News:  July 10-16, 2000

Sunday, July 16, 2000

Week in Review - Mikael @ 20:39 EST

We have posted our latest edition of the 3D Audio Week in Review covering July 3-9. We sent it earlier this week but I forgot to post the HTML version.

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.

Diamond Audio ProMedia 2012 Review - Mark @ 17:00 EST

William Yaple of TargetPC has posted his review of Diamond Audio Technology's ProMedia 2012 system and, as with his review of the DAT 3025 system, he is coming out of far left field compared to every other review I have read of these systems with his impressions. I won't bother get into any specific comments on the TargetPC review other than to say I have vastly different impressions when it comes to the subjective analysis of both systems and also wonder about the methodology used for the some of the objective analysis in both reviews as the test parameters, etc. are not listed. The 3025 is in my opinion, and in the opinion of several other reviewers, an excellent system that holds up well against some more expensive systems and the 2012 offers surprisingly good sound for a two piece low cost system and is the best I have heard in its price range. For more on the 3025 you can check out my own review and for more on both the 3025 and 2012 you can check out a recent review of both systems over at Technoyard. You can also find many more reviews of the DAT ProMedia systems at their product overview page.
News Source: Anandtech

Win a full Dolby Digital 5.1 System - Mark @ 12:07 EST

Yes this contest is still going and yes you still have a MUCH better chance of winning some great prizes via our contest than any typical lottery. That's why I can't understand why more of our readers have not entered. Yes its limited to US residents but there should be lots of you out there looking for a Dolby Digital multimedia system and you can't beat free :) Specifically, just for answering the questions at the end of our MK-01 review you are entered into a contest with 5 runner up prizes of MK-01 kits, two second prizes of the MLi-490 4.1 speaker system plus a MK-01 kit and a great grand prize that consists of an S4-7100 5.1 Dolby Digital ready 100 watt speaker system, an ADS-2000 Dolby Digital decoder and an MK-01 kit! As it stands right now your odds are quite good so why not take the time and enter the contest.

Labtec LCS-2514 4.1 Speaker Review - Mark @ 12:02 EST

3AG has posted a review of Labtecs LCS-2514 speaker system. This is a low cost system that is up against the $100 and less offerings from MidiLand, Altec Lansing, Cambridge SoundWorks, etc. and like the other reviews I have seen of the system this one is positive. One minor comment is a 4 speaker system will offer just as much benefit for cards supporting DS3D as cards supporting A3D.
News Source: Blue's News

Saturday, July 15, 2000

Great $20 headphones - Mark @ 20:16 EST

Sound interesting? Check out this post in our forum for more details.

Aureal.com returns? - Mikael @ 15:13 EST

Aureal.com seems to be working again but the only link that works for me on the front page is the contact link at the bottom. Using that link will get you to the other pages on the site but a lot of the info available seems rather outdated with plenty of broken links. A3D.com is still down which causes some of the link issues. Not sure if the other link problems are because they are in the progress of updating the site or just that some servers are still down. Thanks to Colin and Chandler_Bing for the update.
News Source: Our Forum

Daikatana 1.1 Patch - Mark @ 13:34 EST

The very large (44.3 MB) 1.1 patch for Daikatana has been released. As expected, there is no mention of 3D sound in the features added. However, in a recent interview Romero said the 3D sound should be added "around the time the patch is released". Hopefully that still holds true and we will see it soon.

Computer FAQ @ Daily Radar - Mark @ 13:25 EST

Daily Radar has updated their computer FAQ adding a couple of basic sound questions and answers. I find their A3D vs EAX answer a bit off for a number of reasons. I won't list them all but they really should have mentioned that EAX is an extension of DS3D and when it comes to CPU usage, EAX is not done in hardware on most cards (it is on the Live). When it comes to A3D, its A3D 2.0's wavetracing that causes the CPU hit and not A3D in general. For more on A3D and DS3D and EAX you can check out our Gamer's Guide to Direct Sound 3D and A3D 1.x and our Gamer's Guide to EAX. Note that our articles don't look at A3D 2 or 3 or EAX 2.0.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

X-box DirectMusic Interview - Mikael @ 05:53 EST

XBOX.IGN has posted an interview with Chanel Summers who is the Audio Manager for the Xbox, as well as an Evangelist for Direct Music. The entire interview deals with Music in games and how Direct Music will improve the importance of music in games. Here's one of the more interesting answers:

IGN Xbox: How have developers reacted to the technology?

CS: Audio has pretty much just been wallpaper in games. It doesn't play a role in games, it's just sort of there as background music. It doesn't have an integral part in the game. With Direct Music, you can have audio that parallels the narrative direction of the game, that actually plays an integral part in the whole experience. A couple of examples I like to give is that even if you've got the best, most fabulous 'John Williams' score in red book audio, which is pre-rendered and linear in nature, eventually after the third or fourth time someone plays the game, they shut down the volume because the score because annoying, and repetitive. And that's a really big shame because you'd never think to turn off the television, because the game is there. But the sound always gets turned off, and the sound is part of the game.

