News:  July 31-August 6, 2000

Sunday, August 06, 2000

Altec Lansing ADA885 Review - Mark @ 09:40 EST

SimHQ has posted a very positive review of the Altec Lansing ADA885 Dolby Digital, THX certified speaker system. This is an enhanced version (more power, some overall tweaking plus the addition of a rear input to go with the front input so it's suitable for 4 speaker gaming) of the ADA880 that we have reviewed. A couple of comment - when it comes to comparing the system I would not consider the PCworks speakers that they replaced with the ADA885 to be high end, but they don't say what other systems they have heard and don't doubt for a second that the ADA885 is a fine sounding system. The other comments come via ML who owns the system and posted news of the review in our forum. According to ML, the subwoofer is not magnetically shielded and he also noted that you can get the system without a new PC from Dell's Gigabuys store.
News Source: Our Forum

Heavy Metal - FAKK 2 Review - Mark @ 09:26 EST

Gamespy has posted an overall positive review of Heavy Metal - FAKK 2. They found it to be well produced, visually appealing, and fun to play but a little short and complained about the controls and some clipping. When it comes to sound they had the following to offer:

FAKK2's soundtrack is fairly impressive, boasting a lot of hard rock. I'm personally more of a fan of the "soundtrack as cinematic tool" school of design employed in Half-Life and, especially, in Nocturne, but if you're the type who likes some loud, thrashing music to kick ass to, then you'll probably get a lot out of FAKK2.

Sound effects are equally impressive, with the aforementioned exception of some of the voice acting. The monsters make varied and effective noises, and the ambient sounds are well placed and generally not annoying. The weapons sound pretty great, especially the crashing thunder of the lightning sword.

Get Started With Napigator - Mark @ 09:10 EST

C/Net Music Center has posted a guide called Get Started With Napigator. Here's a snip that will set the tone of what it's about:

Worried about the future of Napster? With all of the legal woes that the fledgling company is facing, you should be. However, plenty of third-party, Napster-compatible servers are up and running. With the help of a separate download called Napigator, you can log on to one of these unofficial servers and share music (whether the main Napster servers are running or not).

Creative Labs Nomad II MG Review - Mark @ 09:06 EST

C/Net Consumer Electronics (how many different names does C/Net use?) has posted a review of the Creative Labs Nomad II MG portable digital audio player. They were quite impressed with the unit and while price ($399) was not their only complaint, it was their biggest one.

Saturday, August 05, 2000

PCI vs ISA benchmarks - Mikael @ 09:54 EST

The German LCM-Network has posted benchmarks comparing Creative's SB 16 ASP (ISA) with several popular (in Germany) PCI soundcards with some results that may surprise you. The article is in German but even if you don't speak a word of that language the graph should be clear enough. Can add that I got similar benchmark results with a SB32 PCI compared to a Live using my Celeron 450A. Better s/n ratio and especially 3D sound are the major reasons to buy a PCI soundcard.

Speaker buying tips - Mikael @ 09:37 EST

GameForces has posted a 4 page speaker buying guide. They start with some history, then lists 4 tips about the Watts specification and then end with listing the best 5.1, 4 and 2-speaker system, both with money being no problem and the best bang for the buck. I think his second rule to skip all speakers that lists both PMPO and RMS values in the spec list is stupid. That they give a PMPO value as well may simple be required in some markets where some may only give a PMPO value. When it comes to his picks he doesn't cover VideoLogic's line at all. I've never heard his number one pick (Eminent Technologies LFT) but we have reviewed most of the other systems he mentions.
News Source: AGN

Kiss Psycho Circus Review - Mikael @ 09:16 EST

Firingsquad has posted a review of Kiss Psycho Circus. They found the game to offer gameplay similar to the Duke3D and Doom days but of course with much better graphics. Overall they found it be a lot of fun but the linear game play and poorly implemented multiplayer mode results in lack of replay value. Here's the usual sound snip:

The sound effects in the game are fantastic. For example: Headless, these creepy spider-like things that move on two feet, make sharp, clicking noises as they move - pointy pincer-feet hitting the ground. Gasbags are giant, floating fat things that pass gas at you. When you kill them and they explode, the gory sounds of their body parts hitting the ground accompany the equally bloody visual effect. Ambient effects are used very well, never throwing themselves at you, and only noticeable when you have those rare, creepy moments that nothing is trying to kill you.

Music is stellar. Everything from twisted circus tunes down to original KISS songs are used to great effect. Unlike many games, you won't be accompanied by music all the time, so when it kicks in, you know something's up. Either you did something very important, or you're in for the fight of your life.

id Software will focus more on sound in the future - Mikael @ 09:05 EST

Stomped has posted a short interview with id Software's John Carmack that includes the following interesting bit:

Stomped: I know you can't talk about your current project, but how are things at id right now?

Carmack: Well we got lots of really interesting technology coming out. We have got the strongest programming team we have ever had in the company where we've got programmers that are working on areas that we have conventionally short-shrifted. Some of the things like sound and game logic are things where I would just always do something that's acceptable that would get the job done. There was never like a primary focus for it. Now we've got expert programmers dedicated to it. We've got a programmer dedicated to making great sound; a programmer dedicated to making great game technology; a programmer dedicated to great tools. Of course, we are going to have great graphics and great networking and all this type of stuff we have always been known for, but a lot of the areas that have been kind of our secondary strength are going to be brought to primary level and that's going to be really cool.

Icewind Dale review - Mikael @ 08:44 EST

Game-Over net has posted a very positive review of Icewind Dale but the positive impression didn't include the 3D sound:

Simply put, the musical score for Icewind Dale is astounding. The score ranges from lush orchestral arrangements to Celtic based tunes to ominous death marches. I have no complaints in this department and I only wish every game had music this good. There does seem to be support for 3d sound in Icewind Dale, but when I turned it on I noticed very little difference from the regular stereo sound. It's not a huge problem however, and the sound effects perform their duties quite well. Spells sound sufficiently powerful, as do the incantations that go with them. Swords will clang on armor and arrows will wiz through the air creating a full aural experience.

