Review 2008

Creative a anuntat o noua placa de sunet externa pentru laptop-uri, Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook ExpressCard.

Creative X-Fi Notebook ExpressCard
Dupa cum reiese si din nume, aceasta placa de sunet este compatibila cu notebook-urile cu slot ExpressCard (un fel de slot PCMCIA mai ingust). X-Fi Notebook este compusa din doua module: placa in sine si portiunea (din plastic) care ramane in afara notebook-ului. Sunt oferite atat interfete wireless cat si conectori analogici pentru conexiuni audio. Functiile specifice seriei X-Fi se regasesc si in acest model: CMSS-3D, 24-bit Crystalizer si EAX Advanced HD positional audio.

In pachet este inclusa si o pereche de casti cu microfon.

Sursa: Creative

Creative a lansat un nou driver cu suport Windows Vista pentru placile de sunet X-FI. In mod normal, lansarea unui driver nou nu este un lucru iesit din comun, dar in cazul celor de la Creative poate fi considerat un eveniment de exceptie.

Intotdeauna lansarea unui nou driver presupune noi facilitati/functii, dar acest lucru nu este valabil si in cazul de fata. Driverul 2.18.0004 pentru placile de sunet Creative X-FI cu suport Windows Vista vine sa fixeze suportul hardware al functiilor de decodare Dolby Digital, DTS si DVD-Audio care existau pentru Windows XP de mai bine de 2 ani.

Pentru posesorii de placi de sunet Creative X-Fi driverele pentru Windows Vista 32/64-bit pot fi descarcate direct de pe site-ul producatorului urmarind acest link.

Sursa: Creative

Auzentech a prezentat viitoarea placa de sunet Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1.

Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 accepta o conexiune video interna (exclusiva pentru placi video Nvidia) dar si una externa pentru o experienta video HD exceptionala.

Aceasta placa este construita in jurul celui mai nou chipset Creative PCI Express X-FI, dispune de suport nativ HDMI 1.3 si suporta codarea semnalului audio in formatele Dolby Digital si DTS. Pentru cei pasionati de jocuri, chipset-ul Creative X-FI include accelerare audio hardware si ofera un sunet realist si spatial prin tehnologiile EAX 5.0 si 3D positional audio.

Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 is este rezultatul colaborarii dintre Auzentech, NVIDIA, CyberLink PowerDVD software, Silicon Image si al celor de la Creative.

Lansarea oficiala va fi in luna septembrie 2008 si se va bate cu ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI PCI-E.

ASUS a lansat noua placa combo audio/video Xonar HDAV1.3 care este capabila sa scoata semnal audio HD necomprimat din filmele Blu-ray si sa imbunatateasca calitatea transmisiunilor video cu ajutorul procesorului incorporat Splendid HD.

Uncompromised HD Digital Audio & Video with Support for Blu-ray and HDMI 1.3
The Xonar HDAV 1.3 features Protected Audio Playback Systems (PAPS) and full Advanced Access Content System (AACS) certification. Without both of these certifications, typical PCs will need to downsample Blu-ray audio to DVD quality (48K/16bit). By closely working with ArcSoft's Total Media Theater, ASUS' Xonar HDAV1.3 is capable of decoding Blu-ray movies and takes full advantage of lossless digital audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio for professional, high-fidelity sounds at 24bit, 96-192Khz. The PCI Express based Xonar HDAV1.3 is designed from the ground up for next generation home theater PCs (HTPC); and is equipped with the proprietary AV200 audio processor and HDMI1.3a certified Splendid HD video processor – making it capable of delivering the highest quality 7.1 channel 192K linear pulse code modulation (LPCM) audio and high definition video through the HDMI port.

State-of-the-art Analog Audio with 120dB Signal-to Noise Ratio
The ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 also reigns in analog audio quality thanks to a HyperGrounding circuit design. With HyperGrounding, Xonar sound cards further reduce EMI noise inside modern PCs, providing clean 120 dB SNR and peerless 0.0004% low distortion – reaching the pinnacle of audio quality on most PC platforms. Unlike generic audio cards in the market that provide the highest SNR to only the front stereo outputs, the Xonar D2X is able to deliver 120 dB quality audio for all 7.1 channels.

Splendid HD Video Processor Presents True HD video for HTPCs
The Splendid HD Video Processor increases color performance and enhances edges for a more brilliant, crisper high definition image – without impacting the CPU load. Splendid HD not only recovers clarity when viewing lower-resolution content, but also reduces flicker for a more natural, brilliant viewing experience.

High Performance Components & Swappable Operational Amplifiers
At the heart of the Xonar is an ASUS AV200 codec chip, which routes and interprets high quality signals to premium audio components. These high quality materials include oversampling digital to analog converters (Burr-Frown PCM1796, 123 dB SNR), National Semiconductor LM4562 operational amplifiers (opamp), and analog-to-digital (Cirrus Logic CS5381, 120 dB SNR) converter. The Xonar HDAV1.3 is the first in the Xonar family to utilize opamp sockets to allow simple, solder-less modifications for user-customized sound.

DS3D GX2.0 for Rich Gaming Audio
The Xonar HDAV1.3 also comes with the well renowned DS3D GX 2.0, which revives EAX 5.0 and 3D gaming audio in Vista. DS3D GX 2.0 automatically enables the latest EAX and DirectSound HW after installation, with no additional driver patches, game modifications, or OpenAL required. DS3D GX2.0 also extends MMOG EAX to online chat, allowing you to place your voice into the game's environment.

HDAV 1.3 Deluxe - Premium Multi-channel Analog
In addition to the Xonar HDAV 1.3's features, the Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe packs the HDAV H6 surround channel expansion card. The HDAV H6 offers 120dB SNR*, ultra-low 0.0004% distortion, and swappable opamps on each channel.