News:  August 21 - 27, 2000

Sunday, August 27, 2000

New Rocket Arena 3 for Quake III Arena released - Mikael @ 18:42 EST

A new beta version of Rocket Arena 3 for Quake III Arena has been released
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Hollywood Plus drivers for Windows 2000 - Mikael @ 05:40 EST

Sigmadesigns has released new (Rel 2.0 build 129) Windows 2000 drivers for its Hollywood Plus DVD decoder card. the Hollywood Plus uses the same chip as Creative Labs' Dxr3 and with some troubles you can get the Hollywood Plus drivers to work with the Dxr3 as well.

Saturday, August 26, 2000

Counter-Strike 7.0 Released - Mark @ 21:27 EST

New Counter Strike is out! This one has a ton of new features, most noticeably drivable vehicles. If you have not played Counter Strike yet, it's a wildly popular mod for the A3D 2.0 with wavetracing and DS3D with EAX supporting Half-Life. The download is not small though...depending on whether or not this is your first version you are looking at 31 Or 69 Megs! Grab it from 3Dfiles. It will be interesting to see if this version fixed the small audio bug that was introduced in the next to last version. Specifically, to get thing working correctly most people had to unselect and immediately reselect the audio mode in the configuration options each time they started the game.

Heavy Metal: FAKK2 Reviews - Mikael @ 07:28 EST

3 new Heavy Metal: FAKK2 reviews have popped up on the net. 2 of them very positive including the aural aspect of the game while Firingsquad had a more mixed impression that's overall negative. Here's the usual sound snips:

Firingsquad:

Speaking of talking - the voice acting in FAKK2 can get pretty bad. Most of the female voices are done in seductive tones at inappropriate (read: all) times, while the male voices range from dorky to average. Thankfully, the other sound effects in the game are pretty decent. The bugs that buzz by your head sound pretty realistic, while gunshots and hand to hand combat sounds also add a good deal to the game's atmosphere.

Interview with Ion Storm's Audio Director - Mikael @ 07:10 EST

Stormtroopers has interviewed Ion Storm's Audio Director, Will Nevins. He is currently working on Anachronox but the interview also cover Deus-Ex and Daikatana that he previously. Here's a taste:

Stormtroopers
what's life like now that Daikatana and Deus Ex are out the door? Just back into crunch mode #3 with Anox? Or is it a bit easier?
Will Nevins
Yes, we're entering crunch time #3 for Anox. I came in right at the end of DK, so I only got a couple of the SFX. But I did all of the E4 music, the first song in E1 and all of the deathmatch levels. About two weeks after arriving in Dallas, we dove right into the recording of dialogue for Deus Ex, and the SFX. So the first couple of months here were real tough. But we got the job done and on time! (phew!!! :). Anox has been running real smooth. I've had the chance to settle in and get my hands wet! Tom Hall, Andrew Thomas and Jake Hughes and the rest of team have been really great to work with, and i'm real excited about seeing the final product!

KISS review - Mikael @ 05:26 EST

Game-Revolution has posted a short review of KISS. They consider the game to be simply a Doom clone in a KISS makeup but of course with a more advanced engine. They are not that impressed with the game overall due to the uninspired gameplay. As most other reviews they also noted that it's not much KISS songs in this game. Here's the short but very nice bit on the sound effects:

One aspect does stand out from the rest however, the sound. The sound is simply amazing; if you have the opportunity I recommend hooking your computer up to a large stereo. The intros are theater quality and the in-game sound effects are disturbingly clear. While most of this game offers nothing new, the sound rocks.

Terminus review - Mikael @ 05:11 EST

Avault has posted a mixed review of the 3D sound supporting space combat game, Terminus. They describe the game as "fun, challenging, and frustrating all in one fell swoop" and in the end they give it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. The review is far more balanced than the other reviews that I've seen that really trashed the game except one that found it to be an amazing game. The only aspects of the game that Avault hadn't mixed impressions of were the sound effects and music:

Sound FX: Weapon sounds are distinctive; you won't confuse an omega torpedo with a rail gun or flare. The explosions amidst battle sequences are fantastic too. Enemy ships don't blow up in one huge ka-boom,although some might, but in most cases the explosions travel throughout the ship. The in-game dialogue is good, most of it being heard while on board space stations -- whether they are military, research, commercial, or secret pirate bases. In addition you'll receive pages while undertaking missions -- some of these are spoken but the vast majority of them are typed or written.

Musical Score: Terminus' music is excellent; its default level is relatively low so as not to interfere with gameplay, but you can turn it up as loud as you please. The score isn't tied to specific types of events, (i.e., battles etc.) rather it just provides good background sound to play by. In addition, Vicarious Visions has included a music CD in the retail package containing the entire soundtrack -- 18 tracks.

Tribes 2 beta signups - Mikael @ 05:00 EST

Dynamix is accepting applications for the Tribes 2 beta test. The game is supposed to support 3D sound according to some interviews. No idea if the beta will support it though.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Winamp 2.65 released - Mikael @ 04:55 EST

Nullsoft has released a new version of Winamp, 2.65. Fix to ex-m3u bug/security hole, improved mp3 http streaming dialog (no longer upsets AVS, etc) and optional aol icon evilness in full version are what's new in this release. You can grab it from Winamp.com

No One Lives Forever Interview - Mikael @ 04:51 EST

IGNPC has chatted with Monolith's Lead Designer Craig Hubbard about their upcoming No One Lives Forever. Here's a bit on the aural aspect of the game:

IGNPC: What sort of sound have you incorporated to deliver this sixties spy vibe?

