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The Week in
Review: March 11-17, 2002
Last week's features at
3DsoundSurge
Logitech Z-560 Review
In our latest review we take an in-depth look at the flagship product of the new Z-Series
from Logitech, the THX® (multimedia speaker) certified Z-560, a 4.1 system that according
to specifications delivers a true 400 watts RMS of power at an amazingly low MSLP of $200!
In our review we have lots of objective and subjective test results comparing the Z-560 to
systems such as the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1, Monsoon MM2000 and VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire.
Following our new format we are offering two versions of the review, one very detailed
review and a shorter version for people looking for a faster read. Both versions
are accessed from via a common system summary page.
Last week's sound news
Drivers and bugs
- SoundBlaster live Drivers v3512 from Compaq
Compaq has released
new Live drivers (v3512) with LiveWare 3.0 for Windows XP (direct link) which are said
to offer the following new features/fixes:
- HCT 10 RTM Midi Test failure
- Fixes pop sound after resuming from hibernation
- Fixes no sound problem after resuming from S3 Standby mode
- Fixes center channel lost after resuming from S3 Standby mode
- MP3 cannot continue playback from Standby mode
It's worth noting that the download is over 300MB (makes me wonder
what it really includes) and the version number only slightly more recent than what
Creative offers (v3512 vs v3509). This is also the same release we mentioned sometime ago,
then as unofficial release from Electric Tech (which appears dead, at least right now).
The size was then only 60MB for the one including LW 3.0. The what's new bit above
probably refer to the previous version Compaq offered which may be a lot older than the
last release from Creative.
- New VIA Audio drivers
VIA Arena offers new audio
drivers for VIA chipsets VT686A/B and VT8321. That is for those of you who use the
audio features integrated in the chipset rather than a separate soundcard or a sound chip
integrated on the motherboard.
- Creative Tracks Down "Squeal of Death"
Extreme Tech reports that Creative Labs believe they've isolated the
so-called "squeal of death" that occurred on some machines with the Audigy card.
It's named squeal of death since you will hear a shrill tone after the PC freeze/locks up.
According to this report Creative claims it's not tied to the sound card itself but rather
two other different things. The first case is related to T123S PCI arbitration
chip from Attansic Technology Corp which are used on the Soyo SY-K7V Dragon Plus
motherboard. The solution in this case is simply to place the soundcard in slot 4 or 5
that's not controlled by the Attansic PCI chip but rather the Via chipset itself. The second case is an issue with what Creative and Dell describes as a faulty
PCI register setting in Dell's Dimension 8200.
You can find more
details in the full report. No mention/explanations why this issue only occurs when
using an Audigy card though.
Dell has now released the Audigy patch for its Dimension 8200 series. Here's some details on the patch from Dell tech support posted on their newsgroup:
To all concerned,
We have in partnership with Creative Labs developed a BIOS update
for 8200 Dell systems experiencing problems with the Creative Labs Audigy line of sound
cards.
You system must meet all of these conditions to use the patch;
System must be a Dimension 8200 system.
System must have the Creative Labs Audigy sound card installed (NO
OTHER sound card qualifies).
System sound output must exhibit screeching sounds and/or the system
experience lockups when using the sound card.
If your system meets all of the above requirements there will be a file called
8200Adgy.exe posted to the Dell file library sometime after 5pm CST. This file will
require a floppy disk to be made and is a BIOS flash, so all necessary cautions must be
taken.
If you have any questions about how to use this file feel free to
contact our Technical Support Staff.
I would like to thank you for your patience while we were working to
resolve this issue.
