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The Week in
Review: July 21-27, 2003
Last week's features at
3DsoundSurge
Last week's sound news
Drivers and bugs
New
games, demos, patches and bugs
Bill Brown (Composer) Interview
GameZone has posted
an interview with composer Bill Brown. Here's the first question:
When writing music, do you try and put yourself inside the shoes
of the characters of each story? I personally have no idea how you are able to create such
an amazing sound, and I would love to know as much about what you do as possible.
Bill Brown: I’m very conscious of how the different parts of a
story might be connected as I’m working – in subtle ways – in ways that
might not be obvious at first glance. When I create a score, I try to connect with the
project as a whole and communicate musically in a way that brings something that is not
already present to the overall picture – and at the same time supports what is there.
Sometimes that means really understanding what a character or multiple characters are
going through on all levels, and how that relates to the story. And sometimes it has more
to do with the story itself and how that plays out.
Sometimes it’s more about supporting the action, or
communicating an exotic location in musical terms. For instance, with Lineage II there are
themes that are derived from a race of characters (like the Dark Elves for instance) and
what they are going through. And then there are themes that are created to communicate
atmosphere or unique location – like vast dungeons, or a town or country village for
instance. Each has its own sound, its own personality – its own story, just as a
character would. Hopefully, by the time all is said and done, these themes all have a
feeling of continuity – so you can feel a connection between them. It’s not
always as easy to connect with a character in writing for games because the character
usually becomes defined as the game unfolds through game play – and I’m most
times writing as the game is being created. I usually work with narrative from the game
design, the story behind the game play, and any images or game builds that are available
to me. It’s freeing as well because I can bring my own experience to the project and
add a dimension to it that might not have been there. Ultimately, that is why I am hired.
Reviews of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3
players.
- Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 Sound Card
Digit-Life has posted
a detailed review of Audiotrak's Envy24HT based Prodigy 7.1 Sound Card. They found it
to offer excellent sound quality when it comes to music. When it comes to gaming they
found it to offer more recent and better Sensaura algorithms than previous Envy24 cards
they tested but they still consider the Audigy 2 the better gaming card.
Other sound news
- Logitech Reports First Quarter Results
Logitech International has announced that its sales for the first fiscal quarter of 2004,
ended June 30, 2003, were $218 million, up 12 percent over the same quarter last year.
Gross margin for the quarter was 27.8 percent, compared with 34 percent last year.
Operating income was $7.9 million, down 38 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Net income for the quarter was $5.7 million, down 47 percent from a year ago. You can find more details in
the press release.
- Creative Expands Award-Winning I-Trigue Speaker
Line
Creative Technology has announced immediate shipment of the slender, cool-looking Creative
I-Trigue(TM) L3500 and the August shipment of the Creative I-Trigue L3450 2.1 speaker
systems at an ESP of only US$149.99. You can find all the details
in the press release.
- Pioneer to use Philips' SACD Chip Solution in
Advanced DVD Players
Royal Philips Electronics has announced that Pioneer Corporation will use Philips' Super
Audio CD (SACD) single-chip solution, the SAA7893HL chip. Pioneer will integrate Philips'
SAA7893HL chip into its DVD Player (DV-563A-S) and Home Theater System (HTZ-830DV)
targeted at the U.S. market, providing consumers with sound quality superior to that of a
CD. "The SACD format has been gaining momentum in the
DVD market, presenting a growth opportunity for chipmakers," according to Michelle
Abraham of leading industry analyst firm In-Stat/MDR. "By 2005, 35 percent of all DVD
players will include SACD as a standard feature." Co-developed by Philips, the SACD
format represents the next level of audio reproduction, and offers DVD manufacturers an
easy-to-integrate solution that provides consumers with a high-quality audio experience --
equivalent to that of a live concert performance. Equipped with Philips' SAA7893HL chip
solution, Pioneer's new DVD Player and Home Theater System will offer DVD-V/SACD and DVD-A
playback. You can find
more details in the 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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