News:  April 3-9, 2000

Sunday, April 09, 2000

Hauppauge WinTV-D review - Mikael @ 20:31 EST

XS Underground has posted a product review of the Hauppauge WinTV-D which enables you to watch Digital TV with Dolby Digital Sound on your PC in addition to also work as an analog TV-tuner card. Here's a bit on the digital audio option:

The audio capabilities of the WinTV-D are truly remarkable. The built in Dolby Digital Decoder is a value added feature that brings true multi-channel digital surround sound onto your desktop and home theater. The arrangement of connectors allow for a plethora of possible configurations. The audio properties allow you to tweak what kind of speaker arrangement you have.

Missing is the low frequency bass channel, which is matrixed into the front left and right channels. This allows for a more flexible PC speaker setup. The multi-channel output also works nicely when connected to a home theater speaker system with discrete inputs. A feature that would have been nice is a SPDIF Dolby Digital audio output. This is not too big of a loss for most users since the WinTV-D already does the Dolby Digital decoding and brings the joys of multi-channel digital surround sound to just about anyone.

DVD Genie 3.42 released - Mikael @ 13:24 EST

Yet another version of this little tool that allows you to tweak your DVD player has been released. No major news but one new features for WinDVD and a few bug fixes. You can check out the list of new features/bug fixes here.
News Source: 3dfiles

Week in Review - Mikael @ 13:16 EST

I forgot to mention earlier this week that we have posted our latest edition of the 3D Audio Week in Review covering March 27 - April 2.

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.

Live!Platinum contest - Mikael @ 05:58 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.

DirectX8 article @ Gamespot - Mikael @ 05:37 EST

Gamespot has posted an article about what's new in DirectX8, some new bits about the graphics part but when it comes to sound it just confirms earlier info about combining DirectMusic and DirectSound, audio scripting and pieces of Creative's EAX technology (using the I3DL2 API according to other reports).
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Saturday, April 08, 2000

Cambridge SoundWorks Digital 2.1 review - Mikael @ 23:09 EST

Anandtech has slapped up 4 pages about their impressions of Cambridge SoundWorks $99 2.1 system, the SoundWorks Digital 2.1 giving it a score of 7 out of 10, which is a very good score at Anandtech. Just one comment I doubt the 2.5" (not 3" that the review claims) driver actually manage to deliver the treble range all the way up to 22 kHz, not with anything close to flat frequency response anyway. For a second and similar opinion of this system you can check out our (Mark's) review of the system.

AOpen 1040 10X DVD ROM Review - Mikael @ 06:44 EST

T-break has published a review of AOpen's 10X DVD where they come to a positive conclusion.

Audiosphere v2.0 released - Mikael @ 03:28 EST

Thanks to Pascal for letting us know that Svetlana Software has released a new version (2.0) of Audiosphere. AudioSphere is audio control package including volume, balance, tone controls and presets. Here's a bit on what's:

This release features a very aesthetic analog clock, smoothly integrated into main window design. Also, there are several other enhancements to make AudioSphere even more usable and convenient for you.

For example, now you have more built-in color schemes and system tray icons to choose from. The random colors generator was advanced with the "Harmonize" option, which allows you to get a very balanced and elegant color schemes with just one mouse click.

Anachronox update - Mikael @ 03:18 EST

Ion Storm Programmer, Henrik Jonsson has updated his .plan with the following bit on 3D sound and music for the upcoming Anachronox

The 3D sound system is now operational, with a few more niceness-tweaks left to implement, and hardware occlusion will be supported, inspite of Aureal's Chapter 11.
[snip]
I've got our in-game music to work through Microsoft's DirectMusic

Jaguar XJR-15 Released for NFS4 - Mikael @ 03:02 EST

EA has released a new car, Jaguar XJR-15, for their DS3D with EAX supporting NFS4.

