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The Week in
Review: June 17-23, 2002
Last week's features at
3DsoundSurge
Last week's sound news
Drivers and bugs
- Beta 189 WDM Drivers for Philips PSC703, PCS705,
PSC706 Sound Cards
There are unsupported beta WDM drivers (v.189)for the Philips PSC703, PCS705, PSC706 sound
cards available from the 3DsoundSurge
beta drivers download page. That page also has more details on the drivers.
New games, demos, patches and bugs
- Neverwinter Nights supports EAX Advanced HD
We mentioned earlier this month that BioWare's Neverwinter
Nights gone gold and that it ages ago was A3D game of the day. It's doubtful if the
game shipped with that support but we know learned it does support Creative Labs EAX
Advanced HD. Haven't seen any reviews yet offered any comment to what extent it takes
advantage of the features available in EAX Advanced HD though.
- DOOM III Wins E3 Game Critics Special
Commendation for Sound
Here's the snip from the awards
page.
(Trent Reznor/id Software/Activision for PC)
No game programmer envies the idea of competing against John Carmack’s latest 3D
graphics engine. So imagine the challenge of trying to create a soundscape that not only
matches but also compliments Carmack’s 3D magic. Leave it to Trent Reznor, frontman
for Nine Inch Nails, to meet and exceed that challenge. Reznor’s richly textured 5.1
channel soundtrack literally rocked the theater, forming an important part of the
ever-so-impressive multimedia assault that was DOOM III. Presented in a special theater at
the Activision booth, Reznor’s pristinely mixed sound effects and cranked-to-the-max
sound system made everything else at E3 sound like an old transistor radio.
- Interview with the Audio Director for Earth &
Beyond
RPG Vault has posted
a 3 page long interview with Audio Director Paul Mudra about his work on Westwood
Studios' online space RPG, Earth & Beyond. No mention if the game will take advantage
of 3D audio but a lot of other interesting bits. Here's a taste:
Jonric: In your opinion, are there significant differences in
designing the sound for a game that primarily takes place in space compared other types of
settings?
Paul Mudra: My main concern at first was how to fill the solar
systems with ambient audio so that it didn't sound "dead." In an FPS, this
usually isn't a problem because the environment is usually very full, and also very near
to the player. As we continued to populate the sectors, it ended up being a lot like an
FPS in that there were a good number of objects in space that all contributed to the sound
bed. For example, We have large asteroid fields that we decided to layer with sounds of
rock scrapes and crumbling into each other, starbases under construction that have worker
drones welding things into place, navigation buoys that help players chart their way
through space by audio and visual means, planets rumbling deeply as you get closer to
them, etc.
Jonric: What are the main distinctions between sound design for a
persistent state world and other types of games? Which of these are the most challenging
and why?
Paul Mudra: One of the biggest audio areas to consider for a
massively multiplayer game is the dynamics of the live environment. It is an even larger
step than going from single-player to a multiplayer game because a much larger number of
live players can be affecting the world at any given time. We are currently running a
stress test on the game with a large number of players in to determine how we wanted to
limit simultaneous sounds (which would be necessary to avoid sound channel overload). This
helped us to create a pretty evolved system that prioritized many factors such as the
importance of the object that is emitting a sound, along with the distance of that sound
emitter from the player/camera. To complicate all that, it's done in real time.
- XGR Inteviews Jack Wall
X--Treme Gaming Radio has an interview with award-winning composer Jack Wall where he
sounds off
about The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.). XGR uses the Winamp and Shoutcast
Technology. To check out the interview head to X-treme Gaming Radio. The
interview was at 9:30 PM EST but XGR will also have it archived.
- Interview with Composer Guy Whitmore
The Interactive Audio Special Interest
Group (IASAG) has posted an interview with Guy Whitmore. Whitmore has been composing
game scores as a freelancer, company man, and entrepreneur, since 1994. He has recently
co-founded a music production company called Music Design Network, LLC. Recent titles
include Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza, Russian Squares, and No One Lives Forever. After
studying music at Northwestern, and Southern Methodist University, he began writing music
for regional theater productions in Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York. His independent
film music has found its way to Cannes, Digi-Dance (part of the Sundance film festival),
and the Seattle International Film Festival. Here's a snip from the interview:
Q: What is your opinion on the use of adaptive music in 3d
first person adventure games? For instance, SHOULD there be music at all?
