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The Week in
Review: January 20-26, 2003
Last week's features at
3DsoundSurge
Last week's sound news
Drivers and bugs
New
games, demos, patches and bugs
Reviews
of soundcards, speakers, headphones and MP3 players.
- Hercules Sound Card Roundup
ExtremeTech has posted a review
that looks at the Hercules Muse 5.1, Fortissimo III 7.1 and DigiFire 7.1. The review
is overall positive for the Fortissimo III 7.1 and DigiFire 7.1 cards. Some comments
follow. First, the DigiFire 7.1 and Fortissimo III 7.1 are from an audio perspective the
same in all respects right down to using the identical unified drivers from Hercules. As
such the audio features should be identical. This being the case I would have predicted
identical objective quality test results between the two cards, something that's not the
case in this review. The reviewer notes the two cards are layed out differently perhaps
leading to the differences observed. This is something we will follow-up on in testing for
our upcoming review of these two cards. Secondly, to be clear, none of the Hercules cards
decode Dolby Digital - decoding is via the bundled PowerDVD software DVD player. I am also
fairly certain that the Terratec DMX 6Fire 2496 does not decode DTS in its drivers - again
that chore would fall to a software DVD player.
- Creative Labs I-Trigue 3300 review
Guru3D has posted a review of Creative Labs I-Trigue 3300 Speaker system. The satellite
design is a bit similar to Altec Lansing's ATP series and each use 3 titanium drivers.
Guru3D found the design to be great and the sound quality impressive considering the
price, €119.
- Thermaltake AquariusII™ Liquid Cooling Video
Review
3dGameMan.com has posted a video review of the Thermaltake AquariusII™ Liquid Cooling
system. They describe the unit as "offering an out of the box water cooling setup
for your PC that is very easy to install and performs well. It includes all the parts and
documentation needed to get everything setup very quickly with no hassles. Great cooling
at low noise levels is what this product is all about". Watch the Video to find out more...
Other sound news
- Microsoft Debuts WM PLUGINS.COM
Microsoft has announced the launch of WM PLUGINS.COM (www.wmplugins.com), the premier resource and catalog of enhancements
from 20 different companies and Microsoft for extending the Windows Media® Player 9
Series experience for Windows® XP. Plug-ins are a key new capability in Windows Media
Player 9 Series for Windows XP that allow any developer to customize and add great new
enhancements to the player. More than 100 enhancements are available today on the Web
site, underscoring the diverse developer support and enthusiasm for the new Windows Media
9 Series platform. Companies offering new enhancements on the
site include 4Front Technologies, Anark Corporation, Averett & Associates, CyberLink
Corporation, Inscriber, InterVideo Inc., QSound Labs Inc., RCS, Saltmine Inc., The Skins
Factory, Sonic Solutions, SRS Labs Inc., Tattoo Media Inc. and VoiceAge Corporation. Other
companies that intend to add their own enhancements in the near future include Ahead
Software Inc., AnalogX, Caption Colorado LLC, Dolby Labs Inc., MoodLogic Inc. and
OverDrive Inc.
Also making their premiere today on WM PLUGINS.COM are a series of
new enhancements for Windows Media Player 9 Series from Microsoft. For lots more detail
you can check out
the full press release as well as two separate press releases from QSound and SRS Labs
posted below.
- QSound Launches iQms2 for Windows Media Player 9
Series
QSound Labs has announced the launch of iQms2, the latest addition to QSound's iQ family,
to coincide with Microsoft's launch of www.wmplugins.com
as the premier resource and catalog of enhancements for extending the Windows Media Player
9 Series experience for Windows XP. iQms2 integrates seamlessly with Windows Media Player
9 Series, providing what QSound describes as "a dramatically improved playback
experience by making streaming Internet audio and MP3s come alive with QSound's remarkable
3D audio effects". iQms2 is based on QSound's High
Definition audio library (QHD). At the heart of QHD is QSound's best-selling audio
expansion technology, QXpander®, which takes the existing mono or stereo sound
information and applies 3D processing proportionately to it, resulting in two-channel
stereo output with a dramatically wider perceived sound field. iQms2 also uses QSound's
QRumble and QSizzle to restore both punch and brilliance to music, bringing the
"warmth" of analog playback to digital audio files.
For additional details you can check out full press
release.
- SRS Labs Releases Circle Surround II 5.1 Plug-In
SRS Labs has introduced a Circle Surround II software plug-in for Windows® Media Player 9
Series users. The Circle Surround II Plug-in ("CS II Plug-in") is now available
for purchase from SRS Labs, as well
as from Microsoft's newly launched website, www.wmplugins.com for an introductory price of $9.99. The CS II
Plug-in is the only 5.1 surround sound plug-in available for the Windows Media Player 9
Series. This patented surround sound format allows PC users to enjoy 5.1 channels of high
quality surround sound from all content (excluding DVDs) including mono, typical stereo
sources (such as MP3 files), and other matrix surround-encoded material. Optimal
performance is achieved with CS-encoded source material. For additional details you can check out the full
press release.
- Xbox Solidifies Number Two Position Across North
America and Europe
One year ago, the Xbox video game system was the new kid on the block. Today, Microsoft
Corp. confirmed that Xbox was a top holiday seller and is now firmly entrenched in the No.
2 market position in the United States and Europe. According to the NPD Funworld TRSTS
December 2002, Xbox significantly widened the gap between the competition, established
itself as the clear No. 2 video game platform and brought the overall next-generation
market share for Xbox to 24 percent. For lots more detail you can check out the full
press release. A related Reuters story over at Yahoo reports that Nintendo's flagship
GameCube console will miss its shipment target by over 10 percent this business year, hit
by weak demand and the rival PlayStation 2. The story also reports that the GameCube
"vies with newcomer Microsoft Corp for the No.2 spot in the console market".
More details can be found in the full story.
- Logitech Continues Strong Growth with Best
Quarter Ever
Logitech has posted its best quarter yet, with strong holiday sales across both
traditional and new product categories. Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, 2002
reached $351.8 million, an increase of 18 percent over the same quarter last year.
Operating income was $50.8 million, an increase of 20 percent over the same quarter of the
previous year. Net income of $40.4 million ($0.80 per share) was 22 percent higher year
over year. Gross margin was 33.3 percent, compared with 34.7 percent for the same quarter
last year. Retail sales increased by 15 percent over the same
quarter last year and represented 85 percent of total revenue for the quarter. OEM sales
grew by 37 percent year over year, as the Company continued to expand its OEM offerings.
Third quarter highlights included a 142 percent increase in revenue from sales of Logitech
branded speakers.
For lots more detail you can check out the full
press release.
- Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' Goes SACD
For 30th Anniversary
A new edition of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon is coming out in March to celebrate
the album's 30th anniversary. The updated version has been remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound
and will be available in the dual-layer hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) format. The disc, due
March 4 from EMI/Capitol, will also include a newly remastered stereo mix, but it's not
expected to have any bonus tracks. For further details you can check out the whole story at Yahoo News.
- Liquid Audio Says Sells Some Assets for $3.2
Million
Digital music company Liquid Audio Inc. has reported that it has entered a deal to sell
its digital music fulfillment business to Geneva Media LLC for $3.2 million. Redwood City,
California-based Liquid, which is in the process of dissolving itself and disposing of its
assets, said it has also transferred ownership of "Liquid Audio"-related
trademarks to Geneva, an affiliate of Anderson Merchandisers. For some additional details
you can check out the Reuters story over at Yahoo News.
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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