New games, demos, patches and bugs
- EA's Sledstorm for PS2 feature DTS
EA has announced that it's shipping SledStorm for the PlayStation® 2 computer
entertainment system. SledStorm, inspired by the critically acclaimed PlayStation version,
features all the astonishing environments and gigantic tricks one would expect from the
BIG brand, with innovative sleds and characters including Hollywood voiceover talent from
movie star Matthew Lillard. The hard driving music soundtrack keeps the game rolling. The
sound effects and music (provided by Project Wyze, Overseer and Sulphur) are delivered
with DTS 5.1 surround sound. I assume using EA's SurroundSoundScape technology which is
similar to the Xbox/nForce DICE except of course it encodes the 5.1 sound in DTS instead
of Dolby Digital. You can find more details about Sledstorm in the press release. For
more about SurroundSoundScape check out the press release from September last year
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege Goes Gold
Red Storm Entertainment has announced that the expansion pack Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon:
Desert Siege has gone gold. Desert Siege will ship on March 26th 2002 and will contain 8
new Single-Player missions. You can find more
details in the press release
- New version of JDoom, jHeretic and jHexen
New versions of the enhanced Win32 ports of JDoom (1.12.3), JHexen (1.0.5) and JHeretic (1.1.3) have been released. They are all using the latest
version 1.5.5 of the Doomsday engine which takes advantage of 3D sound and reverb using
DS3D, EAX and A3D 3.0.
- Codename: Outbreak v2.0 Patch
The Deep Shadows website has posted a version 2.0 patch for
Codename: Outbreak that is apparently needed for their new CTF map. The small (501 KB)
download contains two .DLLs that should overwrite the previous versions. Note that this
patch is not from the game's original developers (GSC Game World) so best to treat it as
unofficial.
Reviews of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3
players.
- Intel Desktop Board Article (SoundMAX SPX)
Tweak3D has posted an article on Intel Desktop Boards, covering mostly the features of the
boards including a section on Analog Devices SoundMAX SPX (formerly know as 3.0 with
SPX). A couple of comments. One is I find their audio quality comments surprising because
my own tests and others I have seen would put the sound quality in the same range as the
Sound Blaster Live. Perhaps they had reverb presets enabled for testing or they had not
tried the AMR-130 speakers with other sound cards (they have less pronounced high
frequency response than some other speakers). Certainly the response of the SoundMAX SPX
solution measures as quite neutral. Likewise, the CMedia products that they reference also
have no measured issues with bass response in my own testing. The other comment is around
Serious Sam 2: The Second Encounter - if the game uses the same sound engine as the
original game then there is in fact no support for DS3D with the only 3D coming in 2
speaker mode via the games own non-DS3D supporting software engine. That's not to say the
SoundMAX SPX 3D audio support is anything less than great - in fact with the right drivers
you can even take advantage of Sensaura's MultiDrive 5.1 engine.
- Hercules XPS 210, 510, Muse XL and Fortissimo II
Dan's Data has posted a review
that covers Hercules XPS 210 and 510 speakers as well as their Gamesurround Muse XL and
Fortissimo II sound cards. On the speaker front I find the reviewers overall perspective
on multimedia speakers all too generalized and far too negative. After all there are
several high performance multimedia speakers systems that offer very good quality
performance across a wide frequency range. The other comment on the general text is that
at least outside of Australia (where this review is based and where multimedia systems
generally cost more than many other countries) the pricing of performance multimedia
systems generally does make them a less expensive option than used hi-fi gear,
particularly when you start to look at 5.1 setups. It's worth noting that the numbers
printed on the back of speakers is not their actual power output. Usually it's the
recommended continuos power handling ability which means they can typically take somewhat
more for a short period without risk of damage.
On to the actual speaker reviews, when it comes to the XPS 210 a
system that surprisingly (for a low cost system) uses 2 way satellites, Dan's Data found
that for the money it offers excellent performance. They also thought the 5.1 XPS 510 was
pretty good for the money with better bass extension from the subwoofer but the satellites
were not as good for music (likely the same 3" driver without the tweeter found in
the 210). They of course found the 510 to be better for games and movies.
Moving to the sound card reviews it's worth noting that the CS4624
chip does not actually do anything with Dolby Digital (beyond allow for S/PDIF passthru
where a S/PDIF out is present). All decoding is done via the software DVD players. I will
also point out that the retail version of the Fortissimo II, at least in North America,
comes with the full retail version of PowerDVD. In terms of the actual cards Dan's Data
found both to offer very good performance for the money.
- Altec Lansing 641 Speaker System
Dan's Data has posted a review of Altec
Lansing's 641 speaker system. Overall a positive review if you can get through all of
their PC system digs (some of which I comment on in the post below and a couple here)
where they find it certainly competitive with Logitech's Z-560 system. Now the comments.
First, you can't just look at RMS ratings and equate that to actual loudness as other
factors such as driver efficiency will play a significant role in the end result.