Messiah 0.1 Patch - Mikael @ 02:57 EST

Shiny has released a patch for the A3D 3.0 and DS3D with EAX supporting Messiah. Only audio related fix is problem with CD-Music. You can grab the patch from 3dfiles where you also find the list of fixes. You can buy Messiah from Gamestop.

Friday, April 07, 2000

Starlancer has gone gold - Mikael @ 17:15 EST

The Lancers Reactor has confirmed with Starlancer Product Manager Robert Lindsley that their A3D 2.0 supporting space combat game has gone gold and is expected to be available in stores on April 28. You can pre-order Starlancer from Gamestop

News Source: Voodoo Extreme

Using sound to enhance atmosphere and mood - Mikael @ 17:07 EST

Designer James Agay currently working on the upcoming A3D 2.0 and DS3D with EAX supporting Summoner has written a bit on PCI.ign how he use sound in the levels to enhance atmosphere and mood. Here's an intersting bit

Within our in-house editor we can define where a sound occurs in 3D space, at what volume, over what radius and how quickly it decays. This allows for faint noises over huge areas that can overlap to build a soundscape of howling winds, running water or city life, as well as sounds directly linked to objects, creatures or events.

Playing DVDs on your PC article - Mikael @ 17:00 EST

Computers.com have posted a new how-to article on what you need to buy to play DVDs on your PC and some tips what to look for. They also have some installation tips. They completely missed the DD 5.1 aspect of DVDs and also seems to think the CD-audio cable from the DVD-rom have something to do with the sound when playing DVD movies, that's not the case.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Live!Drive I and II is available - Mikael @ 16:34 EST

Just saw on Creative's site that Live!Drive I and II can now be ordered directly from Creative Labs. They also kicked up a page offering some details on what it offers. You could also check out our review of the Live!Drive I and II

Thief II: The Metal Age Patch - Mikael @ 16:26 EST

Looking Glass has released a 33 MB huge patch for the DS3D with EAX 2.0 and A3D supporting Thief II. When it comes to audio it adds the following features

1. Increased maximum sound channel usage to 24 channels and reset default to 12 channels.
   
2. Added support for audio cards that only support EAX 1.0
   
3. Improved sound propagation throughout the Bank, Courier, Trail of Blood, Precious Cargo, Life of the Party and the Precious Cargo levels.
   
4. Added more Garrett voice overs to the Bank level

Halo Preview - Mikael @ 16:14 EST

Tech Extreme has written a piece about the upcoming Halo where among other things they discuss Halo's sound engine. One other game that had a sound engine based on physics is Trespasser which also had one of the best 3D sound engine implementation I've heard. Gameplay not quite as good though :-).

Halo is expected to support A3D 3.0 and while it's not Creative's list yet I would expect it to support at least 3D sound on the Live.

Boston Acoustics BA4800 Early Impressions - Mark @ 09:30 EST

I have just posted my early impressions of the BA4800 which is the latest entry into the multimedia market from Boston Acoustics. Its also their first entry into the now very competitive 4.1 market. After a couple of weeks of use I am very impressed with the system. For the reasons why, check out our early impressions section (where you can also read about several other systems with reviews on the go).

MidiLand S4-8200 Review - Mark @ 09:27 EST

Sharky Extreme has posted a pretty nice review of MidiLand's S4-8200 Dolby Digital 5.1 system. I have not actually heard the 8200s yet but I have heard the S4-7100 and the ADS-2000 decoder that ships with the 8200s and their comments are pretty much in line with what I would have expected. Just one comment.I think I bit too much is made of watts RMS. As we have shown, driver efficiency is at least as important as watts RMS in determining how loud a system can play and while I am not disagreeing that the 8200 is loud, I am saying that in general, its possible for systems with less watts RMS to be louder than systems with more watts RMS. Thanks to Wood (GTAudiophile) Powell for the pointer.

