3DsoundSurge News: June 5

News: June 5 - 11, 2000

Sunday, June 11, 2000

Dynamix Plus MOD for Tribes - Mark @ 23:26 EST

Dynamix has released a new MOD for the A3D 1.x and DS3D supporting StarSiege TRIBES. You can grab the MOD and get all the details of what it does from the official Dynamix Tribes download page. If you don't have this great multiplayer only game in your collection you really should consider adding it and you can get it online from Gamestop for only $17.99! You can also get a detailed description of the game from the Gamestop link.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Cheats - Mark @ 23:14 EST

Avault has posted a list of cheat codes, jump points and other codes for the A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX supporting Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption.
News Source: Blue's News

Aureal Web Problems - Mark @ 22:48 EST

Just a quick note to point out that even though Aureal's main URLs (A3D.com and Aureal.com) are down right now and have been down for the last few days you can still get to some of the theme specific URLs. Specifically, linux.aureal.com, support.aureal.com and downloads.aureal.com are all working.

What is UDF? - Mikael @ 20:59 EST

I asked that question in a post below. If you want to know the answer check out Adaptec's faq. Thanks to Pool and Dharmesh Tailor for the pointer.
News Source: Can You Reliably Hear 10% THD? - Mikael @ 07:24 EST

We mentioned this as part of another post this week but for those that missed it I mention it again. Arny Kr_ger's PCAbx site has uploaded a few files that will allow you to find out if you can you hear 1%, 10% or 30% THD as applied to a very clean recording of a piano.

The game uses EAX support, which made the game more immersive. The voice acting was one of the best I heard in a game. The Narrator (portrayed by Don Morrow) did a fine job in creating a classical comic feeling in the game cut scenes, like watching old cartoons. The punch lines were delivered very well. The sound effects were pretty cool and sometimes funny, like when your character goes down the hole, reminds me much of the Coyote falling off a cliff. Sometimes you hear voices from beyond the closed doors so you have to anticipate that there will indeed be alien blasting in that room again. Oh well, need I have to say that the music fits the character you are playing?

Klingon Academy Goes Gold - Mikael @ 06:49 EST

14o East has announced that their space combat simulator, Klingon Academy, has gone gold. Last fall Aureal announced it would support A3D 3.0 but later said "it may be released with just A3D 1.0 because of time constraints". That was more than 6 months ago. Checking a couple of previews and the official site there is no mention of any support for A3D or 3D sound so maybe there is no 3D sound at all. For more about the game you can check out Avault's preview or download the demo from 3dfiles.
News Source: Avault

Saturday, June 10, 2000

Counter-Strike 6.5 Review - Mark @ 23:29 EST

Gamesurge (nice name ;) ) has posted a review of the A3D 2.0 with wavetracing and DS3D with EAX supporting Half-Life mod called Counter-Strike, using the recently released 6.5 patch. What is Counter-Strike? The introduction to the review sums it up quite nicely.

Counter-Strike is a modification (MOD) to the excellent game, Half-Life. It modifies the multiplayer aspects of Half-Life to bring to it a more team-oriented gameplay. The MOD is team-based featuring one team playing the role of the terrorist and the other team playing the role of the counter-terrorist. Each side has access to different guns and equipment, as well as different abilities. Maps have different goals such as: hostage rescue, assassination, bomb defusion, Terrorist escape, etc.

Here is a snip of what they had to say on sound:

The sounds are great, as usual. The new lightning sound effects in de_aztec are pretty damn cool, as is the new background sounds in most of the maps, including some music in cs_italy that fits the theme perfectly.

If you don't already own Half-Life, you really should get a copy. It has great sound implementation and it's quite simply a great game period. If you want, you can order the Game of the Year Edition online from Gamestop for only $39.99.

Looking for Full Throttle and Neverhood - Mark @ 23:16 EST

Just a quick note to say that Jeff Atwood from Gamebasement is trying to get the sound track for "Full Throttle" by Lucasarts and "Neverhood" by Dreamworks to use on their all games music broadcast. If you can help Jeff out, drop him a line at wumpus@gamebasement.com

Logitech SoundMan X2 Review - Mark @ 21:36 EST

TargetPC has posted another of their specification critical reviews. This time it's the Logitech SoundMan X2 that they pull apart and between their examination of how the system lives up to Logitech's stated specifications, and their ears, they come to an overall rather negative conclusion. Their big knock against these speakers is the lack of high frequency response. Since I have not heard them myself I did a scan of several other reviews and most complain about the same flaw, with generally negative conclusions. One comment on the TargetPC review. In the review they note that input sensitivity "measured 203mV, which immediately eliminates a significant percentage of inexpensive cards" and go on to note that even with the SBLive they had to "almost crank the pre and total outputs up to their max positions" in order to fully drive the speakers. That statement is just plain odd from a number of perspectives. First, many high quality systems have a input sensitivity of 200 mV. For example, the Diamond Audio Technology HMP-4100 (S4-4100), the Videologic Sirocco Crossfire and the S4-7100 all have an input sensitivity of 200 mV and I don't have any trouble driving them with any sound card that I have used. In fact, using MidiLand's MLi490 system which has an input sensitivity of 300 mV also poses no problems in my preliminary testing with three different sound cards! It's also odd from the perspective that I am not aware of any multimedia speaker system that will max out with the master and source in windows mixer below some reasonably high level. Note that the input sensitivity was just a minor knock against the system. For all of TargetPC's details on this $99 2.1 system, check out their review.
News Source: Anandtech

Can't play The World Is Not Enough or other DVD movies? - Mikael @ 12:39 EST

While checking out Sigma Designs site I noticed they have posted a troubleshooting tips for those that get receive a "file not found" or MMSYSTEM 275 error when they try to run certain DVD movies (e.g. The World Is Not Enough). I think it may apply to more than just Hollywood Plus users considering it relates to disable the UDF file system.

In Windows98 the solution is to run "msconfig" (start\run\msconfig\advance) to disable UDF format and reboot. You can enable it later if you wish. I don't think it's required for any DVD movies but maybe other DVD discs. Anyone that knows more about the need for UDF let me know.

In Windows 2000 you should Run "regedit" and rename the entries - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Udfs and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services\Udfs by changing "Udfs" to any name like "Abc" and reboot. When you change control set 001, it automatically changes control set 002. When you are done with the movie, rename "Abc" back to "Udfs".

New Hollywood Plus Driver - Mikael @ 12:31 EST

Sigma Designs has posted a new release (v1.8.2) for their Hollywood Plus card.
News Source: Unreal Patched with UT update - Mikael @ 12:22 EST

We mentioned yesterday that Warzone has thrown up a page with instruction of how you can play Unreal using the UT files. I just saw that VoodooExtreme has posted an e-mail from a user that says in addition to copy those files you also need rename your "Unreal.ini" file in the Unreal\System folder to "UnrealTournament.ini".

Nascar 2000 review - Mikael @ 08:33 EST

Gamepen has posted a mixed review of Nascar 2000 but they had a very positive impression of the audio:

On the aural front, the game sounds terrific with Doppler-type waves changing as your position on the track and between other cars changes. Each tire also has its own effects, so the canned tire screech is a thing of the past. The play-by-play commentary is typical for this game, and the announcers make the usual inane comments that are so prevalent on actual NASCAR broadcasts, though it's unlikely that they'd say, "He's right where he wants to be" after the car they're focusing on falls to last place.

It's similar to other reviews that also been impressed with the audio but more mixed about the rest of the game. Here's a bit from Actiontrip's review hinting the game supports DS3D with EAX something:

The sound is very good. The cars sound the same as the real ones, and tire sounds are one of the best I've heard. 3D positioning is also very good. The best effect there is the echo of the engine you hear when you come close to a wall.

Worth noting it's not Creative's EAX list so not certain it supports it.
News Source: AGN

MP3.com settles copyright dispute with Warner and BMG - Mikael @ 08:23 EST

BMG Entertainment and MP3.com have reached a settlement in their copyright infringement suit, the two companies announced yesterday. Additionally, BMG has announced that it has granted MP3.com a license to use its catalogue of music in My.MP3.com, an online service which allows consumers to store and replay music that they previously purchased. Terms were not disclosed. You can read the press release for more details.