Secondly, all PC speakers do not have cheap subwoofers. For example, the VideoLogic
DigiTheatre DTS uses the same 8" Audax High Definition Aerogel (Kevlar/Carbon-fiber
composite gel) cone that you’ll find in their $900 Sirocco Pro studio monitor. It's
also clear that many hi-fi subs do in fact have to venture well into the above 80 Hz range
when matched to small satellite systems and that's generally not considered to be an issue
for localization of the subwoofer. Rather, the benefit of lower crossover points is more
with the satellites where you can get subtle but clear enhancements to the stereo sound
stage thanks to greater upper bass imaging.
- Polk Audio AMR-130 5.1 Speaker
Neoseeker has posted a review
of the Polk Audio AMR-130 5.1 speaker system. Overall a positive review but also one
where the Neoseeker reviewer would have preferred more high-end detail, something which is
not at the same performance level as the AMR-150
or even some other single driver 4.1 or 5.1 systems. One bit worth noting from the review
is that the system uses 3" and not 2.5" drivers as indicated. For a second
somewhat more positive opinion (I think it comes down to how much emphasis you put on
high-frequency detail vs quality midrange in comparing 5.1 systems in the same price
range) of the system you can check out my
own impressions.
- Sonicblue Rio Volt SP250
Buddhacon has done a review of SonicBlue's Rio Volt SP250. It's a $180 portable CD/MP3
Player that features 8 minute shock protection, an Integrated FM Tuner, Rechargeable
batteries, a convenient on-wire remote control and a high-resolution backlit. The short
review gave the unit a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars.
- Pioneer DVR-A03 (DVD-RW) vs Philips DVDRW208
(DVD+RW)
TechReport has posted a comparisons
of Pioneer's DVD-RW drive and Philips DVD+RW. Some of the results are of course drive
specifics but the focus of the article is really DVD-RW vs DVD+RW, that is which format is
the best. They found the Philips DVD+RW to be clearly the better performer except when it
comes to compatibility.
- Dynamat
I am not a Geek has done
a review of Dynamat, a $30 product that claims to "Stop Irritating Computer
Noise" and "Protects Electronics from Vibration". They didn't find to be
very effective with their fairly noisy system.
- Noisecontrol Magic Fleece
Frosty Tech has posted a review of Noisecontrol's Magic Fleece. It's according to the
review an acoustic layered fiberglass felt which acts as a sound barrier, or dampener.
They found it to work pretty well.
Other sound news
- NVIDIA Introduce new nForce products
NVIDIA® has announced that it has brought the power and performance of DDR333 memory to
its award-winning NVIDIA nForce(TM) Platform Architecture. The new NVIDIA nForce 620-D and
nForce 615-D platform processors, which combine the nForce technologies with the speed of
DDR333 memory, are on display in the NVIDIA booth (C13, Hall 19) and other partner
pavilions at the CeBIT tradeshow in Hannover, Germany. You can find more details in the press
release
- Realtek to Produce 6-Channel Audio CODEC
RealTek announced earlier this month the mass production of its newly developed AC'97
audio CODEC, the ALC650. They say they are the first first firm to carry out a production
plan for 6-channel AC'97 audio CODECs. They refer to it as a high-end audio solution that
provides consumer PCs with high-performance sound effects including playback functions at
a sample rate of 96KHz and is able to support DVD applications. No mention of any support
for 3D audio though. You can find more details in the full press release. Can
be interesting to know it already appeared integrated on some motherboards including MSI
KT3 Ultra-ARU which you can find a
review of on PC PowerZone
- Soundbug Turns Flat Surfaces Into Speakers
ZDNet UK has posted an article on a new product from Olympia that has been launched at the
CeBIT show in Hannover. The inexpensive (£29.99) device targeted at children is called
the Soundbug and is designed to turn any flat surface into a speaker. According to the
ZDNet article, the Soundbug transmits the sound to the flat surface by way of a small
piece of Terfenol, which is a mixture of rare earth metals and iron. This substance is
placed within an aluminum case, around which is wrapped a coil. Passing electricity
through the coil causes the piece of Terfonal to slightly expand, resulting in a force of
400 pounds, explained Newlands Scientific managing director Brian Smith. Once attached to
a flat surface, Soundbug will transmit electronic signals into mechanical energy --
causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcast the sound. For more details you can check out
the full article. Thanks to Fred Mah for the pointer.
