News:  March 27 - April 2, 2000

Sunday, April 02, 2000

Live!Platinum contest - Mikael @ 19:24 EST

Since there isn't any real news I could as well remind you again that Creative Labs is sponsoring a contest where (if you live in North America) you can win a Sound Blaster Live!Platinum if you click on the banner on top of the page. Even if you already have another good sound card you might want to enter the Live contest as you can either run two sound card (e.g. Vortex 2 and Live) or take the excellent software bundle and give the card to a friend! If you don't see the Creative Labs banner you can refresh the page a couple times or click this link instead. You will also find some other info about Creative Labs products on that page.

TeamSound v 4.1 released - Mikael @ 19:04 EST

No idea what changed since v 4.0 but you can now download version 4.1 of this voice communication program for games from Teamsound's site
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Max Payne Music - Mikael @ 06:27 EST

The music composed by Tero "Teque" Kostermaa for the last year's Max Payne demo video is available as an MP3 at Trax In Space website where you can also find many other songs in MP3 and other formats. You can check out many other Teque songs or go directly to the Max Payne song. If you want to check out the video you can find it on the official Max Payne site's download page
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Saturday, April 01, 2000

New Encore Dxr3 drivers - Mikael @ 18:10 EST

Creative has released new Windows 95/98/NT4 drivers for the Dxr3. They will not work on Windows 2000. Here's what's new

1. Esprit Navigator program for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT4.0
   
2. Improved TV-Out quality for PAL systems (Europe)
3. Improve TV-Out quality for PAL-TV in Europe
   
4. Better support for MPEG-2 files playback

Team Sound 4 Released - Mikael @ 14:47 EST

Version 4 of Team Sound has been released. In case you don't know Team Sound is voice communication program for gaming. You can download the new version from Team Sound's site
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Pioneer (DVD-104) RPC-1 Firmware - Mikael @ 09:34 EST

I just an e-mail letting me know that The Firmware page" has a link to the RegionFREE firmware for the Pioneer 10x drive that works. Important to note that it's hacked firmware but plenty of people says it works just fine. Here's the direct link

Live!Platinum and Nomad II contests - Mikael @ 04:49 EST

In case you haven't noticed Creative's banner on the top of the page (refresh if you don't see it) will take you to a Live!Platinum contest.

If you want a to win Creative Labs Nomad II you should head over to T-break. It's only open for people in the Middle-Eastern Region.

Force Commander demo - Mikael @ 04:41 EST

A 79 MB demo of the recently released Force Commander is now available. You can download it from 3dfiles. The game was said to support A3D and DS3D with EAX sometime ago but not sure if it ended up supporting it or not. It's not mentioned on Lucas Arts pages or Creative's list anyway and while it's on Aureal's list it says just "early 2000" and not "available". Possible they are just slow on updating their pages.

If you like the game you can get a copy from Gamestop.

Friday, March 31, 2000

Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400 - Mark @ 19:30 EST

Sharky Extreme has posted a nice review of the Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400 system. A couple of points worth noting. They describe what they call a minor problem with stronger sound from one front and one rear driver. This is not something I have ever experienced, despite extended use. I also attribute more of the hiss that some people complain about to the ProMedias and not the sound card, but like this reviewer, I feel that it was never a big deal. Its also worth noting that the ProMedia now ships with a lower gain preamp so the hiss is reduced along with the maximum sound level output making for a quieter but still excellent system. For more on the ProMedia you can check out our own review.

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed Demo - Mikael @ 18:38 EST

A demo of Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed has been released. Unlike the 2 previous Need for Speed this one isn't on Creative's EAX list. If you download it let me know if it features 3D sound and EAX or not. You can get your demo copy from 3dfiles.

SoundFX 2000 2.00 Released - Mikael @ 18:15 EST

A new version (2.0) of SoundFX 2000 has been released. SoundFX allows you to play DOS games under Windows 2000 and NT4. You can find more info from the official site where you can also download a trial version or buy it.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Final Fantasy VIII - Mikael @ 17:57 EST

A patch for the EAX 2.0 supporting Final Fantasy VIII has been released. Nothing sound related in this patch. You can download it from 3dfiles where you can also see the list of fixes. If you haven't already bought the game you can buy it from Gamestop where you can find some info about the game as well.

