News: May 24 - 30, 1999

Sunday, May 30, 1999

Benwin BW2000 Flat Panel Review - Mark @ 23:52 EST

We just posted our review of the Benwin BW2000 Flat Panel audio system. This particular model was designed as a new look in speaker systems for use as a business tool with personal computers in offices. With the addition of the optional carrying case, the BW2000 is also targeted at sales people on the road. However, their cool look and $89.00 price tag has garnered them a fair bit of attention from gamers so we put the BW2000s through the wringer to determine if they have what it takes to be a competitive entry level gaming system. For the answer, as well as a look at how flat panel speakers actually work, please check out the review.

Unreal Tech Update - Mark @ 10:11 EST

The Unreal Tech Page has been updated with some information on the 225 and specifically on a release for server administrators only. However the say that the 225 release for the rest of us is just a few days away. If all goes according to plan, 225 is supposed to add back in DS3D and EAX support, both of which were broken in the 224 patch. 225 is also supposted to impliment A3D 2.0 support. 224 broke A3D 1.x support as a result of working on 2.0 support. Lets keep our fingers crossed that 225 gets DS3D, EAX and A3D 2.0 working.

A vs P Review - Mark @ 10:07 EST

AGN3D has posted a review of Alien's vs. Predator. The reviewer did not notice much, if any, difference with EAX enabled. I find this a bit odd as when I played the beta on my recent visit to the Creative EMU Tech Center I thought that the EAX implimentation sounded quite good (and distinctive). Look for a full review from us as Mikael now has the final release.

David Gasior Interview - Mark @ 00:22 EST

Remeber that interview with David Gasior (formerly of Aureal) posted in Russian yesterday? Well iXBT has posted the interview in English.

Saturday, May 29, 1999

Mechwarrior III and A3D 2.0? - Mark @ 13:07 EST

Bad Karma Mecha News posted an interview with Bosler and Brian Soderberg who are the CEO and Tech. Director of Zipper Interactive respectively. Zipper Interactive are the developers of Mechwarrior III. The following Q & A is included in the interview:

Bad Karma: There have been a number of significant leaps in mainstream PC add-ons since MW3 began development at Zipper Interactive. Have they been incorporated in the game? Which elements? (ie Voodoo2, 3, EAX sound etc)

A: The game uses the Direct3D API to provide the broadest range of support over the many hardware graphics cards available on the market. MW3 supports A3D's new Vortex2 API and drivers.

Boston Acoustics MicroMedia - Mark @ 11:28 EST

SystemLogic has posted a review of Boston Acoustics' MicroMedia speaker system. Thanks to A3D Central for the pointer.

ABIT WX6 Integrates A3D - Mark @ 10:06 EST

ABIT unveiled the newest board based on Intel’s new 810 chipset, the WX6. The WX6 is designed for the PPGA (socket 370) processor which is the newest addition to the Intel® Celeron™ processor product line. With the 810 chipset, the WX6 supports: 66/100MHz Front Side Bus, Ultra DMA33/66, Two 168-pin DIMM sockets support SDRAM modules for up to 512MB, integrated AGP 2X 3D graphics accelerator with 100MHz Dynamic Display Memory Interface and On board 4MB SDRAM Graphics Memory, Aureal A3D 3D positioning PCI audio controller that supports A3D & DirectSound 3D games and 64 voice wavetable, ATX form factor, Five PCI slots and One AMR slot. What got our attention thanks to reader Fred Mah was the integrated A3D support.

More On Submarine Titans - Mark @ 09:44 EST

At the moment the technology demo (see previous post)does not have 3D audio. 3D Audio will be implemented in later builds. Currently programmers are looking at DirectSound, EAX, A3D, etc.. They told us that they will go with whatever takes the least CPU overhead.