- MegaWorks 510D available on Creative Labs US site
We already mentioned that Creative Labs in its last newsletter mentioned the availability
of Cambridge SoundWorks MegaWorks 510D in US and Canada. Now is it also available
on Creative Labs website from where you can order it for $350. Thanks to Henry for the
pointer.
- Xbox Goes Global With European and Australian
Launches
Microsoft has announced that the future-generation Xbox(TM) video game system has landed
in Europe and Australia. Xbox is on sale for an estimated
price of $649 (Australian), including GST, in more than 700 Australian stores, and Euro
479/299 pounds sterling (actual retail prices may vary) at thousands of retail outlets in
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. More details can be found in the press
release
- Fonix to Provide Speech Recognition For Xbox
Fonix® Corporation has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft® to provide the Fonix
proprietary Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) engine for the Xbox. Beginning in the second half of 2002, the highly-accurate Fonix U.S. English
ASR for game developers will begin shipping to all Xbox game developers via the official
Xbox Development Kit (XDK), Microsoft's primary game authoring tool. During the remainder
of 2002, Fonix will provide ASR for Xbox in the following languages: U.K. English, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. The Fonix-enabled XDK will allow
developers to create games that recognize the user's voice, permitting the user to direct
on-screen action, input information, and otherwise interact verbally with the game
environment. You can find more details in the full press release
- iRiver Launches DataPlay-Enabled Digital Music
Handheld Device
iRiver and DataPlay have announced iRiver's iDP-100, a next generation digital audio
device supporting the DataPlay format. iRiver's iDP-100,
developed in conjunction with DataPlay's technology offers consumers a single device for
digital music, recording, external storage and optical media burning. Users can play up to
11 hours of user-recorded or pre-recorded content on one DataPlay digital media, which has
a 500MB capacity in a package about the size of a quarter. DataPlay has formed strategic
partnerships with Universal Music Group, The EMI Group and BMG entertainment for the
release of pre-recorded albums on DataPlay. iRiver's iDP-100 and DataPlay digital media
support multiple functions including MP3, WMA, AAC and QDX formats. More details can be found in the full
press release
- Casio Introduces the EXILIM EX-M1 (MP3/Camera)
Casio has introduced the EXILIM EX-S1, a credit-card-sized digital camera that is the
smallest, thinnest and lightest in the world. More interesting to us is the sister model,
the EXILIM EX-M1 that is equipped with an integrated MP3-player, a movie player (with
sound) and recording function. Only 1.1 mm thicker, this model has a total depth of 12.4
mm, and all other dimensions remain the same. You can find more details available
in the press release
- SONICblue Announces New Rio MP3-Based Stereo
System
SONICblue is shipping the Rio® EX1000 -- the first name-brand executive shelf stereo
system with MP3/CD playback. An advanced executive shelf system, the Rio EX1000 integrates
the following features MP3/CD Support, 120-Watt Speaker System and Backlit LCD with Text
Display. More details
available in the full press release
- New Cirrus Logic Processor Allows Portable MP3
Recording
Cirrus Logic has launched one of the world's fastest ARM-7 embedded microprocessors,
enabling manufacturers to cost effectively deliver portable music players that can record
MP3 content while playing -- paving the way for entirely new categories of digital
entertainment devices. More details
can be found in the press release. In related news Cirrus
Logic announced that Darwin Digital Jukebox will feature this new chip. The Jukebox
features a CD drive, a 20GB hard drive, Ethernet connection, and RCA inputs, enabling
consumers to link it to their PC and stereo and create a single integrated audio system.