A: As an audio community, we need to get past the idea of whether or
not adaptive music is appropriate or inappropriate for a given genre, or for games in
general. If music is called for in an 'interactive' game where specific timings are
unknown, then adaptive music is appropriate. End of story. Where on the spectrum of
adaptability you choose to go depends on the specific game design, and creative choices
made between designer and composer.
It just kills me to see game composers making broad statements about
the appropriateness of adaptive audio, when we haven't even explored 1/100th of the
possibilities! Try it first, then if it really doesn't work, try a different approach to
adaptability. But don't give up on adaptive music, because any game that is non-linear and
interactive demands music that is flexible and malleable, so that it may be appropriate to
the given situation on the screen at any given time. Long linear music loops simply can't
do that.
- Interview with Creative Labs developer about Jedi
Knight 2
Soundblaster.com has posted an
interview with one of their own, Software Engineer Daniel Peacock about his work on
Jedi Knight® II: Jedi Outcast. The part he helped out with was of course to ensure that
the EAX® ADVANCED HD™ Audio Enhancement for Star Wars® Jedi Knight® II: Jedi
Outcast™ was seamlessly integrated into the game. Here's a snip:
Tell us about the technology behind the EAX ADVANCED HD Audio
Enhancements – which programming libraries are used in the implementation?
A4. I chose to use the relatively new OpenAL API for 3D Audio because it is very easy to
use, and works well with the Sound Blaster Live! and Sound Blaster Audigy. When EAX is
enabled, Open AL is used to play all the audio in the game – sound effects, music,
and cut-scenes. Every frame of the game, the position and orientation of the listener
(i.e. the player) and the positions of all the sound effects are passed to OpenAL, which
uses the sound card to generate realistic 3D sound using whatever speaker configuration
the end-user has selected.
In addition to using Open AL, EAX ADVANCED HD technologies are used
throughout the game to provide realistic indoor and outdoor reverberation effects. It is
also used to simulate the natural muffling effect that occurs when sound passes through or
around objects.
- Using a Live Orchestra in Game Soundtracks
Gamasutra.com has published Jack Wall's white paper for GDC 2002, 'Using
a Live Orchestra in Game Soundtracks'. The article is why you should use an orchestra
for the game soundtrack rather than offering any orchestration techniques. Here's a taste:
The main reason to use an orchestra in a game soundtrack would
be to improve the game in general. First, the game would have to benefit by having an
orchestral score and second, it would have to benefit by recording a live orchestra for
that score. It gives added value to the music that can then be sold as a standalone
soundtrack CD and cross-marketing tool for the game. By recording a living, breathing
acoustical environment with virtuosi musicians, you indeed add dimension and depth to the
music; qualities that are almost impossible to describe, yet readily discernable in how
that sound affects the listener, or in our case, the player. It's the difference between
prose and poetry, scales and music, Midi files or orchestral grandeur: no reaction or
goosebumps.
[snip]
We're on a crusade for better music. For a while, we will have to resist the current
thinking that music in games is cheap and unimportant. Because better music means better
games. Because the best games have a story, the best games are immersive. In the best
games, the player gets lost and can't seem to put the controller down to get a few Z's.
Great music composition and great musical sound are a part of the best games that keep
players awake at night and keep them coming back for more.
- The Miles Sound System support EAX 3.0/Advanced
HD
Rad Game Tools recently announced a new version of its development tool Miles Sound
System. One of the major new features are support for EAX Advanced HD (or EAX 3.0 as its
known for developers). Considering how many games that use the Miles Sound System this
will likely increase the number of games supporting EAX 3.0 quite significantly the coming
years. Worth noting that far from all games using Miles Sound System support 3D sound or
EAX. For more details check
out the official site.
- Updated Spektral plug-ins and new freeware
plug-in release
Version 1.2 of Spektral plugins released. The Spektral plug-ins contain three professional
DSP plug-ins available in Direct X media and VST PC formats for use in
"off-line" hosts such as Sound Forge and Cool Edit Pro.
Plug-ins also works with Sonar, Nuendo, Wavelab, Cubase, Fruity Loops, Logic Audio and
many others. More details
available in the full press release.
Reviews of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3
players.