Craig Hubbard: Developing the music has been an important part of the project. We wanted something that captured the '60s without sounding like other spy movie themes. Major influences include German composer Peter Thomas, who was way ahead of his time in terms of arrangements, and an array of Italian composers who did beautiful scores for low budget European erotic films. Some of the music is bouncy and jazzy. Some is sweeping and cinematic. Some is tense and mysterious. Of course, it's all DirectMusic, so the soundtrack responds to what's going on in the game. DirectMusic also allows for a lot of variations and motifs to keep the music fresh throughout the entire game.
As for voice talent, we're using professional voice actors. You'll hear lots of different accents in the game, although we've definitely leaned toward what you'd expect from a '60s spy movie rather than going for strict authenticity.

Soundscape creation in films - Mikael @ 04:30 EST

Machinima.com has posted Soundscaping part 1, it's an article by Gordon McDonald about soundscape creation in films. Here's a taste:

The key point to realise about a sound scape is the fact that it is not made of a single element. Dialogue, music and sound effects all combine to draw a viewer into the film.

[snip]
Synchronised Audio
This is another of the most basic elements of a soundscape. The sync audio contains all the sounds that you expect to hear based upon what is shown on screen. If the character fires a gun then there should be a gunshot, if he is typing then there should be keystrokes in time with the movements of his fingers.

Atmospheric Audio
One of the main things that you will notice within any film is how rarely there is any silence. Silence is a tool in and of its self, with its own meanings and implications. As such you should not have periods of silence scattered willy nilly around your film. To help remove the silence between lines of dialogue in sequences with no music, film makers use stmospheric audio (also known as wild track or ambient audio).

[snip]
Special Audio Effects
SAFX are the little pieces of audio that come into play whenever the viewer has no preconceived notion as to how something should sound- the sound of a laser rifle, the whine of an ion engine- all of there are areas where the sound designer truly gets to shine. They are also one of the elements that can make or break a special effect, adding power, depth and menace to what the viewer sees on screen.

Friday, August 25, 2000

Microsoft Game Voice Feature and Review - Mark @ 19:40 EST

Microsoft has posted a large feature on their upcoming Sidewinder GameVoice device in their press section. It's call Game Voice: Avid Gamer Helps Launch Latest Version of Gaming Product She Helped Devise. The person they are talking about is Isabella Carniato, who along with her husband Paul Newson developed Battlefield Communicator, or BattleCom for short. Microsoft subsequently purchased their company (ShadowFactor). Carniato went to work marketing SideWinder products and expanding the scope of BattleCom. Newson and Toll began improving BattleCom’s computer code and incorporating its voice chat capabilities into Microsoft’s DirectX coding, thus allowing game developers to add voice chat into their products. In case you have not guessed by now, this is what lead up to Game Voice. Game Voice, which also comes with a microphone/headphone set, retains BattleCom’s voice chat features -- including the ability to talk to as many as 64 people at once -- and adds a control pad to better manage all of these voices. The pad allows gamers to organize conversations into as many as six groups and switch among the groups using buttons on the pad. For more details check out the full "press article".

Second up is an article on Game Voice over at PC World. It offers a nice overview of the system, at the end of which they state:

Although setting up Game Voice took longer than I would have liked, once I got it running I could appreciate how much the communication (and the smack talk) added to the game play. Although the SideWinder Game Voice is full-featured and well designed, it's a bit pricey at $50. My advice: Take Game Voice Share for a spin before buying the full version.

New MP levels for AvP Gold Released - Mikael @ 18:53 EST

Fox Interactive has released 2 new multiplayer levels for Aliens vs. Predator Gold. You can find more details in the press release posted on AVPnews.com. You can download the levels from 3dgamers.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Live! center interview: Chan Lancelot - Mikael @ 18:40 EST

Live! center continues its series of interviews with Live! musicians. This time, Chan Lancelot, a very talented musician with a Live! as his main music creation tool, tells us about how he creates music, what he thinks about the Live! and about his Nightstalkers project. Included are, of course, demo songs created by Mr. Lancelot that you can enjoy while reading the interview.

New Classic Quake Arena beta released - Mikael @ 18:22 EST

Classic Quake Arena beta 2 has been released. It's Q3A mod that tries to create the feel of feel of QuakeWorld.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Diamond Monster Sound MX400 Review - Mikael @ 17:00 EST

PCGN has posted an one page review of Diamond's MX400. The reviewer didn't really manage to get anything working right and not sure why he even gave it a rating of 4 out of 10, if I had that experience with a soundcard I would give it a rating of 1. There has been other reviews that have been more positive so the drivers are not as crappy as this review gives the impression of. It's worth noting that there will only be one more driver update for this card since S3 will close down it's sound and graphics board business.
News Source: Blue's News

Clusterball update - Mikael @ 16:46 EST

Some bugs were encountered and the A3D supporting Clusterball has been updated (v1.02). Clusterball 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, Clusterball is unlike anything you've ever seen before. The base version of Clusterball and membership are free! Mark has played the game and found to be quite a blast and A3D support is working well. You can grab the updated 14.6 MB base game from 3Dfiles or you can download the 1.2MB patch

Raven Software is looking for a sound designer/composer - Mikael @ 16:32 EST

Raven's Software Kenn Hoekstra has updated his .plan file announcing that Raven Software has an opening in the sound department for a sound designer/composer.
News Source: Blue's News

Soulbringer review - Mikael @ 16:23 EST

Gamesdomain has posted a short and very negative review of the 3D sound supporting Soulbringer. The review pretty much just tell you why you shouldn't buy this game. Here's the audio bit:

The audio is also worth mentioning as a real downer in this game. The music and sound effects are standard at best. What really stands out, however, is the bad voice acting. Voice acting is so often a problem in games, but good voice acting could have really helped out this title.

