The Week in Review: August 12-18, 2002

Last week's features at 3DsoundSurge

Last week's sound news

Drivers and bugs

New games, demos, patches and bugs

• Enclave for Xbox takes advantage of 3D sound
  A review on Team Xbox confirms that Enclave takes advantage of 3D sound. Here's what they had to say:

  As for the sounds and noises of Enclave it isn't bad but it’s definitely not anything to get excited about. Utilizing 5.1 audio, Enclave provides an all encompassing feel with the fantastic soundtrack and sound effects.

  When you are talking about sounds of medieval sword fighting and such, Enclave definitely doesn’t let us down there. The sound of swords clanking and striking armor completely enhances the fighting. Other weapons, such as the bow also provide accurate effects of arrows zinging by your ear.

• WarCraft III Patch
  Blizzard has released a new (version 1.02) patch for WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. It's currently only available using the auto-updater.

• QuakeCon Doom III Presentation Report
  HomeLan has posted a report on the QuakeCon Doom III presentation made by John Carmack. In the section that summarizes some answers given in the Q&A following the presentation there was the following snip on audio:

  While Doom III will support 5.1 surround sound, Carmack indicated that the PC version of the game will not have sound hardware acceleration. However, if and when an Xbox version of Doom III is created (the only game console id currently has planned for a Doom III port) that console might have sound hardware acceleration.

  As you likely know there have been many reports that the game will support 5.1 output. Given that the answer restates that the game will have 5.1 support and at the same time states that it will not have sound hardware acceleration it's hard to come to any solid conclusions. Perhaps this means that the game will rely on other hardware for the 5.1 output vs perhaps having it's own encoder or engine but we are only guessing.

  Gamespy has also posted an article on the QuakeCon 2002 Doom III demo that includes the following on audio:

  As most people who've been following the development of DOOM 3 are aware, all of the sounds in the demo were created by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. id's Christian Antkow is managing all the sound development for the game, and he spent some time explaining the new system.

  "The system has been designed to make it easy for people with studio background to add sound to the world," explained Antkow. "We build up our palette, much like we have with textures, and we also have our sound palette which is broken up into various directories, be it wave files, or sound shaders, which are different ways of how sound behaves."

  Using the same map that Tim Willits used earlier, Christian placed virtual speakers around the map, and then assigned sounds to each, the effect being that a particular sound would eminate from that location and get louder or fainter as you walked towards or away from it. Christian also mentioned that they had moved to a decibel system, to better facilitate working with people of studio background.

  One interesting use of the sound system: speakers could also be attached to scripted events, such as the spinning id logo in the beginning of the DOOM 3 demo. By attaching a virtual speaker to one side of the logo, you'd be able to "hear" the logo spinning as well as seeing it.

• Composer Bill Brown Feature
  ScoreCentral has posted a two part feature on composer Bill Brown. Part 1 is a mini review of many of Bill Brown's PC/game related scores. Part two is an interview with the composer.Here's a snip from the interview:

  Q: How has it been working with live orchestra for your music? Does it bring the added touch or layers, other than using synths?

  A: It absolutely brings added layers and dimension. There is nothing like the sound of a live orchestra, it can create such an immediate connection with the listener. There is something organic, visceral, and human about it that speaks directly to the soul. Synths and samplers are great and have their place. After having worked with several big orchestras, I can tell you point blank, the orchestra adds incredible depth and dimension to my recordings that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. I also really enjoy the process of working with orchestras - it brings another level of talent, inspiration and joy to the process.

  Note that several tracks composed by Bill Brown for Clive Barker's Undying available for download from Brown's official web site.

• Earth & Beyond Audio Director Q & A
  GameSpy has posted a Q&A with audio director Paul Mudra about his work on Earth & Beyond. They discuss the extensive use of NPC audio dialogue and music in Earth and Beyond. Here's a snip:

  GameSpy: How much time have you guys spent on all of the audio for Earth and Beyond? How much is complete, and what are you working on at this point?
  Paul Mudra: We hired a full time audio person for the project (probably about eight months ago) and he pretty much facilitated all the audio needs at that time. Then, about four months ago, we started to add other people to help with the audio tasks that needed to be accomplished.

  Basically, we now have everyone here at the audio department working on Earth and Beyond including our music composer, two dedicated sound designers, an audio lead, and some contract service people. I contracted out a music creator to compose some themes for us and I have a dialogue editing facility that I use. I'm actually doing some sound design now.

