2 card as well as take a look at the new Digital Output module (only available in Europe) that is Creative's solution for users that require just the Optical and/or COAX digital output capability.

Monday, May 15, 2000

MGI Ships DVD Player with Dolby Headphone Technology - Mikael @ 22:43 EST

MGI Software today announced MGI SoftDVD MAX with Dolby Headphone. The product is the world's first DVD software for PCs to integrate Dolby Headphone technology, which delivers home theater-like surround sound through any regular pair of headphones. MGI has collaborated with Dolby Laboratories and Lake Technology, the developers of the technology, to fully incorporate the capability into a new version of SoftDVD MAX, which is now available for purchase from the MGI Web site. You can find more details in the press release.

Creative Labs brings digital audio to Mac - Mikael @ 22:30 EST

That's the title of an article in MacWeek discussing Creative Labs upcoming soundcard for the Mac. One thing that was news to me (but not surprising) is that it will not take advantage of the Live's 3-D sound-effects functions since the Mac OS only supports 2-channel audio. You can find more details in the article. Can also check out Creative's press release from earlier this year when they announced they won MacWorld "Best of Show".

Boston Acoustics Adds Center Channel Speakers to Award-Winning Lynnfield VR Series - Mikael @ 22:28 EST

Building on its acclaimed Lynnfield VR Loudspeaker Series, Boston Acoustics today introduced the Lynnfield VR920 and Lynnfield VR910 center channel loudspeakers. The New Lynnfield VR center channels are designed to sit on top of most TVs, featuring charcoal gray cloth grilles with black sides and black vinyl veneer. The VR920 features high-gloss black side panels that exactly match the tops of the Boston Acoustics Lynnfield VR series floor standing speakers.

The Lynnfield VR920 and VR910, priced at $599.95 MSRP and $349.95 MSRP respectively, feature Boston's patented 1-inch aluminum VR tweeter with Amplitude Modification Device (AMD). You can find more details in the press release.

73 Percent of College Students Use Napster Monthly - Mikael @ 22:27 EST

Reuters reports that Seventy-three percent of college students surveyed by research firm Webnoize Inc. said they used Napster Inc.'s controversial song-swap software at least once a month. That's probably not something the music industry will be pleased to hear. The report also includes good news for the music industry since it reveals that 59% of all that use Napster say they would be willing to pay $15 to use the service. It also revealed that 32% spends today less than $10 a month which, according to Webnoize Inc, means there is a good chance that services like Napster could get people to spend more on music than they do today. It would be interesting to know if the ones spending less than $10 a month also spent that amount of cash before they started to use Napster :-).

If you want to learn more about what impact services such as Napster could have on piracy I suggest you check out CNet's "Napster Wildfire" that was posted today

Napster Sweeps Webby Awards - Mikael @ 22:26 EST

Napster, the MP3 filesharing software application at the heart of a roaring debate over the future of digital music, received resounding support from colleagues and consumers alike last week as they walked away from this year's prestigious Webby Awards with both available music awards. You can find more details about Webby Awards in the press release. The press release also has a bit about Chuck D's Rapstation recently announced songwriting contest.

Toshiba SD-R1002 Review - Mark @ 20:11 EST

Cnet has posted a positive review of the Toshiba SD-R1002 CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. The drive offers 4x4x24 speeds respectively and comes with Cyberlink's PowerDVD (I assume v2.5), the latest versions of Adaptec's CD-burning suite: DirectCD 3 and Easy CD Creator 4 and a bunch of game demos for a list price of $349
News Source: AGNHardware

Labtec LCS 2414 Review - Mark @ 19:57 EST

The Daily Chronic has posted a review of Labtec's low cost ($50) LCS 2414 2.1 speaker system. Having reviewed Labtec's APX4620 system, I know that Labtec does offer good bang for the buck and I don't doubt that the 2414 is any different in that regard. However, after scanning a number of other 2414 reviews I doubt its as good as this particular review would lead you to believe.
News Source: AGNHardware

Optical Drives: How They Work - Mark @ 07:57 EST

Tweak3D has posted an article that takes a look at how optical storage drives work. They look at CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, MO and LIMDOW technology.
News Source: Anandtech

E3 Photo Essay - Mark @ 07:51 EST

Things are a little slow on the news front after the E3 aftermath. I expect that a lot of PR announcements that never made it onto the newswire service (because of the weekend) will be making their way to us today. Anyway, our friends over at Gadget Squad have posted a small E3 gallery showing off some of the gadgets at the show to hold you over until they write up their summary of E3.

News from May 8-14, 2000

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