In a separate press release Warner Music Group (WMG) announced that it has also reached a settlement with MP3.com and that it has entered into a North American license with MP3.com for use of WMG-controlled recordings on My.MP3.com's popular ``Beam-It'' and ``Instant Listening'' software services.

Can be interesting to note that the MP3.com stock has gone up a lot the last few weeks closing yesterday at almost 20, up from 52 week low of 6 1/2. Still far below the 52 week high of 105 though. For some analysis of these 2 deals you can check out this Cnet story.

Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed review - Mikael @ 07:28 EST

Electric Games has posted a positive review of Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed. Rather short but positive bit about the sound:

Sound effects are very good as well, and are very accurate. The different engines sound realistic, as does the squealing of the tires. The music is there for effect and has a decent beat that is a nice driving companion.

The game supports DS3D, not sure if it also supports EAX.
News Source: AGN

Cubase VST patch - Mikael @ 07:26 EST

A new patch for Cubasis VST has been released. According to Alive it will patch the version that was bundled with the European Live!Platinum and Live!Drive II (also just in Europe).
News Source: ALive

Tzar patch - Mikael @ 07:26 EST

Talonsoft has released a new patch for their strategy game Tzar. It supports DS3D with EAX. No mention what's new in this patch but probably a good idea to get it. Based on the new of the file it seems like it patch the 1.01 US version only. You can grab it from Talonsoft (2.55MB).

Winamp 2.64 released - Mikael @ 07:25 EST

Nullsoft has released a new version of Winamp, 2.64. The new feature is a working DSP code, I assume that means it was broken in the last release.

Messiah demo and review - Mikael @ 07:25 EST

Shiny Entertainment has released a new demo of the DS3D with EAX and A3D 3.0 supporting Messiah. You can grab it from 3dfiles if you have the time and bandwidth to download the 99.3 MB demo.

If you want to know more about the game you can check out Speedy3D's review of it. Here's their impression of the sound:

3D audio is present taking the form of EAX, A3D, or DS3D. 3D audio in the game was quite good, and often added a bit of atmosphere to the overall gaming experience. In game music was done by none-other than Fear Factory (yeah!). While very enjoyable, the music was a little different from what I had expected from a band that is almost all heavy metal.

Friday, June 09, 2000

Postmortem: Epic Games' Unreal Tournament - Mark @ 19:40 EST

Before you panic in light of the recent demise of Looking Glass Studios, this is "just" another in Gamasutra's excellent articles where the developer takes a look back at a completed project and writes about challenges, accomplishments, what went right, what went wrong, etc.. This one is written by Brandon Reinhart of Epic Games. No mention of sound but still a very good read. For the whole postmortem on this A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX supporting game, head to Gamasutra.
News Source: Blue's News

Final Message from Looking Glass - Mark @ 19:23 EST

Looking Glass Studios has posted the following message on their webpage:

To all the fans and supporters of LookingGlass:
After a decade of creating games as an independent developer, LookingGlass has run its course. Despite valiant efforts to secure funding, we ran out of cash, and unfortunately had no alternative but to close our doors.
The news of LookingGlass' demise has spread fast. We've read thousands of e-mails, newsgroup postings, and letters from fans telling us how much they enjoyed playing our games, and how much LookingGlass will be missed. The outpouring of sympathy and kind words has been remarkable to witness. Clearly we touched our audience profoundly.
We want to acknowledge our fans and express our gratitude for your support over the years. Our games were made for you -- to entertain, challenge, and spark your imagination with new worlds and experiences. Your enjoyment of our games sustained us through the years, and fueled our creative passion and dedication for striving to make great games. We have been fortunate to enjoy such a loyal audience.
LookingGlass took creative risks. We introduced new kinds of game play, such as the hybrid 3D action/RPG play of the Underworld's and the System Shock's, the squad based 3D action/simulation of Terra Nova, or the first person "sneaker" play of the Thief's. Even in the more cut-and-dried civilian flight simulation genre, our Flight Unlimited series took a fresh approach. We intentionally charted new game design territory.
Unfortunately, being a pioneer does have its risks. Ultimately these risks contributed to LookingGlass' inability to continue forward. For the sake of our fans, and for the future of the game industry at large, we hope that the demise of groups like ours will not dissuade other game developers and publishers from the path of innovation. While doing better looking versions of last year's hit titles may be a short term path to success, to thrive and grow the game industry must take some creative risks and continue to innovate.
Although LookingGlass has fallen, we pass on the flag to those who are up to the challenge.
From the LG crew

I can't say it enough how much fans of excellent sound design will miss the efforts of Looking Glass Studios.
News Source: Blue's News

Hitachi, Toshiba and Panasonic will launch 4.7GB DVD-RAM Drives - Mikael @ 15:52 EST

Hitachi, Toshiba and Panasonic will host a briefing during PC Expo to launch 4.7GB DVD-RAM drives and media. The briefing will feature a demonstration that includes capturing video from a DVD camcorder; writing digital content to bare 4.7GB DVD-RAM media; and then playing the content on DVD-ROM drives, DVD players and DVD recorders. The briefing will also feature presentations on 4.7GB DVD-RAM technology and applications from the host companies and other industry leaders. 4.7GB DVD-RAM Features

Recording capacity -- 4.7GB on single-sided disc (full-feature movie capacity)
More than 100,000 write/rewrite cycles
Write and read compatibility with 2.6GB DVD-RAM discs
Read compatibility with DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-R discs
Read compatibility with CD-formats to provide access to existing assets and data
Transfer rate of 22Mbits/sec
DVD-ROM drive and DVD-Video player support

You can find additional details in the press release.

In a separate press release Hitachi Maxell announced that they will release its rewritable 4.7GB DVD-RAM (DVD-RAM Book Ver.2.0) beginning July 10th. The disc holds up to 2 hours of digital recording or 4.7GB of computer data. In addition, a 60 minute (high-quality mode) 2.8GB DVD-RAM disc for video camera use will be released August 25. The 4.7GB disc will begin be shipped to PC manufacturers in June.

Half Life: Opposing Force Patch - Mikael @ 10:38 EST

This patch will also update Half-Life: Opposing Force to version 1.1.0.0 to be compatible with Half-Life version 1.1.0.0. The patch also includes a new on-line game mode, Capture The Flag. You can grab the patch from 3dfiles

Unreal Patched with UT - Mikael @ 10:30 EST

Warzone has thrown up a page with instruction of how you can play Unreal using the UT files. Compared to the 225 patch this will result in better D3D performance and A3D 2.0 with wavetracing. Not sure how much if any better it is compared to the unofficial 226 patch for Unreal.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Playing games in Linux - Mikael @ 10:30 EST

Gamespot has wrote an article about how well it works to play games in Linux now and what we can expect in the near future. A good example that gaming in Linux isn't always that easy is shown by the following story:

Even gifted programming guru John Carmack has been stymied by Linux's difficulties. In an exchange with Bernd Kreimeier of Loki on the Utah GLX mailing list, Carmack wrote, "To get AGP running, I had to get the latest kernel source, get the newagp module, patch the kernel, reconfigure the kernel, rebuild the kernel, rebuild the modules, reconfigure lilo, reboot, and insmod the device... I couldn't imagine a pure consumer user making it through all that."

Not sure when he wrote that but if you go out and buy/download a Linux distribution today it will probably support your AGP card out of the box. When it comes to sound they mention that Soundblaster cards works well while many others including Aureal's Vortex chips fails in games even though they work to play MP3 files. They also talk a bit about OpenAL, the 3D audio API Loki and Creative Labs announced in March. This article also mentions that Heavy Gear 2 will support OpenAL and that several Linux distributions plans to include OpenAL in the near future.

PC-DVD Encore Dxr3 beta drivers - Mikael @ 09:36 EST

Creative's Singapore site has posted new drivers for the Dxr3 that will support Windows 2000 in addition to Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0. They don't mention what's new except support for Windows 2000. I found the following post in Creative Labs forum that may be of interest:

I have stand by and hibernation available with the new drivers. The thing
is when I was using the hollywood plus drivers I had to disable plug and play os in the bios, all I did was just turn it back on and stand by and hibernate were back. So far I have only come across one problem which has to do with the sound blaster live 4 point surround I had it enabled and I wasn't getting any audio on certain dvd's.

