News:  May 22-28, 2000

Sunday, May 28, 2000

Allegiance 1.11 - Mark @ 10:23 EST

Planet Allegiance reports that the version 1.11 patch for Microsoft Research's DS3D supporting Allegiance has been posted on the Shadow Server (for those of you who don't know, that's where they test the beta patches).
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

More on MDK2 Demo - Mark @ 10:14 EST

I tried the demo on the Sound Blaster Live with the latest drivers, a Cirrus Logic / Crystal Audio CS4630 reference board, and a Vortex 2 SuperQuad board with 2048 reference drivers and the A3D 3.12 update. The bad news is there is no sign of any A3D support in the demo and on the Vortex 2 board I can't access the EAX option, even after renaming the A3D.vxd file which leads me to believe that the EAX support is EAX 2.0. If there is 3D sound on my Vortex 2 install with this demo its bad enough that it sounds like stereo x2 to me. The good news is for the cards with EAX 2.0 support. I have only tried the two mentioned above, but with both of those cards the MDK2 demo offers good reverb effects and 3d sound. I was not paying attention to occlusions and obstructions so can't comment on that part yet. Overall, the demo is pretty basic in its intent which appears to be to show off the graphics (which are nice), introduce each of the three characters that you can play in the game, and learn the controls. It has a very similar feel to the original MDK (which does have A3D 1.x support via a patch). Basically, you run around and kill aliens but sprinkle in an above average dose of humor. It looks good and runs well on my o/c Celeron 416 machine with 128 MB of PC100 RAM, TNT1 and Win98. If anyone has different results with Vortex 2 based boards I would appreciate hearing about it. Other comments are also welcome. While the full game just hit the stores, Gamers Press has some how managed to pull of a review of the full game, including some basic positive comments on the sound (no mention of DS3D, EAX or A3D).

Descent 3 v1.4 patch - Mikael @ 07:03 EST

If you use the update feature of Descent 3 to get a the v1.4 patch. For more about this patch check out Descent3.net's "The Story of the 1.4 patch".
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

iPlayMP3 Moveman review - Mikael @ 06:59 EST

Chick's Hardware has posted a 4-page review the iPlayMP3 Moveman MP3 player. It includes a pair of headphones, the RocketMP3 USB Compact Flash Card reader and a 56Mb CompactFlash card. They found the sound quality and transfer speed to be excellent but complained of lack of features (no voice recording, FM tuner or support for ID3 tags), most equalizer presets useless and crappy headphones.

Saturday, May 27, 2000

MDK2 Demo! - Mark @ 09:35 EST

A demo has been released for MDK2. Kurt and his distinctively-shaped sniper helmet enter an all new 3D world. In this action-thriller, you revisit this reluctant hero, the dangerously brilliant Dr. Fluke Hawkins, and the ever-helpful 6-legged Uzi-toting dog, Max. As you may know, the game has gone gold and is expected to support A3D 3.0 and DS3D with EAX. As always you can buy the game and/or find more info at Gamestop and you can grab the 84.4 MB demo from 3Dfiles.

MidiLand Attends CompuTex 2000 - Mark @ 09:20 EST

MidiLand Inc. reports that they once again will be represented at the highly influential industry tradeshow CompuTex 2000 in Taipei, Taiwan. CompuTex 2000 in Taipei will be held June 5-9, 2000 at the TWTC. The entire MidiLand computer audio systems product line will be on display including some recently innovated products. Of high interest will be the high-powered S4 MidiLand 8200, a 200W 5.1 Surround Sound system complete with Dolby Digitalr decoding and an infrared remote control. In addition, the all-new MidiLand FP21, a flat panel speaker system, will be on display and they will introduce a new addition to the popular MLi series, the MLi-432. The MLi-432 is described as a compact and stylish 3-piece system that features a handy cable control module. For more details on the show and what MidiLand has to offer you can check out the full announcement as well as MidiLand's CompuTex 2000 page. Keep an eye out for our upcoming reviews of the S4-7100, MLi-490 and eventually S4-8200 (the 8200 is hand build in small quantities). You can already check out our review of MidiLand's ADS-2000 Dolby Digital decoder.