3D Sound on BeOS - Mikael @ 17:53 EST

BeNews got the word from Loki Software that they are porting the OpenAL to BeOS. OpenAL as you know will be available on Windows and Linux as well and Creative promised they will support it in their Linux drivers and maybe also in their Windows drivers. It should allow programmers to support 3D sound and Environmental Audio Effects on Linux and BeOS games. You can find out more about this OpenAL at the official site
News Source: 3DAI

DVD-104S regionless firmware - Mikael @ 13:53 EST

Update: Justin just let me know that the link to the firmware that will make the drive is broken. I've no idea where you can find the firmware but I suggest you contact 7th Zone and ask them if they know.

I mentioned in my previous post that I thought you could get a firmware for Pioneer's 10X DVD, DVD-104S that would make it region free. Mark Tannet let me know that I'm correct and provided the direct link to the page on 7th Zone site from where you can download it. He also had the following to tell

I have the DVD-104S and I did do this. It works. In fact, the drive ID in windows changes from DVD-104S to DVD-104F. I've heard that the DVD-104F was the first incarnation of the 10X/40X slot model and was quickly shoved aside since it was indeed regionless and that this firmware is simply ripped FROM one of those rare drives. The other story I've heard is that it's a cracked 104S firmware (v1.25) and the F is the crackers humor for "Free".

Pioneer 10x 104S Slot Load DVD review - Mikael @ 08:57 EST

PC Extremes have posted a review of Pioneer's 10x 104S Slot Load DVD drive. The review mentions that the drive is region locked and you cannot unlock it with firmware. I'm sure it's correct that it's region locked (well change up to 5 times probably) but I would guess it can be firmware upgradeable to get around the region lock. Other reviews mentioned that when it comes to Pioneer's 10x drive anyway.

A BA 4800 Reader Review - Mark @ 07:59 EST

If you are looking for another view of Boston Acoustics' excellent BA-4800 system, check out this short review posted in our forum Chase.L. I plan to have my early impressions of this system done over the weekend and if you do a search on 4800 in the forum you will find quite a few other opinions, mostly very positive.

Soldier of fortune and A3D - Mikael @ 01:28 EST

Just got the following e-mail from Jeff Atwood

SOF ships with an outdated a3dapi.dll file. Until you delete this file from
the SoF install folder, you CANNOT select A3D in the sound select screen. Also, while not sound related, I find that disabling detail textures increases framerate dramatically-- similar to that same setting in Unreal Tournament!

Soldier of Fortune supports A3D 3.0 featuring wavetracing and geometry reverb. It also supports DS3D with EAX 2.0. You can buy Soldier of Fortune from Gamestop where you can also gather some additional info about the game including download links for the demo.

Theatrix Dolby 5.1 review - Mikael @ 01:22 EST

3D Alpha has posted a review of Theatrix 5.1 soundcard. I've quite different impression of the card. For starters I think the Yamaha software midi synthesizer is a lot better than the FM synthesizer, not just slightly better. I think the cards basic stereo quality is about the same as other soundcards but then I used the DIN connections and not the headphone jack on the bracket. When it comes to DVD he didn't use the 6-speaker out but instead used the headphone out on the bracket board and later the SPDIF out with a Dolby Digital system. It's unclear if he got DD 5.1 working using the SPDIF out or if it's just Dolby Prologic, if he got DD 5.1 stream out of the SPDIF he managed to get something working that I haven't been able to. Should have a review of the card up next week.