Midiland S4 4060 Review - Mark @ 09:23 EST

Noeseeker has posted a nicereview of the Midiland S4 4060 2.1 speaker system. I found the following bit quite interesting as its not something I have seen referenced before:

With the S4 series, MidiLand hopes to enable gamers and music lovers alike to enjoy quality, at a much reduced price. Toward that end, the company R&D has been able to come up with a few solutions to the cost factor of their speakers. The most notable change is the material used to construct the new satellite speakers - these new sats are smaller and lighter thanks to a material that MidiLand calls Platallic. The new material is designed to recreate the same structural and tonal qualities of a medium dense wood fibre(MDF) enclosure, at a much reduced cost. The result is a compact, lightweight satellite that is easily wall mounted and is said to have acoustic properties similar to a satellite made from MDF.

High-end PC Buying guide - Mark @ 08:05 EST

3D Spotlight has posted their first edition of their High-end PC Buying Guide. In the guide they build two different systems, sharing a lot of the components between systems. When it comes to sound if you have read our recent ProMedia / Crossfire comparison article you will know that depending on what you are going to use your speakers for I don't agree with some of their comments. Its also worth noting that if you won't use the LiveDrive or extra software that comes with the Platinum, them you can can save some money by going with other versions of the Live (or other cards).

Thursday, April 06, 2000

MX2 for MX300 - Mikael @ 23:53 EST

For those wanting a digital output for their MX300 and are prepared to build their own digital output card should check out MX-link project #2 that Cyr just posted, this time including proper Toslink and coaxial output.

Yamaha Debuts New Powered Multimedia Speaker System - Mikael @ 22:59 EST

Yamaha today announced that they introduces the new YST-M40 two-piece powered speaker system at Retail Vision 2000. They claim it's designed for today's computer multimedia technology and deliver deliver professional sonic performance without the need for a subwoofer. Sort of doubt it considering the ESP of $59 and the given frequency response of 70-20 kHz isn't exactly matching systems with a subwoofer. Anyway the system will be available in April. You can find more info in the press release

Sonique 1.5 released - Mikael @ 22:49 EST

Steve Edwards let us know that a new version (1.5) of Sonique was released yesterday. Sonique is an audio player supporting many different formats including MP3 and according to Sonique it's the best MP3 decoder available. Not tried it yet so not sure exactly if it's really much difference compared to Winamp but if you download it you could judge for yourself.

A3D files at A3D Fan - Mikael @ 22:06 EST

I think we mentioned most of this before but can be worth to mention again. A3D Fan offers various A3D related files for download including

1. Updated A3D 3.0 demos
   
2. The Aureal Bank Editor
   
3. WDM drivers for Vortex 1 and Vortex 2
   (for Windows 98 SE)
   
4. WDM drivers for all Vortex chipsets
   (for Windows 2000)
   
5. A3D 2.0-supporting Unreal patch

Labtec LCS-2514 Speakers Review - Mikael @ 21:31 EST

If you are looking for a cheap (below $100) 4-speaker system the Labtec LCS-2514 is another interesting option, costing only $80. Haven't been many reviews of it so far but today 3dhardware.net has posted their impressions of it. They found it to offer sound quality similar to the FPS1000.

Midiland Mli-490 Review - Mikael @ 21:25 EST

Another review of the MidiLand Mli-490 has been posted on 3dgn.com and just like the review at Boomgames they are impressed with the quality considering the $99 price tag. Just a couple things worth noting when looking at the specs is that you need an external decoder to get any Dolby Prologic or Dolby Digital out of this system, what makes it different from most other 4-speaker system is that it feature a LFE input. Soundblaster compatability refers only to that it has front and rear inputs. Finally the frequency range numbers are most likely not accurate, I can't imagine that the sub produce decent bass down to 20 Hz. I would also say if the cross over really is at 350 Hz I think it's way too high.