Starlancer review - Mikael @ 09:35 EST

Gamepen has posted a review of Starlancer. They found the 3D sound to be excellent:

A great deal of what immerses us in a game can be the sound, though you seldom notice it unless it is fantastic or downright awful. Starlancer features a good music score that is accessible in game, and excellent 3D surround sound. Unfortunately some of the missile sounds, and much of the weapons fire is a little bit wimpier than I expected for a space sim, but overall the sound is done extremely well and only contributes to the games atmosphere.

The game is supposed to support A3D 2.0. I would guess it also supports DS3D either directly or by using Aureal's A2D drivers.
News Source: AGN

MDK2 reviews - Mikael @ 09:35 EST

Game-over.net has posted their usual 2 impressions (2 reviewers) of MDK2. Here's the first sound impression:

So how does it sound? Great. Sorry, that was the best adjective I could think of, you just have to hear this. EAX support adds to the game nicely, but I actually had the most fun playing this with my headphones. I'm just weird like that. Shell out the cash for the Live and the speaker set and I use headphones, go figure. But anyway, great sound effects and voice acting, and some really cool and appropriate music top the game off. And while the music is very well done and fits in nicely with the game,. I don't know why, but I just love playing this to the sound of the Gladiator soundtrack (available right next to the Plutonium, at your local Wal-Mart), again, that's just me.

And the second one:

Everything from the voice acting to the shot from Kurt's sniper rifle is reasonably well done. However, I found that the stereotypical use of a strange accent for the Doctor's voice was detrimental to the overall experience. MDK 2 lacks a strong musical score as the music is only evident when there is a battle with one of the game's many bosses, and it is just generic techno at that. The remainder of the levels are filled only with ambient noise.

For a third opinion of this game you can check out IGNPC's review, very short bit about the sound and music in this review:

The music is great (although it sounds like you're in an Old Navy sometimes) but the voice acting is really top notch. Sound effects are passable.

As mentioned before the game supports DS3D with EAX 2.0. It was also supposed to support A3D 3.0 but based on the demo it doesn't seems to work.

HanGo Electronics Personal JukeBox HDD DAP - Mark @ 07:58 EST

3DHardware has posted a review of Hango Electronics' Personal Jukebox (PJBox for short). Featuring a 4.68GB 2.5 inch IBM hardrive you realize it's not your average portable MP3 player. Thanks to 12MB internal DRAM and lithium ion battery it still skip free and have reasonable playback time of about 10 hours. The size (5.8" in width, 3.2" height and 1" thick) is more like a portable CD player than most other MP3 players though. The major disadvantage is the price tag of $750. Sound quality including the bundled headphones are of excellent quality according to this review. The one thing I find odd and disagree with are the generic comments about headphones. A good quality set of headphones (and I am not talking ear-buds or portable headphones here) is the most inexpensive step towards experiencing audiophile quality sound reproduction as you can get into very good to excellent quality for much much less than the cost of audiophile quality speakers.
News Source: AGNHardware

Aztech AMS 5.1 Speakers Reviewed - Mark @ 07:37 EST

Hardware-one has posted one of the few (only?) reviews I have seen of the Aztech AMS 5.1 speaker system. This is a system that was actually out before MidiLand's own 5.1 ready speaker system but does not appear to be commonly available outside of the Asia/Pacific market. Anyway, not a bad review and worth checking out. A couple of comments. As they note, their comparison system is unorthodox. The down side in the review is it does not really help give a good idea of just how the AMS5.1 compares to the standard multimedia system. IMO they don't put enough emphasis on the whole point of a 5.1 ready system being that you can match it with one of the existing or upcoming (e.g. Turtle Beach Santa Cruz) 5.1 analog output soundcards or even Dolby Digital Decoders like MidiLand's ADS-2000. The advantage of these systems is they will take full advantage of a 5.1 analog output soundcard where as a system with an integrated decoder typically cannot.

Thursday, June 08, 2000

CounterStrike 6.5 Released - Mark @ 21:27 EST

The long awaited CounterStrike 6.5 for Half Life is now available. This is available as a patch as well as the full install. Youll need the Half Life 1.1 patch as well. Grab it from 3Dfiles.

Half Life Patch Released - Mark @ 21:24 EST

If you dont want to use the ingame updater you can grab the 21.7 MB Half Life 1.1 patch from 3Dfiles where you can see a list of changes/fixes.

Voquette Announces Support for Microsoft Windows Media Format - Mark @ 19:24 EST

Voquette has announced its Voquette Media Manager(VMM) software will support the Microsoft Windows Media Format and integrated digital rights management. According to the press release, Voquette (www.voquette.com) offers the easiest way for Web audio users to find, listen to and record all popular forms of digital audio, including streaming programs and MP3s. By supporting the Windows Media Format and its built-in DRM technology, Voquette will securely deliver digital audio content and enable VMM to work with other jukebox applications. The Windows Media Format will also enable Voquette users to easily double the amount of CD quality music they can store on their digital music devices, allowing up to two hours of music on 64MB of compact flash or other portable media. That's because Microsoft claims that their 64 kbs WMF sounds better than MP3 encoded at 128 kbs. Their claims were backed up by a study performed by ZD Labs. What is important to note they used the Xing encoder which is not considered to a high quality encoder. Arny Kr_ger's new site pcabx.com recently kicked up a couple of test files where you can judge how the Windows Media Format compares to the Fraunhofer encoder, the one used by MusicMatch and also considered to the best one. Kr_ger comes to some rather different conclusions in his own tests. You can see a summary of those tests here. For more details on the Voquette announcement, check out the full press release.

Vitaminic Selects Microsoft Windows Media Format - Mark @ 19:11 EST

Microsoft Corp. and Vitaminic SpA, Europe's first and foremost web community for the promotion and distribution of music in digital format, have announced that Vitaminic will use Microsoftr Windows Media Technologies for online music distribution on its popular Vitaminic sites across Europe and the USA. The entire Vitaminic music catalogue will be made available in Windows Media Format, providing bands and labels with a secure download technology to deliver their original content. Vitaminic also announces a content agreement with Microsoft to provide music files for the new Media Guide of the Microsoft Windows Media Player 7. For more details check out the full press release.

Vortex SQ1500 Review - Mikael @ 14:19 EST

PCGN has written a review of Aureal's SQ1500 soundcard. The reviewer really liked the card. I think the SRP is $70 and not $50 which this review lists. One other error is that the SQ1500 supports A3D2 it's just that it doesn't support the most significant new features in A3D 2.0, that is reflections. Regardless if the price is $50 or $70 I would recommend getting another $50 card like Guillemot's Fortissimo if you want to play games. There are 3 major issues with this card it doesn't support EAX, it supports only 8 3D streams and it's quite possible we will never see any new drivers for this card. The last disadvantage is shared with many other budget cards.

Seagate `Sound Barrier Technology' Delivers Quietest Desktop Disc Drives - Mark @ 13:09 EST

Seagate Technology has unveiled its ``sound barrier technology'' (SBT), a set of features that optimizes disc drives for quiet operation. SBT includes a silent seek mode that can be configured during manufacturing or enabled by a user. Now, the PC or other host can tell a disc drive to perform in quiet mode for home entertainment applications, or to deliver faster seeks for business applications where data must be gathered quickly from various sectors on the disc drive. It sounds like the perfect drive for building a PC based home theater system! For a lot more details you can check out the full press release.

Speaker Comparison - Mark @ 12:59 EST

Beyond3D has posted a speaker comparison article looking at the Cambridge SoundWorks DTT2500, Guillemot's 4.1 system and the VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire. My only comment - in the review, Dolby Digital on the DTT2500 is looked at as, more or less, an unnecessary feature by the reviewer. In fact, it's the whole reason to get that system over the otherwise identical FPS2000. I also don't think there is anything wrong with the construction of the DTT2500.