SQ2500 review - Mikael @ 00:58 EST

GameWire has posted their impressions of what may be Aureal's last soundcard, the SQ2500. The review doesn't mention anything about Aureal latest troubles but I wouldn't suggest you buy the SQ2500 until we get a better picture of Aureal's future, especially not if you intend to run Windows 2000. Back to the review. Gamewire really liked the SQ2500 produced but found the performance hit to be a major concern. Not sure what version of Quake3 they used but at least for me A3D isn't working properly with the latest patches. One other important thing to be aware of is that there is a significant risk you mess up your 3D sound and sound quality if you play around with AU30HRTF.EXE and AutoCalibrate.exe since neither of these are fully functional. There is a reason why they are not documented, not really sure why Aureal even shipped them with the drivers. You can check out our SQ2500 review for a second opinion

Playstation 2 review - Mikael @ 00:57 EST

We usually doesn't cover console hardware but Playstation 2 is also a DVD player. Anyway Digital-Clips has posted a review of the Playstation 2 that you may want to check out. Not that detailed on the DVD aspect but it does cover it. Can be worth knowing that Sony has fixed the DVD region aspect so it now works just like Hollywood wants it to work.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Thursday, March 30, 2000

MidiLand ADS-2000 Review - Mark @ 22:37 EST

The Techzone has posted a review of MidiLand's ADS-2000 which is a stand alone Dolby Digital decoder targeted at the PC market. This is the same decoder that MidiLand ships with their S4-8200 system and is very similar (if not identical) to the decoder that Videologic uses with their DigiTheatre system. Just a couple of comments. Techzone notes that there are no sound cards on the market to take advantage of the 5.1 ready S4-7100s. There are actually a number of cards based on the Fortemedia FM801 that has 5.1 output, two of which being the Best Data Theatrix and the Skywell Magic Sound Live. These cards don't actually do the Dolby Digital in hardware, they instead rely on software decoders like WinDVD and PowerDVD. A minor quibble in the installation is the outputs are actually 1/8" and not 1/4" jacks. The other key point is that the unit on top of Dolby ProLogic is of course a Dolby Digital unit so on page four of the review substitute Dolby Digital and Dolby Prologic everywhere you see just Dolby Prologic. Overall this is a great decoder for $99. Look for our own full review of the system and you can get Mikael's impressions of the as noted very similar DigiTheatre Decoder by reading part of our VideoLogic DigiTheatre review. Speaking of which, not sure if this is old news but I just saw that Videologic is offering the entire DigiTheatre system in the US at Digitheatre.com for a special price of $319.00 (list is $400).
News Source: 3D Audio Immersion

WinDVD for Linux - Mikael @ 18:51 EST

InterVideo today announced that it would soon release a software DVD player/decoder for the Linux operating system. The product will not be called WinDVD but instead LinDVD, but I guess mostly a name change to make clear it's not for Windows. LinDVD is expected to be the first legal DVD software solution for the Linux OS and will feature a full multi-channel Dolby Digital audio decoder will be included. Not sure what cards supports 4-speakers (beyond stereo mirroring of front to rear channels) under Linux, maybe the Live does. Creative Labs said it will support 3D sound under Linux in the future anyway. You can find more details in the press release

Lights of Liberty Show features 3D sound - Mikael @ 18:46 EST

Found an interesting press release that mentioned the Lights of Liberty Show features 3D sound. Never heard about the show? Me neither but here's the intro

Tickets are now on sale for the second electrifying season of the Lights of Liberty Show, the only ambulatory, 3-D sound and light show of its kind in the world. The Show enables visitors of all ages, from children to seniors, to experience the dramatic events that led up to the American Revolution, as it happened, where it happened.
The multi-million dollar production, which last year attracted almost 50,000 people from coast-to-coast and several foreign countries, stars the voices of Walter Cronkite, Ossie Davis, Claire Bloom, Charlton Heston, Frank Langella and Noah Emmerich, along with Philadelphians David Morse and Craig Shoemaker. Whoopi Goldberg narrates a special, ``Children's Channel.''

Win2k Tweak Guide - Mikael @ 16:49 EST

Tweak3D has put together a tweak guide for Windows 2000. Not anything directly audio related but some of the tweaks may indirectly effect audio performance/issues as well.
News Source: AGN Hardware

FPS2000 and DTT2500 review - Mikael @ 16:26 EST

The Stratos Group has posted head-to-head review of Cambridge Soundworks' FPS2000 and the DTT2500 systems. Both setups received the Stratospheric Award of Excellence, becoming the only second and third products to do so. Obviously they found the FPS2000 to be the best choice if you don't want to watch movies.

