| To: Artslaw who wrote (947) | 3/19/1999 6:59:00 PM | | From: chris431 | | | |
Highlights & My Comments regarding Game Developers Conference Report by David Gasior
"On top of that, we probably gave out about 1000 SDKs for A3D 2.0. I think we're going to see some really cool A3D 2.0 titles. Gosh, there are so many I wish I could just spill the beans on, but arggghh ... soon, grasshopper, soon..."
"David Sparks and two other employees of Creative Labs came to our sponsored session, but didn't ask any questions or stick around afterwards."
-NOTE: Damn spies :) Typical CREAF of recent....use others ideas/technology and hype it with expensive ad campaigns. (RE: Spies....don't take the comment to seriously....viewing ones competitors' products, etc. is legitimate and done all the time....I have no problem with it, none the less I have a great dislike for CREAF.) But alas, David Gasior also visited the CREAF presentations. Probably didn't learn much since AURL really has nothing to learn from CREAF given CREAF's inferior EAX.
From the section regarding CREAF's presentation:
"- One of the developers asked about using multiple reverbs at the same time. Apparently (according to Dave), doing more than one reverb on the 10k1 is currently too much for the chip to handle. I found this shocking considering how they love to boast about MIPS and being programmable."
-Again, not surprising. Hype, hype, hype. I'm sure most here have read that CREAF announced EAX 3.0 when they don't even have EAX 2.0 released (and probably not even finished). Typical hype in the vein of Nintendo (announce your next system to be released in 1 year knowing damn well it won't be released for 2-3 years) and Microsoft (they've been promising their Directory Services for Networks for a few years now hoping it would slow the adoption of Novell.)
"EAX 3.0 will most likely be proprietary to Creative Labs; the question was sort of skirted with a "we're not sure right now, but we think so" kind of answer."
-All the better IMHO. Aureal is already winning the battle of API's and consumer support. Game developers realize they are developing for a specific audience (game players) and that audience is overwhelmingly pro-Aureal and A3D. As such, the number of Lives! sold and marketting blitz of CREAF does not really help them get their API adopted b/c it is a focussed group which EAX and A3D are for. A3D and EAX are not about a "battle of soundcards" in general but rather a battle of soundcards for gameplayers. AURL is already ahead of the game and given CREAFs continually slow production AURL will be even further ahead.
"....directed his attention over to the Heretic II game pod [an AURL setup], and pointed out the two Creative Labs employees in full Creative outfits sitting there playing the game - huge smiles on their faces commenting on how cool it was and how great it sounded...." |
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| To: Robert Pekka who wrote (945) | 3/19/1999 7:11:00 PM | | From: chris431 | | | |
RE: ESS Canyon3D
In case you didn't read the entire article by Aureal's David Gasior, here is a paragraph discussing ESS's Canyon3D chip:
"SENSAURA
Peter Clare kicked my ass for calling ignorant!!! :P
Actually, the folks at Sensaura were great. Peter (who did bring up my
comment about him, though jokingly) and Adam and Neela were all very
friendly and demoed their MultiDrive technology for us. After hearing it,
I've decided to go work for them now. Woo, I'm getting really punchy now
that its 1:30 in the morning!!! But seriously, their effect was very
nice. I can't say it was better or worse than ours, but it is certainly
better than any of our other competitors (who basically have sucked). I'd
love to do some A/B comparisons with our stuff. As I said in a previous
post, I hope their partnership with ESS doesn't doom them since ESS
continually churns out crap. Sensaura shared a small booth with ESS, and
while Canyon3D was all over the booth, I don't know if they had any for
demo or not. Didn't really talk to anyone from ESS, although I did meet
two of their team at the Microsoft party. (When you're trashed,
everyone's a friend!)
Again, I want to thank Peter, Adam, and Neela for their time as well.
They had the funniest t-shirts too." |
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| To: Robert Pekka who wrote (945) | 3/21/1999 9:52:00 PM | | From: chris431 | | | |
Xitel Storm Platinum review
9/10
agnhardware.com
Introduction
It finally looks like Diamond's MX300 is going to get some competition in
the Vortex 2 market in the form of the Storm Platinum from Xitel. Even
though Xitel does not have the name recognition of Creative or Diamond,
there is more to a good sound card then what can be summed up in only
a name.