Imagination Technologies To Exploit Its Multimedia Patents - Mark @ 12:45 EST

Imagination Technologies Group plc - the international company that develops, licenses and supplies market-leading 2D/3D graphics, digital video, audio and speech technologies and products such as the Sirocco speaker series - has announced the next step in the company's strategy to license its technology. During the creation of Imagination Technologies' intellectual property (IP) a substantial number of patents have been filed and granted. The company is now exploiting additional patents from these potentially valuable assets. QED Intellectual Property Ltd - a subsidiary of Scipher plc and a specialist in patent licensing - is successfully exploiting Imagination Technologies PC/TV tuner patents (which it has already licensed to TEMIC Telefunken Hochfrequenztechnik GmbH) and has now been appointed to manage the licensing of global patents referring to efficient Multimedia Architectures relevant to PCs, set-top-boxes, game consoles and other multimedia systems. For more details check out the press release.

Wednesday, April 05, 2000

High Heat 2001 Patch - Mikael @ 21:23 EST

3DO has released a patch for High Heat Basebal 2001. You can download it from 3dfiles where you will also find a list of fixes. The game isn't on Aureal's or Creative's list but seen post in the newsgroup saying it has an option to enable EAX, it doesn't work with Vortex2 boards though. You can buy the game from Gamestop for $25.

Ex-Weapons Factory Mod Sound Designer with NEW MP3 SITE! - Mikael @ 21:17 EST

The sound designer for Weapons Factory (Quake II mod) that we posted an interview with last year has started his own MP3 site where you can download songs he created. You can check out a post in our forum for more details

Midiland MLi-490 Review - Mikael @ 21:11 EST

BoomGames has posted their impressions of the MidiLand MLi-490 and they were very impressed of the quality and price ($100). Never heard the system so not sure how it compares to Creative's, Altec Lansing's or Labtec's low-end 4.1 speaker system which also all have SPR of $100 or less.

Absolute Multimedia Launches the Lowest Cost MP3 Player in the World - Mikael @ 19:05 EST

Absolute Multimedia's Outrageous SoundMASTER MP3 is the smallest and lightest unit on the market, designed to sell for RRP of œ34.99 INC VAT (expected street price œ30!).

This has been achieved by focusing the design of the player on replay quality and ease of use. It has no fixed memory, but uses the latest new format MMC removeable media. 50% smaller than competing memory card technology, MMC is roughly the size of a postage stamp. The two slots provided can each accommodate 16, 32 or 64MB media. Features of the SoundMASTER MP3 player include a built in LED status indicator, EQ settings for `rock' or `jazz' and a surround sound enhancement as well as start, stop and skip buttons. Check out the press release for more details including a picture of the units.

QSound Labs Showcases New Software Products - Mikael @ 18:34 EST

QSound Labs will be showcasing two of its newest Internet software products - AudioPix Plus(TM) and a Beta version of iQfx2(TM) at Spring Internet World. AudioPix Plus is a multimedia software application that allows users to easily combine MP3 music with digital images and photos. iQfx2 integrates seamlessly with both RealPlayer(TM) and RealJukebox(TM) from RealNetworks (RNWK), and dramatically improves the sound quality of streaming Internet audio and MP3 files. Check out the press release for more details

DVD to DivX - Mikael @ 18:32 EST

CD-R info has posted an article on how to save a DVD movie to CD using DivX. This isn't the infamous DivX that consumers hated instead it's the new compression program we mentioned last month.
News Source: AGN Hardware

AOpen DVD-1040 Pro Review - Mikael @ 18:24 EST

The TechZone has posted a review of AOpen's DVD-1040 Pro. The name comes from the 10X DVD speed and 40X CD-ROM speed. Worth noting is that the drive has a digital SPDIF out (for CD-audio) and that it comes bundled with WinDVD, no mention if supports multichannel Dolby Digital audio beyond SPDIF pass-thru but most likely not.
News Source: Anandtech

Final Fantasy VIII Patch - Mikael @ 18:17 EST

Electronic Arts has released a small 2KB patch for the DS3D with EAX 2.0 supporting Final Fantasy VIII. Here's what it fixes

Resolves a crash after battles when using the Yamaha Software Synthesizer and DirectX 7.0.