Submarine Titans Technology Demo - Mark @ 01:29 EST

I read on GamePost that Megamedia Australia has released a technology demo of it's upcoming real-time strategy title Submarine Titans. What really caught my eye is the post mentions the game will support 3D audio. I am not sure if the tech demo supports 3d audio and its a hefty 62.5MB download. For more information on the title, and to download the demo visit www.subtitans.com

Wheel of Time Preview - Mark @ 01:08 EST

Our FGN affiliate MGON has posted an excellent preview of Wheel of Time. Wheel of Time using the Unreal engine and as such should support A3D 2.0 and EAX, both of which should be working in Unreal itself after the next patch.

Guillemot Audio - Mark @ 01:02 EST

Shugashack has posted an E3 overview featuring Guillemot. There is not a lot of detail on the audio portion of the overview but it does mention the Maxi Studio Isis, the Maxi Subwoofer 4.1, the Maxi Booster 64 which is a dual speaker set that supports both analog and USB and the Maxi Flat Speakers 2.0.

David Gasior Speaks Russian! - Mark @ 00:54 EST

Well probably not, but our friends at iXBT have posted an interview with David Gasior, formerly of Aureal. Its in Russian and looks to be quite an extensive interview. Thanks to Vortex of Sound for the pointer.

Friday, May 28, 1999

WaveSurround 3D Winamp plugin - Mark @ 22:09 EST

Wave Arts, a developer of high end 3D audio and acoustic environment modeling technologies, announced the release of WaveSurround, a powerful virtual surround plugin for the popular MP3 player, Winamp.

Wave WaveSurround was developed in conjunction with Human Machine Interfaces, Inc., a developer of high performance audio API’s and applications including the InMotion 3D Audio Producer (88.5 K PDF File). Human Machines also sent us a 3D Audio White Paper (78.8 K PDF File) by Dr. Bill Gardner, Ph.D., describing the 3D Audio Techniques used in the InMotion 3D Audio Producer and WaveSurround Plugins.

Drakan Demo Update - Mark @ 21:28 EST

Thanks to 3DFiles for the following information:

Surreal is reporting that the DirectX 6.1 installation program included with the Drakan setup is returning an error code to the setup program on some machines (which causes it to quit out). To fix the problem, simply rename or delete the “DirectX” folder within the Drakan Demo setup directory, and rerun Setup.exe Psygnosis should be posting a new demo without the DirectX folder, but we already have! A little smaller and works great!

Wavetracings - Mark @ 20:56 EST

That's the title of Aureal's new "Webzine". The two new features are "First Reflections" and "By Design." You can check them out (along with "Soundings," "Sound Off," "Random Access," and "Ask Aureal") over at A3D.com.

22 GB Harddrive! - Mark @ 20:52 EST

I know this has nothing to do with audio but I could not resist mentioning that WickedPC has posted a review of IBM's 7200RPM, 2Mb cache hard drive sporting an incredible 22GB of drive space. Interested in how it performed? What about CPU utilization? Transfer rates? Is it worth $412? Head over to WickedPC.

PowerDVD 2.0 - Mark @ 20:49 EST

CyberLink Corp., a leading software developer in video and audio technologies will be previewing CyberLink PowerDVD 2.0 for the first time at the coming Computex. New features of PowerDVD 2.0 include:

DirectShow Compatible

Pan-Scan / Letterbox Playback Option

Motion Compensation Support

Video Frame Multiple Buffering Technique

OnNow Power Management Support

Support Multi-channel Dolby Digital output to Four / Six Speakers

Aureal Completes $20 Million Offering - Frank @ 11:24 EST

Aureal today announced that it completed its previously announced $20 million subscription rights offering. This sale of 33.3 million shares of common stock was completed on May 21, 1999.

SB Live Review - Mark @ 08:16 EST

Yes, I know you have seen lots of these already, but this review was done by a first time Live! using LiveWare 2.0. Check it out at AbsolutePC. Thanks to ALive! for the pointer.

Drakan Demo! - Mark @ 07:32 EST

Thats right its out and I have downloaded the 67.3 MB demo. Based on the audio congifuration screen of the demo it supports EAX and A3D and autodetects the number of 3D sound buffers that your sound card can support. There is an option to enable or disable EAX, A3D or 3d sound buffers. There are options to select between 11, 22 and 44 KHz mixing but its greyed out in the demo (prob because they saved space for a web demo and only shipped with 11 KHz). You can get the demo from:

http://www.gigex1.com/M0047700010/mb3dsoundsurge/drakan.exe.