Burr-Brown Introduces High Performance USB Audio DAC for PC Peripherals - Mark @ 08:49 EST

Burr-Brown Corp. has announced the PCM2702, an audio digital-to-analog converter (DAC) designed for USB (Universal Serial Bus) audio playback devices and multimedia audio systems such as USB speakers and USB headphones. According to Mike Centorino, audio product marketing manager at Burr-Brown, ``the PCM2702 is the highest performance USB DAC on the market with over 100dB dynamic range and 105dB signal-to-noise ratio.'' The PCM2702 combines a USB-compliant interface controller and a 24-bit delta-sigma audio DAC on a single chip and it supports 48kHz, 44.1kHz, and 32kHz sampling rates, and accepts 16-bit stereo or mono audio data. For more details on the DAC, including volume pricing, check out the full announcement.

Napster boots Dr. Dre fans from service - Mark @ 08:39 EST

Another 230,142 Napster members have become temporary casualties in the battles between the record industry and the music-swapping software company. Rap artist Dr. Dre submitted a list of hundreds of thousands of usernames to the software company last week, alleging that all of them had illegally made his songs available as free downloads online. Like hard rock band Metallica before him, the artist demanded that Napster block these people from its service. This morning, when these rap fans tried to log in to the service, they found themselves banned.

"The artist Dr. Dre has requested that your access to Napster be terminated for alleged copyright infringement," read a statement from the company that appeared in place of the service itself. Napster went down this same road with more than 300,000 Metallica fans several weeks ago, risking the anger of many members to comply with federal copyright laws it hopes will protect the company in court. For more details and analysis check out the full story at C/Net News.

Friday, May 26, 2000

Inside the EMU10K1 - the heart of the Live! - Mark @ 21:37 EST

Live! center has posted an interesting seven page article in which they take a look at the EMU10K1, the DSP that powers the Sound Blaster Live and PCI512 line of sound cards.

Klipsch ProMedia Review - Mark @ 21:20 EST

3AG has posted a review of the Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400 speaker system and as expected they are very impressed. Just a couple of comments. First, and this is not to take away from the ProMedia which is quite loud, I think the review makes far too much of watts RMS. As we have shown in several of our reviews, there is much more to how loud and clearly a speaker system can play than watts RMS. The other point worth clarifying is the ProMedia is certified by THX and not for THX as stated in the review. That's a big difference as THX is a quality stamp and not an audio standard like Dolby Digital. THX also offers several different certifications. In the case of the ProMedia its the multimedia speaker THX certification. For more on the Klipsch ProMedia and on THX certification you can check out our own review.
News Source: Anandtech

VideoLogic Crossfire Review - Mark @ 12:59 EST

Target PC has posted a nice review of the VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire. Just a couple of minor comments. The estimated price when the unit becomes available in North America next month for the first time is US$450 - TargetPC probably just did a conversion from pounds on the VL site to come up with their estimate. The other is the satellites in future will come with a removable grill and mounting hole. For even more on the Crossfire you can check out our own review. You can also check out our Klipsch ProMedia - VideoLogic Crossfire comparison article.
News Source: Anandtech

Majesty Sound Editor - Mark @ 12:38 EST

If you play Majesty, you may be interested to learn that StrategyPlanet has the sound editor for the game which will allow you to edit and replace the in-game sounds. They also have a guide on how to use it.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

The Rome MP3 Player Review - Mark @ 07:57 EST

TargetPC has posted a review of the unusual Rome MP3 Player. What's different is the Rome MP3 player is the shape and size of an audio cassette tape and has the option of being inserted right into a cassette player for MP3 playback. Overall, they were fairly impressed. For all the details, check out the review.
News Source: Anandtech

CPX Computer Port Extension - Mark @ 07:53 EST

Active Hardware has taken a look at the CPX Computer Port Extension, an accessory to relocate the common soundcard ports to the front of the PC system (via a unit that fits in the 5 1/4" drive bay). Thanks to Jeremy Turnley for the pointer.

