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The Week in
Review: March 26 - April 1, 2001
Last week's features at
3DsoundSurge
Evergreen RumbleFX Force Feedback Headphones
Review
On March 26, 2001 Evergreen Technologies launched its new RumbleFX force feedback
headphones for a list price of $59.99. These headphones are the first in Evergreen's new
RumbleFX line of consumer electronics products.
Evergreen's press material claims an incredible range of benefits
come with using the RumbleFX headphones. In this
review we take a close look at the real world features and performance including
comparisons to another set of force feedback headphones and a more expensive pair from
Sennheiser.
Last week's sound news
Drivers and bugs
- New Acoustic Edge VXD and WDM Drivers!
Philips has released new VXD and WDM drivers for their Acoustic Edge sound card. You can
check out the on site readme for the full list of changes. A couple worth noting are the
bass issue with some 4.1 speaker systems (and particularly the ProMedia 4.1) has
apparently been addressed and they have added a 5.0 mode to the bass management options.
It looks like the VXD drivers are up to version 2.42 and the WDM drivers to version 1.40.
To get the drivers head
over to the Philips PC sound site. If you downloaded the drivers a couple days ago
it's worth noting the WDM v1.39 release had a bug in the control panel. Be sure to check out this forum
thread for more details.
- New Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Drivers
Turtle Beach has posted new
Santa Cruz drivers for Win9x, WinME (vxd), Win2K and NT4 to their ftp server and
support page. I have not downloaded them yet but according to the support site information
they are all v.4081. If you check them out please send us your feedback. Thanks to Nathan
Foster (who runs a Santa Cruz support forum) for the pointer. Note that Nathan thinks
they might be the same drivers released from Dell over a month ago based on the version
numbers but many non-Dell uses may never have tried those even if it turns out there was
no additional tweaking done. For feedback you can either email us or visit or own CS4630 / CS4624 based card forum.
- Aureal Linux driver petition
Harry Wyburd let us know that he has started a petition to encourage Creative to release the Aureal driver
source code, so a set of stable Linux drivers can be written.
New games, demos, patches and bugs
- Rune: Halls of Valhalla Gold
Avault
reports that Rune: Halls of Valhalla has gone gold and will be in stores on April 24.
Halls of Valhalla is a deathmatch-focused add-on that can be run as a stand-alone game or
as an expansion to Rune. Not sure about the expansion pack but Rune is supposed to support
DS3D with EAX and A3D but at least the DS3D with EAX code is flawed.
- Tribes 2 patch
Sierra has released a new patch for Tribes 2 updating the game to version 22002. You can grab it
from Avault
- Art of War Music Pack
The Art of War Music pack
has been released. The music is described as a Celtic war march and is the official
theme music for the Quake3 mod, Art of War. The music can of course be used with any mod
or map that supports customizable music.
- A Knight's Tale Audio Visualizer
Sony Picture pointed us to a new winamp audio visualizer done by the folks at Wild Tangent. A Knight's Tale audio
visualizer is based on the upcoming film release from Sony Pictures with the same name.
The visualizer will eventually lead into a full game but we are not sure if the game will
support 3D audio at this time. To get a look at the visualizer, and hints of the game play
to come check out the official website at www.aknightstale.com The Knight's Tale visualizer for WinAmp users can
be downloaded here. You can check out a screen
shot from it here.
- Microsoft Delivers Final Release Of Windows Media
Audio and Video 8
Microsoft has announced the final release of its Windows Media(TM) Audio and Video 8. When
it comes to audio they now claim that using their format 48 kpbs files are comparable to
MP3 files encoded at 128 kbps. They don't mention what MP3 encoder they use for this
comparison but doubt it's one of the better ones. For all the details of the new player check out the full press
release
Reviews of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3 players.
- FrontX Multimedia Ports
Overclocked Hardware has posted a review of FrontX Multimedia Ports. It's a system to relocate
your sound card inputs such as gameport, microphone and line-in to the front of the PC.
The review is very positive giving it a rating of 90%. They also mention it's available
for $20 now, $5 less than the regular price.
- Hoontech Soundblaster Daughter Board III
AcidHardware has posted a review of
Hoontech's Sound Blaster Daughterboard III. It's designed to be used with one of the
Live cards and features AES/EBU In/Out, Coaxial-Out Front/Rear, Optical-In/Out and Coaxial
In/Out. The board cost $34 so clearly less than the board Creative Labs sells for $59
which we did a review of last year. One feature the Hoontech board lacks that
Creative Labs Digital i/o offers is SPDIF bypass. Both boards support SPDIF pass-thru and
the digital output quality should be pretty much identical.
- Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100
PC Stats has finished their review of Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100. As most if
not all other reviews I've read this one comes to a very positive conclusion saying this
4-speaker system is well worth the $180 price that includes PowerDVD 3.0. One bit I
disagree with is their claim that "Typical computer speakers and subwoofers are
made of plastic". This is not true for subwoofers, even $50 4-speaker system
often includes a subwoofer with a wood cabinet.
- S4 MidiLand 8200
NVNews.net has posted a review of MidiLand's S4 8200 system. It's a $400 5.1 system
that includes the ADS-2000 Dolby Digital decoder. It's worth noting that it lacks separate
rear inputs which makes it a fairly poor choice for PC gamers. The review is extremely
positive saying it's the new reference PC speaker system. I don't really agree with this
due to the poor connectivity for starters and don't think the benefit of a center channel
is as major when it comes to PC games as NVnews. Could also add that the Dolby Digital API
they mention in the review should work fine with the current Live cards and it's worth
noting it's just for the soundtracks, sound effects will still be positioned using DS3D.
- Logitech Xtrusio DSR-100
Avault has posted a review of Logitech's Xtrusio DSR-100 system. Like most if not all
reviews I have read on this system, Avault thinks it's pretty good, rating it a 4/5.
However, there are a few points where we disagree, mostly because I think it's a bit
better than they do. First however, it's worth noting that all newer boxes in the retail
channel will, according to Logitech, have PowerDVD 3 and not PowerDVD 2.55 in the bundle.
Having said that, we don't agree with the reviewer that PowerDVD 2.55 is limited in it's
digital output capability (not that it would matter in any case for use with the DSR-100),
the main quality difference between 2.55 and 3 is in the analog output quality. I also
find the midrange of the DSR-100 quite good for the price point and the sub is relative
tight and does have reasonable exaggeration ability IMO. Lastly, it's worth noting that
the majority of 4.1 systems in this price range do not offer separate a separate midrange
driver and tweeter.
- Evergreen Technologies RumbleFX Headphones
Two very positive reviews of Evergreen's RumbleFX Force Feedback Headphones to point out.
First up is one from Full
On 3D where even though they don't like headphones they were impressed with the
system. PC IGN thought
they were good enough to get a 9/10 and were overall surprised at the sound quality. For
more on the headphones you can also check out the press released below.
A slightly less positive review of the headphones can be found on Broken Pixel. When it
comes to their comments on the music ability of the system I fully agree with their
evaluation that despite Evergreens PR material, these headphones do not rival $100-$169
units for sound quality. However I do think they offer reasonable quality. Broken Pixel in
the end concludes that "if you are looking to enhance your gaming experience with
some incredibly comfortable, well made headphones, the RumbleFX should be near the top of
your hardware list" For their reasons why, check out the full review.
- Sony Digital Relay CRX10U-A2
Neoseeker has posted a review of Sony Digital Relay CRX10U-A2. It's a portable CDRW
drive that can play and record both audio and MP3 discs. Neoseeker was quite impressed
overall with the unit that is compact and features rechargeable battery, anti-shock
protection (no skipping), wired remote control, LCD display with ID3 tag support and an
USB interface. You will be able to find the drive in April for about $400. The only major
complaint Neoseeker had is that they run into "Buffer Underrun" issues when
trying to do a direct CD to CD copy at 4x but it worked at 2x.
- SUMA NEON MP3 Player
Digit-Life has posted
a review of the SUMA NEON MP3 Player. It's your typical flash based MP3 player coming
with 32MB or 64MB built in and a SMC slot for memory expansion. One feature it lacks is
playback of the WMA format and not sure if its firmware is upgradeable. Digit-Life thinks
it's a good choice with the 32MB version being available for $100 and the 64MB for about
$150.
- Pine Technology Palmp-3
CNET has done a review of Pine Technology Palmp-3. It's a very small portable MP3 that
features only 16MB memory built in and ships with another 16MB for a total of 32MB. When
it comes to features you'll have voice recording, a phonebook and an USB interface. CNET
found it to be too expensive at $150 considering little memory.