As with Diamond's MX300, the Storm Platinum is based upon the tried and
tested reference design from Aureal. This decision to use a reference
design is sure to eliminate all of the tech support problems that a unique
design seems to create. Just look at the problems that Canopus has had
with their video cards and I think that you will understand what I am
talking about.
About the Vortex 2
Aureal's Vortex 2 has an impressive design that includes a massive 3.3 million transistors on
the chip. The massive amount of power that is hardwired into the Vortex 2 allows a single
chip to perform the amount of work that would have taken many DSPs just a short time ago.
Wave, midi, digital input and output, graphic EQ and more are all handled on the processor.
16bit audio has been upped to 18bit at 48Khz, bringing the quality of output up to a level that
true audiophiles would only dream about till now.
Supporters of 3D sound will be happy to hear that the Vortex 2 supports
up to 76 Directsound 3D streams in hardware. This may seem like overkill
for the most part, but it does give you bragging rights when you are
talking to your friends at an upcoming computer show. It also allows the
Vortex 2 to power multiple speaker gaming rigs with excellent sounding 3D
sound without batting a processor cycle.
For those of you who are still playing around with MIDI, you will be happy
to hear (pun intended) that the Vortex 2 has some pretty impressive MIDI
features. With the ability to play up to 320 voices at the same time, you
will be able to bring an orchestra to your PC. You will also be able to
tweak the output with 8 real-time effects including echo, reverb and
more.
What about A3D 2.0?
One of the biggest features that the Vortex 2 offers the gamer is the fact that it supports
Aureal's A3D 2.0 API as well as the older A3D. A3D 2.0 is a very impressive AP that can
handle positional sounds, doppler effects, wave tracing and more. Using special algorithms
that were originally developed for NASA, Aureal brings the next level of 3D audio to the
home PC. The biggest advance with A3D 2.0 is the inclusion of wave tracing to simulate
realistic environments. Using the wave tracing engine they are able to place you in a room
and then simulate how sounds would act when bouncing off of walls or other objects. If you
are walking on a metal floor your footsteps will echo throughout the hallway as they are
created off the floor and then they'll bounce off the walls.
A3D 2.0 also supports a feature called occlusion - the ability to give a
sound a blocked property. Occlusion will allow sound to be muffled and
blocked as it travels from room to room or it is blocked out by an object.
If a monster is standing in front of your screaming wife, her screams will
not sound as loud. Once the monster moves and allows her screams to
pass through to you, the volume will increase and you will hear her telling
you to do the dishes or die.
A3D 2.0 is as impressive as it is complicated and is truly a much better
API than Creative's EAX. On the other hand Creative is working on EAX 2
which will include occlusion as on of its features, allowing you to upgrade
your Live card to support those features. But at the same time EAX is an
open standard and the MX300 will support that API as well next year. The
facts can be confusing but at the same time they will set you free.
Card Specifications
Controller Chip
Aureal Vortex 2 - AU8830 Controller
CODEC
Quad Channel Output 18-bit AC'97 CODEC
Features
Hardware Accelerated A3D 2.0 and DirectSound 3D
96 DMA Hardware Accelerated Channels
Professional 320 Voice MIDI Synthesizer
Digital 10-Band Graphic Equalizer
Multiple Speaker/Headphone Support
Optical S/PDIF (TOSLINK) Output
Accelerated Joystick Port
SoundBlaster Pro Hardware Support
Inputs and Outputs
CD In (MPC)
Aux In (MPC)
Modem In (MPC)
Mic In (for electret and condenser mics)
2 Stereo Line Outputs For Up To 4 Speakers
Optical S/PDIF Output (TOSLINK)
MIDI/Joystick Port
Wavetable Header
Expansion Header
General MIDI Interface
MIDI MPU-401 UART Mode
16 Byte FIFO's For MIDI IN and MIDI OUT
Doubles as Joystick Port
Signal Specification
Output: 1Vrms Typical (AC'97 Specification)
Input: 1Vrms Typical (AC'97 Specification)
Frequency Response 20Hz - 20 kHz
THD+N: Less than 0.007%
SNR: Better than 95 dB
Hardware Acceleration Features
Full A3D 1.0 and A3D 2.0
DirectSound and DirectSound 3D
MIDI Synthesis Including DirectMusic
48 kHz Sample Rate Conversion
Digital Mixing
10-Band Graphic Equalizer
Joystick Port Commands
API's Supported
Aureal A3D 1.0
Aureal A3D 2.0
Microsoft DirectSound
Microsoft DirectSound 3D
Microsoft DirectMusic
Microsoft DirectInput
EAX (future driver revision)
About the Storm Platinum
The Storm Platinum is based upon the same design as Diamond's Monster Sound MX300.
