nvidia to release SoundStorm as add-in card

[draggoon01]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mmedia/display/20031007130339.html

i've read more than once some of you hoping for this.

 

[GTaudiophile]

*crosses his fingers*

And it's about time!

Bye-Bye Creative

Edit: Aureal is back???

 

[Vonkhan]

finally!

 

[mchammer187]

never had a problem with my SB Audigy but another player in the market is good

i still think i'd rather have an audigy 2 Z or whatever it is called though

 

[FearoftheNight]

has alot of potential....is it pci express or pci?

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
has alot of potential....is it pci express or pci?

dunno, but i'd expect pci if it's coming out any time soon.

i'm hoping they update it, or if they need to make as much money as possible, release the card then update it soon after. afterall it's basically been out 2 years now and creative does refreshers yearly.

 

[lordtyranus2]

I'd say PCI as well, to make it more marketable.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
has alot of potential....is it pci express or pci?

Who the hell would even consider releasing a PCI-Express Sound card as of now?

 

[sharkeeper]

Who the hell would even consider releasing a PCI-Express Sound card as of now?

For real. Perhaps it will be ISA to match nForce tech!

Cheers!

 

[Schadenfroh]

did nvidia hire aureal's engineers after they went under?

 

[vailr]

Quote:
In early 2000 NVIDIA acquired virtually the whole patent portfolio as well as hired development staff from Aureal ? a well-known maker of audio solutions from the late nineties ?

This is totally incorrect.
It wasn't Nvidia that bought Aureal, it was Creative that bought out Aureal's patents and hired the Aureal engineers.
AFAIK, Nvidia's Soundstorm technology is only a byproduct of their XBox collaboration with Microsoft.
Comments?

 

[rbV5]

They'll have to since Soundstorm is missing from NForce3, this is good news.

 

[Mem]

They'll have to since Soundstorm is missing from NForce3, this is good news.

Also it`ll open up the sound market ,since anybody with a spare PCI slot in their motherboard will be able to use it.It`ll probably be a standard PCI fitting for now since that`s the main stream at the moment.

 

[rbV5]

Also it`ll open the the sound market ,since anybody with a spare PCI slot in their motherboard will be able to use it.It`ll probably be a standard PCI fitting for now since that`s the main stream at the moment

"Hopefully" we'll get some better ASIO driver support for existing Soundstorm solutions as well, and please don't skimp on the DAC, analog output could use alot better support if they really want to compete.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: rbV5
They'll have to since Soundstorm is missing from NForce3, this is good news.

Does anyone know why this is though? I would think it would be easier because the NF3 requires less chipset logic in the first place.

 

[draggoon01]

i hope one thing this accomplishes is that dolby digital encoding through ac3 output becomes standard on sound cards. i know some people don't like that because it theoretically only adds latency, but i think it's important to having a standard 1 wire ac3 output to make it common for users and supported more my game developers.

 

[BD2003]

I seriously hope they make some improvements to it because the nforce audio has been the single worst 3d audio solution Ive ever used. Ive really tried to give it a fair chance, Ive used it for months, but I just have to go back to the audigy.

In counterstrike, 3d audio is unusable. Theres a overwhelming echo everywhere.

In most games the EAX implementation was also either overwhelming or barely there at all.

In most other games, the 3d sound is ridiculously muffled. Call of duty sounded terrible.

And when you turn 3d sound on, make sure you lower the music and voice in the game, cause sound level is automatically halved.

The sound in NOLF2 didnt work properly because it wouldnt accept the fact that I had no center channel. Any sound directly in front of me didnt work.

It was fast though!

I really really wanted it to be good cause it was fast, and cheap. But the audigy 2 is just as fast, and sounds SO MUCH BETTER. Yes creatives drivers suck, but face it, they are the standard, and unlike 3d graphics, your sound will sound radically different depending on your card.

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: draggoon01
i hope one thing this accomplishes is that dolby digital encoding through ac3 output becomes standard on sound cards. i know some people don't like that because it theoretically only adds latency, but i think it's important to having a standard 1 wire ac3 output to make it common for users and supported more my game developers.

Why is it important? The vast majority of users don't have a DD decoder on their speakers so they can't take advantage of this 1 wire connection, and none of the current multimedia speakers have DACs that can compare to the Audigy 2's. And the Nvidia sound solution encodes DirectSound3D or OpenAL soundstreams into a DD stream, so it will have no impact on game developers either.

 

[madcow235]

More Cheap sound . When will people realize that the Nforce2 and Audigy2 DONT sound good? Sure they have good EAX support but if you have heard a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, An M-Audio Revolution, A terratec DMX 7.1, or any other chip using the new Envy24 chipset you would know what real sound is. Now if this chip sounds good then I will be happy.

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: Accord99

Originally posted by: draggoon01
i hope one thing this accomplishes is that dolby digital encoding through ac3 output becomes standard on sound cards. i know some people don't like that because it theoretically only adds latency, but i think it's important to having a standard 1 wire ac3 output to make it common for users and supported more my game developers.

Why is it important? The vast majority of users don't have a DD decoder on their speakers so they can't take advantage of this 1 wire connection, and none of the current multimedia speakers have DACs that can compare to the Audigy 2's. And the Nvidia sound solution encodes DirectSound3D or OpenAL soundstreams into a DD stream, so it will have no impact on game developers either.

whoops, you are right about DICE (Dolby Interactive Content Encoder) not requiring game developer support. i would prefer though if ac3/spdif output became standard for surround sound instead of some custom creative connection. with dvd's as popular as they are and hdtv using DD, home theatre systems are growing in popularity. so it would be nice if pc audio developed to be compatible with such a setup. nothing beats playing xbox on a nice 5.1 setup. although most receievers have separate analog inputs for 6 channels, i'd rather if soundcards would use 1 mini-jack for stereo, and 1 spdif jack for surround. probably unrealistic though

 

[beatle]

:Q! Maybe I should look into a P4 after all. The Soundstorm was one of the key factors in my last system purchase. While I could afford the extra bucks for a comparable Intel system, I didn't want to foot the bill for an Audigy 2 as well. I wonder how nVidia will price their cards. Competition is great.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: beatle
:Q! Maybe I should look into a P4 after all. The Soundstorm was one of the key factors in my last system purchase. While I could afford the extra bucks for a comparable Intel system, I didn't want to foot the bill for an Audigy 2 as well. I wonder how nVidia will price their cards. Competition is great.

Audigy 2 is only 55 bucks at BB.

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: madcow235
More Cheap sound . When will people realize that the Nforce2 and Audigy2 DONT sound good? Sure they have good EAX support but if you have heard a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, An M-Audio Revolution, A terratec DMX 7.1, or any other chip using the new Envy24 chipset you would know what real sound is. Now if this chip sounds good then I will be happy.

Actually, I've used many soundcards over the years including the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. Very nice card... but still only slightly better than the 2.5x cheaper Audigy2 I have in here.

Though I must say, ASIO drivers do not appear to be working properly... but it could be that my rig desperately needs a reformat and fresh OS install. I hope the Creative Drivers aren't as bad after a few changes and fresh install.

Or this Audigy2 will NOT last long in my rig. Gimme' ASIO on the cheap, please!

 

[sandorski]

Woot. Creative Labs needs a kick in the groin, Nvidia has the ability to do just that!

 

[Corporate Thug]

any mention of price? i didnt catch it in the article