D-Link DMP-100 MP3 Player Review - Mikael @ 10:28 EST

The Tech Zone has checked out D-Links MP3 Player DMP-100. Relatively standard MP3 player with 32 MB of memory, memory expansion slot (SmartMedia), voice recording, parallel port connection, tunable equalizer, LCD display and the standard control buttons. The reviewer found it to be good choice for $180 even though he didn't like the limited memory space and the slow parallel port interface.
News Source: Anandtech

AOpen 16X 1640 Pro DVD-ROM - Mikael @ 10:28 EST

Martian Gothic: Unification review - Mikael @ 09:57 EST

PC.ign has posted a review of Martian Gothic: Unification. They found the sound to be the best part giving it a score of 9.5 out of 10 with an overall score of 7.9. Here's the usual sound snip:

The sound is excellent. The music -- thankfully not the usual rave/techno that I immediately turn off -- is moody and suspenseful and adds much to the experience. The sound effects are clean and the 3D surround really comes through. The weapon and creature sounds are well executed the nail gun sounds just right, zombie moans are creepy and the roar of the big Trimorph creatures is terrifying. Also the Foley sounds, opening doors, footsteps, reloading a gun, etc. are all good. Let me tell you from personal experience, that when you turn a corner and a zombie grabs you and starts gnawing on your neck, punctuated by the music, you will jump -- especially at three in the morning.

The game is on Aureal's A3D list as an A3D 1.x title and Talon Soft's Martian Gothic page mentions 3D sound and EAX.
News Source: AGN

Motocross Madness 2 review - Mikael @ 09:40 EST

We posted snips from several Motocross Madness 2 reviews yesterday covering the excellent sound and positional audio in the game. Today I found a review on 3D gaming.net that says the game also supports EAX. It's not on Creative's EAX list yet but they are often late to update that list. Here's their impression of the EAX implementation:

The game supports 3D sound and EAX, the latter providing a great indoor echo effect at supercross races. If you only had earplugs and couldn't breathe, you'd SWEAR you were at a supercross race.

That's just a taste from the sound section of this detailed (5 pages) review.
News Source: AGN

Vampire Bits! - Mark @ 07:41 EST

That's bits not bites...Great news from Jeff Atwood of Jeff Atwood of Game Basement, home of the only pc-oriented game music broadcast that we are aware of. According to Jeff, Vampire: Masquerade has excellent A3D 2.0 sound! The game is also supposed to support DS3D with EAX but not sure what version of EAX. For more on the game you can check out the following. There is an extensive and excellent interview over at Gamespot. Here's a taste:

GS: Did you have to tweak and tinker with a lot of game scenes? Were there scenes that came to life in the script but when realized on the computer just didn't have as much emotional impact?

RG: I think one of the biggest lessons learned was how important each element is to establishing a scene and making it work. The models, animations, environments, lighting, sound, music, dialogue, camera handling, etc. all have to support the goal of the scene. If any one thing fails, the message you are attempting to convey gets lost.
Some things worked exactly as written; others were a failure or impossible to implement. Some dialogue that seemed fine on paper was hard to deliver when voice recording or was too drawn out in the game and had to be cut. Other scenes were too abrupt and had to be augmented in order for the user to understand the sequencing. I guess it's a lot like film editing, except we have the advantage of moving a camera shot entirely and interactively to see what works.

Computer Games Online has posted a quick take of the game. Nothing on sound but very positive first impressions. Activision's official support page is up and running with two sound related fixes. One is listed on static and sound problems with Diamond MX400 and the other is missing sound effects with an Sound Blaster Live. The issue is a non-issue as the fix is to make sure you are running the latest drivers with full acceleration enabled (which is what you should be doing anyway), but the MX400 fix is to move the performance slider down one notch (Basic Acceleration) as well as move the 'Sample rate conversion quality' slider to the middle notch (Improved sample rate converter). I believe the basic acceleration setting will mean no 3d sound but not positive as I have not tried that card yet. You may also want to try the latest drivers just in case they fix the problem. Last bit for now is you can get an overview of the game and order it online from Gamestop.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Hitachi, NEC and Sony Display Dolby Digital Logo on Computers - Mikael @ 06:30 EST

Dolby Laboratories announced a new licensing program that allows computer manufacturers to display the Dolby Digital trademark on their products. To get the Dolby Digital logo, the PC must provide Dolby Digital multichannel sound from either an S/PDIF digital or analog multichannel output. In case of S/PDIF output you will of course need an external Dolby Digital decoder. Dolby hopes this will encourage game developers to create more multichannel computer games. I assume with that they mean more games with DD 5.1 content.

The program debuts in Japan, with Hitachi, NEC and Sony as the first companies participating.

ABIT Announces Emodulator Home Theater System - Mikael @ 06:29 EST

We have already mentioned ABIT's upcoming Home Theater System and soundcard but yesterday they decided to release the US press release and it also includes a few more details than the last one.

The ABIT Emodulator Sound card is the heart of the Emodulator Sound System. It uses ForteMedia's FM801 Sound Chip supporting true 5.1 channel Home Theatre Speaker Output with A3D, DS3D, Q3D and EAX compatibility. The Emodulator sound system also comes with a soft DVD player providing Dolby Digital AC3. The card also supports Remote Control and uses a Wavetable Synthesizer a Hardware FM Synthesizer for Adlib and General MIDI compatibility. This is as mentioned before the same or slightly improved version of the one found in BestData's Theatrix and Skywell's Magic Sound Live 5.1

To go along with this soundcard Abit will also release the ABIT Emodulator Home Theater Speaker System. It will come in three versions, the SP 50, SP 51, and SP 20. The SP 50 is the highest-end Emodulator System with the highest power output and wooden casing for the main speakers and metal casing for the satellite speakers. The SP 51 has a high quality vinyl casing for all speakers and slightly less power through-put but is more competitively priced. Finally the SP 20 is a 2.1 channel system giving great sound for a low price. You can find a few more details in the press release

Webnoize Finds Napster Users Willing to Pay - Mikael @ 06:28 EST

According to Webnoize more than half of college students surveyed that use Napster, the controversial MP3 Internet swapping software, would pay $15 per month to continue to use it.
The finding is included in ``Napster University: From File Swapping to the Future of Entertainment Commerce,'' a Webnoize research report that details MP3 swapping among college students, and explains how the trend will affect the future of the entertainment industry. The research report also says Napster is becoming an integral part of college lifestyles. While nearly 23% of students surveyed said they are spending significantly less time listening to compact discs than one year ago, 63% said they spend more time listening to downloaded music.

I wonder if RIAA will ever accept that you could download as much music you want for $20 a month. You can find more details about this survey in the press release.

Alliance Brings MP3.com's Music Services to the Living Room - Mikael @ 06:27 EST

MP3.com and ReQuest Multimedia yesterday announced a partnership that will allow music fans to access content and services on the MP3.com site from a home stereo ``digital jukebox'' without the use of a PC. The Jukebox in question is of course ReQuest Multimedia's AudioReQuest Digital Music System(TM). AudioReQuest allows users to navigate and manage music content from a remote control. Music content is viewed on a built-in LCD screen and through an enhanced television interface. AudioReQuest records, stores, organizes, and plays more that 300 hours of CD-quality digital music. ReQuest Multimedia expects to demonstrate the Audio ReQuest product with integrated MP3.com services at the upcoming MP3 Summit 2000, to be held in San Diego June 20-21. You can find more details about this partnership in the press release.

Sharp introduce 2 new DVD Players - Mikael @ 06:27 EST

Sharp Electronics has introduced two new full-size DVD models, the DV-710U and DV-770U. The DV-710U offers Sharp's exclusive Digital Gamma Correction function, Digital Super Picture with Enhanced Noise Reduction, Dolbyr Virtual Surround (Q Sound), Digital Theatre Sound (DTS) compatible output and composite and S-video outputs for high quality picture and sound performance. It's available now for a suggested retail price of $249.99.

The DV-770U boasts component video output and a 10 bit D/A converter. The DV-770U is equipped with a built-in Dolbyr Digital Audio Decoder (5.1 channels and Dolby Pro Logic), enabling viewers to experience theatre-like sound in the home, and DTS compatibility to maximize the high quality surround sound now available in many pre-recorded DVDs. In addition, Sharp's exclusive Digital Gamma Correction function, Digital Super Picture with Enhanced Noise Reduction and Dolby Virtual Surround (Q Sound) are all standard on the DV-770U. The DV-770U is also available now for a suggested retail price of $299.99. You can find more details about both players and their features in the press release.