Picassio Preview - Mikael @ 08:33 EST

ActionTrip.com has posted a preview of Promethean Designs' upcoming action/adventure game, Picassio. Here's a bit from the intro:

"Just imagine…The shooting satisfaction, the character interaction of Half-Life, combined with the gameplay of Goldeneye, gives you Picassio- a totally non-violent game!"

Ok, what's wrong with this picture? The nineties are over and somebody out there got the bright idea of developing a non-violent game!? Was it really so hard to pop a simple int blood_amount=0; somewhere in the code line? They have denied themselves so much, those guys from the UK firm Promethean Designs… Just when the player community was deprived of an excellent house such as "Looking Glass Studios", responsible for the "Thief" and some other good stuff, they have tackled a similar task. After two racing games, Powerboat Racing and Renegade Racers (and Worms on the SNES console), they are preparing for the personal computer market and next-generation consoles with a real non-violent game. You take a little "Thief", spice it with a little Pink Panther, Inspector Clusoe and James Bond plot, and you have the Promethean guys idea…Actually, they don't want Picassio to be considered as a Thief clone, but a unique game which they got the idea for while playing the legendary Prince of Persia and Spy vs. Spy. So, it will be a stealthy (did I mention non-violent) action adventure which will put you in the role of a thief with sticky fingers and catlike moves specialized in theft of valuable art pieces.

Videologic Digitheatre DTS Review - Mark @ 08:17 EST

3DHardware has posted a review of VideoLogic's DigiTheatre DTS system and just as Mikael did in our own review, they found it to be an excellent performer. One really minor point. The DigiTheatre DTS is not unlike the original DigiTheatre system when it comes to the lack of a dynamic range function. For additional impressions and details of the DigiTheatre DTS system performance you can also check out our own review.

Pioneer 16x DVD Drive Review - Mikael @ 05:46 EST

Luxidion.com has put Pioneer's 16x DVD-ROM drive to the test. As the name suggests it offers transfer speeds of up to 16X (21,600 KB/sec) for DVDs and 40x for CD-ROM (6000 KB/sec). The review includes some general impressions playing a DVD movie and a couple benchmarks using SiSoft Sandra 2000. When it comes to his performance CPU usage I wonder what software DVD player he used since I get a lot better results using a Celeron 450+Geforce using PowerDVD.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Friday, August 04, 2000

Still Searching for MidiLand Contest Winners! - Mark @ 23:22 EST

Can you believe this one? There were eight winners of the contest the MidiLand sponsored and four of the winners either have a dead email address or have yet to respond to the emails sent to them! Go figure...Anyway, if Charles Worlton, Louie Perkins, Paul Casson or Robert Killingsworth are reading this please contact Gina C at MidiLand right away to claim your prize. Contact details are on the winners page where you can see the full list of winners and prizes as well as find a link to MidiLand's news page for additional MidiLand contests.

Using Fractals To Classify Music - Mark @ 22:43 EST

New Scientist has short post on classifying music using fractals. Here's the snip:

Classifying music using fractals could make it much easier for Internet search engines to pick out the kind of music people are looking for, say researchers in France.

Scientists have long looked for self-similar patterns, or fractals, in music but without much success. Alain Iost and Maxime Bigerelle at the University of Science and Technology in Lille, France, made their breakthrough by looking at the amplitude of notes--their loudness--rather than their pitch. They found that the fractal patterns in the way loudness varies could be used to distinguish between different types of music, such as heavy metal and jazz (Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, vol 11, p 2179).

TerraTec Rack IT!: built-in racks for MP3 CD Player m3po - Mark @ 22:34 EST

Calling all DJs and other music freaks: The Niederrhein audio specialist, TerraTec, now offers a useful accessory for its renowned MP3 CD player m3po: the m3po rackit! This is a built-in rack for the m3po. This allows you to integrate your MP3 CD player in a 19" rack. These 19" racks are becoming increasingly more popular among musicians and other professionals, and require two height units. The m3po rackit! can now be bought directly on the Internet from MediaX (www.mediax-direkt.de)(in German). Rack It! costs DM 99. Speaking of the m3po, we had promised a review of this unit quite some time ago but for various reasons its never happened and we plan to have it done before the end of August. For additional details on RackIT! and the m3po you can check out the full press release.

MP Man F35 MP3 Player Reviewed - Mark @ 22:27 EST

T-Break has posted a review of the MP Man F35 MP3 Player. Here's a snip to set the stage:

The F35 comes with 32 or 64MB built in memory (depending on the model you choose) and has one expansion slot to bring the total memory to a maximum of 96 or 128MB. Finally- enough memory to not have songs repeated on a two hour flight! Besides the additional memory, the F35 has quite a few other neat features as well. Starting from USB connectivity that is a lot faster than the older Parallel port models (nearly four times faster) to the built-in FM tuner which will stop you from getting bored of listening to your collection of MP3 over and over. Also, a mini-equalizer lets you select between Normal, Classic, Jazz, Pop and Rock settings. And finally the Voice Recorder will help you record the oh so important conversations that you can blackmail people with. Something else you can use the F35 for is a small and handy collection of your “things to remember” like telephone numbers, birthdays etc.

Diablo II 1.03 Patch - Mark @ 22:20 EST

If you are playing online you would already know about this but just in case you don't go for auto updates you can grab the 1.03 patch and see a list of fixes at the 3Dfiles download page. Diablo II supports DS3D with EAX 2.0, but you need an EAX 2.0 capable card to get 3D sound support.

InterVideo's WinDVD Player Receives Dolby Headphone Certification - Mark @ 22:15 EST

InterVideo has announced its DVD player for PCs, WinDVD, has received Dolby Headphone certification from Dolby Laboratories. The certification enables InterVideo to offer Dolby's leading-edge headphone technology to WinDVD users, which according to the press release allow listeners to recreate full movie theater surround sound via standard audio headphones. Dolby Headphone, a proprietary sound processing method licensed by InterVideo through Dolby from Lake Technology, allows conventional stereo headphones to create the illusion of more realistic speaker-based audio reproduction, much in the same way that headphone 3D audio works with 3D sound cards and games that support 3D sound. Dolby's certification, awarded on July 3rd, authorizes InterVideo to begin offering Dolby Headphone-enabled WinDVD players to PC OEMs. First availability for manufacturers is expected by late summer, with a retail rollout slated for later this year. For more details you can check out the full press release. You can also find more details of the software's features in Intervideo's late June announcement of their new WinCinema Suite. You may also be aware that WinDVD is not the first to offer Dolby Headphone support in their software MPEG decoder. In May, MGI Software announced MGI SoftDVD MAX with Dolby Headphone. I have an evaluation copy of MGI SoftDVD MAX and while I have not used it very much yet due to a conflict with anther software DVD players on my system, I have used it enough to say that Dolby Headphone support on the SoftDVD MAX is definitely beneficial over standard stereo headphone playback and I would expect the same benefits in the WinDVD implementation. In terms of Dolby Headphone, you can also find additional information by going to the search page in our news database.