With Direct Music, you're able to create variable audio, meaning the audio can dynamically evolve and change, and therefore will never loop or repeat. So if you think about hours of gameplay, you can have hours of audio play. So when I go into different rooms, even if I go into the same room the instrumentation can subtlety change. Different chord progressions, different notes -- all of a sudden everything's minor, the tone's a bit different. The same goes for soundscapes. I hate having to hear the same death cries from enemies -- nobody dies the same way. Or that same damn dog that barks every three seconds. That just breaks suspension of disbelief. I can have these variable soundscapes with Direct Music, and therefore I get a much more realistic experience.

The other thing is that you can have interactive audio. That means that the music can actually adapt to whatever's happening on the screen. But the converse is true too -- I can have the music control the visuals as well. If a person's walking, I can have the music control the beats of how they're walking, or if [the music] goes to minor, that could trigger a person to jump out in front of you. Music can actually control the whole landscape.

Friday, July 14, 2000

EMI to release 100 albums for digital download - Mikael @ 23:37 EST

Reuters reports that EMI will become the first major music company to sell a large selection of its recordings online on Tuesday when it releases more than 100 albums and 40 singles from acts like Pink Floyd for fans to download from their computers.

MP3.com Powers Resurgence of Classical Music - Mikael @ 23:37 EST

Maybe a bit off topic but I found it interesting. MP3.com today issued a press release about how Internet helps to increase the popularity of classical music now when the commercial opportunities for classical artists have seemingly diminished in traditional outlets.

Diablo 2 review - Mikael @ 23:16 EST

Avault has posted a review of the DS3D with EAX 2.0 supporting Diablo II. The quite detailed review is not quite as positive as most other reviews. Their complaints goes a bit further than the usual instability of Battle.net and outdated graphics engine with complaints about the frustrating and occasionally abrupt learning curve, the somewhat moronic mercenary AI and that the game play is still just as repetitive as the original game. The last bit isn't really a complaint since most people seem to prefer it that way rather than more complicated game play. One thing Avault didn't have anything bad to say about was the sound track giving it 5 stars:

What Diablo II lacks in visuals, it makes up for in music, as the appropriately selected and highly engaging tunes never fail to live up to the moment and truly serve to immerse the player. Ranging from the vaguely sinister, orchestral tunes of a wide-open plain to the nearly authentic and rather eerie Eastern chorus that chimes over the desert lands, the music almost single-handedly builds the tense and foreboding atmosphere without ever oppressing the player. It is truly a work of art, and the fact that Blizzard is now releasing MP3s of said music is a testament to its quality

KISS Psycho Circus preview - Mikael @ 23:16 EST

The official KISS site has posted a review of a beta version of KISS. As you might guess they found the game to be quite fun and they were also impressed with the use of music in the game:

The designers have implemented Microsofts DirectMusic in the game, which serves to bring the tempo of the music up to match the action onscreen. Many of the pieces of music fit in perfectly with the level that they are associated with. Of course what would a KISS game be without some grooving KISS tunes included... As we've all heard you can use various jukeboxes and radios found throughout the levels to play some KISS classics. Not being the biggest KISS fan in the world, I could have lived w/o this option. I must say tho, when I hit the first jukebox and Psycho Circus started playing, I felt a rush of adrenaline pump through my body, as I steadied my finger on the fire button. The song defiantly added to the game, and I found myself wishing it was more than just a clip of the song that played.

SB Live review - Mikael @ 21:09 EST

Netkills has posted a very short review of the original SB Live. Some of the specs given is incorrect if you download the latest drivers. The part about Quake3 is not completely accurate since you do get both 3D sound and EAX if you download the A2D files from Aureal. The quality using the A2D files isn't up to par with many other games that support DS3D with EAX directly.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Surround Speaker Roundup part 2 - Mikael @ 21:09 EST

Tech Extreme has now posted part 2 of their Surround speaker roundup. This time they offer their impressions of MidiLand's S4 8200 and Creative Labs' DTT2500. As a winner in this roundup, which also includes Klipsch's Promedia and VideoLogic's DigiTheatre, they pick the S4-8200. They think the DigiTheatre offers the same quality, loudness and features but the S4-8200 has a bit more drive, not really clear to me what that means. One thing worth noting that could have been more clear in the review is that the S4-8200 and DigiTheatre isn't designed to be used as 4-speaker gaming systems.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Vampire review - Mikael @ 03:53 EST

HavenGames has posted a review of Vampire. As most others they were extremely impressed with some aspects of the game (story, graphics and sound) but had major complaints about others (saving system, AI and some other gameplay flaws). In the end they think it may be the best hardcore RPG on the shelves with Deus-Ex being better if you are looking for a great single player Experience but Vampire for the best multi-player one. The review also includes some comparisons to Diablo II. Here's the usual sound snip:

A game can be absolutely great graphically, portraying freaky-ass rooms with the utmost detail, but if the music sucks, the mood will be lost quickly. Fortunately, sound is another area where Vampire excels. You'll be hit with creepy hymn-like tunes, as well as some kickin' ambient sounds. Environmental audio is extremely well-executed, as you'll know whether something's up ahead or not. Speech is also great, exceeded in recent history only by Nox.

