The Week in Review: December 23-29, 2002

Last week's features at 3DsoundSurge

Seasons Greetings!
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers who celebrate Christmas a very merry Christmas and to those readers who do not, all the best of the season. To everyone we wish happiness, health and prosperity.

Last week's sound news

Drivers and bugs

• Hercules Unified Driver Update
  Hercules has released new unified drivers for their Fortissimo II series, GTXP series, Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1, all cards using either the CS4624 or CS4630 chipset from Cirrus Logic/Crystal. Here is what's new:

  ADDED
  Incorporated GF2 into the Crystal unified driver.
  Registry cleaner (Remove Device.exe) - This little utility will allow Win 2K/ XP user to make sure their registry is cleaned if they have trouble installing their new drivers.

  FIXES

  • Fixed the MS Gamevoice (GV) chat bug.
  • Fixed the Counter-strike (CS) chat bug.
  • Augmented the numbers of available streams to prevent sound cutting in various games (Battlefield 1942 / UT 2003 / Mafia )
  • Fixed muting for Power DVD in multichannel mode when HW acceleration is on.
  • Fixed bug in Win98 SE and Win ME where the record source switched back to MIC on each reboot.
  • 8/16 bit supported properly at all sample rates and all channel configurations
  • S/PDIF input intermittent failure issues addressed
  • Fixed Digital In recording at 8000 or 11025 sample rate bug.
  • Fixed dynamic record switching bugs.
  • Fixed playback in Windows Media Player 9
  • Inconsistent speakers configuration changes issue resolved
  • Various Control panel maintenance fixes.
  • Sensaura acceleration settings have been clarified in the control panel.
  • Various stability fixes.

  Thanks to Jure Repinc for the pointer.

• NOMAD Jukebox Zen Firmware Update
  There's a new (Version 1.11.04)firmware update available for the Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen. Firmware enhancement includes direct audio track transfers between players via 1394 port, the ability to separate a recording into several audio tracks; improved scroller sensitivity and; more backlight duration options.

New games, demos, patches and bugs

• New America's Army: Operations
  A new version of the free America's Army Operations game is now available, updating the game to version 1.5.0, adding new features like a new map, parental controls, new voices, and more. You can get a list of download links and more details on the update from the official America's Army website.

• Game Business Seen Splitting Into Haves, Have-Nots
  A year ago, most analysts looked at the video game industry and saw the money rolling in like the gold coins in one of the gleeful payouts that reward a successful round of Nintendo's "Super Mario." Now, the $30-billion game business looks more like one of the knock-down, drag-out battles for survival in a game of "Mortal Kombat" or "Dead or Alive."

  For the whole Reuters article looking at the economic forecast for the gaming industry head over to Yahoo News.

Reviews of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3 players.

• Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Review
  Yoink3D has posted an overall very positive (and very unusual) review of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2

• Logitech Z-640 5.1 Speaker System Review
  Avault has posted an overall very positive review of the Logitech Z-640 5.1 speaker system. A few minor comments on some statements in the review follow. First, the generic description of the center channel usage found in the review is appropriate only for movies. For gaming the center channel will have the same duties as the other satellites. Next, the Santa Cruz is not a 6.1 card (their test platform specs describe it as a "Santa Cruz Turtle Beach 6.1"). For movies it can be configured for true 5.1 analog output card and for games upto 4 channel plus a virtual 5.1 mode which is not nearly as effective as true 6 channel output for gaming supported by a number of other cards. Finally, it's worth noting that there are literally hundreds of games released with full 3D audio support.

• AOpen HP-590 "Vibrating" Headphone Review
  Pro Cooling.com has posted a mixed review of the AOpen HP-590 "Vibrating" Headphone that similar in concept to some of the other "feedback" type headphones that have come (and gone) over the past few years.

• jazPiper Ubit 128MB MP3 Player Review
  Blarg OC has posted a mixed but overall positive review of the jazPiper Ubit 128MB MP3 Player.

• iRiver SlimX iMP-400 MP3 Player Review
  C/Net has posted an overall very positive review of the iRiver SlimX iMP-400 MP3 player that was announced in November.

• Samsung SM-348 CD-RW/DVD Combo Review
  I am not a geek has posted an overall very positive review of the Samsung SM-348 CD-RW/DVD Combo drive.

• Swiftech H20-8500 WaterCooling Kit Review
  Overclock Intelligence Agency has posted an overall positive review of the Swiftech H20-8500 WaterCooling Kit. According to the review, this kit is aimed at those who want the low noise operation of watercooling, but are confined to a somewhat small case and/or those who don't want to fool with extensive modding of their case to accommodate a watercooling setup.

• Q-Technology 400W Power Supply Review
  bit-tech has posted an overall positive review of the Q-Technology 400W power supply from Quiet PC concluding that it's not going to deliver on a totally silent PC but is generally quiet.

Other sound news

• Warming PC sound with vacuum tubes
  Warming PC sound with vacuum tubes is the title of an article over at C/Net that looks at AOpen's decision to offer motherboards with tube based preamplification. It's worth noting that while AOpen's first tube offering was hampered by their choice of a low end CODEC we understand that their next model will utilize the new Envy24HT Audio Controller that you can read about in a separate press release.

• XM Satellite Radio gets new financing, stock jumps
  A story on Yahoo reports that XM Satellite Radio Inc., a satellite radio broadcaster, has reached financing agreements totaling $450 million that should provide the cash needed until its operations reach break-even. XM stock jumped more than 10 percent following the news. For more details you can check out the full story.

• Perception Digital Introduces Encoder/Decoder 128M MP3 Player
  Perception Digital has introduced the FuXion Genie portable MP3 encoder/decoder player. The player comes with a built-in FM radio and its own built-in MP3 encoding function that allows users to compress any external audio source or FM program from its built-in radio into MP3 with the touch of a button. The FuXion Genie will be showcased at the International CES show in Las Vegas, January 9-12, 2003. For some additional details you can check out the full press release.

• New laser should mean 16X DVD writers by 2004
  According to a story on InfoWorld Mitsubishi has developed a more powerful semiconductor laser that should pave the way for 16X DVD writers to be commercially available from 2004. The new laser is able to deliver pulses of light at a power of 200 milliwatts, which is double that of lasers used in today's 4X DVD writer drives, the Tokyo company said this week. for further details you can check out the full story.

• Studios Sue Maker of DVD Copy Software
  Seven major motion picture studios filed a counterclaim Thursday in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California against 321 Studios, makers of DVD Copy Plus and DVD X Copy. The software sold at stores nationwide allows the user to make a copy of a DVD to a blank CD or DVD by defeating the copy protections encoded onto the original movie disc. The studios contend that is an illegal activity.

  The movie studios say the software contains the power of digital piracy, and asked the court to enjoin 321 Studios from selling it or distributing it. The studios also seek damages from any proceeds derived from the company's software sales. You can check out the full story on Yahoo News.

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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