- Sound Card RoundUp
The Tech Report has posted a large round-up
style review looking at several popular sound cards on the market including the
Audigy, Acoustic Edge, Fortissimo II, Gamesurround Muse XL and Santa Cruz. The reviews
contain lots of detail with the main comment I would make being that their game selection
is IMO too limited to really get a good feel for how each of the cards perform across a
wide variety of games. The other comment is with respect to QMSS on the Acoustic Edge and
that is QMSS is not disabled for 3D audio games but rather only affects the stereo streams
in those games. When it comes to Serious Sam SE, if it's anything like the original
Serious Sam, the EAX mode (which gets 3D positioning via DS3D) does not make use of the
positional information, so it's not surprising that the reviewer found QMSS to be superior
positionally. In general if a game makes proper use of 3D sound then it will be much more
effective at accurate positioning than QMSS will be. One surprising comment in this review
is on the Santa Cruz pure sound quality, something that might have been a configuration
issue given how it contradicts some objective testing and many opinions that put the Santa
Cruz at or near the top on a pure sound quality basis relative to other 3D audio
supporting cards.
- Audiotrak Maya 7.1 & 7.1 Gold Soundcard
HardwareMasters has posted a review of Audiotrak Maya 7.1 & 7.1 Gold Soundcards. Both
these cards are more optimized for creating/recording music than gaming which means you
will find plenty of in/out, high quality DACs and drivers with low latency rather than
featuring 3D sound and reverb algorithms. The price is still fairly low, $129 and $69
respectively. It's not clear to me what chip it use and if it
includes some 3D sound or stereo expansion technology that will allow you to take
advantage of the 7.1 or even 5.1 outputs beyond 5.1 output for DVD movies. Checking the
website it's clear the focus is on playing DVD movies using the bundled PowerDVD 3.0 (only
included in the Gold edition). Last I checked with AudioTrack they made clear that the
bundled version does NOT support the DTS-ES or Dolby Digital EX, that is no 6.1 output.
The review is rather mixed experiencing several issues. I think most of them are related
to the computer and DVD software rather than the soundcard though.
- Hercules XPS 210
Soundcard Central has posted
a review of Hercules inexpensive ($32) 2.1 system, the XPS 210. The reviewer found it
to be the best system he heard for $32, there is no mention what other system he compared
it to though.
- Philips MMS306/A3.600 5.1-channel Speaker System
hardCOREware has posted a mixed review
of Philips MMS306/A3.600 5.1-channel speaker system. A couple of comments. One is that
they only show a G9 connection on the speakers for 6 channel input and I would think that
Philips ships it with a G9 to mini-jack cable (which can be further adapted to RCA
connections). The other is that for dialog in movies the most important frequency is
midrange, not treble. While we have not tested this specific system you can get a good
idea of what our own impressions would be through our initial
review of the 4 channel version.
- MegaWorks 510D
Gamer's Depot has posted a overall positive but still very mixed review
of the Cambridge SoundWorks MegaWorks 510D 5.1 speaker system (which they feel does
not stack up against the ProMedia 51 or Z-560). A general comment I will make is ported
subwoofers are not superior to sealed designs and sealed subwoofers do not inherently
produce less bass than a ported design. Rather, there are pros and cons to each design
that are taken into consideration by the engineers making each product. Comparisons that
are made with "all other things being equal" are only theoretical as all other
things are never equal when it comes two different retail products - for example drivers
appropriate to the specific design would (or at least should) always be selected for
optimum performance. I won't get into more detail on the design or comments specific to
the Gamer's Depot review than that but you can find some more on the two designs in our own
review of the MegaWorks 510D where you will also find our own much more positive
impressions of that system along with some loudness and frequency response test results.
One other point is that the MegaWorks 510D does have an auxiliary input on the rear of the
subwoofer.
- Axiom Epic 50 Speaker
A review of Axiom Epic 50 Speaker System has been posted on DesignTechnica. The
Axiom Epic 50 Home Theater System consists of two Millennia M50ti towers, two Quadrant
Surround QS-4 rear channel speakers, a Vocal Point VP100 center channel speaker and the
Epicenter EP175 Subwoofer. The $1567 Epic 50 package is available through Axiom’s web
site for US buyers. DesignTechnica found it to be an extremely well priced system that
delivers the performance of much more expensive systems. The review lacks any direct
comparison to other speaker system.