  
  Silva Even though we have a pretty tight deadline, we find that they are still adding a lot of design elements and art elements to the game that require audio. So, as usual, the audio guys are in it until the very end. We are trying to facilitate all of the needs that are coming through right now.

  I don't know if the game will take advantage of 3D sound.

• Recording Live Orchestral Game Soundtracks in Europe
  Music4Games has posted a report by Composer Andy Brick on recording live orchestral music for game soundtracks in Europe. He presents the arguments for using a live orchestra and details his experiences of recording in Prague. Here's an interesting bit:

  Without a doubt, the global economy has stretched its mighty arms beyond the boardrooms of billion dollar multinational corporations finding an odd new home in the lives of musicians. At prevailing rates, a New York or LA orchestra recording session can easily become financially prohibitive to a game developer. Furthermore, the current generation of multi-gigabyte sample libraries present such a dramatic improvement in sound quality that game developers and producers inevitably ask themselves "is it worth the extra $100,000 to record the soundtrack with a live orchestra"? Too often, the answer is no. If we are to raise the bar in orchestral game music, we must elicit a different answer.

  When I approach a producer and tell him that with the time and money spent massaging samples and tweaking sequences we can record the entire soundtrack with a live symphony orchestra in a way that would require only marginal additional resources, suddenly "is it worth it" evokes a very different response. Inevitably after the initial reverent enthusiasm subsides, the producer is going to ask me how in the world I intend to do that. This is where the global economy comes into play.

   

Reviews of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3 players.

• Hands on with Monsoon's PlanarMedia 9 speakers
  MacCentral has posted a short review of Monsoon's new PlanarMedia 9 flat panel 2.1 speaker system that carries a suggest list price of $100. To find this overall positive write-up you need to scroll down the linked August 16th breaking news page.

• Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 with ProMedia DD51 Decoder
  GD-Xbox has posted an overall very positive review of the Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speaker system matched with the ProMedia DD51 Dolby Digital / DTS decoder. The review comes at it from the perspective of matching the system with the X-box. One minor comment is I would caution against doing the subwoofer modification mentioned in this review. Not only would the change void your warranty, it also runs the risk of throwing off what is already a carefully tweaked out system to the point of perhaps even burning out the drivers.

• Creative MuVo MP3 Player
  T-Break has posted a review of Creative Labs recently announced Nomad MuVo MP3 Player. It's small enough to fit on a key chain yet so versatile that it slides apart to become a USB storage device, the 128MB NOMAD MuVo holds two full hours of MP3 music at 128kbps and has an ESP of US$170. A lower cost NOMAD MuVo with the same cool styling is priced at US$130 and has 64MB.

  T-Break liked the small size and design of the player but would like to see it with more features and improved storage in the future.

• Sony Net MD MZ-N1
  C/Net has posted a mostly positive review of the Sony Net MD MZ-N1 MiniDisc player/recorder. The unit can connect to a PC via USB and store between 74 and 296 minutes of MP3s on inexpensive media MiniDisk Media. Specs indicate that the MZ-N1 is offers superfast, 32X transfer speeds as well as the ability to record live audio. The main knocks in the review were the copyright-protection software and the price ($350).

• Samsung SM-332 32x12x40 CD-RW/ 12x DVD
  3D Extreme has posted a review of Samsung SM-332 32x12x40 CD-RW/ 12x DVD-ROM drive. It comes bundled with PowerDVD 4.0 XP and is available for online for $125. 3D Extreme found it to perform very well.

• Samsung SM-332B 32/10/40/12 CD-RW/DVD-ROM
  CDRLabs has posted a review of the Samsung SM-332B 32/10/40/12 CD-RW/DVD-ROM. The drive includes a version of PowerDVD 4 XP in the software bundle. This is a detailed and overall very positive review where they conclude that it's a great mix of performance and features at a very affordable price.

• AOpen DVRW2412 Pro DVD Burner
  Active Hardware has posted a very positive review of the AOpen DVRW2412 Pro DVD burner. The DRVW2412 Pro is not limited to simply burning DVD-Rs, but is also capable of handling CD and DVD-RWs.

