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The Week in
Review: September 9-15, 2002
Last week's features at
3DsoundSurge
Last week's sound news
Drivers and bugs New Hercules Game Theatre XP drivers on
Windows Update
There are apparently new Hercules Game Theatre XP drivers through the Microsoft Windows Update.
Among other things these drivers will add the 7.1 support referenced in the Hercules Press
Release mentioned below. According to a post
in the Hercules forum (registration required), the drivers on the Windows Update site
are version 4084, and provide basic functionality and features. The 7.1 support was
confirmed though by one of our readers. The Hercules moderator said that more recent
drivers (v4089) were expected to be released on all Hercules web sites along with a list
of improvement and fixes last week (the post was made on the 5th). As of this post the new
drivers are still not on the Hercules website. Thanks to Lars-Göran Nilsson for the
pointer.
New
games, demos, patches and bugs
Privateer's Bounty: Age of Sail II supports 3D
sound and EAX
Avault has posted a review of
Privateer's Bounty: Age of Sail II where they reveal that the game takes advantage of
3D sound and EAX. Here's the usual sound bit:
>Sound FX (3.5/5): The sound in Privateer's Bounty is
generally splendid. During storms, the noise of thunder and lightning, along with the
waves, is very realistic, and the cannons boom convincingly when they shoot out their
ammo. Sometimes, however, the vocal effects get loud and highly repetitive, such as when a
"Fire on the ship!" chorus breaks out. Akella included full support for Creative
Labs' 3D EAX standard, which is used to excellent effect to convey the multisided nature
of battle noises.
Musical Score (3.5/5): All of Akella's oceanic titles have rousing
scores, and Privateer's Bounty is no exception. The rich orchestral sound is alternatively
soothing and mellow or riveting and alarming, which adds tremendously to the joy of
seafaring. At times the music gets a bit repetitive, but generally the high quality audio
is a perfect match to the action depicted on the screen.
Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo Released
Epic Games has finally
released the Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo. On the audio front the game use OpenAL to
support 3D sound and takes advantage of Creative's EAX AdvancedHD including backwards
compatibility with EAX 2.0 cards.
- Updated AM: Diesel Power engine and SDK Released
The AM:3D Diesel Power engine and SDK is now at version 1.2.8, with 25% faster rendering
and improved parameter precision. The new SDK version supports 4 and 5.1 multichannel
buffers. The Diesel Studio demo tool has been updated to version 1.3b and now supports
streaming to RAW files on disk from the playback menu. Diesel Studio v.1.3b uses Diesel
Power v.1.2.8. The M3D Diesel Power plugin for Miles Sound System games has also been
updated. Go to www.am3d.com to download the
latest versions and get more information.
- New Doomsday engine released for
jDoom/jHeretic/jHexen
A new version (1.7.4) for Doomsday
has been released. Only minor fixes including the MIDI looping bug.
Reviews
of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3 players.
- Altec Lansing Ultimate 641 Speakers
Avault has posted a detailed review
of Altec Lansing's Ultimate 641 Speakers. Avault found it to be great for gaming but
had harsh comments when it comes to using it for listening to DVDs and especially music.
Overall one if not the most negative review I read of this system.
- Canton LE Series Home Theater Speaker
Designtechnica has posted a review of the
new Canton LE Series Home Theater Speakers. It consists of a pair of LE 109 floor
standing speakers ($1000/pair), a pair of LE 103 bookshelf speakers ($500/pair), an LE 105
CM center channel speaker ($400 each), and an AS 25 powered subwoofer ($600 each). All
together the system costs $2500, which Designtechnica describes as falling into the
boundary between budget and mid-level price home theater speaker system.
- Altec Lansing 5100 Series
Games First has posted a review of the Altec
Lansing 5100 Series. The review is very positive on the audio aspects of the system
but has some complaints in areas of setup and configuration. Two areas that I think would
benefit from additional context are their complaints on the lack of a balance control and
lack of shielding of the subwoofer. The context is that the vast majority of multimedia
speakers both lack shielding on the subwoofer and balance controls so it's not that Altec
Lansing is lagging behind the competition in this respect. In fact Cambridge SoundWorks
has taken it one step further with the MegaWorks 510D by not even including a front/rear
fader, instead depending on the sound card to everything other than master volume and
subwoofer levels. One other comment is given that true subwoofers produce non-directional
sound there is no reason to limit placement to locations that are behind the listener and
if the sub does venture into ranges that can be localized it is generally better to keep
it in front and between the two satellites to minimize any potential localization effects.
- Samsung GCC-4320B 32/10/40/16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM
CD-R Labs has posted a detailed review of Samsung GCC-4320B 32/10/40/16
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive. They found it be one of the best combo drives currently available
and that the OEM edition can be found for less than $90.