- Ricoh MP9120A CD-RW/DVD-ROM player
ZDNet has posted a review of the Ricoh MP9120A. It's a $300 CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
using the EIDE interface with specs of 32x CD-ROM, 12x write, 10x rewrite and 8x DVD-ROM
speed. It also features underrun protection and comes bundled with WinDVD (most likely the
2-channel version). ZDNet liked the drive but found the software bundle lacking and think
the price is on the expensive side.
- SONICblue Rio Volt
wimbee's Review's Wayne M Boer has checked
out SONICblue Rio Volt. The portable CD player features Remote control; antiskip
protection (120s); reads ID3 tags; support WMA files; skip-ten-songs navigation; handles
directories; upgradeable firmware can adapt to new file formats. Wayne M Boer found it to
be well worth the $169 even though he had some complaints including cheap headphones and
remote control.
- AOpen 1640 Pro DVD ROM
Madness PC has finished their
review of AOpen 1640 Pro DVD ROM drive. As the name suggests it got specs of 16x
DVD-ROM and 40x CD-ROM speed. The drive uses the ATAPI interface, offers SPDIF digital CD
output and comes bundled with the latest version of PowerDVD according to the review. The
review that includes CD-ROM and DVD-ROM transfer speed tests using SiSofts Sandra comes to
a very positive conclusion.
- Pioneer DVD-116
StorageReview has posted a detailed review of Pioneer's DVD-116, a 16X DVD-ROM using the
ATA-66 interface. The review covers DVD-ROM, CD-ROM and DAE performance and how it
compares to some other popular DVD-ROM drives, in particular the Pioneer DVD-115. The
drive retails for about $75 on-line according to the review.
- Samsung SD-612 12x DVD
I am not a geek dot com (yes that's a site name) has
done a review of Samsung SD-612 12x DVD drive. The review includes some DVD and CD-ROM
transfer speed results with varying results but in the end they conclude it performs close
to specs and are happy with its performance. The review doesn't mention the price but do
say it includes PowerDVD. Doubtful what version and also worth noting that there exist OEM
versions of PowerDVD that lacks multichannel output.
Other sound news
- Hercules announce Gamesurround Fortissimo II
Hercules is thrilled to announce its new Gamesurround Fortissimo™ II, the follow-up
to the award-winning Maxi Sound Fortissimo™. The card are based on the CS4624 chip
which uses Sensaura for 3D sound and supports A3D 1.0, DS3D, I3DL2 EAX 1.0 and 2.0. Other
features includes a dedicated headphone output, 4-channel output, optical in and out
connectors on the metal bracket, and a Hercules designed control panel directly accessible
from the task bar which includes a 10 band equalizer! Gamesurround FortissimoII will be
available at the end of April for approximately $49 which includes PowerDVD 3.0. You can find more details in the
press release
- RumbleFX Force Feedback Headphones Released
Evergreen Technologies, Inc., has launched its new RumbleFX force feedback headphones
which "rumble" to reveal the previously undetected physical dimension of PC,
console and hand-held video games. These headphones are the first in Evergreen's new
RumbleFX line of consumer electronics products. The headphones have a suggested list price
of $59.99 and are very similar to the Takstar headphones sold by Xitel. For a lot more
detailed specifications and description you can check out the full press
release. It's worth noting that these are not really force feedback headphones in the
sense that they use any special force feedback API. What the system does is direct the
bass from any sound source to a special bass driver. There are two power settings for the
bass effects as well as an option to completely disable the effects. The unit also has a
volume control. I have been using the unit for a short time and will offer detailed
impressions in a short review sometime in the next day or two but can say that without the
bass effects sound quality is pretty good (ahead of a comparably priced 2.1 speaker
system) and the bass effects definitely rumble but the effects are more appropriate for
games than music or movies unless you are someone who really likes to exaggerate your
bass.
- Another 3D sound solution released for the
Playstation 2
We mentioned earlier this
month that Sensaura released a middleware kit for PS2 that allow PS 2 games to use
Senaura's 3D sound engine. Now PS2.ign reports that another 3D sound solution for PS2 games developed
by Sony, named S-FORCE 3D, will be used in the upcoming PS2 Silent Hill 2. There are no
details beyond that it allows 3D sound effects over 2-speakers. Thanks to ToxicX of Stereovision.net for the pointer.