Shuttle SDVD-101 10X DVD-ROM Drive Review - Mark @ 13:21 EST

Hot Hardware has posted a review of Shuttle's SDVD-101 10X DVD-ROM Drive which comes bundled with PowerDVD. Overall they awarded the drive 8/10 with long Spin-Up times using CD-Rs being their main complaint.
News Source: Anandtech

Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500 Review - Mark @ 13:16 EST

Tech Gods have posted a review of the Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500 Dolby Digital system. Overall they were impressed with the system with the subwoofer being the weakest element in their opinion. For a second look at the DTT2500 you can also check out our review.
News Source: Anandtech

Pioneer DVD-115 16X DVD-ROM Drive - Mark @ 13:08 EST

PC Critix has posted a review of the Pioneer DVD-115 16X DVD-ROM Drive. According to the review, the DVD-115 is the OEM counterpart to its slot loading sibling, the DVD-105S. Other than the method of loading, they note that there are no performance differences between the two models; however, the DVD-115 does not include the CD-Digital Audio output that is on the DVD-105S. Other than the two mentioned items, there are no differences between the 115 and 105S models. The review has a number of benchmarks for you to check out plus their hands on impressions. Overall they were very impressed with the drives performance.
News Source: Anandtech

Diamond Rio 600 and LG MF-PD360 MP3 Players Reviewed - Mark @ 07:49 EST

Fast Graphics has posted a review that takes a look at both the Diamond Rio 600 and LG MF-PD360 MP3 players. Their main knock on the RIO600 was the headphone quality, but they also had some USB transfer problems that are apparently motherboard related. When it comes to the LG player they had no real complaints but did find the software less functional than the RIO600 software. For details check out the full review.
News Source: Anandtech

New Set-Top Box Chip from STMicroelectronics adds Dolby Digital, MP3 and Hard Disk Drive Support - Mark @ 07:42 EST

STMicroelectronics has introduced a new device that offers both increased functionality and further cost reductions, while retaining all of the features of their STi5500. The new STi5518 adds support for Dolby Digital and MP3 audio decoding. Additional logic has also been added to ease the connection of hard disk drives, making the device ideal for emerging 'convergence' products that offer features such as pausing and time-shifting of live TV. Housed in a 208-pin PQFP package, the STi5518 is available now for sampling and volume production ramp-up is scheduled for Q4 2000. For more details, check out the full press release.

Thursday, August 24, 2000

Terminus review - Mikael @ 13:39 EST

PC Game World has posted a review of Terminus. Terminus has been trashed but quite a few reviews so far but PC Game World had a very different opinion giving it a 99% rating. They praised the nearly unlimited freedom, limitless customization and the outstanding gameplay. Not much about sound effects in the review but they had this bit about the music:

Another great feature of the game is that its music tracks come on an individual CD that can be played in your car stereo. It consists of 18 total tracks. Most tracks have full-length songs, spanning anywhere from two minutes to nearly six minutes. The remaining tracks have more transitional type music in them and are finished in under a minute. The music itself is orchestral in nature, but has that digital, synthetic sound to it. Some songs fade away from the orchestral sound with electronic guitar and drums and there's also a jazz mix in there that plays during lounge time. The music is well composed. The songs cover a variety of emotions, introducing some songs that are soothing and calming, while crashing through with rhythms that are upbeat and imply danger or fear. By itself or in the game, the music absolutely keeps pace with all other features of this game. It sounds and feels complete and aids in player immersion.

Soulbringer review - Mikael @ 13:27 EST

ElecPlay has posted a short and negative review of the RPG Soulbringer. Here's a taste:

What really turns the game for a loop is how the game’s slow pace and plain environments have been combined to make the experience even more trying. There are some maps that are enormous in Soulbringer, leaving players with the unenviable task of having to trek over seemingly endless stretches of countryside, passing over countless uninteresting environments just to get from point A to point B. Adding insult to injury, there are a slew of FedEx missions in this game. Players will be spending a good deal of their time running through these enormous maps going to pick things up and drop them off.

What could have helped this slow, drawn out game is some more prominent audio. Soulbringer is virtually silent. There are some sound effects, but the music is fleeting. It’s really a shame that there is so little music in the game because what little there is fits the environments very well. There is also some voice acting to try and fill the audio void, which has been performed admirably.

Diablo II MP3 of the Week - Mikael @ 13:12 EST

Blizzard has released another MP3 of the week that's from the Diablo II soundtrack. Included with the MP3 is as usual a rather long description of it by the composer.
News Source: Blue's News

Submarine Titans Review - Mark @ 12:55 EST

Game Spy has posted a review of the 3D sound supporting RTS, Submarine Titans. Overall they were fairly impressed with the game and awarded it 79/100, concluding that if you're looking for a decent RTS that's different than the others, Submarine Titans is a good bet. When it comes to sound they were quite impressed. Here's a snip:

I mentioned sounds yet? Submarine Titans manages to bring to life underwater combat, with exactly the kinds of sounds you would expect to hear in an underwater combat arena. Of special note is the Vacuum Quake Bomb, which detonates, sucking in all the water around it in a massive ring of destruction… after the muffled detonation, a loud screeching can be heard as hundreds of metric tons of seawater are pulled into the vacuum.