Wednesday, June 07, 2000

Sweeney on Unreal petition - Mark @ 23:54 EST

Epic's Tim Sweeney made a post on the PlanetCrap messageboards with some positive feedback on the Unreal patch petition that we mentioned yesterday. Here's the post:

Some of these petitions are really good ideas.
A bunch of gamers saying "we are your customers, and we believe you should do the following to support your product..." is way more effective than randomly slamming companies and products on message boards. When looking at flames, it can be hard to distinguish good ideas from maniacal rants. But a petition shows well-thought-out, widespread public suport for a cause.
Game developers who ignore this kind of thing do so at great risk.
The Unreal patch petition is certainly the #1 issue on our radar screen at Epic right now.
No, we're not issuing a response to the petition...after all, the petition wasn't asking us to put out a press release talking about what we're going to do, it's asking us to FINISH AND RELEASE THE DAMN PATCH, so...
-Tim

News Source: Voodoo Extreme

DIABLO II Goes Gold - Mark @ 23:19 EST

You have probably seen this by now, but just in case you have not, I will say it again...Diablo II has gone gold! You can get all the details in the official PR from Blizzard. The last we heard, the game was slated to support A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX. You can get additional details, screen shots, etc., as well as buy the game over at Gamestop.

Record companies eye copyright settlement with MP3.com - Mark @ 22:57 EST

According to a Reuters story, the five largest record labels are close to a settlement of a copyright infringement suit with MP3.com Inc. that would allow the online music site to include the labels' songs as part of its controversial service, a record label source told Reuters. The proposed settlement calls for San Diego-based MP3.com to pay $75 million to $100 million to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group representing the labels, in exchange for the right to use the labels' songs as part of the My.MP3.com service. The service allows users to store music digitally and then access it via any computer. For the whole story check out the link above. In a support story, Reuters reports that the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Warner Music Group is close to settling a lawsuit with MP3.com Inc. that will include both damages for copyright infringement and a plan for licensing music from the record company. Precise terms were not available, but MP3.com is expected to pay Warner Music between $15 million and $20 million to settle the copyright-infringement claims, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper. The settlement may be announced as soon as Friday, they told the newspaper. For more details check out Creative's PS2000 Dolby Digital Speakers Reviewed - Mark @ 21:43 EST

GamePC has posted a positive review of Creative's PS2000 Dolby Digital speaker system. In case you have not seen them before, these are the very odd looking 2.1 system that Creative has designed for the Playstation 2. They will launch in North America at the same time as the PS2, but GamePC managed to get a hold of a set on a recent trip to Japan where the PS2 is of course already available. Just a couple minor comments. The review compares the HRTFs to those in Creative's EAX 2.0 reverb engine where as the HRTFs in fact have nothing to do with the reverb engine. They are a part of the 3D audio engine. I am also not sure why they had problems with playing CD audio as its possible to send CD audio from the most sound cards optical outputs. Finally, I found their conclusion rather odd as they end up comparing the PS2000 to the Klipsch ProMedia. IMO that's an apples to oranges comparison. All in all it's a rather informative review that's worth checking out.
News Source: AGNHardware

Advantech Adds Audio to Pentium III-Class Single-Board Graphics Computer - Mark @ 18:02 EST

Advantechr Technologies has added audio capabilities to one of the world's smallest Pentiumr III-class single board computers (SBCs) to equip it for operation in music preview kiosks, multilingual public information systems, arcade games and other applications where graphics, processing speed, and sound are all important. Announced June 6th, the new PCM-9574 has audio components that include a Multistream Direct Sound controller with Direct Sound 3D acceleration, microphone in, line in, line out, CD in, Speaker L and Speaker R. It also includes a Socket 370 for a Celeronr or Pentium III processor, up to 256MB of small-outline SDRAM, up to 4MB of frame buffer SDRAM for graphics, a hardware-assisted MPEG II accelerator, a CompactFlash(TM) socket, SGVA display support (with an optional PanelLink transmitter chipset for longer-distance connections). Plus a 2X accelerated graphics port, an IDE channel, an extra PCI slot, a PC/104 connector, Ethernet, a software modem and all the other pieces and ports required for a fully functional computer. All of these are packaged in the form factor of a 5.25 CD-ROM, making the PCM-9574 one of the smallest Pentium III-class SBCs available. For details on pricing and contact information, check out the full press release.

Week in Review - Mikael @ 09:53 EST

We have posted our latest edition of the 3D Audio Week in Review covering May 29 - June 4.

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.

Evolva review - Mikael @ 09:51 EST

FiringSquad's Guido has posted a detailed review of Evolva. No mention of DS3D or EAX in the review but it's on Creative's list and the demo supported at least DS3D. Anyway this review had the following bit on audio:

Animal sounds were pretty decent. There was the usual fare of grunting and squeaking when creatures were hit but not much else. After all what more does an animal do? Not much to rave about, but nothing bad either.
Weapons sounds were particularly enjoyable though. Some of the more notable sounds were the flames and snot. That mini-flamethrower packs quite a punch as well as sounding downright deadly. Snot had that particularly phlegmy sound to it, but the best part was that you could use both in concert with each other. After you booger up a baddie, you can torch it.
Music was excellent in this game. I wasn't compelled to turn it off like in most games. Genre-wise, it seemed to fall into the techno. Occasionally it sounded kind of tribal but for the most part it had some pretty good beats.

Motocross Madness 2 demo, reviews and interview - Mikael @ 08:32 EST

Microsoft has released a demo for the recently released DS3D supporting Motocross Madness 2. You can grab the demo from 3dfiles.

According to an interview at ActiveWin the designer of the game, Robb Rinard, is particularly proud of the sound quality in the game. Here's what he had to say about it

The engine audio is also a big step forward from a quality standpoint over any racing game I've played to date.
[snip]
I really enjoy the audio in the game. If you have a really good sound setup hooked to your computer you can really get immersed in the race experience.
Playing multi-player on a LAN with multiple computers in the same room is pretty intense acoustically.

For a few less biased opinions I checked out some reviews of it.
Fragland:

The sound is in the same quality-level as the graphs and gameplay. It's allmost perfect. The bikes make accurate sounds (you can hear the diffrence between 250cc and 500cc). And especially the public in the supercross is nice (they go Oooooooooh and aaaaaaaah according to how good you are :)

Activewin:

Yet again Motocross Madness 2 excels in the audio department. The revving of the engines, the distance of other bikes etc can all be heard perfectly. The games intro starts with an excellent rock track too which is an added bonus. There is no music in the actual game anymore, unlike Motocross Madness, I can't really say whether it is an improvement or not as I didn't tend to notice the music much in the first game anyway.

3D Racing.net:

The only music in Motocross Madness 2 is provided during the opening video. Sound effects in the game are definitely something to talk about. When driving around in Enduro mode, you can hear little effects from objects, such as a radio playing inside a trailer at the trailer park, or the buzz of power going through the lines. Objects like planes flying overhead are very good in that they are so loud when close, that they completely drown everything else out.
The bike sounds are particularly impressive, and I can easily say this, having rode a dirt bike in real life before. Each engine sounds different for different bikes and different engine sizes, and it sounds very good when revving up or shifting. The "panic-rev" sound that you get when hitting the clutch or hitting the throttle in mid-air sounds really great, something that I hit the clutch for constantly just so I can hear it.

PC Arena, just a taste of their sound impression:

The sound on this game with a normal cheap sound card is very good, but you are robbing yourself the same way you would be if you were playing the game without a 3D accelerator. The sound when played on a card such as a SoundBlaster Live is outstanding. There are the very well done motor sounds that change dependant on the size and type of bike or the rough sounds of death-defying crashes but these are just a part of the well thought out sounds that help pull you into the game. It's the little things that make a big difference to me; it makes you feel that the folks working on the game cared enough to do it well. You will find immersive sounds all over in all the maps - from humming electrical lines, music coming from houses and loads of other cool Easter Eggs to find for yourself.