Good Guys to Introduce Panasonic DVD Video Recorder - Mark @ 21:59 EST

Good Guys, the United States' second-largest specialty retailer of consumer entertainment electronics, has announced that it will be one of the first in the US to offer Panasonic's DMR-E10 DVD Video Recorder which will allow consumers to record high-quality images directly from their television, personal computer or digital camcorder and create their own DVDs using MPEG2 encoding with Hybrid VBR (variable bit rate) technologies. The product features Dolby® Digital 2-channel audio recording for true-to-sound audio reproduction as well as imaging capabilities to improve the picture quality of old VHS videotapes and other recordings. The product is expected to be available in late September at all 79 Good Guys locations. For all the details on the Good Guy's announcement you can check out the full press release. For additional information on Panasonic's DVD recorder products you can check out their announcement in late June of volume shipping of 4.7GB DVD-RAM drives and their announcement, made in January, of their first DVD video recorder, model VDR-10000. You might also want to check out Sharky Extreme for their 18 page article covering what Sony and Panasonic had on display during the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in January 2000.

Universal Music Group Enters into Pacts with eMusic and RioPort - Mark @ 21:47 EST

RioPort Inc., a leading Internet music application service provider (ASP), today announced a new relationship with Universal Music Group (UMG) that will bring tracks from popular UMG artists to RioPort's music service at Bolt, a leading global communications platform for 15- to 20-year olds. In a separate announcement, EMusic.com, the Internet's leading seller of downloadable music, announced an affiliate relationship with UMG for EMusic's RollingStone.com Web site to participate in the trials of bluematter, a new digital download format. Songs in the bluematter format come with enhanced multimedia content, such as biographies, photographs, lyrics and credits. bluematter tracks span a breadth of genres from rock to pop to classical. You can get more details on the RioPort announcement and the eMusic announcement via the full press releases.

Heavy Metal - F.A.K.K.2 Aural Update - Mark @ 17:40 EST

Thanks to our good friend PascaL for sending in his brief impressions of Heavy Metal - F.A.K.K.2, with a focus on audio and it appears to be some good news for a change! Pascal reports that on installing the game he found options for EAX, EAX2 and A3D. Here's a snip of his very early impressions:

I have it set to EAX2 and it seems to be positioning the sound correctly, though my impression so far, from the minimal amount I've played the game, is that the volume levels between rear and front are not always well balanced. For instance, approaching a big motor in the opening scene I can hear it rumble loudly, but when I turn myself around the motor is about 200% quieter. Other sounds seem well balanced, though, so this might be just a poor detail and not reflective of the whole game. The game's visuals are very pretty, as are the cuties that you control and interact with. ;) Controls are good... so it's just up to the gameplay and story now, I think...

S3 Financial Report and Shutdown of Graphics Board Business - Mark @ 17:31 EST

S3® has reported that net revenues for the second quarter of 2000 were $135.8 million compared to $57.3 million for the second quarter of 1999(1).
S3 reported a loss of $12.1 million, or $0.13 per share, before goodwill and excluding after-tax costs of $7.2 million associated with the liquidation of graphics boards and $6.0 million of allocated RioPort.com costs associated with S3's minority position. Net loss for the quarter inclusive of goodwill and all charges was $36.3 million, or $0.40 per share. This compares with a net income of $1.1 million, or $0.02 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. For the six months ended June 30, 2000, revenues were $297.5 million compared with $101.6 million for the same period in 1999. Year-to-date net income(2) was $456.0 million, or $4.55 per share, compared with a net loss of $12.8 million, or $0.24 per share, for the first six months of 1999.

S3 also announced that it has initiated the shutdown of its Diamond Multimedia branded graphics add-in board business. Consistent with its declared intention to exit PC graphics, S3 evaluated multiple offers to sell the graphics board business, but it became clear that a redeployment of the existing resources to its high-growth Rio, home networking and information appliance businesses was the right long-term strategy for the company. ``Shutting down the graphics board business to maintain focus and momentum reflects our commitment to rebuilding S3 as a digital media and Internet appliance company,'' said Ken Potashner, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of S3 Incorporated. While this announcement makes no specific mention of their sound card line I would assume that they consider sound cards to fall into the realm of digital media. For a lot more details on the financial results check out the full press release.

Creative Looks to Home Entertainment - Mikael @ 04:35 EST

Reuters reports that Creative is rapidly expanding into the home digital entertainment frontier and expects to launch a new product every six month. Reuters further reports that Creative's chief technical officer C. Hock Leow said a whole new audio architecture that enabled improved audio playback, voice over IT and voice recognition would be developed by 2001. In the Reuters article you will also find financial details of Creative's last results and predictions of the future.

Submarine Titans review - Mikael @ 03:06 EST

TheGameGuy has posted their impressions of Submarine Titans, a real-time strategy game. They thinks it's a great game with great graphics, sound effects and simplistic gameplay but they have some doubts about the replay value in both the single and multiplaying mode. Here's their very positive impressions of the audio:

The audio in Submarine Titans is superb. The voices of the units are all well done and they sound real, which is a great asset to any real-time strategy game. The explosions don't just look great, they sound great as well. A feature in Submarine Titans that I really enjoyed is that when you are being attacked or are leading an attack the music changes to something more up tempo just to get you in the mood to attack, kill, and destroy all that opposes you. It's something that you don't usually see in the world of real-time strategy games but it is definitely one of the finer points of Submarine Titans. Submarine Titans has full 3D sound capabilities which really gives you the feeling that you are submerged 300 000 leagues under the sea when explosions are coming from all directions.