A more critical review of the game has popped up on Gamepower. They think it's one of most fascinating RTS games on a conceptual level but in practice it's one of the most frustrating games they played due to extremely slow performance sometimes. They used a Pentium II 450 with 192MB RAM.
News Source: Blue's News

Icewind Dale review - Mikael @ 12:30 EST

Well-rounded has posted an overall very positive review of Interplay's RPG Icewind Dale but they had several complaints which they describe as more annoyances than problems. Here's the usual sound snip:

While the game's graphics are impressive, it's the audio that will truly draw you in. Whether it's the crunching of snow beneath your feet or the clang of steel crushing an enemy skull, every aspect sounds believable and carefully designed. The music is equally well crafted and makes the transition from tranquil to heart-pounding flawlessly, bringing mood and atmosphere to the game.

Cirrus Logic Executive Interviewed - Mark @ 07:57 EST

You can listen to RadioWallStreet.com's interview with Cirrus Logic, Inc. Manager of Business Development, Crystal Audio Division, Frank Altschuler, discussing the company's new CODEC (same one that we recently posted a press release for). This interview was conducted from the Intel Developer Forum at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. To access this RadioWallStreet.com broadcast, investors should go to http://www.radiowallstreet.com. It may be necessary for first time visitors to RadioWallStreet.com to go to the site to download and install any necessary audio software. There is no charge to access any event. Since we missed the live feed from yesterday you can also go directly to this page to start the interview. I have not listened to it yet so not sure if it will have a technical or business spin to it.

KOSS R-65B Headset Review - Mark @ 07:40 EST

Gaming in 3D has posted a review of the KOSS R-65B headset. In addition to the review they also talk about their difficulties in finding a headset the meets the rigors of gaming and not just receptionist duty. Overall the found sound quality comparable to their FPS2000, but better than their home stereo system, and mic quality good for gaming. For details on the system which they wanted for use in gaming with programs like Rodger Wilco and Game Commander, check out the full review.

Wednesday, August 23, 2000

TerraTec has launched EWSdigitaL - Mikael @ 19:40 EST

TerraTec has launched a new EWS product: the AudioSystem EWSdigitaL. It is based on the combination of the renowned EWS64 L and the Digital-Modul DigitalXtension ,R' (DXR). The EWSdigitaL can be expanded to 64MB RAM (6MB ex-works) and offers 64 (hardware) voices. The user interface of the sampler provides extremely fast access to all parameters such as envelopes, filters and LFOs. Every MIDI note and velocity level within an instrument can be assigned its own sample. On the other hand, all synthesizer functions can be applied individually to each split. You can find a lot more details in the press release about this musician (not gaming) oriented soundcard

Windows 2000 Drivers released for all EWS 64 products - Mikael @ 19:37 EST

Windows2000 drivers are now available for all professional EWS64-products designed by TerraTec. The Win2000 drivers can be downloaded free and rapidly from www.terratec.net.

Hango Electronics Chooses e.Digital for Portable Digital Music Jukebox - Mikael @ 19:31 EST

e.Digital Corp. has announced an agreement with Remote Solution, the U.S. marketing and sales organization for HanGo Electronics, Co., Ltd., Korea.

Under the agreement, Remote Solution will license e.Digital's MicroOS(TM)-based Internet music player design for a new multi-codec, SDMI-capable portable jukebox product named Cleo(TM). Remote Solution plans to introduce the Cleo to the consumer market under its own brand name and in addition will make it available for licensing by name-brand OEM customers in the electronics, computer, and audio industries. Thanks to Cleo they claim they will offer the first portable digital music jukebox with a simple user interface; support for multiple music codecs including those being adopted by the major record labels; and the ability to store and play back up to 2000 songs. You can find some additional bits in the press release.

MEDIA JUKEBOX Now Offers the Widest Choice of Encoder Plug-Ins - Mikael @ 19:25 EST

J. River has announced the official release of version 5.0 of its popular MEDIA JUKEBOX(TM) software. A simplified plug-in architecture now offers a choice of 6 different encoder plug-ins, including MP3, WMA, APE (Monkey's Audio), and OGG (Ogg Vorbis), as well as support for external encoders. For more info read the press release.

Interview with Blizzard's 3 composers Part 2 - Mikael @ 19:18 EST

Gamespy has posted part 2 of their interview with Blizzard's 3 composers. This time they discuss what equipment they use, what they hope the game music industry will head in the coming years, their current project, how working on a team differs from individual composition and at the end of the review they give their advices to anyone who wants to enter the soundtrack business.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Dogs of War review - Mikael @ 19:11 EST

Gamespy has posted a 4-page long review of Dogs of War. They thought this RTS had some nice ideas but in practice they didn't think it worked out very well. In addition to several complaints about the gameplay they also found the graphics rather poor and wasn't very impressed with the aural aspect either:

The sound is fairly typical RTS fare, with an assortment of machine gun and cannon fire. The voices are pretty good, as the game features the voice talent of Craig Charles, of Red Dwarf fame. The music is of great quality, as much of it is provided by techno artist Fatboy Slim, but at times it seems a little too upbeat to fit with the gameplay.