StarLancer review - Mikael @ 03:51 EST

Chick's hardware has slapped up a 5-page long review of MS/Digital Anvils Space Combat Sim, StarLancer. They liked the game quite a bit, especially the single playing mode, giving it a score of 85. Here's the sound bit:

The game sounds really good, the music changes constantly to the situation, and the other ships can be heard well when they fly past you. Even on my PCI 128 I get EAX support, which although the card supports, some games won't let it work (like Soldier of Fortune)

Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing Demo released (updated) - Mikael @ 02:37 EST

A German demo of Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing has been released. You will find a short description of the demo at 3dfiles and if you speak German you can find more details on the official site. Doing a quick glance I saw they list "3D-Soundsystem / Surround Sound" as one of the features. On THQ's (the publisher) site you can find some info in English but not very detailed and no mention of 3D sound. Thomas K”hre just let me know that it only supports DS3D and that both the sound effects and music are really cool. The game will be released by the end of August in Germany.

Recording industry calls Napster defense "baseless - Mikael @ 02:36 EST

News.com reports that RIAA in their final response to Napster before meeting in court later this month dismissed the start-up's legal defense of its music-swapping business as "patently baseless". In the article you will find a lot more details about RIAA's and Napster's arguments.

IJ-100 portable MP3 player review - Mikael @ 02:36 EST

Neoseeker has posted a review of I-Jam Multimedia's portable MP3 player, IJ-100. It's similar in design to most other portable MP3 players and features an LCD display, FM tuner, 2 16MB cards and is bundled with an external media writer that uses a parallel port connector. Worth noting that it also exist a IJ-101 where the only differences are that they replaced the slow parallel port connection with an USB one and increased the price to $270, up from $220.

The quite detailed review found the player to be an interesting option with ok audio quality and compact design but they complained about the bundled earbuds bass performance, relatively poor FM reception, disappointing user interface and noticeable background buzz when you change track.
News Source: 3DAI

Final Unreal patch released - Mikael @ 00:50 EST

I hope no one was standing reading this :-). I'm sure there was plenty of people that never thought it would happen but Epic Games has finally released the promised Unreal patch that includes both the D3D and sound code that are present in Unreal Tournament 420. You can get the 7.23MB patch from Avault.

AOpen AW744S sound card review - Mikael @ 00:38 EST

Dan's Data has posted a review of Asus 4-speaker soundcard AW744S sound card. According to the review the card is also sold under the AW744 Pro name. As the name suggests it's based on Yamaha's YMF744 chip and the board seems to be very similar if not identical to Guillemot's Fortissimo offering 4-speaker output and a optical SPDIF output. When it comes to 3D sound it uses Sensaura which supports DS3D, A3D 1.0, EAX 1.0, EAX 2.0 and I3DL2. Dan's Data positive impression of the card is very similar to what we said about the Guillemot Fortissimo. Not surprising considering it uses the same drivers, only the software bundle differs. Just like we mentioned yesterday this review confirms that the Windows2000 drivers offers nothing more than plain stereo.
News Source: AGN Hardware

BlasterKey MP3 software for Windows 2000 and NT 4 - Mikael @ 00:37 EST

Creative's Singapore site has posted BlasterKey MP3 software that supports NT 4.0 and Windows2000.

Thursday, July 13, 2000

Iomega Targets the Personal Digital Audio Player Market - Mikael @ 23:57 EST

Iomega Corporation announced today that it is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the explosive growth expected in the personal digital audio player market over the next few years. With an Iomega-branded digital audio player in retail stores this fall and several additional manufacturers producing MP3 players with Iomega's built-in Clik!(TM) drive, Iomega expects to be a dominant force in the digital audio player market. You can find more details in the press release

MP3.com Reaches 500,000 Song Milestone - Mikael @ 23:55 EST

MP3.com today announced that the company has reached the milestone of 500,000 songs and audio files uploaded.

Deus-Ex review - Mikael @ 18:19 EST

Womengamers has posted their overall very positive impression of Deus-Ex but they have some complaints including the D3D mode, cheesy mimic-accents, one minor flaw in the AI and that they did not include the female agent model as a character you can play. Here's the usual sound impression:

Deus Ex's sound FX is awesome. Deep into an enemy installation, the only clue about the enemy presence will be the noise they make. Quickly you learn to identify the "whirr" sound of the surveillance camera, the metallic sound of the "bots" and various footsteps that give away the foot soldiers' locations. With hardware sound enabled, you are able to tell from which direction the guard is coming, how many friends have tagged along and how far they are from you. Deus Ex's music scores are done by the same people who brought us the awesome music from Crusader: No Regret/ Crusader: No Remorse, Unreal, and Unreal Tournament. The techno and location specific music is very appropriate. The Euro-themed music in Paris, the Asian-themed soundtrack in Hong Kong and the action music are all done superbly well.

Summoner Update - Mikael @ 18:19 EST

The official Summoner site has been updated with a new screenshot of the week, a new MP3 titled "The Desert Theme" is available for download and Sandep Shekar's Developer Diary from IGN's "Summoner Thursday!" has been added to the Developer Diary section. They also mention that later tonight they will tell you where to go to obtain a exclusive Summoner download!
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Giants Update - Mikael @ 17:03 EST

Interplay has updated it's Giants: Citizen Kabuto Page with an interesting development update from the President and Co Art/Design Director Nick Burry. This update covers the latest news about the music, AI and performance on a slow CPU. Here's the music bit:

Should be receiving our latest music soon and I can't wait to get that in. Each character has their own theme which changes dynamically with the intensity of the action, even to the point where it can warn you of impending danger. It's amazing to think that no one has every heard Giants with any final sound, music or voice over yet, the boost to the games atmosphere and character will be huge.