BreakNeck review - Mikael @ 03:06 EST

GamesDomain has posted a review of SouthPeak Interactive's arcade racing game, BreakNeck. According to the review the game supports DS3D and I also checked SouthPeak's site and it mentions support for 3D sound. No mention of how good the 3D sound implementation is but he does have the following impression of the sound effects:

Ambient trackside audio effects -- cheering, birds, horses, trains, tribal drums, music, airplanes, etc.-- add a pleasing richness to the experience. Unfortunately, the trackside audio does not reflect changes in the time of day or in the weather conditions. No matter how different the track might look, the ambient sound is always the same. It's oddly unnerving to hear birds singing in a snow storm.

SQ1500 review - Mikael @ 02:38 EST

PlanetSavage has posted a review of Aureal's SQ1500 soundcard. A few things worth noting about this card that this review isn't very clear about: It doesn't support EAX, it supports A3D 2.0 but not the reflections which is the major feature of A3D 2.0 and most importantly it only features 8 3D streams which isn't really enough for most new games. I would personally pick Guillemot's Fortissimo or any of the other YMF744 based cards that retails for about $50 over the SQ1500 (SRP $70 when Aureal was still more alive than dead) assuming you buy it for playing games.

Star Trek: DSNine - The Fallen Demo Patch - Mikael @ 02:08 EST

This patch for the demo of ST:Deep Space 9 includes a quick fix for the audio device selection problem and also includes new Direct-3D drivers. These fixes should address problems relating to poor performance, choppy sound and any Direct-3D compatibility issues. You can grab the patch from 3dfiles

Submarine Titans patch - Mikael @ 02:03 EST

A patch for the 3D sound supporting Submarine Titans has been released. You can download it from Avault

New Rocket Arena: UT - Mikael @ 01:40 EST

Version 1.42 of the UT mod Rocket Arena has been released.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Thursday, August 03, 2000

Ricoh MP9060 CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive Review - Mark @ 21:00 EST

Planet Hardware has posted a review of the Ricoh MP9060A CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive. As you will get from the title, the drive is capable of reading CD-ROM and DVD formats, as well as writing CD-R and CD-RW formats. In terms of speed for writing it offers upto 6x for CD-R, 4x for CD-RW and for reading it offers upto 24x for CD-RW/CD-R/CD-ROM and upto 4x for DVD-ROM, so the strong point is versatility, not speed. For DVD playback it comes bundled with Ravisent Technologies Software Cinemaster package. In the end they conclude that it's a good all round performer at the revised street price of $230 as opposed to the rather high MSRP of $399. For lots details on the drive's performance check out the review.
News Source: Anandtech

Terminus 1.62b Patch - Mark @ 20:45 EST

The 8th (!) patch for Terminus in less than 5 weeks has been released. You can grab it from 3Dfiles.

Videologic Digitheatre In Dixons And Currys Shops Now - Mark @ 20:02 EST

VideoLogic Systems has announced that Dixons and Currys, part of the Dixons Group, are making VideoLogic's award winning DigiTheatre Dolby Digital home cinema audio system available through stores across the UK. Two hundred and forty Dixons stores and 272 Currys stores are now stocking DigiTheatre from their Audio and TV departments. For œ249.99 (inc. VAT) DigiTheatre is a complete home cinema sound system including six speakers, an integrated amplifier, a Dolby Digital decoder unit and a remote control. For a bit more detail on this announcement you can check out the full press release and for a lot more detail on the DigiTheatre system you can check out our review. You can also check out our review of VideoLogic's new DigiTheatre DTS system.

Record Industry Will Severely Damage Itself by Getting What it Wishes - Mark @ 19:57 EST

That's what analysts from the Gartner Group think when it comes to the recording industry's fight against Napster and the distribution of copyrighted material over the Internet. They feel that it would have been advantageous for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to have worked with Napster because other technologies will make it much more difficult for the RIAA to regulate. Stephen Bradley, a Gartner fellow, feels that with Napster, there is a credible company with experienced management and a 20 million user captive audience in one manageable place. He says that without Napster the record companies have no one to negotiate with as distributed trading architectures like Gnutella have no management team, facilities or place of business. For a lot more analysis you can check out the full press release.

Napster Soars 92 Percent in Daily Traffic - Mark @ 19:49 EST

The Internet ratings report for the week ending July 23 from Nielsen//NetRatings shows that the media spotlight on Napster in the past week has caused more people to visit the site and download the file-swapping software. Napster.com rose 92 percent in traffic to peak at 849,000 unique home visitors on Friday, July 28, the day the court stay was granted, from Tuesday, July 25, the day before the federal court's ruling. The site broke the 800,000 unique visitor mark both on Friday and Saturday, covering more than three percent of all active home Internet users each day. In addition, on Friday, the day the stay was announced, downloads of Napster software more than doubled from the day before to 22 percent of its audience, indicating renewed interest. For some analysis of the numbers and extensive stats you can check out the full press release.

WinDVD Player First to Receive WHQL Certification for WindowsME - Mark @ 19:40 EST

InterVideo has announced that WinDVD is the first DVD software to receive certification from Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) for Windows Millennium Edition. To receive WHQL compliance, DVD systems are tested for quality assurance in playback of DirectShow APIs, Microsoft's DVD format. Microsoft also rates applications for easy user interface, low bug occurrence, and load-and-launch compatibility. Major system manufacturers worldwide require the Windows-certified logo before they will consider shipping a software DVD solution. For some additional details you can check out the full press release.

QDesign Selects e.Digital Portable Player Design for Showcase Product - Mark @ 19:35 EST

e.Digital Corporation has announced today that it has been contracted by QDesign Corporation to create and deliver special edition portable digital music players incorporating a Texas Instruments DSP and featuring the QDesign QDX scalable music compression format. The special edition QDX/MP3digital audio player is expected to be delivered to QDesign by the end of August and will be used to showcase the new QDX technology to leading members of the digital music industry. The new QDX format is a next generation technology to MP3 that according to QDesign makes digital music easy for consumers and content providers alike. For details on why they think this is the case you can check out the full press release as well as a second press release from late July announcing QDX.