- Altec Lansing 251 Speaker System
Gamer's Click has done a short review of Altec Lansing 251 Speaker System. It's a sub
$100 5.1 system. The review includes some complaints including the subwoofer performance
and lack of bass and treble controls but in the end they still think it's an excellent 5.1
system considering the price. The review lacks any direct comparison to other speaker
system.
- S4 MidiLand 8200 v2.0
MonkeyReview has posted a review of S4 MidiLand 8200 v2.0 speaker system. MonekeyReview
found it to be an excellent system even considering the price ($350). Included in the
price is the ADS 4000 Dolby Digital/DTS decoder that also offers 4-channel analog input.
The review lacks any direct comparison to other multimedia systems.
- Yepp 90-S MP3 Player
Bytesector has posted
a review of Samsung Yepp 90-S MP3 Player. It's a small flash based MP3 player with a
rather unique design. Features includes voice recording, FM tuner, equalizer presets and
64MB. Bytesector found it to perform well and offer a fairly good feature list even though
memory expansion is one feature it lacks.
- 6-in-1 Pioneer DVR-104 Drive
Digit-Life has posted a review of 6-in-1 Pioneer DVR-104 Drive. It's a DVD-R/RW drive
which also supports the CD-R/RW formats and retails for about €360 in Europe.
Digit-Life found it to perform fairly well but complained about low write speeds for
CD-R/RW. One interesting bit is the review offers a link for where you can find region
free firmware for the drive.
- Cobalt 3 Pyramid II Fan Silencer
SubZeroTech has posted a review of
the Cobalt 3 Pyramid II Fan Silencer. The unit only works on exaust fans (not CPU or
power supply fans) and via a temperature probe controls fan speed based on internal case
temperature. For what it does the review concludes it works very well and looks nice while
at it.
Other sound news
- Kenwood First to Feature SRS Labs’ Circle
Surround II 6.1 Multichannel Audio
SRS Labs, Inc. has announced the commercial availability of its Circle Surround II™
("CS II") 6.1 multichannel audio decoding technology in a new line of
audio/video receivers from longtime SRS Labs licensee, Kenwood USA Corporation.
Incorporated with the CS II technology featuring patented SRS Labs’ Dialog Clarity
and TruBass audio technologies, Kenwood’s new VR-6070, VR-6060 and VR-6050
audio/video receivers are ideal devices for the multichannel playback of all audio
content, including standard television programming, music, Internet streaming, PC and
console gaming. These receivers implement the CS II technology using the new Melody 32
digital audio processor from Analog Devices. SRS Labs
describes Circle Surround II as the most powerful and advanced matrix surround decoder
available on the market today. It delivers up to 6.1 channels of full-bandwidth audio with
incredible rear surround separation from mono, stereo, Dolby Surround and Circle Surround
encoded material. This backward compatibility provides a thrilling cinema-like audio
experience from all content — CDs, video games, VHS movies or television programming.
For additional detail and links you can check out the full
press release.
- Klipsch 5.1 Digital Dream Multimedia System
5.1 Digital Dream Multimedia System is what Klipsch is calling the discounted bundle of
their excellent ProMedia 5.1 multimedia speaker system and their ProMedia DD 51 Dolby
Digital / DTS decoder pre-amp. The bundle price is $499.99, $70 less than the price when
purchased separately. For details check out this link.
- Boston Acoustics Brings Sound to Upcoming
Chrysler Group Vehicle Lines
Boston Acoustics has announced its entry into the automotive OEM arena through a
partnership with Visteon Corporation to provide Chrysler Group with new, premium audio
systems for upcoming vehicle lines. This announcement marks a major milestone in Boston
Acoustics' 23-year history. You can find more details in the press release.
- Toshiba "MOBILPHILE": 5GB Portable
Player With USB 2.0
Toshiba has announced the introduction of its compact and convenient MOBILPHILE® portable
digital music player. The MEG50AS is one of the industry's
smallest and lightest portable hard disc drive (HDD) music players and the first portable
music player to combine the benefits of a high-speed USB 2.0 interface with the
flexibility and music storage capability of a 5GB removable Type II PC data storage card.