This means that you are going to get all of the same features as the MX300 for a retail price
that is $20 cheaper. For those of you looking for a big bundle or any bundle at all, you are
going to be a little disappointed with the Storm Platinum. The only software that the card
comes with other than an A3D demo disk is drivers. This means you don't get the cool DVD
player with 3D sound support, one of the nicer features on the MX300.
One feature that the Storm Platinum includes that Diamond's MX300 did
not is an Optical S/PDIF-out port for hooking up your computer to a
digital receiver or mini-disk player. This should allow you to hook up a
Mini-disk player to your computer for some true digital recording. This
should also support output of true Digital Dolby AC-3 sound to your
receiver in the future for those of us using software DVD decoding.
The card also has 2 speaker output, microphone-in with gain, line in, as
well as an accelerated gameport for lag free gaming. The technology
behind this game port can actually speed up your response time when
playing a game with a joystick, gamepad or wheel that hooks up to the
card. Considering that a good accelerated game controller costs $60 or
more, the introduction of this technology to the soundcard makes it an
even better buy.
After seeing the S/PDIF connector on the outside of the card I have to
admit that I was surprised to see that there was no digital connector on
the card for hooking up your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. This digital
connector is one of the features on the Live! that allows you to stream
audio from an audio CD in true digital form, rather than analog. Although
this feature is not necessary for true gamers, it would have been nice to
have.
Force Feedback Headphones
Xitel sent me their Storm Platinum Gamer's pack that
included a set of force feedback headphones for a MSRP
of $99.99. When I first heard about force feedback
headphones I was not exactly sure what to expect. Force
feedback usually means that something pushes against
you, usually a joystick or wheel, making it hard for you to
move. The idea of force feedback headphones brings up
thoughts of a truly head moving experience. The controls
for the headphones are attached to the cord, allowing
you to turn down the volume and turn on the force
feedback.
In reality the force effects are nothing more then
vibrations from a vibrating puck that is in the headpiece
of each speaker. This vibration creates the effect that
the speakers are carrying some massive bass that is
capable of shattering walls. It is actually pretty impressive technology
and well worth the $20 extra expense for the Gamer's pack that includes
the headphones. I tested out the force effects with a few games
including South Park and of course, Quake 2. The chain gun rattled the
headphones to the point where you could realistically believe you were
being bombarded by the massive sound created by that type of ammo
discharge. In South Park a herd of turkeys came running at me to peck
my eyes out, leaving the feeling that the ground was truly shaking. My
biggest complaint about the force-feedback is the amount of battery
power that the effects use. I was able to only play with them for a day
before the batteries had drained and I was left with no more force
feedback. AAA batteries do not come cheap, so I suggest you buy some
stock in Energizer if these headphones ever take off.
I spent an afternoon playing around with the headphones and was left
with one of those silly grins that leave people wondering what is going on
in your little brain. Although the output is not going to blow away true
audiophiles, for a set of $20 headphones I do not think you could ever do
any better. In fact the quality of the audio was as good as a set of digital
Sony headphones that I paid $60 for. Throw in the digital force effects
and it is truly an experience that is worth the money.
Now you are probably going what is up with pushing headphones when
just above I was talking about the benefits of 4 speaker sound? The nice
thing about A3D 2.0 is it is able to provide 3D surround sound through
headphones or just 2 speakers. So while playing Half-Life with the
headphones I was able to get a surround sound experience that was
almost equal to having 4 independent speakers.
The Ratings
Welcome to our new method of rating, where rate the product in individual areas and explain
the reasons for the rating.
Sound Quality – 10 Stars
One of the most important features of a sound card is the output quality of its sound. Since
the Vortex 2 is a fully digital chip, the quality of the sound is excellent. There is no crackling
or other problems that some of the older sound cards have suffered from. The addition of the
10-band graphic equalizer has also added value to the card by allowing you to tweak the
audio within the sound card rather then on the processor. ‘
Features – 9 Stars
The Vortex 2 is the best audio processor on the market that is available
to the general gaming public for a price that we can afford. The addition
of features like 320 voices of MIDI and the hardware graphic equalizer
make it the perfect choice to replace your aging sound care. Xitel has
also gone one step beyond what was required by including the optical
digital output so that those of you with digital receivers and other
devices can make use of that feature. The force feedback headphones
are well worth their price, just make sure that you pick up some
rechargeable batteries for them.