Terminus 1.5 patch released - Mikael @ 16:58 EST

Yet another patch (1.5) for Terminus has been released. You can find download links and list of fixes at 3dfiles

Diablo II music - Mikael @ 16:28 EST

Blizzard Entertainment has released a new MP3 showing off the music from their recently released Diablo II which according to most reviews comes with an excellent soundtrack. This is the start of a MP3 of the Week feature which in addition to one MP3 will include some linear notes from the composer.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Updated Half-Life: Opposing Force Demo - Mikael @ 16:24 EST

Sierra Studios has released an updated demo of Half-Life: Opposing Force
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Spec Ops Platinum has Gone Gold - Mikael @ 09:57 EST

The Adrenaline Vault reports that Zombie Games' Spec Ops Platinum has gone gold and should be in stores sometime in August. The Spec Ops Platinum is a bundle of previous Spec Ops games including the original Spec Ops 1, the multi-person expansion called Spec Ops Ranger Team Bravo, Spec Ops 2: Green Berrets, and the Spec Ops 2 expansion with 25 new levels, new multi-person game modes, enhanced AI, better graphics and more. I'm rather uncertain about what 3D sound these titles support. The original Spec Ops didn't support any 3D sound according to the postmortem on Gamasutra but the official Spec Ops page has an A3D logo and Spec Ops Gold was on Aureal's A3D list. Now it's possible that the only reason Spec Ops gold is listed as an A3D 1.0 title is that includes the expansion pack Team Bravo which was also listed on the A3D list as an A3D 1.0 title.

Spec Ops 2 was supposed to support A3D 1.X, IAS and DS3D with EAX but it's still not on Creative's EAX list almost a year after its release and there is no mention of any 3D sound or EAX on Zombie's pages.

Diamond Audio ProMedia 3025 Speakers review - Mikael @ 09:29 EST

TargetPC has posted a detailed review of the Diamond Audio ProMedia 3025 Speakers. This reviewer has a very different impression of this speaker system than Mark (see review) and Techno Yard which both found the system to perform better than other sub $100 systems. TargetPC's William Yaple on the other hand completely trash the system and the designers that made it. It's worth noting that the review includes a short update where he says that Diamond Audio will send him a new unit in case the one he got is defective.

Aliens Versus Predator Gold review - Mikael @ 08:10 EST

Ga-Source has posted a review of the gold edition of Aliens Versus Predator. They found the game to be great but except for 9 new multiplayer levels it's almost no changes compared to the original. Here's the sound snip:

The 3D Audio in AvP Gold is just as great as the original. This is one of my favorite games to play with the sound turned up, listening intently for the sound of an Alien's claws or the cloaking sound of a Predator. Nothing changed, but nothing needed to.

The Ruins of Kunark review - Mikael @ 08:09 EST

Nukewinter has posted a review of The Ruins of Kunark, the first expansion pack to Everquest. They had several complaints but in the end they think everyone that likes Everquest will have a great time playing this expansion pack since it adds a whole new life to it but the rest of us shouldn't bother to pick this one up. When it comes to sound they thinks it's just as bad as in Everquest including the 3D sound:

Everquest's support for 3D Positional audio is also atrocious. Users of Soundblaster Live! cards have been plagued with buggy sound, desktop crashes and a whole flurry of problems since the games inception. The only way to get around these problems is tinkering around with your soundcards settings, which many people don't know how to, or simply don't want to do. If your 3D soundcard does work, you will be treated with totally lackluster performance. The environmental effects are nice, but you simply cannot hear things the way they should be heard. For instance, say your group is battling a camp of several creatures - if you were looking at your spellbook you would never know, because with 3D positional audio enabled in Everquest you can only hear things that are *RIGHT* next to you (ie ON TOP OF YOU).

Icewind Dale's reviews - Mikael @ 08:08 EST

3 new reviews of the DS3D with EAX supporting RPG Icewind Dale has popped up. Let's start with Happy Puppy's very mixed review complaining about poor AI, path finding, the graphics of moving objects/characters is unimpressive, the game is too slow paced in the multiplayer mode and that the game is chockfull of bugs. Despite all these complaints they still give it an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10 and says the single player mode is pure gold thanks to immensely addictive gameplay. They liked the sound too giving it a score of 9:

Another joy of Icewind Dale is its music. Composed by Jeremy Soule, the game's score does a superb job of capturing the various moods of the adventure. The voice acting is also top-notch. Many of the main characters have several minutes of spoken dialogue that's delivered with aplomb. The beginning of each chapter is narrated by David Ogden Stiers, who starred in M*A*S*H and did voice work in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas series.

RUNE music - Mikael @ 01:41 EST

Ragnarok (Rune fan site) has managed to get their hands on two MP3s with battle music from Human Head Studios' Unreal engine powered third-person action game, RUNE. On the same page you will also find the Rune theme song.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

DigiTheater DTS review - Mikael @ 00:39 EST

3DAI has posted their review of VideoLogic's DigiTheatre DTS speaker system. They found the system to be excellent and gave it 9.8 out of 10.