Swedish Touring Car Championship patch - Mikael @ 18:06 EST

Patch 1.32 has been released for the DS3D with EAX and A3D 2.0 supporting Swedish Touring Car Championship. Nothing audio related fixed but a bunch of other fixes all of them are listed at 3dfiles from where you can also download the patch.

More about Yamaha's Piano - Mikael @ 17:58 EST

Reuters has more news about Yamaha's new Piano that's built around an Intel Pentium III computer chip.

Digital Audio Center update for NOMAD - Mikael @ 17:56 EST

Creative has released an update to Digital Audio Center (MusicMatch Software) for Creative NOMAD Digital Audio Player. Here's the new features

1. A new and improved user interface
   
2. Windows 2000 support
   
3. Analog and CD SPIDIF recording support with Sound Blaster Live EAX effects for Sound Blaster Live! users

Aureal Files Chapter 11 - Mikael @ 17:35 EST

Aureal just announced that they has filed a petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code with the Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, California in an effort to facilitate a reorganization of its financial affairs. For all those not familiar with what chapter 11 it means that Aureal is declaring that they are bankrupt and that it stops their investors from liquidating their remaining assets until it is either deemed that they can either sell the company, restructure the company (to make profitable), or give up (in which case they would liquidate all assets).
I saw that Vortex of Sound heard rumours that the investors continue to feel that Aureal can still be salvaged but not sure exactly why they think that. I seriously doubt it will be anything like the Aureal we have seen so far.

Sonic Vortex 2 review - Mikael @ 00:06 EST

Insane Gamers has posted a review of VideoLogic's SonicVortex2 card comparing it to the SB Live!Value. Just one thing worth noting what's done on the host with the Vortex2 is the calculations of the reflections for wavetracing games and the reverb when it comes to 3D sound, the basic 3D sound is done in hardware just like with the Live.
News Source: AGN Hardware

Tuesday, April 04, 2000

Revenant 1.21 Patch - Mikael @ 23:58 EST

A new patch for Revenant has been released. Nothing about what's new but you can grab it from 3dfiles.

Microsoft's Media Player 7 - Mark @ 18:39 EST

A prerelease version of Microsoft's Media Player 7 available for download here. If you are wary of pre-release then you should wait a little longer. What's New in Windows Media Player 7? Here what they say:

Windows Media Player 7 offers consumers the first fully integrated digital media experience including playback of CD-quality audio, streaming and downloaded audio and video, jukebox capabilities, Internet radio, and more. Windows Media Player 7 is designed to be the first digital media player for everyday consumers, breaking new ground in four key areas: (1) All-in-One Integration; (2) Easy to Use; (3) The Best Audio and Video Experience and (4) More Personality

New JHexen & JHeretic - Mark @ 18:26 EST

A new version (0.99.4) of the DS3D with EAX and A3D 3.0 supporting JHexen (OpenGL version of Hexen) has been released and you can find it at the official JHexen site. There have a number of improvements to the Doomsday engine which powers this port, as well as Jaakko Ker„nen's other endeavour, the JHeretic port, which is now at version 0.91. I am not sure about this but its possible that JHeretic also has the same advanced audio support.

No updates but if you are looking for 3d sound from the original Heretic you can head over to the wHeretic site where you can grab the port that uses the A3D 2.0 engine for sound (no wavetracing).
News Source: Blue's News

Digital Audio Breakthrough Redefines Personal Computers - Mikael @ 18:19 EST

That's what JAM Technologies claims with the introduction of a system that should allow digital music, DTV, DVD movies, and digital radio through a personal computer rival the performance of a high end living room stereo. JAM's REVA (TM) True Fidelity (R) delivers high resolution audio and eliminates the cost and space consumed by separate entertainment appliances.