SoftDVD MAX with Dolby Headphone - Mikael @ 01:54 EST

We mentioned recently that MGI released the first software DVD player with headphone support. If you are considering to buy it the following e-mail I got from Jeremy Turnley may be of interest since I've never seen a review of this player:

I was suckered into buying this product - apparently MGI rushed this so they could claim to be the first Dolby headphone software. It's buggy as can be - locks up, gives an error message on startup with my SG2500, and has problems changing audio modes - and it lacks many of the features of it's competition in it's interface, such as an easy access right-click menu. I am also not pleased with their support - I have been forwarded around for 5 days not with no one willing to actually talk about the problems I am experiencing.

My advice - STAY AWAY and wait for WinDVD or PowerDVD to add Dolby Headphone to their products.

High Heat Baseball 2001 Patch - Mikael @ 01:49 EST

A new patch for the DS3D with EAX supporting High Heat Baseball 2001 has been released. You can download it from Avault where you will also find a list of fixes on 3dfiles

Another E3 report - Mikael @ 00:05 EST

3DHardware.net has finished their hardware E3 report. Audio related bits are Microsoft's Game Voice (a headset) and Creative Labs Playworks PS 2000 and Nomad products. Very short bit about the Game Voice but quite a bit of info about Creative Labs Playworks PS 2000 which also got their Best of Show award. They also has a picture of the speaker system so you can judge for yourself if you think it looks cool or just weird.
News Source: Anandtech

Thursday, May 25, 2000

EMusic.com Offers a Free Creative Labs Nomad II - Mikael @ 23:56 EST

EMusic.com today announced a new promotion for online music fans looking to take their MP3s with them on the go. Starting today, customers who purchase $50 worth of downloadable music from www.emusic.com will receive a free 32MB Creative Labs NOMAD II portable digital audio hardware player at no extra charge, a street value of $229.99. Ok not exactly free but still looks like a great deal. Check out the press release for more details. Worth noting this offer is only available for people living in US.

New Rio Receiver streams music to any room in the home via phone lines - Mikael @ 23:25 EST

S3r yesterday announced its latest digital audio creation -- the Rio Digital Audio Receiver(TM) -- a device that enables consumers to stream CD-quality music from a PC to any room in the house.

The receiver works with existing phone lines to distribute the digital music collections beyond the home computer. Out of the box, the Rio Receiver works with the industry-leading RealJukebox(TM) software. It supports various digital music formats, such as MP3 and Microsoft'sr Windows Media(TM) and can be upgraded to support formats developed in the future. The unit also works with other jukebox software such as Rio Audio Manager and comes with a built-in amplifier to ensure high-quality digital audio sound. For more info about the Rio Digital Audio Receiver that will be available later this summer for $300 check out the press release. You can also check out today's press release where S3 announced they teamed up with Broadcom Corporation to deliver this product.

Spatializer Selected by Akai Electric - Mikael @ 23:25 EST

Spatializer Audio Laboratories announced yesterday that Akai Electric Co., Ltd. has included Spatializer N-2-2(TM) across Akai's new range of DVD Players. Akai is now shipping Spatializerr N-2-2(TM) Virtual Surround Sound enabled DVD Players in four models, DV-P4500, DV-P4500K, DV-P4000 and the DV-P4000K, and has announced two additional models, the DV- P4100C and DV-P4100CK, to commence global shipments shortly. You can check out the press release for more details.

Ultimate DVD Platinum Named Discus Award Finalist - Mikael @ 23:24 EST

Henninger Interactive Media, a member of the Henninger Media Services network, said Wednesday that its production of The Ultimate DVD Platinum has been named a Discus Award finalist for Creative Excellence by the organizers of the DVD PRO Conference & Exhibition.
The Ultimate DVD Platinum is one of four nominees in the category of Best Technical Achievement; the others are A Bugs Life, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and The Matrix. The Discus Award is an international competition that recognizes outstanding examples of DVD design, interactivity, and production for DVD-Video and DVD-ROM. You can find more info about the Ultimate DVD Platinum in the press release or at DVD Express.

ReQuest Multimedia Ships First MP3 Home Stereo Jukebox - Mikael @ 23:23 EST

ReQuest Multimedia yesterday announced that it is now shipping the AudioReQuest Digital Music System(TM), which they say is the first MP3-based home stereo component to reach the consumer market. Not sure how they can claim to be the first but not that important. The hard drive enabled digital jukebox, the AudioReQuest Digital Music System, offers the following features

1. Music is automatically organized by song title, artist, and album using CDDB and MP3 ID3 tags.
   
2. With its built-in CD player, analog stereo line-in inputs, and network connections, AudioReQuest can transfer music from CDs, MP3 CDs, and PCs, and record from audiocassettes, LPs, and radio.
   