If you are downloading the demo from behind a firewall, then try:

http://www.gigex1.com/F0047700010/mb3dsoundsurge/drakan.htm.

The first option is more robust and does auto resumes, etc. which could come in handy for such a big download. If those locations are slow you can also try 3DFiles. For lots more on the audio in Drakan check out our interview with Stuart Denman and Tim Ebling of Surreal.

Thursday, May 27, 1999

Thief Mission Builder Released!! - Mark @ 20:37 EST

After 6 months of waiting, and a petition will well over 1,000 signatures, the Thief: The Dark Project mission builder, Dromed, has been released to the public! For all the details head on over to our FGN affiliate Thief-Darkproject.com for all the details!

Half-Life 1.0.1.0 - Mark @ 13:44 EST

v1.0.1.0 for Half-Life, and Team Fortress Classic (included)has been released. New Features Added to the Update:

• Dedicated server has been optimized and requires less overhead to run a server. This means that latency values for clients will go down since the server is not working as hard.
  
• The dedicated server is now a console application, which will allow server operators to more easily administer their server remotely.
  
• Updating your server list through the server browser uses less bandwidth, making it much faster.
  
• Starting a LAN server will not attempt to connect to the Internet.
  
• Fixed a bug where latency values were incorrectly reported in the server browser.
  
• Underwater prediction code optimized.
  
• Fixed a bug in the mod browser at the request of the mod development community. In the next couple of weeks Half-Life mods will be posted on the mod server for download via the mod browser.

Canyon3D Preview - Mark @ 07:39 EST

OEMs and manufacturers are gearing up to start shipping Canyon3D cards, and FiringSquad has a preview of ESS's latest chipset (Canyon3D), which features support for 5.1 discreet speakers! Look for full coverage of the Canyon3D on 3dsoundSurge when the first retail boards arrive. We expect boards from TerraTec very soon. For more on the 3D Audio technology behind the Canyon3D check out our article on Sensaura's DS3D based 3D Audio Technology and our report on a visit to their London office.

3DsoundSurge UltraQ Review - Frank @ 01:04 EST

We have posted our very own review of the UltraQ device by QSound. It received a 80/100 with the "Surge Of Approval" Award.

The UltraQ is compatible with just about anything you want it to be. All you really need is an average pair of speakers. The UltraQ can plug into virtually any audio component in your home, but you might need to purchase a jack converter for certain speaker sets. All the UltraQ requires is a Stereo or Mono audio device that can accept a 3.5-mm RCA or phono plug.

Wednesday, May 26, 1999

SRS 3D Sound Equalizers - Mark @ 22:29 EST

SRS Labs, Inc has awarded a technology license to La Mirada, CA-based NeoWave for the implementation of SRS 3D Sound and TruSurround in NeoWave's new line of computer equalizers. You can get more details from today's press release.

Creative Uses 'the force' - Mark @ 22:09 EST

Well not quite but they have launched "The Difference Will Amaze You" -- a multi-million dollar marketing campaign designed to reach the mainstream PC user. The campaign gets its start with a high-energy, special effects theater ad -- mixed and mastered in a THX certified theater for playback in Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS and Dolby Surround formats. The first theater ad in this campaign is designed to utilize surround-sound technology to communicate the experience Sound Blaster Live! and FourPointSurround speaker systems bring to the PC with Creative's Environmental Audio technology. So where does the force come in? The first theater ad was mastered at Skywalker Sound.

Creative also announced today that it has captured the leadership position in U.S. retail and U.S. distribution channels for the PC speaker category. In both March and April, Creative was the leading speaker company in revenue share in the U.S. retail market with nearly 23 percent share over both months. According to PC Data, Creative has been the leader in U.S. distribution of PC speaker systems since August of 1998, maintaining a unit market share of over 40 percent during that time.