I agree that both systems are great systems for the money you pay but wouldn't call them excellent, the DTT2500 after all is a low-end DD 5.1 system and the FPS200 can be considered midrange 4-speaker system. One other bit this review as many other complains about is the speaker stands and while they certainly isn't high quality speaker stands Cambridge SoundWorks still deserves credit for actually including them something most other companies don't. The ones included with the DTT2500 are also very useful even though it's not something you want to put in your living room unless you lack taste :-).

Test Drive Le Mans is shipping - Mikael @ 08:58 EST

Avault reports that the A3D 2.0 supporting Test Drive Le Mans is now shipping.

Warner Music Group Licenses ATRAC3 from Sony - Mikael @ 08:49 EST

Warner Music Group announced yesterday that it has agreed to license ATRAC3, an audio compression technology from Sony Corporation, for use in the electronic distribution of music. WMG expects to launch its electronic distribution business during the second half of 2000 using ATRAC3 on a non-exclusive basis. Seems like ATRAC3 may have a chance to be one of the major compression formats in the future as well. You can check out the press release for more details

AudioStorm PST preview - Mikael @ 08:46 EST

Not sure why people are so interested in some speaker system designed for the still many months away Playstation 2 but Hardware Pros has posted a "preview" of Gallant Computer's upcoming AudioStorm PST. I get the impression he hasn't listened to the speakers so it's just gathering of some info and pictures of the system.

Deathmatch album interview - Mikael @ 08:42 EST

Fragmusic has posted an interview with James Grote who produced the excellent Songs For Deathmatch albums.

Wednesday, March 29, 2000

Unreal patch will soon be released - Mikael @ 12:49 EST

Well that's what Tim Sweeney says in an interview at Evil Avatar. I sure hope it's true but we have hard that claim before and are still waiting. In case you don't remember the Unreal 224 patch that broke both DS3D/EAX and A3D was released May 2 and they then said the patch fixing both DS3D/EAX and A3D 2 would be in the publics hands in a few weeks. The 225 patch was released not that long after (1-2 months) and it fixed DS3D/EAX but not A3D2. Anyway maybe they are correct and it will really be out soon but I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't out until June or so. Compared to that we are pretty good on keeping our review plans :-)
Thanks to Pascal for the pointer.

Music 2000 available for download - Mikael @ 11:49 EST

Codemasters has released Music 2000 which you can grab from 3dfiles. If you have no idea what this program does the following bit should clue you in

The Whether you're beginner or beatmaster, MUSIC 2000T puts you in control. The best selling title has been massively upgraded for the PC - no other music maker can match MUSIC 2000T for the scale and depth of its easy to use musical and video features.
And with creative tools like the unique Music Jam mode, MUSIC 2000T is quite simply a cut above.

Fly3D 0.88 - Mikael @ 11:48 EST

Fly3D 0.88 has just been released. It's a game engine written in C++ that supports DS3D, OpenGL 1.1, DirectInput and DirectPlay. You can download it from 3dfiles

Unreal Tournament D3D Driver - Mikael @ 00:23 EST

The new Unreal Tournament 413 patch that was released earlier this week has really hurt the Direct3D performance on some machines. If you have this problem you can download the version 405 D3D dll (200 kb) from Epic. If you use this .DLL, make sure to rename the file to d3ddrv.dll.
News Source: Vortex of Sound

Aureal up 96% - Mikael @ 00:23 EST

We don't usually report share prices but Aureal is a bit special case now. It's interesting to see that the share price went up 96% yesterday, some indication investors expects to get some money out of the company. Still just 39% of what it was worth before the financial report was released last week. As said before I don't think we will see anyone buy the company and continue to develop and sell the Vortex series but it's better chance someone will continue to promote the A3D brand and SDK.

Tuesday, March 28, 2000

Don't want to download 35mb worth of drivers? - Mark @ 22:54 EST

That's beta Vortex Win2K drivers to be specific. The unofficial A3Dfan site has posted some cut down versions of the drivers for Vortex1, Vortex 2 and Vortex Advantage based products. Any feedback on these drivers can go to this thread in our forum.