Other sound news
- Spatializer Audio Laboratories and Micronas Team
Up to Enhance TV Audio
Spatializer Audio Laboratories Inc. has announced that the Spatializer N-2-2 Ultra
virtualizer is now available for license on Micronas semiconductor audio solutions. The
announcement combines the market's most popular TV audio processors with Spatializer's new
third generation virtual soft audio enhancement solutions. Spatializer's Chairman and CEO
Henry R. Mandell explains that with Spatializer N-2-2 Ultra, TVs will have richer, more
dynamic sound without having to use more expensive speakers. The scalable Micronas TV
audio system solution is based on the digital signal processor (DSP) of the MSP34xy
product family. This leading TV audio processor family has gained a market share of 60%
worldwide. For more details you can check out the full press release.
- QSound's QHD Technology Featured in Toshiba DVD
Players
QSound Labs, Inc. has announced that Toshiba, a leader in DVD technology, will incorporate
QSound's High Definition (QHD(TM)) technology, via Zoran's Vaddis IV DVD processor chip,
into their newest lineup of DVD player offerings (SD1800, SDK510, SD310V). The players are
scheduled for release into the U.S. retail market in the 3rd quarter of 2002. Craig Eggers, Director of Product Planning, DVD/HTA and Portable Digital
Products, Toshiba America Consumer Products Inc states that Toshiba believes "that
QSound's superior 3D audio solutions add significant value to this innovative line of DVD
players." Current DVD players are designed to be a total entertainment system,
rather than just a movie playback device, through their ability to playback not only DVD
content, but CDs and MP3 files as well. The press release states that the QHD enhancement
library is ideally suited for this entertainment platform since it applies 3D audio
processing to all of this content.
For more details you can check out the full press release.
- MiniDisc player with one-bit digital amplifier
and Dolby Headphone
MiniDisc.org has info about a new portable MD player from Sharp, the MD-DS8, which they
say are the world's first "mobile one-bit digital amplifier" equipped MiniDisc
player. Another interesting feature is Dolby NR headphone. For more details head over to MiniDisc.org
where they also offer a translation of the Japanese press release. Thanks to David Porter
for the pointer.
- Hercules Announces Gamesurround Fortissimo III
7.1 and DIGIFIRE 7.1
Hercules has announced the launch of Gamesurround Fortissimo™ III 7.1 and the
DIGIFIRE 7.1. The Fortissimo III 7.1 is the first offering in its new 7.1 channel sound
card range. The Gamesurround Fortissimo™ III 7.1 sound card, successor to the
Gamesurround Fortissimo™ II, provides outputs for 2, 4, 5, 6 or 8 speakers. You can read more details in the press
release. Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1 should be on the shelves now at a recommended
street price of $49.99 (USD) / €79.95. This card uses the Cirrus Logic CS4624 chip
just like the Fortissimo II and also offers SPDIF in/out. What's new is that it offers
four stereo outputs for 8 channels and the bundled PowerDVD features support for Dolby
Digital EX. The latest announcement is for the DIGIFIRE 7.1
which completes Hercules’ 7.1 channel PCI sound card range (the other is the Game
Theater XP 7.1 which I believe is nothing more than a driver upgrade to the existing Game
Theater XP) with an all-in-one digital upgrade solution, providing both high speed
FireWire® connections and powerful audio performance in games and DVDs. It likely also
uses the CS4624 but drops the optical I/O in favor of the 3 fire wire ports. More details
can be found in
the full press release.
A couple points on the "7.1" feature. First, there is no
multimedia speaker system currently on the market to take an 8 channel input. In fact
there's also no system to support the "6.1" channel output offered by the
current GT XP drivers. While it is possible to mix in different systems to achieve the
required number of satellites it's not a great solution. Secondly, do keep in mind that
for gaming the cards very likely use Hercules custom engine which blends Sensaura's
Multidrive 4.1 engine with Hercules own method to generate the extra channels.
- Andrea Electronics Announces Promotion of
SoundMAX Superbeam Microphone
Andrea Electronics Corporation has announced that the company is participating in a unique
promotional campaign with the SoundMAX group of Analog Devices, Inc. and Intel
Corporation, which will make voice input on the PC platform both affordable and accessible
to hundreds of thousands of users. As part of the campaign, Andrea's SoundMAX®
Superbeam® Array microphone will be offered at a substantial discount for a limited time
to purchasers of Intel® Desktop Boards equipped with the SoundMAX Cadenza Digital Audio
System. In addition to the SoundMAX Superbeam offer, purchasers of these Intel Desktop
Boards will receive, free of charge, leading speech-centric software applications such as
IBM's Via Voice, Net2Phone's CommCenter and Tesseraction's Enigma: Rising Tide, a voice
enabled, online game. For additional details you can check out the full
press release.