SB Live! Platinum review - Mikael @ 17:51 EST

Techgear has posted a review of the now 1 year old Live!Platinum. It's the European version they have tested and they found it to be a great card with only complaints about no A3D support and bugs in the Windows 2000 drivers. When it comes to A3D support the Live supports A3D 1.X by converting the calls to DS3D and limited A3D 2.0 support by using the A2D files from Aureal. The limited A3D 2.0 support offers 3D sound, occlusion and some reverb but no reflections. The 3D sound and reverb is not working that well in Quake3 but not sure if it's game specific or if other A3D 2.0 only games (very few) would have the same issues with the Live. The Windows2000 bugs they mention is most frequent on VIA chipsets and especially SMP systems. Poor performance and some other issues happens on all systems though. For a second opinion of the Live!Platinum you can read my review
News Source: Blue's News

Voyetra Turtle Beach Now Selling VideoLogic Speakers in the U.S - Mark @ 17:10 EST

Voyetra Turtle Beach have announced that they have begun selling two VideoLogic speaker systems - the DigiTheatre DTS and the DigiTheatre - to U.S. residents from its Web site. The DigiTheatre DTS ($599.95) consists of a dedicated center speaker with built-in decoder, four satellite speakers and a subwoofer with an integrated multi-channel amplifier delivering 220W RMS. The center speaker's control panel provides adjustment of all system functions. The system's advanced DSP fully enables decoding of DTS and Dolby Digital formats. The DigiTheatre ($149.95) six-speaker system delivers 62.5W RMS for home theatre and multimedia applications. As we have reported before, this arrangement is the result of the cross-distribution alliance signed by Voyetra Turtle Beach and VideoLogic Systems in May. VideoLogic is currently distributing the new Turtle Beach Santa Cruz audio accelerator (with a different software bundle) under the SonicFury name in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. I thought that the Crossfire was also supposed to be distributed by Voyetra Turtle Beach and will check with them as per if and when they expect to have it. In terms of the two DigiTheatre systems you can check out our reviews of both the original DigiTheatre and the new DigiTheatre DTS for more details.

Microsoft SideWinder Game Voice Review - Mikael @ 13:15 EST

TweakTown has posted a very short review of Microsoft SideWinder Game Voice. Here's a bit from the intro that should you give a clue what is included:

What is a Game Voice? Microsoft SideWinder introduced the Game Voice game headset and control pad which enables both voice commands and voice chat over the Internet or LAN during game play. Game Voice's voice technology delivers clear robust sound through nearly all Internet connections, allowing you to find and talk to your friends quickly and easily via downloaded able software over the Internet. There are many different modes you can use to boardcast your message over a frag session..

Cyber Acoustics 3440 speaker system review - Mikael @ 12:54 EST

PC Review has posted their impressions of the Cyber Acoustics 3440 speaker system. It's a 2.1 system that features 3"/11 Watts for the satellites and 6.5"/22 Watts for the subwoofer. They think the system offers excellent sound quality for the money, only slightly below what MS Digital Sound System. No mention of price in the review but Cyber Acoustics website mentions a price of $80 which makes me disagree with the reviewer that specs look impressive for this price point. I've also seen MS Digital Sound System for less than $80 online but not sure if it's still available. Once again thanks to 703 for the pointer.

Sound Image QX-TFT-02 review - Mikael @ 12:43 EST

PCHardware.ro has posted a review of Sound Image QX-TFT-02. It's 2.1 speaker system designed by 4Q Technologies that uses the NXT flat panel technology for the satellites. The review focus on the NXT technology and just use this system to answer the question if NXT deserves the money and if it sounds better than traditional speaker drivers. That the sound is 360 degrees wide makes them a rather poor choice for 3D positional audio since 2-speaker 3D algorithms wants the speakers to be as directional as possible.

The reviewer liked the satellites but not the subwoofer. I'm not sure if these NXT flat panels are much better than the Benwin BW2000 Flat Panel system Mark reviewed more a year ago. He wasn't very impressed with the NXT technology then anyway. Thanks to 703 for the pointer

Budget Speaker System Roundup - Mikael @ 12:20 EST

The-View has posted a one page budget speaker system roundup which includes Boston Acoustics BA635 (2.1 system), Cambridge SoundWorks PCWorks (2.1 system) and FPS1000 (4.1 system). I don't think they are correct when they say none of the subwoofer use wood and I certainly don't think the FPS1000 is close to the FPS2000 when it comes to sound quality. Thanks to 703 for the pointer.

MP3 Guide - Mikael @ 11:47 EST

Firingsquad has posted an MP3 guide. It covers how you convert your current CDs to MP3 files. Personally I would pick MusicMatch Jukebox over audiograbber since it's much more convenient.

Sacrifice sound interview - Mikael @ 06:15 EST

Gamerspulse has chatted with the producer, lead designer and the lead programmer on the Sacrifice team about the aural aspect of the game. In the interview they discuss if how they got sound/voice effects for such "warped creatures", how long time the voice Over work take, how important music and ambient sound effects are for the game, if they ever considered voice communication and what new game sound technology they want to see. Here's the answer to the new game sound technology question:

Martin: I think the hardest thing with soundcards, even more so than with video cards, is getting universal support for things. When a video card manufacturer comes out with a new card, it takes a long time and a lot of effort on their parts to get any game-support for its new features. For instance, even now, there are very few (if any) games out there that actively support T&L, and are better for it.