3. AudioReQuest is a stand-alone home stereo component, but can also be connected online or to a PC for enhanced Internet-enabled features.
   
4. AudioReQuest includes Ethernet, USB, and Parallel ports for connecting to PC, MP3 portable players, and the Internet.
   
5. AudioReQuest allows the user to navigate and play their music collection from a remote control, viewed on the built-in LCD and through the enhanced television interface.

SigmaTel Demonstrates Riser Cards That Deliver Six-Channel Sound - Mikael @ 23:22 EST

SigmaTel announced yesterday it is teaming up with Intel to support and promote communications network riser (CNR) technology on Intel's Asia/Pacific road show this week. As the subject says this will include 6-channel cards. No mention what if any 3D sound standards they will use.

In case you don't know Mercury Research, an independent market research firm, currently rates SigmaTel as the largest supplier of AC'97 audio codecs. The CNR specification is an open industry specification and defines a hardware-scalable OEM motherboard riser and interface supporting audio, modem and local area network (LAN) interfaces of core logic chip sets.

Yahoo tests media player amid heavy competition - Mark @ 20:38 EST

C/Net News.com reports that Yahoo is quietly testing software for playing and managing digital media files intended to go head-to-head with the market leaders. In addition to playing Internet radio stations, the Yahoo Player supports formats including MP3, Windows Media and CDs. The company's entry into the market for digital player software comes as established competitors use their players to aggressively promote their online content offerings and aggregation. Yahoo Player leads relentlessly back to Yahoo's own listings, downloads, reviews and other online content. According to C/Net, the creation of Yahoo Player signals an attempt by the portal to keep up with music services available through many of its rivals. America Online, for instance, owns MP3 player Winamp and Net radio player Spinner. Lycos, which is being acquired by Terra Networks, acquired MP3 player Sonique last year in an effort to boost its Net music offerings and launched Lycos Radio. For the full story head to C/Net News.

A New Note in the Song-Swap Debate - Mark @ 20:29 EST

Do file-sharing services like Napster help or hurt retail record sales? Until now, Napster and its proponents have pointed to broad increases in nationwide record sales as evidence that sharing MP3 files online has had a negligible, if not positive, impact on music sales. Digital-rights management company Reciprocal, which has a deep interest in selling copyrighted music rather than allowing it to be shared, released data on Wednesday that shows a steady decrease over the past two years in record sales at stores located near college campuses.

The study culled sales data from 9,000 record stores located within a five-mile radius of 3,000 college campuses. Those stores experienced a 4 percent drop in sales between January 1997 and March 2000, while the overall record industry experienced an 8 percent annual growth. Further bolstering the thesis that file sharing cuts into music-industry profits, the study reports that stores located near universities where Napster had "deeply penetrated" were worse off than the norm. Stores located near the 67 colleges and universities that had banned Napster by late February experienced a 7 percent decline in sales during the past two years. For the full story head over to The Standard.
News Source: Audio Today

CL Nomad II Review - Mark @ 20:24 EST

MaximumPC has posted a review of Creative Labs' new Nomad II portable MP3 player. Not much detail but they were fairly impressed with the unit.
News Source: AGNHardware

m3po v2.05 OS Upgrade - Mark @ 20:04 EST

TerraTec has released a new firmware update for their m3po, a component MP3 and CD player for hi-fi systems. Here's a list of the new features and fixes.

[New features]

LDC (Longest Directory Cache): the longest recognized directory structure will be cached - faster shuffle, search and index file creation ...