Operation Sports:

Like the graphics, the audio in Motocross Madness 2 is simply wonderful. Once you combine the 3D Sound, Doppler effects and different authentic engine sounds, you can tell how far away a bike is, what direction they are and even the type of engine they have. Of course telling the difference between a 400cc and 600cc engine is not easy for most of us, but after playing the game a while, you will start to be able to tell. Although there are number of "little things" that make this game just that much better, one that really stands out is when I was riding under some high power lines and could hear them humming. There are a number of audio extras like that, that add to the realism of the game.

As you can see the game offers some impressive audio.

Gunship review - Mikael @ 08:31 EST

Avault has posted a review of Hasbro Interactive's Gunship 3. The game is on Aureal's A3D list as upcoming A3D game but that list hasn't been updated for quite awhile now. There is no mention of A3D or 3D sound support on the official site but beyond mentioning a sound card is required you couldn't even tell there's audio in the game based on their limited info. If you know if it supports 3D sound or not let me know. I may try contacting Hasbro as well. Here's what Avault had to say about the sound:

Sound FX: The high intensity graphics are met with equal ferociousness in the sound effects department. From the overwhelming explosions that seem to rock your entire desk to the realistic, high quality, region-specific language, Gunship! is an earful. There's certainly more sounds to be heard than would realistic, but unless you're a diehard sim junkie, all of the extra hoopla surrounding the sound effects won't bother you. If anything they'll simply add to the overall immersive experience.
Musical Score: While there is some music provided in the different menu screens and cinematics, in-game music is non-existent and therefore this criterion has not been evaluated.

Computex Taipei 2000 Coverage - Mark @ 07:41 EST

Sharky Extreme has posted both a preview and initial coverage of the Computex Taipei 2000 computer trade show. Here's a bit on ABIT from the preview.

ABIT will be getting into the home theater computer speaker and sound card business with their new Emodulator series. The top of the line 5.1 channel SP-50 will use wooden casing for the main speakers and metal casing for the satellites. The SP-51, a less expensive version, will use vinyl casing and have a lower power rating. The SP-20 will be a 2.1 setup that is upgradeable to a 5.1 setup. ABIT plans to get the 5.1 setups Dolby certified. Some versions will come with an ABIT branded soundcard that will sport a G9 connector. This analog connector lets you run one cable to the sub-woofer instead of three mini-jacks

ABIT soundcard will use a chip from Fortemedia, most likely the improved version of what is in the Skywell Magic Sound Live and Best Data Theatrix. The only improvement this chip offers as far as I know over the current FM801 is that will support AC-3 pass-thru. You can get more on the ABIT products from their recent press release. The rest of the coverage so far is very heavy motherboard oriented but I know that MidiLand at a minimum is also at Computex with an audio presence.

Thief 2 review - Mikael @ 07:13 EST

Tech Extreme has slapped up a couple of pages with their impressions of Thief 2. Here's what they had to say about the sound:

One area where they really worked hard was on the sound. With a good sound card and speakers, you can lean up against a door and hear a guard approach, and walk by. Then, by turning yourself you can use the sound traveling from one speaker to the next to determine which direction he is walking. Of course with all of their emphasis on sneaking around, if they hadn't gotten the sound right then the series might have been nothing more than an exercise in frustration!

Certainly not the first review that has been impressed with the sound in this game. The game supports DS3D with EAX 2.0 and will also work fine on EAX 1.0 only cards.

News Source: AGN

MDK2 review and known issues - Mikael @ 07:12 EST

Speedy3D has posted a review of MDK2. The game supports DS3D with EAX 2-0 and maybe A3D 3.0. From what we have seen so far it seems like the A3D 3.0 code was never included or not working properly, at least not in the demo using the 2048 drivers. Here's a bit on the sound effects in the game

There are certain points in the game where you could almost swear the music was based off of that popular 'The Matrix' rock beat. Not that it's a bad thing, the action in the matrix could easily be contrast against that of MDK2 and indeed the music does fit quite well. Then there's the sound effects, strong and of extremely high quality but with a serious lack of 3Dsound standard support
DirectSound3D is supported, but for some reason kept disabling itself and there is no native A3D or EAX to be had. The sound is one area that really gives you a sense of being; each one fits the character and weaponry in the game perfectly. Ambient noise is cleverly devised and the whole universe simply comes alive to your ears.

This reviewer doesn't say what 3D sound card he used but the demo offered good positional 3D sound according to Mark (3DSS Mark not this reviewer) if you had a card that supported EAX 2.0. With EAX 1.0 only cards it failed to work.

If you want some help with this game you can check out BioWare's HowTo page and . None of the known issues are sound related.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Messiah review - Mikael @ 07:12 EST

Avault has posted a review of Messiah. The game supports DS3D with EAX and A3D 3.0. I'm not really sure what state the A3D 3.0 code it shipped with but one of the more significant features that it was expected to support, the DD 5.1 sound track, was not included. Last I talked to Aureal they said it may still happen in a future patch but considering it still hasn't happened I'm not very hopeful. Here's Avault's very mixed impression of the sound in this game

Sound FX 3.0: In some ways, Messiah delivers truly excellent sound effects, while in others it disappoints to no end. For instance, the ambient noises such as the dull hum of a research computer, the crackling spark of a welding torch and the pitter-pat of Bob's infantile footsteps are all done to perfection, urging you to turn up the volume when it comes time to boot up the game. On the other hand, the NPCs all suffer from the same problem: repetition. To say that they have little to say would be an understatement: rather, they generally have a single sentence per situation. Bump into one, and he'll give you the same response every time. Walk by him, and he'll chat you up with the same sentence, over and over and over. This definitely detracts from the relatively realistic impression lent by the rest of Messiah, and sorely exposes the NPCs as the programmable lines of code that they are.
Musical Score 4.5: There is very little music present in Messiah, although hard, driving tunes by Fear Factory leap violently from your speakers during most combat situations. The raucous, in-your-face metal suits the FPS sequences perfectly, and in many cases enhances it as its anger reflects the dismal and violent technology of the future. If there were ever a band suited to fit this game, it is indeed Fear Factory.

StarLancer review - Mikael @ 02:29 EST

Electric Games has posted an one page review of Digital Anvil/Microsoft's space combat game, StarLancer. Here's the sound bit:

Sound effects are good; you will hear the usual weapon fire and explosions, even though none of these should be heard in space. Some static appears over the voices, and are not as clear as they could be, but nothing too bad. Music is generally the background type - it sets the mood for battles but isn't something that stands out - it fits in well. The tracks may also be heard between missions when you are in your bunker in the form of a CD player.

The game is supposed to support A3D 2.0 even though this review didn't mention it. I would guess it also supports DS3D either directly or by using the A2D drivers from Aureal.
News Source: AGN

Tuesday, June 06, 2000

Oni MP3s - Mark @ 23:06 EST

Rampancy.net has posted three MP3s from Bungie's upcoming anime-inspired A3D 1.x supporting action game, Oni. For more details, screen shots, movie links and preorder info, check out Gamestop.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Unreal Patch Petition - Mark @ 22:52 EST

This should need little introduction, but here is a snip:

It's simple. Epic games has promised a final Unreal patch on more than one occasion. The gamers who bought the game want what we were promised so wecan finally play the game in a decent manor. As Tim Sweeney, said they owe us this patch. Also remember this affects more than Unreal, their releasing the final patch will allow Legend to fix the Mission Pack's problems as well.
Below are serveral quotes where they promised the patch. If we let them get away with this, they'll do it again with Unreal Tournament, that's pretty much guarenteed.

The page also has a large number of quotes which basically now ammount to broken promises on "the patch". Check it out!. Something we don't usually post but will in this case because of the eternal lack of a final patch is mention the leaked beta patch in the news. For more details, Soulbringer Gone Gold - Mark @ 22:36 EST

Gone Gold reports that the 3D RPG Soulbringer has gone gold. In an interview earlier this year on the Vault Network, game Producer Don Kirkland had the following to say in response to a question on 3D sound.

No, sound is not a critical factor. However, that does not mean sound has taken a back seat. We have dedicated people working on environmental sound effects and general world ambience, and we do support 3D sound.

No idea what API but DS3D with EAX seems to be a good guess. For more info on the game, as well as preorder info, head over to Gamestop.