MidiLand S4-8200 Review - Mark @ 13:14 EST

Gamer's Depot has posted a very positive review of MidiLand's new S4-8200 system which appears to offer many compelling features, not the least of which is their ADA-2000 Dolby Digital decoder which will also be sold separately for somewhere between $100 and $150. A general comment about the review is the way its written you might think that MidiLand is the only one that puts out quality products which is of course far from the truth. I also found some of their descriptions of Dolby Digital vs ProLogic rather confusing (and I know what the differences are). Its also worth noting that the ADA-2000 is not the first standalone decoder targeted at the PC. That honor would go to VideoLogic's DigiTheatre decoder. Look for lots more on the MidiLand ADA-2000 when we do our full review of it. Last comment that I will make is I disagree with the reviewer that we are hoping to see satellites with 5 ¬" drivers for the PC. If that's what you want, buy a home stereo system. PC systems have to be compact. Getting back to the review, the S4-8200 looks like a very competitive entry into the PC home theatre market and well worth a look so check out their review for more of what they think. Before we get to the S4-8200, we will be doing a review of MidiLand's 5.1 ready S4-7100 system as well as a separate ADA-2000 review as noted. Thanks to Ronin and GTAudiophile for the pointer.

Philips DSS330 Speaker Review - Mark @ 08:41 EST

3DHardware has posted a review of the Philips DSS330 USB/Analog 2.1 speaker system. Overall they were not too impressed with the system which lists for $130. However, given that many of the speaker controls were only accessible software in USB and the reviewer never got the software to work you might want to look for a second opinion if you plan to run the system in USB mode as its quite possible it might sound better with the proper tweaks applied. This seems all the more likely when you consider the tonal differences they experienced switching between analog and digital modes has to be the result of some digital equalization when in USB mode and nothing to do with the fact thats its a digital signal. Having said that, as an analog system it really does not sound too attractive based on the review and USB mode is useless for gaming when it comes to 3D audio so not really a gamers system. USB speakers are targeted at people who don't care about having a sound card. Its worth noting that headphone jacks and microphones jack are not a common feature on any system and would be totally useless in USB mode.

Hacked video technology provides look at MP3-like films - Mark @ 08:10 EST

Rather off topic but also rather interesting...its a CNET.nets story that looks at a new video technology that is floating through the computer underground and holds the promise of doing for movies what MP3 has done for digital music. Dubbed "DivX"--no relation to the defunct digital video disk (DVD) player--the technology allows video to be highly compressed while retaining a high-quality picture. Feature-length Hollywood movies could be downloaded in just a few hours and stored on a single CD. Check out the full story

All-Digital Amplifier - Mikael @ 07:17 EST

JAM Technologies announced the world's first high quality, high power, all-digital amplification technology that generates output voltage equaling 300-400% of the input voltage, using no transformers or DC/DC converters. REVA True Fidelity is being implemented first in the computer industry because it produces continuous average power of up to 50 watts per channel into 4 ohms or 25 watts per channel into 8 ohms, using only the computer's standard, internal 5-volt power supply. High resolution audio is now possible in notebook and desktop computers. You can find more details in the full press release.

Dolby Laboratories Announces AAC Support Program - Mikael @ 07:17 EST

Dolby Laboratories today announced the launch of a technical marketing program in support of the new audio compression standard known as AAC or ``Advanced Audio Coding.'' AAC is the latest audio coder standardized by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as part of the MPEG specification. Compared to MPEG Layer-3, popularly known as MP3, AAC provides higher quality music reproduction at lower bit rates, and in addition can accommodate up to 48 audio channels. You can check out the press release if you want more details.

Week in Review - Mikael @ 07:06 EST

We have posted our latest edition of the 3D Audio Week in Review covering March 20 - 26.

This weekly newsletter covers new driver releases, games, patches and demos that support 3D sound including information on any new bugs, bug fixes and other tips. The newsletter now also includes links to all sound related hardware reviews on the web as well as updates on what we did and what we plan to do in the coming week. The 3D Audio Week in Review is a great way for busy people to be right on top of all latest in the PC audio world.