Discover the Basics of SoundFont - Mikael @ 00:20 EST

Creative's Soundblaster site has posted an article named The Basics of SoundFont and while maybe not new they also mentioned on their news page you can find some soundfonts in their Goodies section

Wednesday, July 12, 2000

AC-3 pass-thru under Windows2000 - Mikael @ 19:16 EST

As you all know the new Live drivers for Windows 2000 still doesn't support AC3 pass-thru. I checked with Cyberlink (PowerDVD) and InterVideo (WinDVD) and neither of them know any soundcard on the market that offers this support. In case of PowerDVD the current version doesn't even support but the next version will. WinDVD already supports AC3 pass-thru but they did say it's rather difficult to implement it right now. This will however change soon since they have been working with MS to define a standard in DX8 that will allow easy AC3 pass-thru for all manufactures in WinME and Win2k.

Both InterVideo and Cyberlink did mention that one upcoming chip is expected to support AC3 pass-thru under Windows 2000 without waiting for the DirectX8 solution. InterVideo didn't mention which chip but Cyberlink said the chip that will work with their next version of PowerDVD is Cirrus Logic's CS4630. It's the one that VideoLogic/Turtle Beach will use. According to Turtle Beach the card is still on track for summer. Now it's certainly possible they may drop such a feature before they ship, especially if it's shipped late. I will update this post if I get a confirmation from Turtle Beach later today.

Yamaha driver update - Mikael @ 17:21 EST

I've now finally tried the "new" Yamaha drivers that we mentioned a few days ago. I'm still not sure if the ones for Windows98 is newer than the 2013 drivers you can get from Guillemot but I do know that the 2013 drivers are much better. It's two major flaws with the 4.07.1040 drivers, they offer no 4-speaker support and they only support 8 3D streams compared to the 32 that the 2013 drivers supported.

When it comes to the WDM drivers (Windows2000 drivers) they seems to offer no hardware acceleration at all. No support for DS3D, A3D, EAX or I3DL2. According to Anthony Toste the WDM drivers will also install under Windows98SE but considering the lack of DS3D support most people will be better off with the VXD drivers (the 2013 ones).

If you tried the 1040 drivers or the WDM drivers and have a different (or even the same) experience/impression let me know.

The complete LW 3.0 package for Windows 2000 is released - Mikael @ 01:48 EST

Creative Labs has finally uploaded the full LW 3.0 package for Windows 2000 on their site. You can also still get just the drivers if you wish. Be sure to check out the faq and the more info links to learn more about LW 3.0 for Windows 2000. One thing you may find interesting is that the FAQ clearly says there is NO AC-3 pass-thru support in these drivers. Thanks to Anthony Toste for the pointer.

Hired Team demo - Mikael @ 00:27 EST

A new demo for Hired Team has been released. You can find download links and a description of the game at 3dfiles. The game isn't on Creative's or Aureal's list and there is no mention of 3D sound on the Hired Team site but a recent preview listed Directsound or A3D compatible sound card in the required and recommended hardware list. If you download the demo let me know if it supports 3D sound.

F1 World Grand Prix - Mikael @ 00:22 EST

IGNPC has posted a review of F1 World Grand Prix. In the review they have some comparison to EA's F1 2000 and F1 World Grand Prix is the "F1 simulation for `normal' people who want the thrills of F1 without the steep learning curve of more hardcore simulations". They also consider the graphics to be the best so far in a F1 game especially if you got a GeForce card. When it comes to sound they had the following to say in their conclusion:

Although it can't keep up with the graphics, it nonetheless delivers a solid engine sound and immersive 3D environment sounds.

Vampire reviews - Mikael @ 00:08 EST

Gibworld has posted their review of Vampire. As most others they think it showed a lot of promise but complained about the gameplay. They also complain about the thin story something several other reviews found to be great. Despite all the complaints they gave it a score of 82%. Mostly thanks to graphics if I guess but also sound and music got some praise:

The sound quality in Vampire the Masquerade also gave this game high marks in my opinion. All of the music files, for the background music, conversations and NPC sound effects are in MP3 format. They are stored in several directories right off of the main vampire directory allowing for easy access. The background music in Vampire lends considerably to the atmosphere, at many times did a good job at creeping me out. Background music varied from Middle Ages guitar and choir music to modern day drums and electric piano (rap music in the New York level). The creatures sounded fantastic. Vipers hiss and golems make earthquake noises when they take steps. When a Werewolf howls, the bass is intense enough to rattle glass.

Tuesday, July 11, 2000

KX133 and Vortex Issues - Mikael @ 23:42 EST

Just saw this post on Vortex of Sound's forum

VIA Apollo KX133 System Lockup caused by A3D Audio Chip
Location: Technical Bulletin
Article #: 1269
Last Modified: 7/5/2000
Product: EP-7KXA

ISSUE
Audio cards that use A3D audio chip causes KX133 system to deadlock when system traffic is heavy.

SOLUTION
A3D chip issues one memory read request cycle to North Bridge and expects a grant within 4 mico-sec of latency time. If PCI TRDY# is not asserted after 4 mico-sec, the A3D hardware will de-assert the FRAME# and REQ# to terminate the operation. However, the A3D audio software driver cannot acknowledge the termination and continues waiting for hardware response. Hence causes the system to deadlock.

This issue will only occur during heavy system traffic when the North Bridge cannot grant access to A3D audio chip within the 4 mico-sec latency time.

Source: VIA Application note Serial #AN137 Date 07/05/00.