The BEST MP3 Encoder? - Mark @ 22:00 EST

What's your experience? Is it Fraunhofer's MP3ENC, LAME, something else? Speaker Wire Matters? - Mark @ 21:04 EST

You may be saying of course it does, but I am talking about a multimedia speaker system. I have not done any experimentation myself yet with this but SomeGuy15 just completed some tests using the MicroWorks system with some surprisingly positive results. For details Skywell Magic Sound Live Reviewed - Mark @ 17:46 EST

In this review we take an in-depth look at the Magic Sound Live 5.1 sound card from Skywell. This card is interesting thanks its 5.1 analog output and the bundling of WinDVD for a SRP of 99 dollars. The Magic Sound Live uses Fortemedia's FM801 chip which features support for DS3D, A3D 1.0 and EAX 1.0 using QSound's Q3D 2.0 engine. It also features QSound's stereo expansion technology, QXpander and 2D-3D. The killer feature as mentioned is of course the 5.1 speaker support which many have been waiting on to play DVD movies using home audio 5.1 systems that are just Dolby Digital ready (that is they don't include a Dolby Digital decoder but have the inputs for one). As a bonus, with the latest drivers the card also delivers 5.1 support for In this review we will take a look at how the Magic Sound Live performs for playing music, games and DVD movies. While we still have lots of detail for games and music, when it comes to movies we really beefed up our usual testing in order to compare it to true hardware DD 5.1 decoders such as the MidiLand ADS-2000 and VideoLogic DigiTheatre decoder, as well as the 4-speaker down-mixing mode of the Sound Blaster Live and Vortex2. We also tested it with MidiLand's S4-7100 5.1 ready speaker system using games and DVDs and we even give some pointers on how this interesting card might be best utilized. For all the details check out the full review.

Audio Reproduction Systems - Mark @ 17:42 EST

Target PC has posted an overview of common audio terminology. Some comments follow. I think they over generalized on the amplifier classes when we look at the multimedia speaker market. For example, the very common FPS2000 system uses Class H amplification, the Microsoft DSS80 used Class D and the Klipsch ProMedia uses a class A/B switching hybrid design. Another comment is on distortion. I agree with their statement that below 3 percent is what is generally considered acceptable. However, you may want to check out PCABX where they have listening tests that you can do with varying amounts of THD to find out what you notice. The results may differ from what you expect. When it comes to loudness, it's worth pointing out that some of the Target PC loudness ranges are different than what I have seen from other sources. For example, a speaker design reference book that I own lists a loud orchestra at 80 dB, with unsafe levels starting at just 90 dB and thunder at around 109 dB. U.S. Department of Labor regulations set permissible noise exposure to 105 dB at no more than 1 hour per day! Last, and least, a comment on the statement in their concluding paragraph that "no one else cares so deeply about uncovering manufacturer defects, power output claims, and overall listenability beyond the "makes your teeth chatter because they are sooo loud" group". That irks me just a little bit and not just from the perspective of our own reviews as there are several sites that do very detailed reviews (e.g Firing Squad, Sound & Vision Magazine Online). We admittedly (and intentionally) don't dig as deeply into the innards as Target PC. However, our reviews are certainly in-depth with details on design flaws (especially if they are external or audibly detectable) and an emphasis on sound quality, to go along with loudness tests, etc.. Basically I hope they go well beyond the "makes your teeth clatter because they are sooo loud" group. If there are things you would like to see in our reviews that we are not doing, please be sure to let us know as we are always striving to improve our quality.
News Source: Anandtech

Intel Introduces New Chipset for Pentium III Processor-based PCs - Mark @ 07:45 EST

Intel Corporation has introduced a new chipset for Intelr Pentiumr III processor-based PCs targeted at the performance desktop market segment. The Intelr 820E Chipset features a new I/O Controller Hub (ICH2) for greater system performance and flexibility. The Intel 820E Chipset uses the same RDRAM Memory Controller Hub (MCH) found on the original Intelr 820 Chipset introduced in November, and the ICH2 provides an additional Universal Serial Bus controller, a Local Area Network (LAN) Connect Interface, dual Ultra ATA/100 controllers and up to six-channel audio capabilities. The PR also notes that to meet the needs for e-home use, the ICH2 has an enhanced AC'97 interface supporting full surround-sound for Dolby(a) Digital audio found on DVD. Given that there is no mention of 3d audio in games it sounds like at least for now the audio capabilities may be "limited" to soft DVD use. For more details, check out the press release.

MP3Board Sues RIAA to Protect Right to Automate Hyperlinks - Mark @ 07:38 EST

MP3Board, Inc. (MP3Board.com) a pioneer in the indexing, searching, and linking of music related sites and files on the internet announced today that it has filed suit in Federal Court in San Jose, California, seeking a remedy against the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) to prevent the RIAA from continually attempting to shut down the mp3board.com web site for merely providing hyperlinks to other web sites, pages, and files the RIAA considers infringing.
The suit alleges that the MP3Board.com site assists web users in locating music related web sites, pages, and files, including the popular ``mp3'' type files. The MP3Board site includes automated hyperlink lists and search engines that seek out and index massive amounts of mp3 and music related content on the Internet. The suit alleges that MP3Board does not store on its web site any MP3 files -- such files are only available by visiting other sites not owned by MP3Board. For more details check out the press release.

Dark Reign 2 beta patch - Mikael @ 02:23 EST

Pandemic Studios has released a beta patch for Dark Reign. It's on A3D's list as an A3D 2.0 title. Not sure if it actually shipped with it or not.

Ethan's Magazine Articles - Mikael @ 02:09 EST

Ethan Winer's Magazine Articles is a collection of articles written by Ethan Winer for various magazines. Altogether, there are more than 50 feature articles for the fields of audio recording, electronics, and computer programming. One of the more interesting for Live! musicians is the Vienna tutorial. If you're a musician you should check it out.
News Source: Live! Center

Diamond Rio 500 MP3 Player review - Mikael @ 02:04 EST

3D Accelerated has posted a review of Diamond's Rio 500 MP3 Player. It features 64MB memory, an expansion slot, USB port, back lit LCD display, bass and treble control in addition to 4 equalizer presets. Except for the bass and treble control it's pretty much standard feature set these days. 3D accelerated found it to be a great MP3 player with the exception of the crappy earphones it shipped with.

Analog Devices' SoundMAX 2.1 Delivers Multi-Channel Surround Sound For PCs - Mikael @ 00:33 EST

Analog Devices yesterday announced that its SoundMAX 2.1 integrated digital audio product for PC motherboards now supports multi-channel configurations. Based on Intel's Communications Network Riser (CNR) specifications, SoundMAX's multi-channel extensions support up to 6 channels of playback for 5.1 Dolby Digital, EAX and A3D. Analog Devices' SoundMAX.2.1r consists of the AD1885 analog CODEC (COder/DECoder) and companion Windowsr software drivers that take advantage of today's Pentium III and Celeron processors to implement 3D sound. The 3D sound engine is Sensaura.