Creative hits new highs on Aureal woes - Mikael @ 06:26 EST

Reuters reports that shares of Creative Technology surged more than eight percent to hit a new high on Tuesday (Singapore market), lifted by news that its major competitor Aureal might sell or wind down its business. Theodore Teo, analyst at Prudential Bache Securities expects Aureal's OEM customer to switch to Creative's products.

Monday, March 27, 2000

Unreal Tournament 4.13 Patch - Mark @ 23:16 EST

The version 413 patch for the A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX supporting Unreal Tournament is now released and is completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, and 405b). A full list of changes is on the 3Dfiles download page where you can also grab the 5.3 MB patch. No mention of any A3D fixes so I would guess that your own weapons sounds still don't get reflected.

Aureal down 67.95% - Mikael @ 18:01 EST

Aureal's share finished the day at 1 9/16, down 67.95% for the day. This compares to Friday's close of 4 7/8, which is 38% below last Thursday's closing price. This leaves Aureal with a market cap of $15.6 millions. You can find more details at Yahoo.

Windows 2000 Beta Drivers for Vortex cards - Mikael @ 15:48 EST

Aureal has just posted the latest beta of their Windows 2000 WDM drivers for the Vortex2, Vortex1 and Vortex Advantage (e.g. SQ1500) based cards. These are BETA DRIVERS and are UNSUPPORTED. Most likely it's also the last driver release we will see from Aureal. Thanks to Cory Seaman for the pointer.

Creative Begins Shipping Highly Anticipated NOMAD II - Mikael @ 15:41 EST

Creative Technology today announced that its highly-anticipated Creative NOMAD II portable digital audio player has begun shipping to selected retail and e-tail outlets in the United States. The NOMAD II is a codec-agnostic portable digital audio player offering MP3 support with reprogrammable firmware to support future digital audio formats, software extensions, and standards. The NOMAD II is designed for the active consumer, with features that emphasize quick setup and mobility such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) support, an FM tuner, voice recorder, and a wired remote for accessing the playback controls while on the move. The 64MB version of the NOMAD II has begun shipping to major consumer electronics outlets nationwide for an estimated U.S. retail price of $329.99. The NOMAD II 32MB is available through online outlets at an estimated U.S. retail price of $229. You can check out the press release for more details.

Microsoft Unveils Windows Media Player 7 - Mikael @ 15:41 EST

Microsoft today announced the Microsoftr Windows Media(TM) Player 7. Available today in a preview release for technical evaluators and software developers, Windows Media Player 7 marks, according to Microsoft, the first milestone in making digital media easier and more accessible for consumers. Check out the press release for all the details. You can also check out an article at Cnet about it

Toshiba will use SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card - Mikael @ 15:41 EST

SanDisk announced today that Toshiba has introduced the world's first product designed to use the SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card, a high-capacity, high-security flash memory card. The device, a mobile Internet audio player (MEA110AS), is the first of a series of products that SanDisk expects will be introduced that will use the SD Memory Card. The SD Memory Card was introduced in August, 1999, by Matsushita Electric, best known by its Panasonic brand name, SanDisk and Toshiba. Toshiba's player supports AAC and MP3. You can find more details about the SD memory card and Toshiba's audio player in the press release

Pioneer Ships Industry's Fastest DVD-ROM Drive - Mikael @ 15:41 EST

Pioneer today announced that it is shipping the industry's first 16X (max.) DVD-ROM drive, ``Sweet 16.''. It has ATAPI interface and will be available both in a tray and slot-load version. Check out the press release for more details, no mention of price though

Gallant Computer Speaker line - Mikael @ 15:15 EST

PC Insight have posted an overview of Gallant Computer speaker line, which includes AudioStorm PST, OdysseySound 5.1, OdysseySound 4, OdysseySound 2 and their AudioStorm FS2. They haven't actually tried the speakers so not sure how much more it gives compared to reading the specs from Gallant Computers website.
News Source: AGN Hardware

DVD: Hard or Soft? - Mikael @ 15:14 EST

That's the question Mark Garofalo from Hardware Central answers in a 6 page article. When it comes to audio I would say that if you bought a retail soundcard SPDIF out is pretty much standard now and so is 4-speaker output. When the review talks about a card supports EAX they just means 4-speaker on a Live card since there is certainly no reverb effects the software DVD players apply. Can also be worth to know that the Dxr3 supports 4-speaker down-mix if you use a Live. Finally I don't agree that Dolby Digital would be of any less importance just because you watch the movie on a 17" monitor.