ADDITIONAL NOTES
Since the above issue has no work-around on the VIA Apollo KX133 chipset EPoX suggests against using sound cards based with the A3D audio hardware with our EP-7KXA.

Digital Payloads announces MP3s with ads - Mikael @ 22:54 EST

Digital Payloads yesterday announced a solution for free distribution of MP3 music files over the Internet. So how do they do it? Well it's the typical answer with ads or to be more exact they embed record label or advertiser promotions and links, called ``Payloads,'' into licensed music files. For more read the press release

MP3.com Expands Retail Music Market Reach - Mikael @ 22:53 EST

MP3.com today announced an agreement with Fun e-Business(TM) to provide taverns, restaurants and other retail establishments with access to local, regional and international digital artists and music catalogs available on MP3.com via web-enabled Wurlitzer Fun e-Jukeboxes(TM). You can find more details in the press release

Spatializer and Samsung Enter Strategic Alliance - Mikael @ 22:53 EST

Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc announced today it and Samsung Electronics Digital Products Division have agreed to enter into a strategic alliance for the development and deployment of audio enhancement technologies. As part of the strategic alliance, Spatializer N-2-2 will be promoted and used as Samsung's preferred virtual surround sound technology in its DVD players and in the future, for other digital multimedia products.

SigmaTel Unveils Multi-Channel WDM for PC Host-Based Audio - Mikael @ 22:52 EST

SigmaTel announced yesterday the creation of the first-ever, multi-channel WDM (Windows(TM) Driver Model) host- audio driver for the PC. The new driver enables four- and six-channel movie theater- quality audio for PCs.

Sharp, Pioneer to partner on recordable DVD players - Mikael @ 22:20 EST

News.com reports that Sharp and Pioneer announced today an agreement to cooperate on digital products. Maybe most interesting in the announcement is that they hope to launch rewritable DVD players, or DVD-RW, with a retail price of $934 (100,000 yen)by March 2002.

Musicians launch national anti-Napster campaign - Mikael @ 22:20 EST

News.com reports that Noah Stone convinced about 70 other artists that Napster and similar services/networks is a huge threat and together they have formed "Artists Against Piracy". The group today kicked of its campaign with full-page ads in USA Today, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other national newspapers today. The ads ask fans to support the musician to choose how his/her songs appears online. The article also mentions that several artists disagree with this campaign and don't consider Napster to be a threat to artists only to the recording industry's control of the distribution.

IJAM IJ-50 MP3 Player review - Mikael @ 21:06 EST

Neoseeker has posted a review of IJAM IJ-50 MP3 Player. It's a really cheap product with a SRP of $89. For that you get a very basic MP3 player with no LCD display, 8MB Compact Flash card, flash disc writer and a set of space age headphones. The review had several complaints about the player both when it comes to audio quality and flaws in the interface (e.g it doesn't remember the volume levels). I think their MP3 comparison doesn't prove in anyway there is differences in the MP3 decoding, it could be the DAC that made the difference. I know at least one company that licensed an MP3 decoder doesn't think there is any differences between them if you ignore those that made short cuts to work better with slow CPUs (e.g. a Pentium 90). For another inexpensive MP3 player you can check out this press release. It's about Absolute Multimedia's Outrageous SoundMASTER that I know can be found for about $50 in Europe. Not sure if it's sold in US.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Nomad II 32Mb review - Mikael @ 20:47 EST

SystemLogic.net has posted a review of Creative Labs Nomad II. The Nomad II features upgradable firmware (allows it to support more than MP3s), USB interface, LCD display, FM tuner, voice recording, equalizer presets, bass and treble control, wired remote control and a $220 price tag if you buy it with 64 MB memory. It can also be bought with 32 or no memory. It's certainly one of the most well featured players on the market and this review goes through them all. The only one they found they complained about was the FM tuner which didn't work well for them.
News Source: Anandtech

Rome MP3 Review - Mikael @ 20:46 EST

Tech-Report has posted their impressions of the Rome MP3 player. This is a rather different unit than the typical portable MP3 player as it can be "played" as a normal audio cassette making it perfect for in car use. The review is quite similar to other reviews of this MP3 player, impressed with the unique design but in the end they point out you can get more memory and features if you buy a standard MP3 player for $200.
News Source: Anandtech

Clusterball Demo 2 Released - Mikael @ 20:46 EST

It's time for a new demo of Clusterball again. ClusterballT is an online sport, designed to invoke the same adrenaline rush as Quake and Unreal, but replacing the spatter and gore with pure gameplay. By combining the feel and gaming experience from ball, flight and racing games, ClusterballT is totally unlike anything you've ever seen before. The base version of ClusterballT and your membership are free! Here's a bit on the sound from the official site:

The A3D sound API is fully utilized to create a stunning audio environment. The engine sounds from the aircraft are modeled with 3D positional sound including Doppler effects. Many sounds are physically modeled and directly linked to the dynamics engine to create, for example, collision sounds as realistic as possible.