It is so much effort to code differing paths through things for all the different hardware configs and capabilities out there. And that's just for a single-step thing with immediately obvious benefits like graphics. With sound, you have to consider the sound card and the delivery system (2 speakers/4 speakers/headphones), and the results aren't often immediately obvious to the layperson. So I think the biggest thing that should happen to sound in games in the near future is feature convergence and market saturation on the hardware. Of course, that will never happen, but we can hope, can't we?

The truth about file sharing - Mark @ 00:28 EST

Most Napster and Gnutella users are takers, not givers, a new study shows. And that could spell their doom. The sense of community that has made music file-sharing services so popular is slipping away, according to a Xerox Palo Alto Research Center study. Researchers Eytan Adar and Bernardo A. Huberman surveyed Gnutella users and found that just 2 percent of the users are serving 98 percent of the music files. The number of free riders -- the peers who only download files or fail to provide desirable content -- could ultimately cause the peer-to-peer file-sharing system to break down. That's not surprising, said Gartner Group Inc. analyst P.J. McNealy, although he disputed the PARC study's conclusions. McNealy said the results indicate to him that files are being downloaded in large quantities because users are sampling songs but don't necessarily save them. Citing a recent Gartner study, McNealy said sampling is what makes digital music distribution so appealing to users. For the rest of this story head over to ZDNet News.

MP3Board sues AOL, Time Warner over Gnutella - Mark @ 00:23 EST

The company filed an addition to its lawsuit in New York federal court today, asking that a judge declare its searches of the free-ranging Gnutella file-sharing network to be legal. But if those searches of Gnutella aren't legal, then AOL--which employed the programmers who originally created Gnutella--should share some of the liability, MP3Board's lawyer says. "It's not our preference to say Gnutella is infringing or that our search of Gnutella is infringing," said Ira Rothken, MP3Board's attorney. "But if a court finds that it is, we believe that AOL should share part of the blame." The unlikely effort marks a new tack for MP3Board's defense, which already promises to raise potentially precedent-setting issues in online copyright law despite what many attorneys say is a steep uphill legal battle. For lots more of this story head over to C/Net News.

Crystal/Cirrus Logic Interview - Mark @ 00:20 EST

On the topic of Crystal/Cirrus Logic, 3D Audio Immersion has posted an interview with Paul Jordan and Frank Altschuler of Crystal/Cirrus Logic. In case you don't know, the Voyetra Turtle Beach / VideoLogic Sonic Fury are both using the CS4630 from Crystal/Cirrus Logic and the Terratec X-Fire is using the CS4624. Here's a taste:

9. Is it possible to have the CS4630 decode a mp3 and play it back in a DirectSound3D stream? Like in a game or something. In hardware ;) .... if so, what if I toss a midi file in the background too?

Yes but you're going to have to wait for DX8 to experience that particular thrill.

If you throw (toss?...fling?) a midi file in the background the DSP will do it's best to put as many voices in hardware as it can then roll them off into software.

Cirrus Logic Integrates Multiple Audio Subsystems Into One Chip - Mark @ 00:09 EST

Cirrus Logic has announced the Crystal® CS4201 audio CODEC, a new device that incorporates a number of cost- and space-saving features such as a microphone pre-amp, Phase Locked Loop (PLL), headphone amp, and S/PDIF transmitter plus the features of a standard AC 97 CODEC all in one chip. The CS4201 is designed to provide on-board audio for motherboard manufacturers, as well as support for manufacturers of boards that follow Intel's Communications and Network Riser (CNR) specifications. The new Crystal solution will be previewed this week at the Intel Developer Forum Fall 2000. The Crystal CS4201 chip is available today and is priced at $2.10 in OEM quantities. For quite a few more details on this new CODEC you can check out the full press release.

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

Interview with Blizzard's 3 composers - Mikael @ 20:01 EST

GameSpy has chatted with the three wisemen (Matt Uelmenbehind, Glenn Stafford and Jason Hayes) behind the music at Blizzard. In day one of interview they discuss how they prepare a project, what they enjoy most about their job, their favorite soundtrack, their music style, their first project on Blizzard and how they become interested in music.
News Source: Blue's News

System Shock 2 editor - Mikael @ 19:20 EST

ShockEd, an editor for the DS3D with EAX supporting System Shock 2, has been released. You can find more info about it and download links at SShock2.com.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Operation Bravo Add-On Pack Released - Mikael @ 19:15 EST

Ripcord Games has released Operation Bravo, a new downloadable add-on pack for the Spec Ops 2: Green Berets. The add-on pack will enhance the multiplayer experience of the game, featuring 25 new environments, Capture the Flag, Last Man Standing, improved multiplayer coding, more strategically minded Buddies, improved AI/Path Finding and more. Spec Ops 2 is 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.
News Source: Ga-Source

Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 patch v1.02 - Mikael @ 19:07 EST

Ritual has released a new patch (v1.02) for its DS3D with EAX (1.0 and 2.0 and A3D 1.0 supporting third-person action game Heavy Metal F.A.K.K 2. No mention of what's new but I would guess it's supposed to fix the crash problem many have experienced with this game. You can find download links at 3dfiles