Yamaha Launches YST-MS55D USB - Mark @ 21:40 EST

Yamaha announced the launch of the YST-MS55D USB three-piece powered multimedia speaker system. This high-output speaker system is the first Yamaha powered speaker product to support the Universal Serial Bus (USB). The MS55D's dedicated subwoofer features a 6.5-inch driver powered by a 40-watt amplifier, going down to a low frequency of 32 Hz. The subwoofer is matched with a pair of two-way satellite speakers, each of which features a 3/4-inch dome-style tweeter mounted above a 3-inch spruce cone mid-range driver. According to Yamaha, this arrangement delivers a smooth frequency response coupled with an extremely rich and well-defined stereo image, enhanced by an elegant slant-baffle design. In addition, the MS55D supports audio connections via both USB and analog inputs and includes the power switch and a standard headphone jack on one of the satellite speakers.

SB PCI 512 - Mark @ 21:21 EST

A number of readers have been asking for information of the Sound Blaster 512 and thanks to Creative's Brand Manager for Audio, Micah Stroud we can offer you the following information:

The Sound Blaster PCI 512 is both a retail and a System Integration (SI) product. The main differences between the Sound Blaster Live! Value and the PCI 512 are as follows:

1. They both support headphones, two or four speakers in analog mode. The Live! Value can be upgraded to a digital output via our Optical I/O card (http://www.creaf.com/sound/i-o-card/). The PCI 512 is not upgradable to any digital cards.

2. They both support DirectSound, DS3D, EAX in hardware. They both do 32 voices of DS3D in hardware, 64 voices of DS in hardware and 64 hardware MIDI voices. Software MIDI channels are now 1024 for Live! Value and 512 for the SB PCI 512.

3. The SB Live! Value supports digital input via the CD SPDIF in. The PCI 512 cannot, as it has no such connector.

4. The SB Live! Value has a full suite of utilities for audio playback, mixing and effects creation. The SB PCI 512 has a greatly simplified interface for doing the same, thus not offering nearly as many options for tinkering.

5. The SB Live! ships with Unreal: Special Edition. The PCI 512 ships with Unreal SE and Half-Life: Day one. Other software packages (like Cakewalk, etc.) are not present in the PCI 512.

So basically, you have a simplified, analog only, gamers edition of the SB Live! Value.

Aliens Aureal and Awards - Mark @ 18:42 EST

Today Aureal announced that Alienware PC Systems has chosen to include Aureal's Vortex2 SuperQuad Digital PCITM sound card as the standard audio system for its complete line of PC gaming systems. They also announced that that Cahners selected the Vortex2 as one of the top 25 ICs of 1999 in their new Electronics Industry Yearbook.

Wallstreet Interview's Aureal CEO - Mark @ 18:16 EST

The is a replay of this week's Wall Street Interviews discussion. The discussion addressed the history, market space opportunity, and strategic initiatives of a number of high tech companies including Aureal. Aureal is represented by CEO Kip Kokinakis. Go ahead and check it out.

Drakan Demo on Friday! - Mark @ 14:33 EST

We just got word that the Drakan demo is going to be available on Friday. I am not sure what audio feautures will be in the demo but according to Surreal's Stuart Denman A3D and EAX support will definitely ship with the game. They may also be adding EAX 2.0 and A3D 2.0 if there is time, but most likely in a patch.

Intensor LX - Mark @ 08:02 EST

GameTime has a Realplayer (A/V) interview with Jeff deGracia from Imeron, Inc. to talk all about the latest and greatest version of the Intensor Gaming Chair! Thats refering to the Intensor LX and it has a headphone jack to optimize 3D audio when using the chair. Look for a review of this new model to show up on 3DsoundSurge in the coming weeks.