ACS56 review - Mikael @ 20:20 EST

HardcoreWare.net has posted a review of Altec Lansing's 4-speaker system ACS-56. Except for some hiss when playing CDs using the analog inputs they found the system to be great, especially if you consider the sub $150 pricetag. If they only got noticeable hiss when playing CDs using the analog inputs I would guess the issue was related to the soundcard and/or CD-ROM drive more than the ACS56. I had no issues with hiss sitting 1-2 feet away regardless if I used the analog or digital inputs. For more about my impression check out my review
News Source: AGN Hardware

More about MIDI for games - Mikael @ 19:59 EST

Ga-Hardware has posted an editorial by Ola Strandh Sound Engineer / Composer at Massive Entertainment where he shares his opinion about using MIDI for games. Here's a bit on his thoughts on GM MIDI:

GM (General MIDI) music for PC games is something I would never use. I see it as a tool for musicians to communicate their ideas. It doesn't matter how great the GM bank on a card sounds. I would never give up the power to create my own sample bank and therefore know what it will sound like, no matter what configuration the buyer has got. Again, without any hardware acceleration this would be very expensive considering that most games today have a minimum RAM spec of 32 MB.

Live and SB512 drivers for Windows 2000 - Mikael @ 17:03 EST

Mentioned earlier today that the Live drivers was released on Creative's Singapore server. The same drivers have now been posted on Soundblaster.com where you will also find new Windows 2000 drivers for SB512. What's a bit odd is that the Live drivers claims to work on the PCI512 (CT4790) as well so not sure if SB512 users should try to install the PCI512 drivers and apps or instead try to install the Live drivers. It's possible that the PCI512 apps available for download will only work on the PCI512 drivers. Could be worth to try the SB Live drivers as well since in the past they always been slightly more up to date than the PCI512 ones.

I just tried the Live drivers (using a Live card) and it's just standalone release of the drivers, nothing more. According to newsgroups post they work well for most people but there is currently no AC3 support with WinDVD or PowerDVD. It's currently uncertain if the drivers lack AC3 pass-thru support or if it's PowerDVD and WinDVD that lack AC3 pass-thru support under Windows 2000. When it comes to games most people report that they work fine in Diablo II, Half-Life and Unreal Tournament to name a few. I've seen one complaint that EAX 2.0 games experience inverse distance volume problem (sounds right beside you are very very faint, sounds far away are loud). As always there is people that have issues in most cases crackling with VIA or dual CPU motherboards. It's far from all people with VIA chipsets or dual CPUs got crackling though.

I've so far only tried the UT Demo, Audio Winbench 99 and Half-Life. The Audio WinBench 99 reports rather poor performance with 13% CPU utilization for 16 3D streams and 30% with 32 3D Streams on my slow Celeron 450A. DirectSound (stereo) performance is also relatively slow compared to Windows98. In Half-Life the hit for enabling DS3D with EAX is less than 1 fps (<5%) which is about the same as under Windows98 so possible that Audio Winbench isn't working well under Windows2000. Also possible the Half-Life benchmark got some issues on my machine under Windows2000 since even with sound disabled my framerate is cut to half compared to Windows98. The UT demo benchmark crashed when I run it. It's possible the crash is related to my graphics card or the A3D files I had installed.

Diablo 2 reviews - Mikael @ 07:49 EST

Gamespy has posted their review of Diablo 2. As most they complain a bit on bugs and battle.net's performance but other than that they found it to be < super polished Diablo, which is a good thing if you liked Diablo, if you didn't you most likely won't like Diablo II either. When it comes to graphics Gamespy is more positive than most reviews saying it's a lot better once you finished act 1. As most others they liked the sound effects and music in the game:

Diablo also impresses in the sound category. The voice acting is generally believable, with only the occasional corny line. The sounds the monsters make are varied and interesting, as are the spell sound effects and the meaty "THUNK!" you get from slamming a battle axe into a monster's skull or the telltale "DING!" of a gemstone falling from the corpse of a slain foe. The game also has a fantastic soundtrack that sets the tone for each of the areas very well. The music is ambient enough to not distract from the gameplay or other sound effects, yet pleasant enough to occasionally remind you that it's there. Definitely worth listening to.

Speaker Roundup - Mikael @ 07:49 EST

Tech Extreme has posted a round up of MidiLand's S4 8200, Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400, VideoLogic's DigiTheatre and Creative Labs DTT2500. Currently the round up only includes the ProMedia and DigiTheatre, the other systems should be up in part 2 posted later this week. Worth noting that the DigiTheatre isn't designed to be used as 4-speaker gaming system.

LW 3.0 for Windows 2000 released (updated) - Mikael @ 07:14 EST

You can grab the LW 3.0 drivers from Creative's Singapore FTP site. The file size is just 4MB so it's just the basic drivers. Some say this is just LW 2.2 but that seems to refer only to the license agreement. Creative earlier said they would release a 19-20 MB package and that it would be an additional package for LiveDrive users. Either they changed their mind and you need to install the previous LiveWare for Windows 2000 first to get any of the apps or we will see a full LW 3.0 package released on Soundblaster.com later today. Thanks to Anthony Toste for the pointer.

Monday, July 10, 2000

NASCAR 2000 review - Mikael @ 22:08 EST

WEWP has posted a review of NASCAR 2000. This game has got several really poor reviews just like the previous Nascar title from EA (NASCAR Revolution). This review is more positive but still considers it far from an excellent game. Here's the usual sound snip:

Along with above-average graphics, NASCAR 2000 contains solid sound effects. Particularly impressive is the variation in engine sounds. Rather than offer several engine tones, the developer included a great variety of sounds being emitted from the engines. Little nuances such as this add positively to the overall racing experience.