REVA True Fidelity is the only technology that produces high-quality, high-power, pure digital audio amplification with continuous average power of up to 25 watts per channel into 8 ohms from a personal computer using only the 5-volt power supply and any conventional, non-self-powered speakers. Because it is LSI-based, it is small, efficient, powerful, cool-running, and quickly integrated on to desktop computer system boards and notebook computer PC Cards. It eliminates digital-to-analog converters, DC/DC converters, analog signal pathways on conventional sound cards, and separate power supplies containing hot, bulky transformers. By replacing these now-superfluous and costly components, REVA True Fidelity allows the computer industry to eliminate the problems inherent in analog amplification and reduce costs at the same time. Check out the full press release for more details

Kenwood's VR-409 A/V Receiver feature SRS Labs' Circle Surround 5.1 - Mikael @ 18:15 EST

SRS Labs, announced today it's making its way into retail outlets with the recent introduction of Kenwood's new VR-409 A/V Receiver. Kenwood's newest A/V Receiver - the VR-409 - has Circle Surround 5.1 enhancement for truly thundering audio performance that is totally immersive and fully surrounding. Circle Surround can be used to create 5.1 Surround sound from regular stereo, never heard it so no idea how well it works.

The VR-409, which debuted at the Winter CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, is hitting retail shelves now at an SRP of $399.00. Circle Surround technology is currently employed in over 3,000 cinemas, and the Kenwood VR-409 is the first receiver targeted to the US market that incorporates SRS Labs Circle Surround 5.1 channel technology as a standard feature. It also boasts 100 watts per channel, Dolby Digital & DTS surround decoding, a KAM-1 amplifier, 20-bit Crystal D/A and A/D converters, and 24-bit Crystal DSP with dual precision bass management. The receiver is easy to set up and use with a Kenwood CD Mega-changer for easy display of CD titles on the unit's FL display. You can find more details about Circle Surround 5.1 and this new receiver in the press release.

Messiah troubleshooting - Mikael @ 18:02 EST

The official Messiah site's troubleshooting page has been updated again. Quite a few sound tips/bugs mentioned, strangely enough they are not related to driver bugs for the Vortex2 or the Live.
News Source: Voodoo Extreme

ACS54 review - Mikael @ 17:02 EST

hardCOREware has slapped up their impressions of the ACS54 comparing it to the FPS1000. They complain about the hiss and lack of subwoofer control but overall pretty happy with the system. I didn't find hiss to be a significant problem with the ACS54 but it will depend on how close to them you sit and how much other back ground noise you have. About the lack of subwoofer control I think it would be nice to have especially for music but I don't think it's too much bass for games.
News Source: Anandtech

Yamaha announces a Piano with a Built-in PC - Mikael @ 09:42 EST

Cnews let us know that Yamaha Corp. has announced that it developed a grand piano with a built-in personal computer, which is capable of playing music with MIDI/CD sound sources. The new piano features performance control using voice recognition as well as the usual touch play and auto piano functions. You can check out their post/article for a lot more details and also be worth to check out the US press release on Yamaha's site

The Perfect System - Mikael @ 09:42 EST

Tech Extreme has posted what components they think you should buy to build the perfect system or as close to it as you can get. It's not just a simple list of the best product, it also includes explanations how they reached their decision and some other options you have. It of course includes a soundcard featuring 3D sound. One thing I think is worth noting when it comes to Vortex2 soundcards is that we don't know if there will be any more driver updates which is a major concern for anyone that's intend to play games under Windows 2000.

Sanyo Electronics Corporation, Texas Instruments, and NEC Computer become Dolby Headphone technology Licensees - Mikael @ 07:21 EST

Lake Technology today also informed us that Sanyo, Texas Instruments and NEC have become licensees of the Lake-developed Dolby Headphone technology. Both Sanyo and TI are now Implementation Licensees of Dolby Headphone, which will allow them to produce chips that implement the technology for supply to consumer electronic product manufacturers.