Bundle – 0 Stars
Is an A3D demo disk a bundle? Hmmm did not think so....
Value – 9 Stars
With a single card price of only $79.95 you are essentially getting a MX300 for $20 less. The
only thing holding back the value of the card is the lack of a bundle. I do not think it would
have been that hard to bundle a shareware MP3 player or anything to add to the initial out of
box experience with the card. If I were you though I would suggest paying an extra $20 and
going for the force feedback headphones, they are well worth the money in my book.
Overall – 9 Stars
With the lack of bundle aside, I have to admit that the Xitel Storm Platinum is a great card
with some great features. With the lack of competition that Diamond has been getting in the
Vortex 2 market, it is nice to see that someone has finally came out with something that is
going to give Diamond a run for their money.
-Click here to leave your own comments or review
Other sound card reviews
Monster Sound MX300
Sound Blaster Live! Value
Montego A3D Xstream
|
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last ReadRead Replies (1) |
|
| To: PHarris who wrote (953) | 3/23/1999 2:57:00 AM | | From: chris431 | | | |
Fitzgerald Communications
As most of you have read, Aureal has just become a client of this investor relations company. Here is a link to the company:
fitzgerald.com
Of the clients listed at fitzgerald.com, I have searched for the ticker symbols of those that are public.
Here are the results:
Cylink Corp. = CYLK
Corixa = CRXA
Memco Software Ltd. (not sure if correct b/c on Fitzgerald's site, the company is listed as Memco Software Inc.) = MEMCF
Mapics = MAPX
Manugistics Group = MANU
Newbridge Networks = NN
Segue Software = SEGU
Sapient = SAPE
Excel Switching = XLSW
Great Plains Software = GPSI
Here is a link to the quotes for these companies:
dbc.com
Chris |
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| To: Steve Sucheck who wrote (939) | 3/23/1999 3:19:00 AM | | From: chris431 | | | |
Quantex increasing use of Vortex
I often browse OEM's websites and advertisements in magazine to see how aggressively they are pushing Aureal cards. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Compaq continues to increase it's use of Vortex based cards as does Dell. One company I have been looking at for quite some time in hopes they would start adding Vortex cards as an option is Quantex. My first computer was a Quantex (486DX2/66) many years ago before Quantex became a player. As it now stands, I believe Quantex is in the top 5-10 sellers of PCs.
A couple months ago I noticed that they did add the MX300 as the card for their high end "Multimedia Gaming" computer. Yet, they continued to use low end sound cards for the rest of their computers and did not offer the MX300 as an independent option. In their most recent PC Magazine ad, I noticed that they started using an Aureal Vortex 2 8830 based card as the default soundcard in more of their systems. Their website now adds Vortex based card option for most PC's through a "multimedia package" for $199 (also includes Voodoo card). While this is far from pushing Aureal products, it is better to have the option in most of their PC's than none. Furthermore, in their higher end "Power" systems, they are now using the Vortex 2 card as their default sound card....not as an option. This is very good news for Aureal and chalks up one more major OEM who is using Aureal's cards for their systems. I am now hoping that they will expand their use of Aureal cards to not only include the Vortex 2 based card, but also to replace the current default card on their lower end systems, Creative AudioPCI Wavetable 3D Sound, to Vortex 1 based cards as Compaq and Dell have.
Chris |
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last ReadRead Replies (2) |
|
| To: Fred Mah who wrote (957) | 3/24/1999 12:48:00 AM | | From: chris431 | | | |
Nice post. I remember the press release regarding PB Europe but forgot about it. Very interesting mention of an "8810." We should look into that rumor a bit closer as it definitely sounds interesting.
Chris
P.S. The PB link retrieved "nil" via Netscape. |
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last ReadRead Replies (1) |
|
| To: chris431 who wrote (956) | 3/24/1999 11:23:00 PM | | From: Ernie Onate | | | |
Hi Chris,
Did you also notice that Falcon Northwest seems to have more sku's using a Vortex 2 part than any other? I was pricing a few systems from them and every system I was interested in had an MX300 in it.
Ernie |
| | Aureal Semiconductor | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last ReadRead Replies (3) |
|
| |