• Quiet PC Silent Drive Hard Drive Enclosure
  Elite Hardware has posted a review of Silent Drive Hard Drive Enclosure from Quiet PC. Overall they were impressed with the noise canceling capability of this product but not impressed with the heat dissipation ability or the overall value of the product. In terms of value it's because of the availability of new quiet hard drives from a number of manufacturers. Now of course not everyone wants to go out and spend the money for a new hard drive and those with 5400 RPM drives in their system (such as me) don't have to worry nearly as much about heat dissipation.

• MySoundStudio
  A new review of Stomp MySoundStudio has been posted on DreddNews. This $69 package is described as a professional-grade digital audio recording, editing and mastering software for professional and consumer uses. DreddNews thinks it's a good choice if you want a less complicated editing program with simple controls and straightforward features but not if you are looking for a high end home audio editing program.

Other sound news

• QSound Labs Reports Second Quarter Results for 2002
  QSound Labs has reported revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2002 of $870,000 as compared to $821,000 for the same period in FY2001. The operating profit for the quarter was $188,000 as compared to $59,000 for the same period last year. Including non-cash items such as depreciation and amortization of goodwill, net income for the period was $84,000 as compared to a loss of $(160,000) per share for the same period in FY2001. In the press release they also say that they "expect royalties from Philips to be more material in the second half of this year, although the third quarter will likely produce similar results to the previous two.". You can find more financial details in the press release

• SRS Labs Licenses Popular TruSurround(R) Technology to Matsushita
  SRS Labs has announced that it has signed its first license agreement with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd (Panasonic). SRS Labs' patented TruSurround technology, a virtualization of 5.1 surround sound, will be featured in Panasonic's latest DVD players and DVD combo units.

  Under terms of the licensing agreement, the first products from Matsushita that include TruSurround technology are the new Panasonic DVD players (RV32, RV62 and RV65) and DVD combo units (NV-ZFD1, NV-VHD1) for the European market. Matsushita sells products under a variety of well-known brand names, including Panasonic, Quasar, Technics and JVC. The Matsushita group includes about 320 operating units in more than 45 countries. You can find more details in the press release.

• Creative Technology Announces Fourth Quarter Results
  Creative Technology has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2002, ended June 30, 2002. All financial results are stated in U.S. dollars.

  Before the revenue contribution and effects of the 3Dlabs acquisition, which was completed on May 15th, and excluding a write-down of investments of $29.8 million, Creative achieved fourth quarter revenues of $175.8 million with net income of $11.6 million, in line with expectations. Comparative results for the fourth quarter of last year were revenue of $233.3 million, with net income of $2.5 million before investment write-downs.

  For the fiscal year, excluding the charges and effects related to the 3Dlabs acquisition and investment write-downs, Creative reported revenues of $799.1 million, with net income of $55.8 million. This compares to the previous year's revenue of $1.226 billion, with net income of $40.9 million. You can find more details in the press release.

• Bose and Xbox together at retail
  Bose Corporation and Xbox are joining forces to showcase how a premium video-game system and a high-quality surround sound system can provide an entirely new gaming experience. Beginning in September 2002, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and the new Bose FreeStyle speaker system will be merchandised together for consumer use at all Bose, Best Buy, and select Circuit City stores across the country. Compatible with any gaming console, the press release states that the new Bose FreeStyle speaker system can "enhance the advantages of Xbox, delivering most of the performance of a premium 5 speaker surround sound system -- from just 2 compact speakers". The FreeStyle speaker system is expected to sell for $499 and will also be available at www.bose.com in late September, 2002. For a few additional details you can check out the full press release.

• Creative Announces New Inspire Speakers
  Creative Europe has over the past month or so announced several additions to the Inspire line. First up in the press releases was the announcement of the Creative Inspire 2.1 2400. They use what is described as solid, high-quality construction and performance which features a heavily reinforced wooden subwoofer capable of pumping out 12 Watts RMS of rich, clear bass. It incorporates a customized amplifier which powers all three speakers and optimizes their response and output. The two 4.5-Watt RMS satellites have special drivers and shaped face plates which ensure optimum sound dispersion and precise sonic imaging.

  Second up comes the announcement of the Inspire 4.1 4400 speakers. This 4.1 system which is rated to handle a frequency range between 40Hz and 20kHz, delivers a total power output of 41 Watts RMS.