Preview Systems to Support Advanced Audio Coding Technology - Mark @ 19:28 EST

Preview Systems has licensed AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) technology from Dolby Laboratories and has agreed to integrate it into future versions of the ZipLock for Music digital goods commerce platform. Cooperatively developed by four of the world's leading audio compression experts (AT&T, Dolby Laboratories, Fraunhofer IIS, and Sony Corporation), AAC is the only next-generation, low bit-rate audio compression format to be specified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as part of the MPEG standard. Companies that currently support AAC include iObjects, S3's Rio Group, RioPort, Matsushita, Texas Instruments, Sanyo, Toshiba, Cirrus Logic and ARM. For more details on AAC and some quotes you can check out the full press release.

Spatializer Audio Laboratories, Inc. Reports Sixth Consecutive Quarter of Profitability - Mark @ 19:24 EST

Spatializer Audio Laboratories, Inc. has announced its sixth consecutive quarter of profitability and financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2000. The company reported net income for the quarter of $112,000, $0.00 basic and diluted per share, compared with net income of $12,000, $0.00 basic and diluted per share, in the comparable period last year, an increase of 833%. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2000 was $282,000, $0.01 basic and diluted per share, compared to net income of $14,000, $0.00 basic and diluted per share, in the comparable six month period last year. Revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2000 were $530,000, compared to revenues of $294,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 1999, an increase of 80%. Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2000 were $1,036,000, compared to revenues of $652,000 in the comparable six-month period last year. For quite a bit more detail on where the profits came from you can check out the full press release.

Sonic Foundry Announces Launch of Vegas Audio 2.0 - Mark @ 19:20 EST

Sonic Foundry, Inc. has announced that its Vegas Audio 2.0 editing system, an upgrade and replacement to the award-winning Vegas Pro, is now available for sale in a downloadable format at sonicfoundry.com for $449.10. A packaged version will be available in late August. Vegas Audio 2.0 is a PC-based, multitrack audio recording and editing system, combining a powerful feature set with a streamlined interface to quickly edit and construct audio projects. For more details you can check out the full announcement.

DVD Player Shipments to Hit 22 Million Units This Year - Mark @ 19:15 EST

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, manufacturers will increase worldwide shipments of set-top DVD players by 300% this year. Retail revenues across the three major regions (US, Europe, Japan) will rise by 220% to $7bn. This year's market is being driven by the launch of DVD-based games consoles, and DVD recorders will fuel the momentum from 2001 onwards. These conclusions are presented in a study entitled ``World DVD Planning Report'' and published recently by Strategy Analytics within its strategic advisory service, The Interactive Home. According to the report DVD video disc shipments this year will reach nearly 400 million units and overall consumer sales of DVD devices (set-top, PC, other) will reach 46 million units this year, including 21 million in the US and 17 million in Europe. Basic DVD players will account for two-thirds of set-top shipments in 2000, the remainder being DVD games consoles. For some additional projections you can check out the full press release.

SB Live as a Sampler - Mark @ 13:23 EST

Futurelooks has posted a short article on how to use the SB Live as a fully functional sampler. For details check out the article.

Carrot Innovation's Virtual Turntable (VTT) - Mark @ 13:17 EST

Futurelooks.com has posted an article that takes a look at Carrot Innovation's Virtual Turntable (VTT). Carrot Innovation's website describes as follows:

Virtual Turntables (VTT) is the premiere computer based DJing platform. With little more than your computer and MP3s, you can create professional mixes with real time mixing, pitch changes, volume, and DSP effects. VTT supports Skins and various other plugins, including many written for WinAMP.

Universal Music will offer songs online on a trial basis - Mikael @ 09:13 EST

Reuters reports that Universal Music Group, the world's largest record label, has confirmed it would offer songs in a digital format over the Internet on a trial basis. The trials will begin this week with around 60 songs. They will only be available in a format that RealNetworks Inc.'s RealPlayer digital media playback software support. Seems like a poor decision to me, I hope they will support other formats once its launch their digital business this fall.

A Preview of the ABIT Arcadia SP50 - Mark @ 07:54 EST

A bit of a change of pace for them but Tom's Hardware has posted a nicely done preview of ABIT's upcoming Arcadia SP50 system. It's quite a large article with a lot of space dedicated to explaining in general the different aspects of 5.1, Dolby Digital, etc. and a bunch more space on the system overview and tests done at the ABIT offices. A couple of minor comments. When it comes to the 5.1 the .1 is more than just the subwoofer. It also refers to the LFE (low frequency effects channel) in Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. The AU-10 soundcard will use the latest FM801 chip from Fortemedia and to be clear, the Dolby Digital decoding will be via the bundled software, which appears to be WinDVD. That's all minor though and as they get further into the review we get to some really interesting stuff. Specifically, ABIT ran the card through some tests on an Audio Precision System 2 Cascade Dual Domain 96k Digital audio analyzer. That's a very high end test system in case you don't know. The Tom's Hardware preview has published some of those results. Here's a snip:

I had a chance to perform similar tests on a Sound Blaster Live Platinum. In terms of frequency response the AU-10 had a small edge in D-A, and full duplex tests, and was on par with the Creative Labs card elsewhere. In terms of phase shift, the AU-10 performed much better than the SB card in the A-D tests, but was slightly worse in the D-A examinations. Overall, the AU-10 more than held its own against the SB Live Platinum in terms of audio quality. Of course the Creative Labs card contains a sophisticated DSP which might make it more attractive to gamers.

Creative Technology Reports All-Time Record for Fiscal Year 2000 - Mikael @ 04:22 EST

Creative Technology has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2000, ended June 30, 2000. Creative posted its third consecutive quarter of record year-over-year revenues, achieving sales for the fourth quarter of $307.7 million. This represents a 12% increase over the same quarter the previous year when sales were $275.1 million. The company reported fiscal year revenues of $1.343 billion, up from $1.296 billion for the previous fiscal year. Audio systems sales increased 30%. You can find more numbers and a few quotes from the CEO in the press release. You could also check out this Reuters story.