[Bugfixes]

Playmode/Speed: smoother transition between samplerates

PartyLock: password protection was not really secure (MENU Button)

string entry via remote control: press longer ENTER to accept string

time display of VBRs with ID3V2 tags

a few genre tags added

sometime ID tag read problems

Shuffle from Audio CDs

sometimes strange description at softkey

DJ Stack: press RC play and stack was deleted

Sleepmode: RC could not awake device properly

minor display errors

minor bugs

TerraTec AudioSystem EWS88 D with 10 digital audio channels - Mark @ 19:47 EST

TerraTec, Germany's leading manufacturer of audio cards, has made high-quality HD multitracking affordable for everyone with the introduction of the AudioSystem EWS88 MT in the summer of 1999. With 8 inputs and outputs for analog audio equipment, continuous processing of audio data at 24-bit with up to 96 kHz resolution from the converters to the drivers, MIDI I/O, as well as digital ports in S/PDIF format, the PCI card set new standards on the music market for price and performance. The new EWS88 D model is based on the technology of the AudioSystem EWS88 MT and provides a total of 10 digital audio channels. The optical TOS-Link interface can handle either 8 channels in ADATTM format, or a stereo S/PDIF signal (up to 24-bit/96 kHz). In addition to standard 16- and 20-bit, state of the art 24-bit resolutions can also be transferred. Also, 2 independent MIDI ports and an S/PDIF interface with coaxial connections (up to 24-bit/96 kHz) is available to which the ADATT signal can be routed and mixed - the EWS88 D can thus also serve as a converter. Of course, the card can also be synchronized with all further EWS-Systems fitted with an EWS-Connect or in addition with a WordClock signal by using the TerraTec EWS ClockWork module. This makes the AudioSystem EWS88 D an ideal complement to a digital project studio. For more details on the EWS88 D, as well as information on synchronisation via EWS ClockWork and information on the whole EWS concept you can check out the full announcement.

Morning News... - Mark @ 08:09 EST

Not much new in the sound world this morning so if you have read all there is to read of the news on the front page and have not visited for a few days, head to last weeks news archive or check out the forum for lots more good stuff. Remember, no registration is necessary to read or post in the forum.

LiveWare 3.0 for Win 2K Delayed - Mark @ 07:59 EST

Creative Labs posted an update in the Live News Group indicating that the LW3.0 for Win2K (expected mid-May) has been delayed to mid-June. Thanks to both Philipp Esselbach (of ntcompatible.com) and Anthony Toste for passing along the news.

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

TRIBES 2 Music (M"tley Cr_e) Interview - Mark @ 20:07 EST

There's a M"tley Cr_e interview on PC.IGN.Com where they talk with a couple of members of the band about their work on the soundtrack for the upcoming TRIBES 2. Its quite the wild interview!

Looking Glass shutting down - Mark @ 19:57 EST

Absolutely horrible news in general and made that much worse by the fact that Looking Glass Studios focused special attention on aural aspects of gaming. Here's a snip from the story as reported by Avault.

In stunning news, the Adrenaline Vault has learned that LOOKING GLASS Studios, creators of the Thief and Flight Unlimited series of games, is in the process of closing down and has cancelled all future projects, including unannounced projects Thief II Gold and Thief III. A source at the studio indicated the company is in dire financial straights despite robust sales of Thief II. In a message received from the source moments following the conclusion of a company meeting, the Adrenaline Vault was told, "LGS no longer exists. We are done. Everyone is out of a job tomorrow." Eidos was slated to be LGS's senior partner, but it is speculated at this time that the deal fell through due to their own financial problems. Eidos had not commented on the situation prior to this news brief going to press.

Icewind Dale Music - Mark @ 19:40 EST

Daily Radar has posted two excerpts from the Icewind Dale soundtrack in MP3 format. The game's score is composed by Jeremy Soule, whose previous work includes the soundtrack to Total Annihilation.
News Source: Blue's News

FrontX Multimedia Ports - Mark @ 18:09 EST

PC Stats has posted a review of the FrontX Multimedia Ports, a 5 1/4 drive bay device that moves all the audio ports, and joystick port to the front of the computer. This is one of the better written reviews of the product that I have seen and is worth a read if you are looking to avoid the back of your PC.
News Source: AGNHardware

GadgetSquad's E3 Round Up - Mark @ 18:02 EST

GadgetSquad has posted their E3 Round Up that includes a brief look at Creative's new speakers, the Nomad 2, Turtle Beach's AudioTron and a whole bunch of additional non-audio related products. Lots of pictures too and thankfully of stuff relevant to the whole point of the show rather than countless shots of booth babes.

