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"Our goal has always been to meet the needs of the gaming community, and Aureal's Vortex 2 is the next step for taking gamers to a new level of immersive entertainment," said Todd Moore, audio product line manager at Diamond Multimedia. "We believe the Monster Sound MX300 featuring Vortex 2, coupled with A3D 2.0 and Aureal Wavetracing* technology, offers an unbeatable platform for the ultimate gaming experience."

Vortex 2 provides hardware support for Aureal’s A3D technology -- the standard for high-end 3D audio used in a multitude of PC games, as well as support for Microsoft’s DirectSound3D. Aureal’s recently announced A3D 2.0 provides additional 3D audio features, including Aureal WavetracingÔ -- the ability to add wall reflections and occlusions to model the acoustic characteristics of the environment. The Vortex 2 processor is configurable for up to 320 wavetable voices and accepts DLS 1.0 sound samples, making it an excellent platform for accelerating DirectMusic and MIDI-based audio.

"When we announced our partnership with Diamond, we knew we could develop an audio product that would represent the ideal solution for today's market," said Toni Schneider, vice president of Advanced Technology for Aureal Semiconductor. "The Monster Sound MX300 is that product, and when you look at the entire feature set, you can see that Diamond left no stone unturned."

About Vortex 2

Vortex employs a unique audio dataflow architecture developed by Aureal which offers significant advantages over other PCI audio devices, most of which are either based on large, programmable DSPs, or fixed topology architectures which lack the programmability needed for flexible audio stream routing. Vortex offers the cost-savings and concurrency advantages of functionally optimized silicon, while maintaining the processing and audio streaming flexibility that is required for audio architectures such as Microsoft’s DirectSound and upcoming Windows Driver Model (WDM).

The Vortex 2 (Part No. AU8830) is a 3.3 Volt, 5 Volt Compatible chip that is available in a 128-pin plastic quad flatpack design (PQFP). Key features of the part include:

• Hardware-based A3D and DirectSound3D engine (16 sources)

• Hardware-based A3D 2.0 Wavetracing engine with wall reflections and occlusions (64 sources)

• 320-voice DLS wavetable engine for DirectMusic and MIDI (64 hardware, up to 256 software voices depending on CPU)

• Hardware DirectSound engine (96 sources)

• Optimized for headphone, 2-speaker, or multi-speaker (up to 8) playback

• Hardware-based 10-band stereo graphic equalizer (96 dB Signal to Noise Ratio)

• Legacy audio support in real-time DOS and DOS Windows boxes

• Hardware-based crosstalk cancellation

• 96 DMA channels

• Windows 98/95 and NT 4.0 Drivers (WDM ready)

• Full MIDI I/O and DirectX gameport acceleration

• SP/DIF output

About A3D

A3D allows users to hear interactive entertainment in a 360-degree space around them, creating a realistic, three-dimensional, immersive audio experience - all from a standard two-speaker or four-speaker set-up or headphones. Today, numerous game titles from over 100 developers feature or plan on featuring A3D positional audio technology. These games include Unreal from GT Interactive, Incoming from Rage Software, Descent: Freespace from Interplay, Battlezone from Activision, and Jedi Knight from LucasArts.

About Aureal

Aureal builds advanced audio semiconductor and software solutions that increase functionality and features for personal computers and consumer electronics devices. Aureal develops audio processing semiconductor chips and also licenses technology designed to define and improve advanced audio standards in the marketplace. For information on Aureal, its products, and its industry leading A3D audio technologies, please call Corporate Communications at 510-252-4582 or visit our Website at www.aureal.com

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, dependence on the PC and consumer electronics industries and on product lines based on new technologies; foundry capacity, availability and reliability; competition and pricing pressures; and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Aureal Press Release Contacts
Media Contact: Jonathan Hirshon (Horizon Communications), 408-969-4888
Financial Analyst Contact: David Domeier (Aureal), 510-252-4582