Heavy Metal - F.A.K.K.2 shipping and review - Mikael @ 03:12 EST

Ritual's Quake3 engine powered Heavy Metal - F.A.K.K.2 has gone gold and is already turning up in some stores in US. If you want to know more about the game you should read the first review of it posted on Stomped. Even though they didn't find every aspect of the game to be excellent they found it to be the best third person action game they have ever played. They also said the graphics is the best so far. Here's a bit on the music and sound effects:

The voice acting in FAKK2 is excellent for the Julie character and pretty good for all but one or two characters throughout the game. I didn't get that uncomfortable feeling while listening to the dialog like I have in some games. The weapons and other sounds are also very good; including what I feel is an ideal pistol and Uzi sound. The music in the game is also perfectly suited, from the rockin' theme song to tunes with hints of primus influence.

The music system is similar to SiN's in that it changes depending on what is happening in the game. If you are creeping along it is more subdued but if you suddenly encounter a couple of baddies or barely grab a cliff edge, it pumps up the adrenaline.

Martian Gothic: Unification review - Mikael @ 02:56 EST

Avault has posted a review of Martian Gothic: Unification. Like most other reviews of this game it's rather negative with only the music score getting more than 2 out of 5 stars. Avault points out like most other reviews it shows a lot of promise in virtually every aspect of its design but "somehow finds a way to botch up the principal features in the actual execution of the product". Here's their negative sound impression:

The sound effects in Martian Gothic are decidedly unimpressive. The noises all seems to be ones I have heard before elsewhere, without the slightest touch of innovation. In contrast to these generic effects, the voices of the characters are above average, with the dialog uttered with sincerity and a noticeable lack of overdone histrionics. There is also decent support here for 3D surround sound and the EAX hardware 3D sound standard.

EVE will support 3D sound - Mikael @ 02:13 EST

RPGVault has posted an interview with the developers behind the upcoming massively multiplayer online strategy, space simulation, and role-playing game, EVE. Here's the sound bit:

Jonric: Will sound and music be important factors? Will you support 3D sound, and are you planning on or considering voice communication?

Thorolfur Beck: Music and sound effects are of the utmost importance to help create the overall feel and flavor of the game. OK, we know that no one can hear you scream in space, but what fun is that? So we bend the laws of physics a little and have all those nice sound-effects you expect - ships blowing up, weapons firing, engines humming, and so on. We'll support 3D sound, although it's undecided to what degree. We'll probably support voice communication, but using it will be optional.

Wednesday, August 02, 2000

Vampire Postmortem - Mark @ 22:51 EST

Gamasutra (Game Developer Magazine's online site) has posted a new edition of their postmortem series. This one is for the A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX supporting Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. As with all their entire postmortem series, they talk about what went right and what went wrong when making a game. In this case its written by Robert Huebner, a co-founder and lead programmer at Nihilistic Software. Here's a snip:

We had originally planned to include both 16-bit and 32-bit versions of the game textures and allow players to choose which version to install, but after all the art was completed there was no room on the CD for more than one version. Likewise for sounds: we wanted to include multiple quality levels but space prevented this. We actually compressed most of the voice samples with MP3 and had to remove several sounds from the game in order to fit it on two CDs.

Former NIN Drummer Scoring Alice - Mark @ 12:34 EST

Avault reports that Electronic Arts has announced that Chris Vrenna, former drummer and co-founder of the band Nine Inch Nails, will compose the music for American McGee's Alice. EA said it hopes Vrenna's music will complement McGee's "morbid" adaptation of Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland novels. The game is due out this fall and will include a separate CD featuring Vrenna's music. As you may know, the game is using the Q3A engine which shipped with A3D 2.0 support out of the box. However, that support was broken for Vortex 2 cards with subsequent patches. We have yet to determine where that leaves Alice, especially when you consider that EA has been more support of EAX than A3D in past titles. If you have any information on this we would appreciate hearing from you.

Rollcage Stage II Patch - Mark @ 08:02 EST

If you're having problems with Rollcage Stage II, mainly due to using a recent Intel processor, this file may well fix your problems. You can grab the 836 Kb patch from 3Dfiles. Rollcage Stage II supports DS3D with EAX.

Yamaha Debuts YST-M101 Two-Piece Speaker System - Mark @ 07:45 EST

Yamaha Corporation of America has announced the launch of the compact YST-M101, a two-piece powered speaker system designed for personal computers, portable audio players and game systems. The new system features 6 Watts of output power and Yamaha's Active Servo Technology, which optimizes the interaction of the amplifier, enclosure and speaker resulting in what Yamaha says is deep bass that's impossible to achieve with conventional technology on the market. The YST-M101 will be offered in August 2000 at an estimated street price of $29.95. For more details you can check out the full announcement.
News Source: PC NewsCenter

Unreal Tournament 4.25 Patch - Mark @ 07:31 EST

A version 425 patch for Unreal Tournament has been released and it's completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, 405b, 413, and 420). A list of fixes is available on the download page at 3Dfiles where you can grab the 6.0 MB patch.

Tuesday, August 01, 2000

Boston Acoustics Enters Entry-Level Multimedia Speaker Market - Mark @ 23:05 EST

Boston Acoustics has introduced the BA265, the Company's first entry-level speaker system for computers. The BA265 is a powered two-piece speaker system that offers performance similar to Boston's more expensive multimedia products but at an entry-level price. With its introduction, Boston Acoustics now offers a complete line of multimedia audio products for the OEM and retail channels. Initially the BA265 will be offered by the Company's OEM customers. Beginning in September it will also be available through the Company's retail channels at a MSRP of $29.95. "As the average price of computer packages has dropped over the past 18 months, their capability to deliver true high fidelity sound has actually improved, limited only by the quality of the speakers supplied with them," stated Michael Chass, VP--Multimedia Products. "In designing the BA265, we capitalized on this opportunity to upgrade performance and succeeded in making an entry-level speaker that delivers the high fidelity promise consumers expect from Boston Acoustics." We have reviewed two of Boston Acoustic's high end multimedia products in the form of the MediaTheater and the BA4800 and were quite impressed with both systems so it will be interesting to learn just how much of quality they can bring to the entry level.

