3DsoundSurge Press Release: Turtle Beach Ships Santa Cruz Audio Accelerator

Turtle Beach Ships Santa Cruz Audio Accelerator

Six-Channel, DSP-Enhanced Audio Card Designed for Digital Music, 3D Games, and Business Audio

YONKERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 1, 2000--Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. has begun shipping the successor to its successful Montego series of sound cards, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz(TM), available immediately from major computer and electronics retailers, as well as directly from Voyetra Turtle Beach, with a US$99 MSRP.

Powered by a Crystal® by Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq:CRUS) SoundFusion® digital signal processor (DSP), Santa Cruz is the first widely available, WHQL-certified PC sound card capable of true surround-sound playback from a six-speaker configuration. Another interesting feature of the Santa Cruz is its ability to dynamically reconfigure itself to optimize PC resources for the active task. For instance, if a game demands 3D audio but not MIDI wavetable sound, the DSP will focus its processing power on accelerating the 3D streams. If the user then decides to listen to MP3 files, Santa Cruz will reconfigure itself to accelerate the MP3 decoding process.

``The Santa Cruz sets the benchmark by which other consumer cards should be judged. A PCI sound card that combines a re-configurable DSP core, audiophile performance, Dolby Digital pass-through and six-channel sound for less than $100 is a real breakthrough product,'' said Carmine J. Bonanno, president and CEO, Voyetra Turtle Beach. ``Not only is it affordable, it's also extremely flexible for use in a variety of settings. The Santa Cruz enhances every major PC audio application--MP3 digital music, advanced gaming, business audio and PC home theater.''

Santa Cruz ships with an attractive software bundle including AudioStation 4.0 and eJay SE. Voyetra's AudioStation allows end users to organize their digital music collections in play lists on their PC's, and supports Internet media formats such as MP3, Windows Media, and AVI video. eJay Special Edition, from the Germany-based eJay AG, allows users to create original HipHop, Techno and Rave dance mixes from the included, royalty-free music clips.

U.K.-based VideoLogic Systems is also shipping the card under the Sonic Fury name in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand as part of a cross-distribution alliance with Voyetra Turtle Beach announced this spring.

Based on feedback received during product previews and beta testing, Turtle Beach anticipates that the Santa Cruz will be primarily used for:

Digital music playback: The Santa Cruz accelerates MP3 decoding, freeing the host CPU for processing other tasks during playback of MP3 files. The VersaJack(TM) Digital Out allows CD audio, MP3, and other digital music files to be transferred to MiniDisc in pure digital format.

PC gaming: Santa Cruz supports every major 3D audio standard, including EAX(TM), A3D(TM), I3DL2, DirectSound3D, and Sensaura's MacroFX(TM) and MultiDrive(TM). The card also includes Sensaura's exciting new Virtual Ear(TM) technology, which heightens the 3D experience by conforming positional algorithms to an individual user's ear characteristics.

Home theater-style entertainment: In addition to providing six output channels that can be accessed by any compatible DVD movie decoding/playback software, the Santa Cruz allows Dolby Digital® AC-3 digital streams to pass through the VersaJack Digital Out to external Dolby Digital decoders in multi-speaker rooms.

Business applications. The Santa Cruz supports acoustic echo cancellation algorithms for enhancing videoconferencing or speakerphone applications. The high-resolution converters and exceptionally low signal-to-noise and total harmonic distortion levels of the Santa Cruz improve the accuracy and overall performance of Voice Recognition applications.

Music recording and production: Santa Cruz offers a wealth of features for desktop music production, including low noise, wide-band analog circuitry; four-track simultaneous recording using 18-bit A/D converters; six-channel playback from 20-bit D/A converters; a 10-band hardware EQ; multi-channel effects processing; an 8MB DLS-compatible wavetable synthesizer; and support for an optional GS-compatible digital wavetable daughter board such as the Turtle Beach CancunFX(TM).

Additional distinctive Santa Cruz features include automatic muting to eliminate power on/off thumps, as well as auto-sensing of rear jack connections to notify the user of the card's input/output capabilities.

Voyetra Turtle Beach is one of the world's leading PC audio solutions providers, working with more than 150 leading manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. In addition to its OEM and retail sales, Voyetra Turtle Beach makes its entire line of products available directly to consumers via its e-commerce Web site (http://www. turtle-beach.com) and customer service center (1-800-233-9377 or 914-966-0600).

For more information, write Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc., 5 Odell Plaza, Yonkers, NY 10701; call 800-233-9377 or 914-966-0600; fax 914-966-1102; send e-mail to sales@turtle-beach.com; or visit www.turtle-beach.com.

Contact:

     Mike McDougall, Buck & Pulleyn
     716/288-6900 or press@tbeach.com