Because the EP7312-90 runs at record clock speeds up to 90 MHz, there is ample processing
capability for the jukebox to encode MP3 files at faster than real-time speed, as well as
decode all digital music standards. More details available in the press release
- PDHercules Digital Recordable Jukebox II
Introduced
PDHercules Digital Recordable Jukebox II (PD-430-01) by Perception Digital is a
second-generation digital recordable jukebox that supports audio-CD, CD-ROM, MP3-CD, and
CD-R/RW formats. An interesting feature is the embedded Gracenote CDDB database and
automatic song recognition that allow users to match their own album information to over
400,000 CD titles. You can find more details in the press release
- TruSurround XT From SRS Labs Licensed by
Cyberlink
We mentioned this before but first now SRS issued the press release announcing that
Cyberlink licensed its TruSurround XT technology for its software DVD player, PowerDVD XP
4.0 (only available in the most expensive edition). You can find more details in the press
release
- DVD+RW Alliance Announce DVD+R Feature in Latest
Products
Several executive members of the DVD+RW Alliance, a voluntary association of
industry-leading personal computer manufacturers, optical storage and consumer electronics
manufacturers, have announced new DVD+RW products with DVD+R (write once) functionality.
Hewlett-Packard Company, Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Philips Electronics, Ricoh and Sony
have announced new DVD+RW/+R products. You can find some details of this format in the press release. For more
details about the specific products check out the following press releases
- Philips announce SACD single-chip for DVD-Video
players
Royal Philips Electronics has launched the SAA7893HL, a single-chip solution which brings
Super Audio CD (SACD) to the high-volume consumer market. The SAA7893HL chip will allow
DVD makers to easily integrate SACD into their DVD-Video players at costs which will open
the large volume market. Samples are available now and volume production commences in Q1
2002. Pricing is based on $10.00 for 10,000 units. You can find more details in the full
press release
- Sensaura announces audio middleware for game
development
Sensaura has announced the launch of GameCODA, a cross platform audio middleware solution.
It will be available for all of the major console platforms including Xbox™,
PlayStation®2 and Nintendo GameCube™, as well as the PC GameCODA
is a scalable and modular product that enables the incorporation of audio effects, such
as, 3D sound, environmental reverb, streaming, pitch shifting and scalable voice channels.
GameCODA will be launched at the Game Developers Conference, San Jose (USA) next week
(21st March). You can find more details in the press release
- Composer Richard Jacques & Matt Howe
interview
The professional oriented UK sound magazine, Sounds on Sound has posted
an interview with Richard Jacques (previously Music & Sound Director at Sega Europe)
& Matt Howe about their work on the upcoming game Headhunter for PS2 (expected
this fall in US). The interview/article includes fairly detailed explanations why the
music track won't take advantage of 5.1 channels, challenge of writing interactive music
and Hardware Vs. Software Samplers. Here's a bit from the start of the interview:
"This is probably the most expensive computer game
soundtrack yet," says Richard Jacques of his music for Headhunter. "The
orchestra, who have done loads of films, had never done a game before. There are some
games that use orchestras now, but to my knowledge this is the first one that's been done
on this scale. A couple of PC games have used orchestras in Moscow and Prague, and done it
comparatively on the cheap. There's still a lot of orchestral soundtracks done on synths
in games, because the publishers still don't quite understand how important it is to
commit the financial resources, and also they don't really understand the business model
where you make the money back on releasing the soundtrack. It's huge in Japan — I've
had nearly every game I've done come out as a soundtrack in Japan, and nowhere else!"
Thanks to Greg O'Connor-Read for the pointer.
- Soldier of Fortune II Sound Designer Diary II
The second entry in the
upcoming EAX Advanced HD supporting Soldier of Fortune II Sound Designer Diary on IGNPC
has been posted. It's of course written by Sound designer Zack Quarles. Here's an
interesting snip
Here are a few facts and features regarding sound/music in SOF2:
We are incorporating the dynamic music system that made its first
appearance in SOF1. There have been some modifications to this system to allow for MP3
support and give the ability of crossfading, but essentially it does the same job - it
goes from a slow/exploration version to a high-action/crazy version when the enemy sees
you.
EAX 3.0 (Environmental Audio) will be incorporated. This means that
SOF2 will take full advantage of Creative's new Audigy card. But worry not! It will still
be completely compatible with a wide variety of the sound cards you know and love.
The game was designed with spoken English and English subtitles in
mind, but is being localized into English, American, French, German, Korean, Taiwanese,
Spanish and Italian. Japanese may also be added before all is said and done.
You will hear monkeys in the Colombian Jungle levels.
For more news from last week check out our news archive.
Upcoming features at 3DsoundSurge
- Reviews 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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