Listen Up! New Logitech SoundMan Multimedia Speakers Now Shipping - Mark @ 22:58 EST

Logitech has announced that it is now shipping its new SoundMan multimedia speaker systems. The SoundMan SR-30 and SoundMan S-20 models are now available in retail outlets and at various Internet locations, including http://www.logitech.com. The SoundMan S4 system will be available later this month. The SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 completes the new line and is due out in October. The 30-watt SoundMan SR-30 speaker system, with an estimated street price of $79.95, includes four satellite speakers, a subwoofer and a remote control that features four-channel volume dials, an on/standby button, power indicator and headphone jack. An included pair of brackets offers an easy wall-mounting option for the rear satellite speakers. The SoundMan S-20, with an estimated street price of $49.95, is a three-piece 20-watt speaker system that Logitech is targeting as a music system. It also includes the SoundTouch remote control. For details on Logitech's yet to ship entry level SoundMan S-4 (estimated street price of $19.99) and also yet to ship top end SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 (estimated street price of $179.95) you can check out the full press release.

Nvidia designing "mystery chip" for Xbox - Mark @ 22:26 EST

The following is taken from the intro of an article over at C/Net News:

Graphics chipmaker Nvidia, already selected to provide the graphics processor for Microsoft's Xbox, also is working on a second, unannounced chip for the gaming console. Nvidia chief executive Jen Hsun Huang said recently that there are three main chips for the Xbox: the microprocessor, the graphics processor and an unannounced third chip Nvidia will provide, possibly handling advanced sound or video functions.

"Nvidia is developing two of the devices," Huang said during a presentation at the Robertson Stephens Semiconductor Conference in San Francisco last week. Intel's Pentium III has already been chosen as the microprocessor.

Microsoft would not comment on the mystery chip. The Xbox, slated to arrive next fall, offers game playing, Internet access and a DVD drive. Analysts said there are several possibilities for what Nvidia's other chip might do. Microsoft has already listed a "custom 3D audio processor" in its list of specifications for the console.

If Nvidia were doing the audio, it would be a whole new area for the company and something it might not want to advertise to the industry. Analyst Peter Glaskowsky of MicroDesign Resources said it's within the company's ability level. "It's supposed to require a whole lot of math," Glaskowsky said of the audio chip. "Nvidia certainly has a whole lot of know-how to do that."

D-Link DMP-100 Portable MP3 Player Review - Mark @ 20:00 EST

Quantum 9 has posted a review of the D-Link DMP-100 Portable MP3 Player. This first generation player comes with 32 MB of memory on board and has a suggest retail price of $150. Overall they were impressed with the player but not the software. For more details check out the review. One thing I will point out is in the review they mention that the unit has an on board mixer and I think they mean equalizer.
News Source: Anandtech

MP3 Discman Portable CD MP3 Player Review - Mark @ 19:51 EST

Chick's Hardware has posted a nicely done review of the MP3 Discman Portable CD MP3 Player. As you may surmise, it's a portable CD player that plays MP3 CDs as well as normal CDs. Since it does not use expensive memory for storage, the price comes in at only œ99 (~US$160 but you can find it for US$99 at places like ComputerGeeks. Overall they found it a good deal for the money with the 650 MB of storage per CD the big plus. For more details you can check out the Chick's Hardware review.
News Source: Anandtech

AOpen AW744 Pro Review - Mark @ 18:41 EST

TechGear has posted a review of the AOpen AW744 Pro. As you may get from the name, this sound card is based on Yamaha's YMF744 chip. A couple of comments - I am not sure why they say that 4 speaker support is not true surround, and for the record I disagree. It's also not true that simply hooking the card's SPDIF out to a Dolby Digital receiver with 5 speakers and a subwoofer will get you true surround sound. That's only for DVD and only if you are using a supported software DVD player with the card. Based on some other comments in the review I have serious doubts that the reviewer is aware of this fact. I also don't get their comments about poor or lack of four speaker 3D sound in some games as we had no such problems with our YMF744 based cards, and I doubt its anything AOpen did to their board. All I can think of is they were not using the latest drivers and/or trying games with no 3D sound. For lots more detail on just how good the 3D sound should be on the AOpen card you can check out our reviews of the Guillemot Maxi Sound Fortissimo or Hoontech Digital XG. I saw news of this review over at 3DAlpha where they have just implemented their new design, so you might want to check them out.

Videologic SonicFury Review - Mark @ 12:49 EST

Expect to see a few of these over the next little while as review units just recently went out from VideoLogic to a few sites outside of North America (North America is excluded because the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz covers the North American market). First out of the block with a SonicFury review is Tech-Junkie and they were quite impressed with the card, awarding it a perfect 5/5 for the overall score! Just a couple of minor things I want to point out. One is you can get 3D audio from Quake 3 by using Aureal's A2D drivers, but many people don't like the IMO odd reverb effects that result when used with an EAX capable sound card. The other is that at there are a couple of 5.1 ready multimedia speaker systems already on the market, at least outside of Australia where the reviewer is based out of. One, which also seems to suffer from poor availability in North America is a system from Aztec and the other is MidiLand's S4-7100 which we almost done reviewing. Last, but not least, Mikael expects our test unit today so look for our own feature on the SonicFury to follow soon after. Thanks goes out to Kamikaze for making sure we saw this review.

Free Special Version of Game Commander for UT - Mark @ 08:05 EST

Sontage Interactive, a division of Mindmaker, Inc. and makers of Game Commander voice recognition software for games and simulations, have announced that it is making available for free a special version of its the award winning Game Commander software for Unreal Tournament, the top-selling PC action game. Game Commander for Unreal Tournament will enable players to use spoken commands instead of the keyboard to control actions such as switching weapons and sending messages, and will be available free from the Game Commander web site (www.gamecommander.com). Game Commander can be used with any simulation or game that accepts keystroke commands. The software can be programmed with up to 256 keystrokes per voice command, providing players a strategic advantage in complex simulation, racing and shooter games with many commands and nested menu options. No voice training is required, and any word or phrase can be used to trigger a command. For some additional detail including some quotes you can check out the full press release.

VideoLogic DigiTheatre DTS Review! - Mikael @ 01:38 EST

In this review we take a close look at VideoLogic System's top end Dolby Digital / DTS 5.1 $600/œ400 speaker system - the DigiTheatre DTS. It uses the same satellites as their critically acclaimed Sirocco Crossfire system for the rear channels and two of the front channels in combination with a newly designed center channel speaker that uses a 4" driver instead of the 3" driver you'll find in the other satellites. The subwoofer uses the same driver as the Sirocco Pro but in a different casing that also integrates the amplifier and DD/DTS decoder. The amplifier is new and sports a whole lot of power (220 Watts RMS!) that can deliver loud clean audio!. The decoder, as you may gather from the name, now sports the ability to decode DTS as well as the more common Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic sound. In this review we take an in-depth look at the features and also briefly look at how it compares with other options on the market. We even take a look at how DTS compares to Dolby Digital! For all the details check out the full review.