Submarine Titans Map - Mikael @ 19:03 EST

Ellipse Studios has released a second multiplayer map for its 3D sound supporting underwater RTS, Submarine Titans.
News Source: Blue's News

RPG Game Music - Mark @ 07:29 EST

RPGDot has posted a Baldur's Gate II track (that will in not even appear in BioWare's upcoming RPG in this form) as well as the title music of Gorasul: Lost Souls, a role-playing game being crafted by Silver Style. You can grab them from their MP3 download page where you will also find a track from Divinity by Larian Studios.
News Source: Blue's News

MP3.com and Sony Settle Copyright Infringement Suit - Mark @ 07:22 EST

MP3.com, Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment (SME) announced that they have settled the copyright infringement suit brought by Sony Music Entertainment in connection with MP3.com's My.MP3.com system. In addition to a payment by MP3.com for past acts, the companies announced that MP3.com has entered into a non-exclusive, North American license with SME for use of SME-controlled recordings with the My.MP3.com system, including the ``Beam-It'' and ``Instant Listening'' software services. These services are designed to require, among other things, users to verify the CDs they own in order to access that music in their My.MP3.com Music Manager (i.e. personal digital locker). For some quotes from both sides you can check out the full press release. For additional information, including some rumors on the settlements you can check out a Reuters story over at Yahoo. The report also notes that Seagram Co.'s Universal Music Group is the only remaining major label with an outstanding claim against MP3.com. A hearing is scheduled for August 28 in the U.S. District Court in New York to determine the damages if no settlement is reached before then.

Napster Defends Peer-to-Peer File Sharing - Mark @ 07:13 EST

Napster has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to reverse the District Court and vacate the preliminary injunction entered against the company on July 26, 2000. Napster argued that the District Court misinterpreted statutory and judicial precedent in issuing an overbroad injunction with far reaching implications for technological innovation. Napster's 79-page brief cited what Napster's lawyers feel are numerous errors of fact and law, any of which would justify a reversal allowing the Napster Internet user community to continue sharing music while the merits of the case are determined at a trial or until a settlement is reached. The brief also challenged the sweeping scope of the July 26th injunction, which would have forced an immediate shutdown of the company. The recording industry's response to Napster's brief is due on September 8. For more details including some sections of the actual brief you can check out the full press release. For some additional analysis you can check out an article at C/Net News.

Soulbringer review - Mikael @ 03:13 EST

PCGame World has posted a review of Soulbringer which they found to be a great role-playing/adventure game thanks to great story, addictive gameplay and well done voice acting. They had a plenty of complaints about the graphics, sound and lack of music though. Here's the music and sound bits:

The music and sound effects in the game do not seem like they were focused on too much. The music is heard very rarely, usually only when you enter a safe location, and when it does play, it lasts for a mere 10-20 seconds. Music never plays during battles or when roaming around, searching for the next mission. I think a nice musical score could really have helped work the player's nervousness a bit more and could have set the mood better for the different areas. Unfortunately, if you're looking for highly emotional music to match intense gameplay, Soulbringer does not deliver.

The sound effects did not receive much better attention than the music. The sounds corresponding to spells are simple and do not have much clarity or distinction. During combat, the sounds range from a difference in smashing weapons and stabbing weapons. Smashing weapons create a thud, while stabbing weapons usually give a crude skin-piercing sound. Footsteps vary slightly depending on the current surface, but most of the time the whirling wind is the only major effect heard. It can be a bit troublesome, especially when attempting to speak to someone and trying to hear them over the bellowing of the ravenous wind.

Perhaps the only part of the sounds that was focused on heavily was the voice acting. All the characters speak clearly and most are genuinely believable. Some characters have pretty corny accents, since it seems like the voice actors took the role of more than just one character in the game, but all in all, their deliveries of lines are quite solid and they really serve to help carry the story forward.

Cirrus Logic's Audio DSP Decoders First to Support Multi-Channel AAC - Mikael @ 03:01 EST

Cirrus Logic has launched the industry's first AAC multi-channel audio decoders that allow electronics manufacturers to design solutions that meet worldwide compatibility standards. Designed for set-top boxes, digital televisions and AV receivers, the new Crystal® CS49310 and Crystal CS49329 programmable DSP devices not only support AAC -- the newest standard today -- but additionally decode Dolby Digital, DTS, MPEG-1 & 2, MPEG-2 multi-channel, and MP3. The CS49310 is tailored for broadcast applications, and the CS49329 for AV receivers. They are available today and are priced at $20 each in OEM quantities. You can find more details in the press release.

Baldur's Gate II preview - Mikael @ 02:52 EST

IGNPC has posted a preview of Interplay's RPG Baldur's Gate II. It's a rather detailed preview of this massive RPG game that IGNPC thinks will be "one of most important RPG’s ever released". Here's what they had to say about the music:

The music is absolutely inspired. The introductory song sounds like an orchestral tribute to the Monarch of Hell –- mighty, black, and terrifyingly foreboding. Music, just as in Baldur’s Gate, appears to be triggered by events that take place in the game. The battle songs, for instance, have that same bloodlust-inspiring quality that the soundtrack from Gladiator does. It’s the kind of music that has you saying aloud to a giant troll, “Hey, fatboy, you want a piece of me?!” Just as you would expect, the voice acting is superb. Although about a quarter of the voice acting has yet to be completed, if the work continues on the same quality level there will be little room for argument – it’s the best voice acting ever heard, period.