MOBILPHILE® is supplied with stereo headphones, and AC adapter,
built-in battery charger and 5GB PC card. It carries a suggested retail price of $499.00
and will be available in July 2002. You can find more details in the press release
- Sony Ericsson Announces MP3-Player Features of
New Multimedia Phone
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has announced that the P800, the multimedia phone
announced in March this year, also will feature expandable memory through Memory Stick Duo
(TM), and includes MP3-player capabilities. The supplied
Memory Stick Duo gives additional 16MB memory capacity to the phone and makes it possible
to easily back-up files as well as transfer documents, pictures and music between the P800
and a PC. The P800 can now play the part of phone, PDA, digital camera, music player and
Internet access point. You can find more details in the press release.
- Analog Devices Melody(R) 32 Delivers Leading
Audio Industry Formats
Analog Devices has announced Melody 32, a new digital audio processor certified by the
leading audio industry format providers, featuring 32-bit precision and delivering a wide
complement of audio formats and post- processing capabilities to enable high-volume
consumer applications with recording studio audio quality. Implemented
with a new 32-bit software architecture designed to process digital audio signal formats
efficiently and accurately, the Melody 32 audio processor implements Dolby Digital, Dolby
Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS- ES Extended Surround, DTS Neo:6, SRS Circle Surround
II, THX and THX Surround EX, AAC (two-channel, low complexity), MP3 (MPEG1 Audio Layer 3),
PCM, Bass and Delay Management-all in 32-bit precision in up to eight channels. The Melody
32 audio processor automatically detects the incoming bit stream and applies the
appropriate code downloaded from the boot flash. You can find even more details in the
full press release.
- MEDIA JUKEBOX 8.0 Adds Power and Grace
J. River has released version 8.0 of its award-winning MEDIA JUKEBOX media management
software. This player and organizer introduces the latest technology in jukebox software
for playing MP3's, ripping, burning and managing a digital music collection. For all the
details check out the press
release
- Pioneer Elite Introduces New DVD-Audio, SACD
Players
Pioneer Electronics has introduced two Elite universal DVD players, the DV-47Ai and the
DV-45A, that bring the emerging technologies of DVD-Audio and multi-channel SACD to
consumers in a single box. The DV-47Ai also raises the bar on audio reproduction with dual
i.Link output for high bandwidth connectivity. With more than 1,000 DVD-Audio and SACD
titles expected to be released by year-end, Pioneer continues to lead the industry in
providing universal players that offer consumers the greatest flexibility to listen to a
wide variety of titles in their preferred format. As with all Pioneer Elite DVD players,
consumers are assured the highest quality audio and video reproduction. The DV-47Ai
includes 108MHz/12 bit video processing (54MHz/10 bit for DV-45A) and Legato PRO(TM),
Pioneer's refined frequency range expansion technology for better music reproduction. Both
the DV-47Ai and the DV-45A offer triple Burr Brown 192kHz/24 bit audio processing, six
channel analog audio output, bass management, Dolby Digital(TM), DTS(TM) and SRS TRU
Surround. The DV-47Ai and DV-45A will be available in fall of 2002 at a suggested retail
price of $1200 and $700 respectively. For additional details check out the full
press release.
- Pioneer Mobile DVD System
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. has announced the release of its new AV-SYS6DVD mobile DVD
system that combines high-powered audio with the excitement of DVD, transforming any
vehicle into a full-fledged entertainment center on wheels. The AV-SYS6DVD package is a
complete system out of the box that includes AM/FM receiver, 6-1/2 inch motorized TFT
widescreen monitor and a DVD player. The system features
Pioneer's MOSFET50 amplifier chip, providing 50 watts of power to each of four speakers.
Whether playing CDs or DVD movies, Pioneer's inclusive audio features such as Easy EQ,
three band parametric EQ and the two-way cross over network tailor the sound for even the
most critical ear. The AV-SYS6DVD has a estimated market price of $1,500. For additional
details you can check
out the full press release.
- Stomp Transforms PCs Into Digital Audio
Workstations
Stomp has announced MySoundStudio, a professional-grade digital audio recording, editing
and mastering software for professional and consumer uses. At only $69, its extensive set
of features for manipulating audio and video include sound editing, multi-track support, a
unique mixer and a library of powerful effects. You can find more details in the full
press release.
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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