- Cambridge Soundworks Products Available to
Canadian Consumers at Hifi.com
Cambridge SoundWorks®, an award-winning manufacturer and retailer of home theater, home
audio and multimedia products, has announced that its products will be available to
Canadian consumers through its Internet-channel, Hifi.com(TM). You can find more details in the press release
- EAX technology beyond the PC
Creative's technology evangelist, Kurt Heiden has written an article
about the development of EAX audio technology beyond the PC. In the article he discuss
the use of EAX in the Nomad Jukebox, BlasterKey MP3 and Live for the Macintosh. As you may
know EAX use their EAX brand name for all their audio enhancement technology so it's not
just referring to the EAX API or even reverb anymore.
- SONICblue's New Portable Rio Players Ships with
128MB
Doubling the music capacity of its most popular portable players, Rio®, a division of
SONICblue(TM) Incorporated, has announced the immediate availability of two new models --
the Rio 800 128MB and the Rio 600 64MB. These new models support Rio's Backpack technology
for further memory expansion which I assume means you can't get memory upgrades from third
party companies. Both players features support for MP3 and WMA format, as well as the
flexibility to support other emerging music formats. The Rio 800 ships with a rechargeable
battery and features voice record. The Rio 800 sells for $299 and the Rio 600 retails for
$219. You can find more details
in the press release
- I/OMagic Will Release the Neo Jukebox 2200 in
April
I/OMagic Corporation has announced that it will launch the first product in its new series
of MP3 players with the I/OMagic Neo Jukebox 2200 -- an MP3 player with the ability to
hold up to 600 CDs (20 GB of capacity). The I/OMagic Neo Jukebox 2200 features a LCD
display, USB interface, lithium-ion rechargeable battery , support for both Macs and PCs,
upgradeable firmware and support for MP2 and MP3s at 8-320 Kbps (including VBR). The
I/OMagic Neo Jukebox 2200 is expected to have an MSRP of $499.00 and will begin shipping
in April 2001. You can find
more details in the press release
- ARCHOS Introduces Five New Portable MP3 players
ARCHOS of Irvine is expanding its portable, peripheral collection with five new devices,
including four unique additions to their Jukebox line of products. The five new products
include the first MP3 recorder, the Archos Jukebox MP3-Recorder, Jukebox Studio 20,
Jukebox CD-MP3, Jukebox CDRW-MP3, and DEx-CDRW. You can find some details on each in the press release.
- Iomega to Provide Storage for Rio MP3 Players
Iomega Corporation has announced that it will work with Rio to incorporate Iomega's
internal 100MB PocketZip(TM) drive into future Rio® offerings. Iomega's new PocketZip
100MB drive uses matchbook-sized 100MB disks that are protected from scratches by a
durable metal shell. PocketZip 100MB disks will retail for as little as $10 each, lowering
the cost of removable storage to as little as ten cents per megabyte in an easily
swappable and sharable format. You can find more details in
the press release
- IDC Forecasts MP3 Audio Player Shipments of 26
Million in 2005
The market for MP3 and other compressed audio players is expanding - both in terms of
vendors and the type of new, innovative devices being produced. According to IDC,
worldwide compressed audio player shipments will continue to grow at a torrid pace,
increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 51%, from 3.3 million in 2000 to nearly 26
million in 2005. You can find
more numbers/predictions in the full press release
- InterVideo and MP3.com Introduce Enhanced MP3
Features
InterVideo and MP3.com have announced the unveiling of enhanced MP3 features (Enhanced
MP3). The enhancement, available on MP3.com and viewable with InterVideo's WinRip(TM)
software-based digital music jukebox, gives music lovers the ability to view synchronized
lyrics and browse artist web pages through links embedded directly into standard MP3
files. To view Enhanced MP3s, users can download a free copy of InterVideo's WinRip(TM)
MP3 player software from MP3.com. You can find more details in the
press release
- Napster-Proof CDs: The Music Industry's Secret
Plan
That's the title of an article at inside where they report that the music
industry seriously consider to use CD-protection scheme that will make CDs unrippable on
CD-ROMs. The down side is it will also make them unplayable on some standard CD players
and of course CD-ROMs.