Yamaha Launches Sound Generator IC for PDAs - Mikael @ 02:13 EST

Yamaha Corporation has developed a new sound generator IC for mobile phones and PDAs called the YMU759 that gives mobile phone and PDA users an assortment of new options for music and sound effects playback. It includes a built-in FM (Frequency Modulation) sound generator that can generate 16 simultaneous voices with a different instrument in each voice. Te YMU759 also includes a built-in ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation) sound generator. You can read the press release if you want more details

No 3D sound in F1 World Grand Prix? - Mikael @ 02:04 EST

We mentioned earlier that IGNPC had the following to say in their review:

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

D2F for Q3A - Mikael @ 01:38 EST

Beta one of DOOMED2FRAG (D2F) for Quake III Arena is released. They say that the mod is "designed with the purpose of bringing the adrenaline pumping, visceral experience of DOOM2 Deathmatch to Quake3 with a few nods to features from more recent games."

News Source: Blue's News

Monday, August 21, 2000

New Fortemedia FM801 Drivers - Mark @ 23:27 EST

Fortemedia released new (dated August 17, 2000) Win 9x and Win2K drivers for cards using their FM801 chipset such as the Best Data Theatrix and Skywell Magic Sound Live. I am not sure what's new so if you know, please drop us a line if you do. You can grab the drivers from Fortemedia's driver page. Thanks goes out to RonnieG for the pointer.
News Source: Our Forum

Heavy Metal - FAKK2 1.02a ALPHA Patch - Mark @ 22:47 EST

Ritual has release an ALPHA patch for the A3D 1.x, DS3D with EAX 1 and 2 supporting Heavy Metal - FAKK2. Note that this patch is *not* supported by Gathering of Developers or Ritual Entertainment but they believe that it fixes the crash on exit and crash on loading saved game bugs. If you choose to use this patch, please send feedback to fakk2bugs@ritual.com. If you don't have the crash bug there is probably no reason to grab this patch. If you do, then grab the 1.4 MB patch from 3Dfiles.

Blair Witch Project 1 Playable Trailer - Mark @ 22:44 EST

A 10 minute playable trailer for Blair Witch Project 1 has been released. The game uses the same engine as Nocturne, so it good chance that it features DS3D with EAX support. The download is 68.7 MB and you can grab it from 3Dfiles.

ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon Review - Mark @ 13:29 EST

What?! A video card review posted on 3DSS? Well as we have mentioned before the Radeon has some features beyond its graphical capabilities that make it particularly interesting from a PC home theater perspective. On top of extensive MPEG-2 hardware acceleration the All-in-Wonder Radeon has an S/PDIF output for Dolby Digital, DTS, and even PCM audio. For a detailed look on the full capabilities of the card you can check out the Firing Squad review.

Update: A few more All-in-Wonder Radeon reviews for you. First up is one at Anandtech, another at Gamer's Depot and a third at Sharky Extreme.

MP3 Solutions' MP3 CD Player Reviewed - Mark @ 13:15 EST

Tweak3D has posted a review of MP3 Solutions' MP3 CD Player. Basically, it's a portable CD player that can play MP3 CDs. This makes it a very inexpensive way to get lots of play time! Overall they were quite impressed, with the headphone quality and no names in the playlists being the main knocks. For details on how well it works and quality impressions, check out the review.
News Source: 3DAI

Terminus review - Mikael @ 04:42 EST

3Dgaming.net has posted a short and very negative review of the 3D sound supporting space combat game Terminus. It's certainly not the first review negative review of this game and this includes the sound effects. Here's what 3DGaming.net had to say about the sound effects:

As soon as the cinematic started I heard a constant hissing sound. After making a quick sweep of my room to see if I had suddenly gone to hell and was surrounded by pit vipers, I realized that the awful noise was coming from my speakers. Not being accustomed to such garish sounds emanating from my audio setup (a quite nice Creative Labs four satellite surround sound deal and SB Live! card), I wondered if perhaps a rat had crawled into my subwoofer and chewed up some vital wiring. Luckily though, Terminus was the root of my problem.

I hoped that the sound would get better after I got into the game proper, but those hopes were dashed against the cruel shores of an ocean of mediocre voice acting and bad sound processing. Some audio genius thought it would be more 'immersive' if every voice message you heard was liberally blanketed in static. I guess in the future, they'll be using transistor radios to communicate with each other or something. Hey Mr. sound engineer- have you ever heard of ambient sound? You know- that stuff that makes it so you don't have to use mind numbing amounts of static to make it seem like you're sitting in a spaceship listening to other space people talking to you? I do have one positive thing to say about what I heard in Terminus: the music is pretty good. A bit dull at times, but overall pretty decent and reminiscent of Christopher Franke's Babylon 5 scores (in one case almost seeming to channel Angelo Badlamenti) without being too derivative.

New JDoom Released - Mikael @ 04:34 EST

A new patch for JDoom has been released. JDoom supports OpenGL, D3D and most importantly 3D sounds and reverb effects with DirectSound3D and EAX 2.0 or A3D 3.0.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Grand Piano One review - Mikael @ 04:24 EST

A review of the recently released Grand Piano One SoundFont from StudioAX can now be found on Live! center. Live! center thinks it's an excellent soundfont, "without any doubt, the best piano SoundFont you can find"

News from August 14-20, 2000

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