Panasonic Announces Plans for DVD-Audio Line - Mark @ 17:50 EST

Panasonic offers a glimpse into the future of music by announcing plans for a full line of DVD-Audio/Video products under both the Panasonic and Technics brand names, with products arriving on store shelves beginning in July. The announcement notes that DVD-Audio uses the tremendous data capacity of the DVD format to produce the closest thing to truly pure sound that technology has yet achieved. To provide such musical fidelity, DVD-Audio uses linear Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) offering ultra hi-fi (up to 192kHz/24-bit) 2-channel audio or up to 6 channels of hi-fi multi-channel sound and 74 minutes or more of play time on a CD-size disc. DVD-Audio players also play DVD-Video discs and compact discs. You have to be prepared to shell out a bit of cash as the Panasonic DVD-A7 will have a suggested retail price of $999.95, and the Technics DVD-A10 will have a suggested retail price of $1199.95. Technics will also introduce a line of DVD-Audio ready components which you can read about in the press release. The press release also contains information about a new in-dash mobile DVD-Audio/Video head unit, DVD-Audio ready speakers for mobile applications, a micro component system with DVD-Audio/Video player and a portable DVD-Audio/Video player.

ABIT to Show new Audio Line at Computex 2000! - Mark @ 13:10 EST

This year at Computex ABIT is proud to announce a new line of sound peripherals. The ABIT Emodulator Card and Speaker set will, according to ABIT, provide an outstanding basis for a home theater system. Coming in a wood and metal set, the Emodulator Home Theatre AC-3 Audio Card features the following specs:

Support 5.1 channel Home Theatre Speaker Output

A3D, DS3D, Q3D and EAX Compatible

Soft DVD provide Dolby Digital AC3

Build in power amplifier

Games Compatibility: Compatible with all standard Windows games and most DOS games (in Real Mode DOS)

Audio Inputs/Outputs: Microphone input, Line input, Line output, Aux input on internal header, CD input on internal header, 1 G9 speaker output, S/PDIF optical input

MIDI Interface: Hardware-based MPU-401 MIDI UART-compatible interface through joystick connector.

Joystick Interface: provide standard analog/digital joystick support

Compatibility: Windows 95/98/NT4.0/2000

Qsound Labs Expands Distribution Agreement With RealNetworks - Mark @ 13:03 EST

QSound Labs, Inc., has announced the expansion of its distribution agreement with RealNetworksr, Inc. with the official release of iQfx2 and iQfx2 Plus - the Company's newest Internet 3D audio software. The expanded agreement provides all RealPlayerr, RealPlayer Plus, RealJukebox, and RealJukebox Plus users with the opportunity to download iQfx2 and/or iQfx2 Plus. With more than 125 million unique registered users of RealPlayer software, RealNetworks provides a valuable distribution channel for iQfx software both through its Web site and through the AutoUpdate feature in RealPlayer and RealJukebox. The suggested retail price for iQfx2 Plus is $29.95 and it is available for download from both Real.com Accessories (www.real.com/accessories) and QSound.com. For more details on iQfx2 and iQfx2 Plus you can also check out the full press release.

Aureal SQ2500 Review - Mark @ 12:53 EST

Our friends over at ixbt Labs have posted a review of Aureal's SQ2500 Vortex 2 based sound card. Some comments. The Vortex 2 is not typically referred to as a DSP as its a bit more hardwired than something like the EMU-10K1 for example. The S/N ratio on my SQ2500 is listed as 98 dB. Another thing worth noting is MP3 decoding is not done in hardware on the SQ2500 or even the SQ3500 if it ever sees the light of day. Its also worth noting that the 2048 drivers support I3DL2 in addition to EAX 1.0. Overall, this is an interesting review with a lot of detail, extensive benchmarking and analysis and includes some interesting results on EAX performance.
News Source: Insane Hardware

Week in Review - Mikael @ 11:36 EST

We have posted our latest edition of the 3D Audio Week in Review covering May 15-21. If you missed it (ok I forgot to post it) you can also check out May 8-14.