Deus Ex Music - Mark @ 00:32 EST

Deus Ex Incarnate has received and email from Warren Spector indicating that Deus Ex will feature music from Reeves Gabrels, a longtime collaborator with David Bowie (both of whom recently contributed to Omikron: The Nomad Soul soundtrack). According to the email, Gabrels' music will be featured in the clubs in New York, Hong Kong and Paris in the game, and is also in the recently released trailer. The last I heard, the game is supposed to support A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX. You can check out the whole post at Deus Ex Incarnate.
News Source: Blue's News

PortalPlayer Introduces Products to Bring MP3 Recording to Portable Devices - Mikael @ 00:22 EST

PortalPlayer yesterday introduced a new digital chip and software product suite that will enable consumer electronics manufacturers to build audio systems that do not need a PC to record MP3 music files.
PortalPlayer expects that its customers will introduce products based on its chip, including portable MP3-type player/recorders and systems combining CD and digital audio play/record functions, by late this year. You can learn more if you read the full announcement

MidiLand MLi-460 Speaker System Review - Mark @ 00:20 EST

HardwareZone has posted a review of MidiLand's MLi-460 Speaker System. The MLi series is MidiLand's entry level systems with the next step being up to their new S4 product line. Even the MLi series has a wide range in price and quality going from basic entry level right up to the $99 MLi490 4.1 system. In the case of the MLi 460 covered in this review, the list price for the 2.1 system is $50. In the review they complain of poor volume and bass output but still found them good enough to award 3.5 out of 5. For more details, check out the review.
News Source: AGNHardware

Telex Expands Its Exclusive USB Digital Audio Line - Mikael @ 00:12 EST

Telex Communications yesterday announced the addition of three full-duplex products to its exclusive line of USB digital audio equipment: the H-551 USB Digital Stereo Headset, the H-541 USB Digital Computer Headset and the P-500 USB Digital Audio Converter. Telex's H-551 USB Digital Stereo Headset is the first full-duplex, stereo USB headset available. The H-551 offers high-fidelity stereo speakers for digital sound output and an acoustic noise-canceling microphone. Telex's H-541 USB Digital Computer Headset is an enhanced version of Telex's award-winning H-531. The H-541 provides two-way digital sound and features both an acoustic noise-canceling microphone for direct digital input and a speaker for digital audio output. Telex's innovative P-500 USB Digital Audio Converter is the first product to convert analog audio signals into full-duplex digital sound. Check out the press release for more details.

EasyBuy2000 Launches MYTrip, a Portable CD/MP3 Player - Mikael @ 00:03 EST

EasyBuy2000 announced today, the launch of MYTrip MP3/CD Player. It's a portable CD based MP3 Player which allows the consumer to store and listen to over 11 hours of near-CD quality MP3 music, without the high cost of flash memory. MYTrip can play both regular audio CDs and MP3 files recorded to CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW media, meaning memory becomes a moot issue. Along with the ability to read CD audio and MP3 audio with bit rates between 32 and 196 kbps, it also has a (DBBS) Dynamic bass boost system, which allows the user to choose from five preset EQs: from Normal to Super Woofer. MYTrip is currently available for $115.00 and may be purchased by visiting www.easybuy2000.com. I'm not sure why they call it MYTrip in the press release since on their site it's called MpTrip. You can Japan Radio Corporation Licenses Spatializer N-2-2 - Mikael @ 23:53 EST

Spatializer Audio Laboratories announced today that New Japan Radio Co., Ltd. (``NJRC'') has licensed Spatializer's virtual surround sound technology, Spatializer N-2-2(TM) as well as Spatializerr 3-D Stereo, its two-channel audio enhancement technology. NJRC is expected to begin shipping two new Spatializer N-2-2(TM) Virtual Surround enabled decoder DSPs in late summer 2000, and will incorporate Spatializer N-2-2 into future DSPs under development for release next year. In addition, the agreement gives NJRC the right to develop ICs incorporating Spatializerr 3-D Stereo technology.

Q3Fortress beta released - Mikael @ 16:50 EST

A new (BETA) version of Quake3Fortress has been released. This is a mod for the sort of A3D 2.0 supporting Quake3.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

JHexen Update - Mikael @ 16:48 EST

A new version (0.99.6) 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

PJ Box Portable MP3 Player Reviews - Mikael @ 16:45 EST

Kebie.com has posted a review of Hango Electronics' Personal Jukebox (PJBox for short). Featuring a 4.68GB 2.5 inch IBM hardrive you realize it's not your average portable MP3 player. Thanks to 12MB internal DRAM and lithium ion battery it still skip free and have reasonable playback time of about 10 hours. The size (5.8" in width, 3.2" height and 1" thick) is more like a portable CD player than most other MP3 players though. The other major disadvantage is the price tag of $750. Sound quality including the bundled headphones are of excellent quality according to this review.

For a second opinion and more detailed overview you can check out Techgrounds review.
News Source: Anandtech

DirectX8 preview - Mikael @ 16:44 EST

Reactor Critical has taken a very detailed look of the upcoming DirectX8. Most of the 8 page preview is about the 3D graphics but they have about 1/2 page info of DirectX audio (the new name for DirectMusic+DirectSound). Here's a snip:

The integration of DirectSound and DirectMusic makes it possible to process synthesized music fragments as normal audio tracks. This allows to apply effects like reverberation both on synthesized music and normal audio tracks. In Direct 8 it is possible first to synthesize sound, mix it with normal audio tracks and then to process this one mixed track in the 3D audio interface.
The Audio Scripting - script support in implementing the audio part of the games - stands somewhat apart from these innovations. Scripts make it possible to divide games programming and implementation of musical accompaniment of events in games. The conduct of the musical accompaniment will in this case be controlled by values of inner (for the game) variables.

News Source: Anandtech

MDK2 review - Mikael @ 16:44 EST

Gibword has posted a review of the DS3D with EAX 2.0 supporting MDK2. Nothing about 3D audio or reverb in this review but they have the following positive note about the sound effects and music:

The sound effects in MDK2 are well thought out and executed at precisely the right moments. Lightning crashes, weapons fire echoes, and enemies shout obscenities in a crystal clear manner. Even the voice acting is good and performed in comic book style, with a narrator right out of any good x-men comic or clone. I must admit that the stock sounds for the weapons are a tad unoriginal, but they aren't hard-edged and won't give you a headache after a large firefight. Perhaps the best aspect of the game as a whole is the music, which pumps out its techno beat at all the right moments. Its obvious that the designers have been watching the matrix - some of the music sounds oddly familiar, and fits Max's insane blasting perfectly. Yet it isn't perfect, and the transition between the songs is almost non-existent! Some form of blending and/or fading wouldn't have gone amiss!

They were impressed with most other aspects of the game as well and were happy to see the T&L part of their GeForce coming to good use.

Yuan MP-300 Portable MP3 Player Review - Mikael @ 16:02 EST

Tweak3D has put Yuan Technology's MP3 player MP-300 to the test. It features 64 MB memory, voice recording, an USB interface, 16 Preset EQs, the standard control buttons, a LCD display and AAA batteries that can be recharged directly through the USB cable. Tweak3D found it to be a pretty good deal for $250 even though they complained about the volume and the bundled software.
News Source: Anandtech

Urban Ops patch - Mikael @ 16:01 EST

Red Storm has released a patch (v2.51) for Urban Ops, the expansion pack for the DS3D with EAX 2.0 supporting Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear. You can grab the patch from Avault

MpTrip Diskman first impressions & pics - Mark @ 12:50 EST

Reader Ryan Fenton has Labtec LVA-7280 Voice Recognition Microphone - Mark @ 08:07 EST

3DHardware has posted a review of the Labtec LVA-7280 Voice Recognition Microphone and they were fairly impressed. For more details check out the full review. Interesting to note that cards based on the CS4630, like the upcoming Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, will feature built in echo cancellation technology.
News Source: AGNHardware

VBS worm targets Gnutella users - Mark @ 08:01 EST

An unknown author has created a worm aimed at infecting Gnutella users. Possibly malicious in intent, but benign in reality, the worm uses the Visual Basic Script language to store itself on an infected computer in 23 different files named, for example, Pamela Anderson movie listing.vbs, collegesex.vbs, Battlefield Earth.vbs, Napster Metallica Crack.vbs and NSync.vbs. The worm can only spread to computers whose users execute the code by double-clicking on the file. For the whole story head to ZDNet News

Project Audio/Videophile - Multimedia Server - Mark @ 07:58 EST

CPU Burn has posted an interesting article on making a multimedia server. Here's a snip from the article that will set the stage:

As you well know just about every person on the planet who has anything to do with computers knows about MP3s. Napster has been on the news for the past month sucking up the airwaves with the constant controversy about weather or not it is legal. Well, in the spirit of the events, we have decided to make a remote controlled MP3 Server, which will integrate into your Home Theater system so that you can jam out with the high quality speakers your Home Theater system uses! This server has a dual purpose, it not only works to eliminate your CD collection, it also plays DVD movies!

An interesting project for you to check out but unless you have a ton of spare parts laying around, their price for the project IMO is not realistic. One thing I don't see mentioned in the article is you should use the SPDIF out of the hardware MPEG decoder if you are going to use their system with a Dolby Digital/DTS receiver. For another MP3 jukebox project News from May 29 - June 4, 2000

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