NEC has licensed Lake's own PC software implementation of Dolby Headphone for use in PC DVD playback on it's own line of PC products. More details available in the press release

Analog Devices Melody Chipset will feature Dolby Headphone Implementation - Mikael @ 07:17 EST

A bit old (January 6 2000) but we just received a press release stating that Analog Devices has announced an implementation of Dolby HeadphoneT on its MELODY chipset. The new ADSST-MELODY-1000 Dolby Headphone chipset delivers 5.1- or 2-channel digital audio via ordinary stereo headphones emulating a 5.1-loudspeaker playback system. The digital audio sources include 5.1-channel DolbyT Digital, MPEG2 AAC, MPEG2 Audio Layers 1 and 2, MLPT or PCM from DVDs, computers, HDTV, game consoles, digital cable, digital satellite. The audio sources also include 4-channel DolbyT Pro LogicTfrom videotapes and laserdiscs, and two-channel stereo MP3 and MPEG1 Audio Layers 1 and 2 from CDs, the Internet, MP3 players and game consoles. You can check out the press release for more details

ProMedia vs Sirocco Crossfire - Mikael @ 06:20 EST

In this in-depth article we will attempt to answer all of the questions we have been hearing about comparisons between two of the best 4.1 multimedia systems in the world. Specifically, we mean the Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400 and the Videologic Sirocco Crossfire. We dissect these two systems at a great level of detail in order to determine if the Sirocco
Crossfire is actually worth the 200 dollars more that it will cost over and above the cost of the ProMedia. Read on for all the details.

Monday, April 03, 2000

Aureal tries to hang on following executive exodus - Mikael @ 21:35 EST

That's the title of an article at Electronic Buyers' News that covers the current situation at Aureal. Thanks to Scott Gray for the pointer. New bits include confirmation from Turtle Beach that they still get chips, 4 of the 5 board members has left the board, only 50 employees was still working last week of once 200 and as late as Nov last year Aureal had 128 people employed. They have some rather doubtful rumours from one one employee at a distributor claiming that a major semiconductor manufacturer had bought the company and one former Aureal employee said the walkout was probably set in motion because of serious discussions with Creative. I'm pretty sure the last one is just speculation and the first is doubful considering it's over a week old and no announcement has been made yet. Obviously a deal wasn't done then.

Can be worth mentioning that Turtle Beach also told us today that they have no worries about chip supplies right now and that Terratec last week said they think their current supply will last until summer and they intend to replace the XLerate Pro with the XFire this spring anyway. Xitel only said they are currently evaluation the situation while VideoLogic hasn't offered any comments.

Altec Lansing Announces New DD 5.1 Speakers for 2000 - Mikael @ 20:29 EST

Altec Lansing Technologies, Inc. will showcase its newest products for 2000 and current line of audio peripherals, including a new sound system maximized for home theater and gaming playback, at Spring RetailVision in Beverly Hills, CA this week.
The products being showcased include the ATP6, ATP3, ACS56, ACS66i, the VoicePod(TM) and the InteliMic(TM). ACS56 is a 4-speaker system that we recently reviewed. ATP3 is a 3-piece system and the ATP is a six piece sound solution ideal for home theater, gaming, music and video gaming. The system has front, rear and surround satellites, a center channel and a subwoofer, a complete discrete surround sound experience boasting a total of 75 watts. No mention of the ACS66i but from a press release earlier this year we know it's 2.1 system for iMacs.

VoicePod is a USB-based PC peripheral that allows users to easily record and attach high-quality voice files to documents and e-mail messages with the touch of a button. The InteliMic is a digital microphone that can be modified to focus voice capture in a user-controlled area. Utilizing Altec Lansing's Clarix(TM) set of noise reduction and voice capture technologies, the InteliMic is able to digitally eliminate ambient or extraneous sounds and process only the user's voice.

You can find a few more tidbits in the press release but no info about the release dates or price for the ATP6.