This weekly newsletter covers new driver releases, games, patches and demos that support 3D sound including information on any new bugs, bug fixes and other tips. The newsletter now also includes links to all sound related hardware reviews on the web as well as updates on what we did and what we plan to do in the coming week. The 3D Audio Week in Review is a great way for busy people to be right on top of all latest in the PC audio world.

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Utopia Live! SoundFont - Mark @ 23:57 EST

3D Audio Immersion has posted their review of the Utopia Live! SoundFont and just like I was in our review, they were quite impressed.

Altec Lansing ATP3 Speaker System Review - Mark @ 18:11 EST

Hardware Zone has posted a review of Altec Lansing's ATP3 2.1 Speaker System. This system uses a very unusual design with each satellite containing two 28mm Full-Range Dynamic Microdrivers and one 3" Down-firing Mid/Bass driver. I want to point out that I am just quoting from the specs when I say "28mm" and "Full-Range" in the same line ;). Anyway, you can check out their review for what they think of the system. Just one comment - if you can manage it, its always best to place most multimedia satellites at ear level or at least angle them up if their stands or design don't already do so. However, as you will read if you check out the review, it would seem from their comments that the placement of this system and your listening location has a more pronounced impact. Mikael is testing the same system right now so watch out for our own review of the ATP3.

ATLM Introduces 3 new MP3 Players - Mark @ 17:55 EST

James Soetanto of CNewz.com dropped us a line letting us know he has some info on ATLM's new line of MP3 players. All three players have a USB interface and come with 32 MB of memory. The ET320 model supports SRS WOW and multi-format playback such as MP3, AAC, WMA and can be upgraded by downloading new drivers and applications from the Internet. This is important as ET320 users can download SDMI compliant software from the web in the future. For additional details, including pictures of each of the units, head over to CNewz.

Dolby and ARM Enter AAC Patent License Agreement - Mark @ 08:06 EST

Dolby Laboratories announced that ARM, a leading provider of embedded microprocessor Intellectual Property (IP), has entered into an agreement allowing it to develop an optimized version of Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) technology for the ARMr architecture. The ARM-optimized AAC implementation, available now through ARM, enables hardware manufacturers to create ARM Powered portable music playback devices capable of decoding high-quality music delivered via the Internet. AAC is the latest audio codec standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as part of the MPEG specification. The release notes that compared to MPEG Layer-3, popularly known as MP3, AAC provides higher quality music while requiring approximately 30% less storage and/or bandwidth.

As you may know, several audio compression formats are vying for the prize of the successor technology to MP3. In order for the record industry to start encoding and releasing their musical assets in downloadable formats, the industry needs to be confident about two things: (1) that security mechanisms are in place so that their content is not pirated, and (2) that high-quality playback systems are available to the worldwide mass market on a variety of platforms. The press release goes on to note that of the competing technologies, only AAC is an international standard, only AAC was cooperatively developed by the world's leading audio compression experts, and only AAC is being licensed by Dolby Laboratories . AAC is high-quality audio coding technology and the solution of choice for many broadcast and electronic music distribution applications. AAC is compatible with all digital rights management, encryption, and watermarking solutions available today. In independent tests, the coding efficiency of AAC proved to be superior to MP3, providing higher-quality audio reproduction at lower bit rates. AAC provides up to 48 channels of audio, sample rates of up to 96 kHz, and can achieve ITU-R broadcast quality at 320 kb/s for a 5.1-channel audio program. Specifically it was developed and standardized as an ISO/IEC specification by four industry leaders (AT&T, Dolby Laboratories, Fraunhofer IIS, and Sony Corporation). For more information about AAC, you can visit the AAC website, www.aac-audio.com. You can also get a few more details on the announcement, including quotes from ARM and Dolby Laboratories, by checking out the full press release.

CyON MP3 Integrated Cell Phone-MP3 Player - Mark @ 07:53 EST

LG Information and Communications has introduced the world's first integrated cell phone-MP3 Internet music player that uses the SanDisk flash memory MultiMediaCard to store audio and data. The device is called the CyON MP3, LG-P810. A stamp-sized SanDisk 16 megabyte (MB) or 32MB MultiMediaCard will be bundled with each device sold. The innovative CyON is compatible with most digital audio players, because it uses the standard MultiMediaCard and MP3 formats. Users can interchangeably use their MultiMediaCards from their MP3 players with the CyON and either play pre-recorded songs or download music directly to their phone. Currently, the CyON MP3 is available only in Korea. It has not been determined when the device will be available in other parts of the world. For a few more details on features you can check out the press release.