Sennheiser M@h80 PC Headphones review - Mikael @ 21:44 EST

Hardware-unlimited has posted a mixed review of Sennheiser M@h80s headphones. They found them to be comfortable and Lightweight but expected better sound quality at this price ($99). The midrange and treble was fine but the bass was relatively poor.
News Source: 3DAI

Evolva review - Mikael @ 21:43 EST

WomenGamers has posted a review of the Strategy game Evolva. They thought the game was pretty fun and looked great but found the story and music to be lacking. The game supports DS3D with EAX but no mention of that in this review. They do have some comments about the sound though:

The music for this game is fairly nonexistent. There is the quintessential throbbing baseline and jungle-esque noises playing throughout all of the levels you visit, but other than that, there really isn't much to the soundtrack. The sound effects are pretty good. I am always pleased to hear the wet-sponge squashing noises made by dying bugs in video games. The 'parasites' you are out to destroy are, for the most part, bug-like, so the noise is appropriate. There are a myriad of weapons to choose from as well, which also make interesting noises. The other creatures in the land along with the parasites lend to the overall soundscape of the world you are cleaning. These options can be controlled in the options panel, but the only way to get a great soundtrack out of this one is to have your stereo playing.

Vampire review - Mikael @ 21:42 EST

VoodooExtreme has posted their impressions of the visual stunning Vampire. The graphics is what impressed most reviewers most but VoodooExtreme were actually even more impressed with the sound aspect of the game:

Vampire has support for all the major 3d sound APIs, including A3D 2.0. Every sound is crisp and detailed, from the sheathing of swords to the footsteps echoing in the halls to the blood-gurgling sounds of Tuetonic Knight's being beheaded. The 3d effects are amazing, making you feel like you're in the world. The music always fits with the mood, with some wonderful classic melodies and battle music. The only weak side of the sound is the voice-overs. Some of the voice-overs are dead on, sounding natural and realistic, while other's are horribly over the top and cheesy. Christof's voice goes from good to ridiculous to bearable all within the first 5 hours of gameplay.

Motocross Madness 2 review - Mikael @ 21:42 EST

Avault has posted a very positive review of MotoCross Madness 2 giving it an overall score of 4.5 starts out of 5. The sound effects aspect also earned 4.5 stars:

The sound effects in Motocross Madness 2 are as outstanding as the graphics. While I found the engine noise in the original considerably more pleasing to the ear, I do not doubt the authenticity here, as each different motocross engine was field recorded. Many interesting sounds greet you as you race, including great crowd noises during stadium racing, animal and machine sounds in outdoor racing, and even a baby crying in the trailer park. Of course, hardly anything can beat the grunts from hitting the ground for the umpteenth time. This title sports genuine 3D positional sound, where you can not only tell the direction from which other bikes are coming but also hear the many ambient environmental noises get louder and softer as you pass by. In addition to the generic 3D sound option present in the original version, Motocross Madness 2 has special support for Creative Labs' EAX drivers.

DirectPlay Voice Article - Mikael @ 18:25 EST

Eurogamer has posted an interesting article about DirectPlay Voice, which will be part of DirectX8. As you may guess from the name DirectPlay Voice adds voice communication support to DirectX. Here's an interesting bit:

As we pointed out earlier, DPV can be integrated with DirectSound and DirectPlay. This means that you can get a player's location from DirectPlay, and then take the voice stream and apply 3D positional audio effects to it with DirectSound.

For example, if another player runs in front of you while they are talking, you can hear the sound of their voice moving from left to right as they pass by you. You can also use attenuation effects, so that the further away from you a player is, the quieter their voice sounds to you.
[snip}
If the player who is talking is close to you, you could also use a positional audio effect so that you can hear their character talking into their microphone. Depending on the kind of location you are in, you might also want to add a reverb or echo effect to that speech, whilst leaving the radio sound unchanged.

Digital Audio Broadcasting Guide - Mikael @ 18:25 EST

Hardware-One has posted 6-page long and very interesting guide to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). Here's a bit from the intro:

DAB - Digital Audio Broadcasting or simply Digital Radio is the most fundamental advancement in radio technology since the introduction of FM/AM Stereo radio. The system was developed by the Eureka 147 Project - an international consortium of broadcasters, network operators, electronic industries and research institutes.
[snip]
With this new broadcasting technique, you can receive CD-like quality music even in the car without any annoying interference and signal distortion. The main draw here is undistorted CD-like quality sound.

Besides the transmission of audio, text, pictures and data, even videos are in the airwaves. You might want to know how it could be done, the cramping of all these stuffs within the limited frequency bands. More on these later.

HL: Initial Encounters Patch - Mikael @ 18:23 EST

Valve Software has released a new patch (version 5.1.5.1) for Half-Life: Initial Encounters. It's a OEM version that bundles Half-Life: Day One and Team Fortress Classic together. The new patch brings the Team Fortress Classic part upto date with Half-Life 1.1.0.1. You can either get the full upgrade or just the small upgrade from version 5.0.5.0.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Diablo II Patch - Mikael @ 18:23 EST

The Battle.net Realm Servers for Diablo II have been updated to version 1.02. You can automatically download the patch when you log on Battle.net next time. If you don't like these automatic installations of new patches you can download the patch from Blizzard.com. On that page you will also find the full list of changes.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

News from July 3-9, 2000

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