Tuesday, May 25, 1999

Polk AMR5 Review - Mark @ 23:25 EST

AGNHardware has posted a review of Polk Audio's AMR5 3 piece Speaker System

Netimmerse Supports 3D Sound - Mark @ 23:11 EST

Netimmerse is a 3D game engine that allows you to begin developing real-time content from Day 1. The cool part is that the game supports 3D sound. Here is a snip from their features page:

NetImmerse supports a full spatialized 3D sound system, capable of creating such real-world effects such as room acoustics, Doppler effects, echos, sound localization, and distance attenuation. The sound system uses DirectSound 3D.

Baldur's Gate Add On Review - Mark @ 21:32 EST

Game Post has posted a review of Baldur's Gate Tales of the Sword Coast and had the following to say about sound:

The sound is also on the same level in TOSC as with BG, so things like sounds of swords clashing and rain surrounding your party all make for an immersive experience. There is one problem that I and a few others have picked up but the developers initially missed. That is, when you reload a game, the sound gets REALLY LOUD AND ANNOYING! Some of us would only have to wait a minute or so and the level goes back down to normal. Other ways to remedy this is to do a quick save (pressing 'Q'), or going into the sound settings and adjusting the level. These are merely work-arounds and not fixes. For me, doing a quick save sometimes overcompensates and reduces the sounds down to an almost inaudible level. As far as what cards get affected, I've heard sound cards ranging from a Diamond MX300 to an SB PCI 128 to an SB 16. So keep your eyes peeled for a real fix and not a work-around.

Sequels to Support A3D 2.0 - Mark @ 08:26 EST

Here's the latest from Aureal. Activision/Pandemic's Battle Zone II and Dark Reign 2 include support for A3D 2.0. Both of these titles were demoed at E3.

Frag Tracker Launches - Mark @ 07:45 EST

This is not directly audio related but some interesting Future Games Network news.

The Frag Network is pleased to announce Frag Tracker - http://finger.frag.com, a fast, searchable, easy to use plan tracking archive with nothing but gaming goodness.

At launch, Frag Tracker already is monitoring 25 companies with over 300 plans. Particular emphasis is placed on ease of use, speed, searching, and plan archives going back over half a year. Not a bad start, but Frag Tracker is growing fast as we add new plans and enhancements every day. Reliable, fast tracking with full archive searching makes Frag Tracker an invaluable resource for the hardcore or casual gamer.

Monday, May 24, 1999

More Vortex from Sony - Mark @ 20:32 EST

Sony Electronics today announced the latest additions to its popular VAIO Digital Studio(tm) desktop PC line including an entry-level system (PCV-R522DS) with an Intel® Celeron(tm) processor and two high-end models (PCV-R526DS/PCV-R528DS) featuring Intel's Pentium III® processor. All three systems will ship with sound cards from Aureal.

Quadzilla Shipping June 1 - Mark @ 19:41 EST

Voyetra Turtle Beach announced this afternoon that its much-anticipated Turtle Beach Montego II Quadzilla audio accelerator will begin shipping June 1, and will include a bundled version of LucasArts' Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance (Imperial Entanglements). The company is now accepting pre-orders ($99.95) on its Web site (http://www.tbeach.com) or via its sales line (1-800-233-9377 or 914-966-0600).

Week in Review - Mark @ 12:00 EST

We have posted our latest edition of The Week in Review covering the period of May 17-23. You can also view past editions and subscribe to an email newsletter version of the Week in Review.

FPS2000 Review - Mark @ 09:44 EST

3DRant has posted what amounts to yet another favourable review of the Cambridge SoundWorks FPS 2000 speakers system. Hopefully our own review unit will make it here this month so we can offer a 3DsoundSurge perspective on the system.

Labtec LCS-2632 Review - Mark @ 09:40 EST

3DGaming has posted a review of Labtec's LCS-2632 speaker system.

E3 '99 Report and Awards - Mark @ 09:31 EST

ExtremeHardware has posted their full E3 report which is a summary of posts they made over the past few days plus with a few extras that never made it into the news. They have also posted their annual Best of E3 awards. Their Best Sound Hardware award goes to Hunsaker Manufacturing's Interactive Battle Chair.

For a whole bunch more E3 Information be sure to visit E3Show, our FGN affiliate.

News from May 17-23

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