Computergeeks.com Ships Hotly-Anticipated MP3/CD Players - Mark @ 07:33 EST

Computergeeks.com, a leading business-to-consumer e-commerce site specializing in unique computer-related products and peripherals, yesterday announced that it has shipped it's first allocation of Genica Portable MP3/CD Players on May 8th. The Genica MP3/CD Player is the same size and shape as a standard portable Compact Disc player, and weighs about 11 Ounces. What makes this player different is the unit can also play back music stored in the .MP3 file format. As you know, because .MP3 music files are compressed, it is possible to squeeze may near-CD quality songs on a single recordable (CD-R) or re-writable (CD-RW) disc. For more details, check out the press release.

Monday, May 22, 2000

More FAKK2 Music Q&A's - Mark @ 19:57 EST

FAKK YOU! the Heavy Metal: FAKK2 fan site, has posted the second, and last part of their Q&A with Ritual's resident sound and music man, Zak Belica. These new questions deal with the type of music the game's soundtrack will be comprised of, as well as whether or not they will be using any songs from the Heavy Metal 2000 movie. Here's a snip:

Q: Will the songs be in the same sound format as the SiN ones?

A:Sin utilized a dynamic music system that could trigger and crossfade ADPCM 22k .wav files. With FAKK2, we're using the same music system tech, only this time we're using the MP3 format. The MP3s are encoded at 22k 60kbit, so they don't take up too many CPU cycles on playback. The smaller size of MP3s allows me to have longer and more varied music tracks, so you the player won't get bored!

Unreal Tournament 420 Released - Mark @ 19:38 EST

Epic has released Unreal Tournament version 420 (here's a local copy with mirrors). In addition to the new game patch (which features improved Direct3D support), this update contains the first public release of the new UnrealEd 2.0 editor (developed by Legend). There is no mention of adding the option to reenable A3D 2.0's reflections on your own weapons so I would guess that its not there, but there is mention of the infamous "various others" so anything's possible ;). You can find a list of mirrors over at Blue's news where I spotted the news. If you check it out using a Vortex 2 board I would appreciate hearing from you about whether or not it reenables A3D on your own weapons effects.

LAVA Technology Interview! - Mark @ 02:12 EST

A LAVA! MusicVideo is an environment made up of 3D objects consisting of textures, images and colors that move to the music. Using a combination of sophisticated audio analysis developed at the Creative-EMU Technology Center, the LAVA! MusicVideo Player offers a new way of experiencing Internet audio and musicians a powerful medium for promoting MP3 and Windows Media content. In this interview we will be hearing from Mike Barnes, who is the Senior Brand Manager for LAVA! and Alan Seefeldt, who is the LAVA! Engineering Technical Lead, but should really be known as the "Grandfather" of LAVA!. Here's a taste of this very interesting interview:

3DSS: As I understand, LAVA made its debut at Woodstock '99 in the Emerging Artists Pavilion. Given that LAVA Producer was not yet released, how did you work with the musicians and producers to get the right scenes for the music?

MB: This show was done with a special "in-house" version of LAVA! called the "Projector" which we custom-edited. Features were actually added on the fly in C++ whilst we were at the event! We developed the Scenes from approved artwork and images sent to us by the bands.

Alan S: Creating content for Woodstock was pretty insane. At the time, LAVA! was limited to eight hard-coded 3D environments; so all customization was based on band images and logos. I think there were about 30 different artists. Since there were so many artists, we didn't really work with any of them one on one. They just sent us a boatload of images. To deal with this huge amount of content, I programmed for about a week straight creating a custom performance version of LAVA! that could dynamically fade in different sets of textures onto any of the eight LAVA! scenes. This was vital to making the program look dynamic during the many days that it ran at Woodstock. In addition, I added a randomized autopilot mode so that we could go boogie with the rest of the ravers. This custom version of LAVA! has continued to evolve, and we still use it at all of our live events. Many of the features developed in that version will be seen in future versions of the publicly released LAVA!.

News from May 15-21, 2000

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