  Next comes the announcement of two more new 2.1 models, the Creative Inspire 2.1 Digital 2800 and the Creative Inspire 2.1 Slim 2700 speaker systems. The Inspire 2.1 Slim 2700 system combines great looks with excellent 2.1 performance. The ultra-slim satellites can be wall-mounted, giving the user considerable creative scope and freedom to maximize desktop space. It includes a heavily reinforced 19-Watt RMS wood subwoofer, with protective coating for durability in any domestic operating environment. The two super-slim 8-Watt RMS satellites.

  The Inspire 2.1 Digital 2800's distinguishing feature is the ability to connect digitally via up to 24-bit, 96kHz digital. It also has dual analogue inputs which enable it to be connected to multiple sound sources simultaneously. The system uses a heavily reinforced 22-Watt RMS wood subwoofer with long-throw driver and special port design for extra bass impact. The two 8-Watt RMS satellites are specially designed to focus sound more effectively, giving the user truly involving audio. And to give the user total 'armchair' comfort and control, the wired remote has power on/off, bass level adjust and volume settings.

  Last up is the announcement of the Creative Inspire 5.1 5100. According to the release their advanced design includes unique contours which project sound in the optimum pattern at 6 Watts RMS per channel, while special amplifiers ensure smooth, natural, surround sound. The compact, powered cube-style wood subwoofer pumps out 12 Watts RMS of solid, booming bass and the entire system offers a frequency response from 44Hz to 20kHz.

  Further details including UK pricing and anticipated availability can be found in all of the press releases linked above.

• Altec Lansing® Debuts Model 5100 Six-Speaker System
  Altec Lansing® Technologies has announced the debut of its Model 5100 multimedia PC speaker system. Altec Lansing's new 5100 speaker system is comprised of four satellites, a center speaker for crystal-clear voice reproduction, and a front firing, subwoofer containing two 4-inch long throw woofers. Each satellite, as well as the center speaker, contains two 1-inch neodymium micro drivers-twice as many as competing models.

  The all-new Altec Lansing 5100 multimedia speaker system is priced to sell between $159.95 and $179.95 at retail. You can find more details in the press release.

• TDK Introduce New Tremor S-40 System
  TDK has announced that it is now shipping its new Tremor S-40 satellite/subwoofer speaker system. With an estimated street price of $50. Like all TDK Tremor speaker systems including the Tremor S-150, S-80 and S-60, the S-40 use NXT's SurfaceSound(TM) flat-panel speaker technology. You can find more details in the press release including specs for the more expensive S-60, S-80 and S-150 models.

• Benwin has replaced the audio technology powering the BW2000
  Benwin has announced that they have replaced the audio technology powering the BW2000 flat panel speakers with the company's proprietary Neomanic(TM) micro-drivers, which deliver audio output equivalent to that of a 3" conventional driver, without affecting the 7mm wide satellite speakers, being only the size of a quarter. The new BW200 will be named B2020 and carry an MSRP of $30. You can find more details in the press release.

• DTS Reaches 100 Million Mark
  DTS announces a remarkable achievement in the company's history: more than 100 million consumer electronics products sold to date contain DTS-licensed technology and intellectual property. Introduced in 1997 as DTS Digital Surround, the technology is now found in all segments of the industry, including home theater, car audio, video game consoles, PC systems and broadcast applications.

  DTS-licensed products include DVD players, receivers, amplifiers, pre-amps, video game consoles, car audio processors and head units, PC-based software decoders and 5.1-channel speaker systems for the PC. You can find more details in the press release.

• speeDVD Releases ''DIGITAL DAYCARE FOR PETS'' DVD
  It's not often we mention new DVD releases but this one is not your typical Hollywood production and probably unique, The speeDVD® Co. has announced the release of its "DIGITAL DAYCARE FOR PETS®" DVD, a first-of-its-kind DVD shot entirely from a dog's perspective. Intended for the dog who has everything, this unique dual-layer DVD includes both Dolby Digital® and DTS® 5.1 channel surround sound tracks and over two-hours of material programmed to auto-play in a random, non-stop continuous loop. You can find more details in the press release.

• Utopia Live! v2.0 and Acoustic Piano add-on v1.0 released
  The Utopia Sound Division has released Utopia Live! v2.0 and Acoustic Piano add-on v1.0. We had a very positive experience with the Utopia Live! v.1 (see review). Both Utopia Live! v2.0 and Acoustic Piano add-on v1.0 are SoundFonts for the Sound Blaster Live and Audigy series of sound cards. For additional information you can check out the official web site.

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.
  

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