- New Multimedia PC Audio Router
Command Communications has introduced the SoundSwitcher. It's a new new device that allows
computer users to easily switch between all of their office audio sources — including
their telephone — with the touch of a button. It allow you to connect up to four
devices and route the audio to speakers or a headset. SoundSwitcher is available with a
suggested retail price of $24.95. You can find more details in the press
release.
- PURE DigiTheatre Platinum Home Cinema Speaker
System Announced
PURE Digital, a division of Imagination Technologies, has announced its DigiTheatre
Platinum digital home cinema audio system, that they describe as an incredible 5.1
surround sound speaker system which decodes Dolby Digital, Pro Logic and DTS soundtracks
and pumps out an explosive 220W RMS. Its big sound gives a truly memorable home cinema
experience but the system is designed to be stylish and discreet, complementing any living
space. DigiTheatre Platinum provides this outstanding hi-fi quality audio and design for
just £549.99 (inc. VAT UK). DigiTheatre Platinum features
satellite speakers manufactured from acoustically non-resonant, mica-loaded polymer with
separate 10mm neodymium tweeters and 3" mid-range drivers. The drivers feature a cast
aluminum chassis, polypropylene cone, rubber surround and phase correction dust caps. The
dual-ported center speaker contains twin 3" hi-fi drive units with concentric
tweeters. Exhilarating low-frequency effects are enabled by an 8" long-throw
subwoofer housed in a triple ported MDF cabinet.
For more details you can check out the full press release
as well as www.pure-digital.com
- New JVC DVD/CD/VHS Combo Player Feature
Spatializer Technology
Furthering its penetration and market prominence in the DVD player market, Spatializer
Audio Laboratories has announced that its audio enhancement solutions have been adopted
into JVC's new DVD/CD/VHS combo player. This represents the first time that Spatializer
technology has been incorporated into a JVC DVD platform. The combo unit, HR-XVC1U is
currently shipping in commercial quantities. You can find more details in the full press
release.
- NVIDIA NVDVD Now Playing On A PC Near You
NVIDIA has announced that NVIDIA® NVDVD, a software-based DVD player, is now shipping
with all retail GeForce4 add-in card products from eVGA.com, a leading supplier of video
graphics cards. In addition, MicronPC will also offer NVDVD with its GeForce4-powered
Millennia® TS2 desktop PCs. Developed entirely by NVIDIA's
in-house engineering team, NVDVD utilizes an enhanced, state-of-the-art video decoding
engine to deliver a crisp, more true-to-life video image. For the highest quality display
output, NVDVD supports the proprietary adaptive de-interlacing and scaling algorithms
already integrated on NVIDIA GPUs to deliver DVD playback that can outperform expensive
set-top players. NVDVD's integrated Dolby Digital support delivers the benefits of Dolby
Surround® technology for users with multi-channel sound cards or home theater speaker
systems.
For additional details you can check out the full press release.
- Sony Introduces First Drives to Support Multiple
DVD Recording Formats
Sony Electronics has introduced its Dual RW drives, the first combination drives for the
PC to support the DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD-R formats. The new Dual RW drives, the
internal DRU-500A and the external DRX-500UL, encompass four popular DVD recording formats
for the utmost in recording functionality and playback compatibility. By combining the DVD rewritable (DVD+RW/-RW) formats with the DVD write- once
(DVD+R/-R) formats, the Dual RW drives allow computer users to transfer home movies from
tape to DVD discs, customize and edit them for a personal touch, and then play them back
in nearly all DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives.
For lots more detail you can check out the full press release.
- DTS Entertainment Awarded Top Honors for New
DVD-Audio Format
DTS Entertainment, the division of multi-channel audio pioneer DTS (Digital Theater
Systems, Inc.), has recently received several major industry awards for excellence in the
DVD-Audio field: 2002 Best DVD-Audio Disc (DVD Awards,) two DVD Excellence Awards (DVD
Association,) and Best DVD-A Award (LA Digital Video Show.) Most recently, DTSE received
the 2002 Best DVD-Audio Disc for the 5.1-surround release of Queen's 1975 classic "A
Night At The Opera." Presented at the DVD Awards' 5th Annual DVD Conference &
Showcase in Universal City, CA, the honor was the only award given to a DVD outside of the
DVD-Video category. You can get lots more detail on the various awards in the full press release.
For more news from last week check out our news archive.
Upcoming features at 3DsoundSurgeReviews that we are currently working on:
Updated Santa Cruz/Sonic Fury and GameTheaterXP reviews
Hercules Fortissimo II
Terratec DMX Xfire 1024
CMedia CM8738 Reference Review
Full Audigy Review
Full Philips MMS305 Review
There are several other hardware reviews in the pipeline
including, but not limited to the following:
Guillemot Maxi Sound MUSE
Terratec m3po
DigMedia MusicStore
Philips Seismic Edge
Lots of other stuff on the go in including several guides and major site revisions that we
will soon be releasing more details on.
As always if you have any ideas for products we should review or features we should do,
please let us know.
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