Monday, July 31, 2000

ATI All-In-Wonder RADEON DVD Specs - Mark @ 22:39 EST

One the topic of DVD you might want to check out the specs on ATI's new All-In-Wonder RADEON. Here's one interesting snip:

True Home Theater Experience with DVD and Digital Audio Output

Hardware DVD video playback
*Watch flicker-free DVD movies on your PC or attached TV set
*Save the expense of buying a separate MPEG-2/DVD decoder card

Digital Audio Output (S/PDIF)
* Connect to your Dolby Digital stereo system for a full 5.1 channel home theater experience

Pioneer 16X DVD Review - Mark @ 22:30 EST

The Hardware Wizards have posted a review of the Pioneer 16X DVD drive. Its a very short review where they come to a positive conclusion with the only con being a complaint about it not shipping with a hardware MPEG decoder. They also make it sound like its really hard to get good image quality from software MPEG decoders and in my experience using a TNT1 and a now ancient Celeron 333a oc to 416 mHz that's just not the case.
News Source: AGNHardware

MidiLand and 3DsoundSurge Contest Winners Announced! - Mark @ 13:03 EST

A reminder that MidiLand has announced the winners of the contest that they sponsored here at 3DsoundSurge over the past few weeks. We would like to thank all of you who took the time to share your dream multimedia system impressions with MidiLand. They note that all the responses have been forwarded to their Research and Development team. Some of you may soon be seeing your "dream system" on the market under the MidiLand name! Now on to the winners! You can check the results at our Winners Page. If you have not heard from MidiLand already be sure to contact them right away to claim your prize. Details are on the winners page where you can also find a link to MidiLand's news page for additional MidiLand contests.

Important Items to Consider in Audio Design, Production, and Support - Mark @ 13:02 EST

Gamasutra has posted and article called Your Audio Design Document: Important Items to Consider in Audio Design, Production, and Support. While it's aimed at developers it's still an interesting read for all game audio fans. Here's a taste:

When customers put down their money for a game, of course they expect the best gameplay, AI, and graphics. Why, then, does the audio component always seem to be less on par with the rest of the product, as if it were an afterthought? Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the potential for audio in games, and in the near future (if not already), excellence in this area cannot continue to be put aside due to the production demands of other in-game components.

It's possible that when it has been put aside, the audio design -- the design and implementation of music, sound effects, and dialogue -- may have been too casually put together, or oversimplified. It may have been presented, say, as a list of files on a spreadsheet; where only some of those files, along with their implementation, were most likely coded in for testing. The rest is left incomplete until the closing stages of the development cycle, possibly as nothing more complex than triggering a sound-for-an-object on the screen.

If graphics are so closely linked to game design, why shouldn't the audio be as well? Granted, in terms of the other project components, the complexities of audio design (and its time line) may be smaller, but audio considerations in general should have just as equal importance. "Equal importance" shouldn't necessarily have to mean "expensive," however. Some careful thought and attention to audio design early in the development cycle will pay off many times over later on.

Icewind Dale Review - Mark @ 12:51 EST

Avault has posted a review of the DS3D with EAX supporting Icewind Dale. Overall they were quite impressed with the overall game, sound and music. Here is a snip on sound:

Icewind Dale includes one of the best narratives I've heard. The spoken dialogue within gameplay, while limited compared to Baldur's Gate, is nonetheless spectacular. Ambient sounds are also less prevalent than I was expecting, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Icewind Dale also doesn't include all the unnecessary and annoying sound bites that were played to death in Baldur's Gate, such as the infamous, "You must gather your party before venturing forth." The only aspect of the sound effects I didn't care for were the voice offerings available for created characters. They're somewhat melodramatic and don't fit the personalities I envision fighters would have.

Messiah Review - Mark @ 12:44 EST

Its been a while since we posted on of these on the DS3D with EAX and A3D 3.0 with wavetracing supporting Messiah. This one is from Electric Games where they were not too impressed with the overall game or the sound. Here's a snip on sound:

The sound effects are decent, but are a little bland at times. Weapon noise could use a little punch and voices could be a bit sharper. The music is very good, although the timing is off here and there. It builds during a firefight, then tends to linger too long after the action sequence is complete.

Blair Witch Project Interview - Mark @ 08:02 EST

V-Games has posted an interview with Mike Flynn, a Junior Level Designer From Human Head. Here's a snip on sound:

VG: Sound was set to minimum in the Blair Witch Project movie, Will your game take this theme, or are you planning a scary noise?

MF: I think that sound is one of the most important elements in a suspense/horror game. We will have more sounds than the movie presented, but many of these will be used to establish an environment beyond what the player can see. In the interests of contrast, there will be times when all that you hear will be the wind, a twig snapping, or the cackle of long dead children. We will also be taking advantage of the Nocturne engine's surround sound capabilities.

Diablo II Review - Mark @ 07:48 EST

A new Diablo II review for you with somewhat differing views on sound and the overall game than many that we have read, but overall still positive. The review is at Game Over they feel the sound is too similar to the original Diablo. They still are ok with the music but they really dislike the voice acting. They also did not find enabling EAX made a difference in the game. Here's a snip:

Support for 3D sound. Such a common sight, yet how often does it have absolutely no effect? Diablo 2 is one such case. I could find nary a difference between regular "2d" audio and EAX enabled audio, making me wonder exactly how Blizzard defined "3d audio". Virtually every sound in Diablo is also in Diablo 2, and while there are quite a few more monster types with new sounds, pretty much all the oldies are still looking and sounding the same. Skeletons, "fallen", zombies, drinking potions, and the general hacking and pain sounds are all pretty much the same as in Diablo. I'm sure a lot of people will overlook the sound as they get engrossed in hacking, and while the sounds certainly perform their function quite well, there isn't a lot of spice in the dish.

News from July 24-30, 2000

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