Oak Introduces DVD chipset featuring QSound - Mikael @ 20:20 EST

Oak Technology today announced the OTI-9820/OTI-2650 chipset, a complete system-on-a-chip (SOC) solution combining all major digital versatile disk (DVD) player functions on only two chips. The Oak chipset supports on-chip decoding of Digital Theater Systems (DTS), High Definition Compatible Digitalr (HDCDr) and MP3, as well as QSound Labs' three-dimensional (3D) sound technology, in addition to traditional features such as support for Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and Dolby-DigitalTM standards. You can find a lot more details in the full press release.

QSound also released their own press release mentioning Oak licensed QSound's QSurround(TM), QMSS(TM) and QXpander(TM) technology. You can find out more about these by reading our QSound article

Napster 2.0 Beta Review - Mikael @ 20:12 EST

Fast-MHz has tried out the latest version of the music industries favourite program, Napster 2.0. In case you don't know Napster is used to trade MP3's online. The review gave it a score of 90%.

The Eminent Technologies' LFT-11 speaker review - Mikael @ 20:07 EST

GamePC has posted a review of The Eminent Technologies' LFT-11 speaker set which according to the review offers excellent audio quality. It features a subwoofer with 2 6.5" drivers, two flat panel speaker satellites, an AMC amplifier and price tag of $500. The review also mentions you can buy an additional pair of LFT-11 satellites but not the cost for it. If you never heard about The Eminent Technologies before the following bit should clue you in

Eminent Technologies is basically a very small company down in Florida, who's products take a long time to get, not to mention they're very expensive, but they're worth it. Most people wonder why it takes around 6 weeks to get a pair of these speakers, the straight answer is that each speaker and subwoofer is made by hand to suit that person's individual needs. In this day and age, you don't often see super-high quality hand-made products anymore, and to be honest, I didn't expect much of these speakers when they showed up on my desk. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Sound Crashes in Allegiance - Mikael @ 19:58 EST

If you experience crashes in the DS3D supporting Allegiance when enabling 3D sound the following e-mail that Allegiance Zone received from Microsoft Research's Joel "Solap" Dehlin could be interesting/dissapointing

These are driver crashes and there's nothing we can do about them until the vendors come out with new drivers.ÿ In the short term, people can just turn hardware sound acceleration OFF.

Direct interview - Mikael @ 19:55 EST

CGO has posted an interview with Microsoft's Ted Hase on DirectX and the future of Windows gaming. Here's a few interesting snips about audio

Sound and networking support on most current and next generation consoles appears to be rather anemic and clearly defines an area of competitive advantage for the Windows platform. Our advancements in networking and audio should cement the Windows platform's lead in these areas.
[snip]
Currently Windows far exceeds the capabilities of the PlayStation 2 in audio and networking

DigiTheatre DTS review @ Sharky - Mikael @ 09:58 EST

Thanks to Wood Powell for letting us know that Sharky Extreme has posted a review of VideoLogic's DigiTheatre DTS system. The system uses the same drivers as the Crossfire for 4 of the satelites, the center is slightly larger. The subwoofer is the same as the Sirocco Pro subwofer. As you would guess Sharky Extreme found the audio quality to be quite good. The review also covers if it's really any difference between Dolby Digital and DTS versions of DVD movies letting people spot the difference in blind tests.

What surprised me in the review is that they at the end says "Price is excellent for a full DTS system, but average to below average if used just as a DD 5.1 system." when they found the basic DigiTheatre (2 months ago) to be "At the volume levels that we consider "comfortable, to slightly louder than comfortable" the DigiTheater's satellites and subwoofer performed at the level of a speaker system costing almost double what the entire DigiTheater package sells for. ". I expected the quality of the DigiTheatre DTS to be considerable better even for just Dolby Digital DVDs, well matching the $200 higher price tage.

A couple of other points worth mentioning is that the DigiTheatre DTS is available in UK now for SRP œ400 while in US it's not expected until early June and DigiTheatre.com list it for $599. Speaking of DigiTheatre.com you may be interested to know they currently sell the basic DigiTheatre for only $319 now while supplies last.

News from March 27 - April 2, 2000

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