- Interactive Objects Unveils Digital Audio
Receiver
Interactive Objects has introduced the Darwin(TM) digital audio receiver during the
Microsoft WinHEC 2001 developer's conference. Based on iObjects' Dadio(TM) and Dharma(TM)
digital audio technology, Darwin is the first receiver of its kind to combine a
multi-codec CD player with an Internet Radio, while providing access to content stored on
a desktop PC jukebox or local network. Access your PC's digital music library, receive
streaming Internet Radio, or encode a new CD into your collection from any room in your
home using Darwin. Darwin is scheduled for availability in the 2nd quarter of 2001, and
will retail for $299. You can find more details in the press release
- TI Announces Digital Audio Amplifier for
DVD-Audio
Texas Instruments has announced a new digital amplifier featuring the highest performance
all-digital solution available today. The new chip is the first solution available to
operate at the sampling rate of 192 kilohertz (kHz) with a Dynamic Range of 110 decibels
(dB) measured at the speaker. The TAS5015 features highly flexible inputs supporting all
major audio standards on the market, including DVD-Audio, with sample rates ranging from
32kHz to 192kHz. You can find
more details in the press release.
- Tripath Technology Adopted by Sony
Tripath Technology, creators of Digital Power Processing (DPP(TM)) technology, has
announced that its Class-T(TM) digital amplifier technology has been adopted by Sony for
their upcoming SA-PSD5, a 5.1 surround system that target the Playstation 2 owner. The
amplifier of the SA-PSD5 delivers 330W of high fidelity, 5.1 surround sound for games or
DVD movies. Other features includes two optical and two analog inputs, Dolby
Digital®/DTS® (Digital Theater Systems) decoding and Sony's ``Digital Cinema Sound,''.
The SA-PSD5 was recently announced in Japan and will available in stores there on April
21. There is no mention when or even if it will be available outside of Japan. You can
find more details in the
press release
- Spatializer Audio Laboratories Reports FY2000
Results
Spatializer Audio Laboratories has reported a 33 percent increase in annual revenues for
the year ended December 31, 2000. Revenues for the year rose to $2,202,000, compared to
$1,660,000 in the comparable period last year. Net income for year ended December 31, 2000
was $382,000, compared to net income of $355,000 in the prior year. Revenues for the
fourth quarter ended December 31, 2000 were $536,000, compared to $684,000 in the prior
year, a decrease of 21 percent. Net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2000 was
$4,000, compared to net income of 308,000 in the prior year. Spatializer Audio
Laboratories is a leading developer, licensor and marketer of next-generation technologies
for the consumer electronics, computing and entertainment industries. You can find more details of the results in the
press release
- Cakewalk Pro Audio 9
CNET's Music Center has posted a short
review and positive (8 out of 10) Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. Cakewalk is a very powerful
music recording software which according to the review offers "precise control
over both digital audio and MIDI recording for both entry-level hobbyists and
professionals".
- Tribes 2/DTT2200/X-Gamer 5.1 contest
Creative Labs has launched a new contest. In this contest you can win a set of DeskTop
Theater™ 5.1 DTT2200 speakers or Sound Blaster® Live!™ X-Gamer 5.1.
- The tale about the Bachata music for Tropico
Gamespy has posted an article written by Jeff Smith about how the Bachata music for Tropico
came to be. As far as I know this game doesn't support 3D sound but still an
interesting read. Here's a taste:
Confused, I took mental stock of my past experiences in this
area and saw that I had none that directly related to this situation. Opening the
"box," I thought to search out clues from which I might start. There amongst the
confusing litter were several CD's filled with music of a nature that was unfamiliar to
me. I listened carefully to absorb the nuances that made this music style unique. Then,
using the powers at my command, I searched the Internet for information on Bachata. I
followed several dead ends, including a short e-mail conversation with a fellow from the
Dominican Republic now living in Canada. Though disheartened, I decided to contact some of
the very early establishments with whom earlier quests had failed. I also contacted three
musicians whom I'd contacted about different issues and asked if they could create Bachata
music. Over the course of two weeks I gathered samples from four potential Bachata
providers. All had varying skills and wages; although all had talent, four could enter,
but only ONE would remain.
For more news from last week check out our news archive.
Upcoming features at 3DsoundSurge
- Reviews that we are currently working on:
Boston Acoustics BA7500
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1
Altec Lansing ATP3
Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100
Guillemot Maxi Sound MUSE
Hercules Game Theater XP
- There are several other hardware reviews in the pipeline
including, but not limited to the following:
S4 MidiLand 7100 Plus
Polk Audio AMR150
Terratec m3po
Terratec DMX Xfire 1024
DigMedia MusicStore
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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