When it comes to video they think hardware solutions is superior but you won't really notice that on a 17" monitor, well I disagree it's superior but then I have only watched it on a 17" monitor :-). I agree that the hardware solutions are superior if you connect to TV but I think the limitation there as the article not is the poor TV-Out of most graphics cards.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Game PC Sound Card Round-Up - Mikael @ 15:13 EST

Game PC has posted a soundcard round-up featuring cards from Aureal (SQ2500 and SQ1500), Diamond (MX400), Turtle Beach (Montego II Plus) and Guillemot (Fortissimo). The mentioned bundled software doesn't seem to be entirely accurate, the SQ2500 and SQ1500 includes Futurebeat and Fortissimo should now include PowerDVD something this review doesn't mention. When it comes to the benchmarks the major reason the SQ1500 is faster is that it's a significant overhead for each 3D channel with A3D2 in Quake3 (just like in Half-Life) which is the reason it's clearly faster than all the other cards. The tradeoff is of course that many of the sound effects will never be positioned and in the end that makes it a rather poor choice IMO even if you consider the price. Comparing EAX with the positioning of A3D is comparing oranges and apples. You should compare EAX with wavetracing aspect of A3D2.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Aureal's share price is going down in heavy trading - Mikael @ 10:12 EST

What buyers are prepared to pay for the one share went in down from 2 to just $0.75 in a few minutes this morning. Since then the share price has gone up slightly and the last trade was $1. This means Aureal's market Cap. is now just 10 million compared to 48.6 Million yesterday. Obviously not all investors are prepared to sell for that price so it doesn't mean anyone could buy Aureal for $10 million. The volume so far is 4 times the average trading for an entire day so a lot shares switching owners today. You can watch the share price at Yahoo where you also should see any press releases Aureal may release today.

Interview with Aureal's A3D Product Manager - Mikael @ 09:36 EST

Technology at an Extreme has posted an interview with the A3D Product manager about the A3D 3.0 SDK. This interview took place before the management team resigned but they have one follow up question about that press release, unfortunately Suneil Mishra could only say he can't comment on that now. Speaking about Aureal no trade has taken place yet today but right now the best price you could get if you want to sell Aureal stock is 1 31/32 compared to Friday's closing price of 4 7/8.

OtherWorld A3D Screen Saver Released - Mark @ 07:53 EST

M.A.N. Graphics has released the full version of their A3D 2.0 (or 3.0?) supporting screen saver entitled Other World is now released. Here is a bit from their description

The OtherWorld r screen saver it's a powerful and fine 3D graphics with realistic sound, based on Aureal A3D technology and our fantasy. The OtherWorld r screen saver includes six maps: Castle, Sands, Agora, Cave, Sea and Village. Also all maps exclude Cave and Agora separated between day and night time. You can select day or night manually or set random or auto switch mode. The screen saver work on wide range of 3D accelerated videocards, start from Nvidia Riva128 and 3dfx Voodoo Graphics to Nvidia GeForce256 and other latest videocards

BW2000 review - Mikael @ 02:30 EST

GuruTech has posted a review of Benwin's flat panel system the BW2000. As many other reviews they complain about the sub par subwoofer but find the sound quality quite good otherwise considering the price.
News Source: Anandtech

FPS2000 review - Mikael @ 02:22 EST

3D Accelerated has posted a very positive review of the FPS2000. I don't think the system is quite as good as this reviewer and I don't think they are very loud either. Also worth pointing out that using a digital connection doesn't mean you don't get distortion and Live is the only card that offers the DIN connection.

News from March 20-26, 2000

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