<Off Topic>
Several people from this thread have asked me about 3D Audio and how Aureal's offering compares to the upcoming "Environmental Audio (EAX)" that Creative Labs is about to offer. I spent a fair amount of time comparing the two systems today at the E3 conference and here is what I heard:
(Full Disclosure: I currently own a _very_ small amount (less than 1% of my portfolio) of Aureal stock. I bought it many months ago.)
I first went to the Orchid booth and listened to the Aureal demos through headphones for about five minutes. I had heard this before, but wanted to refresh my ears just before hitting the Creative Labs booth.
In case you don't know, Aureal's system simulates 3-D sound using only two speakers (or headphones) while EAX uses a subwoofer and four mini-speakers - two in front and two behind the user. Both systems require specialized sound cards and software that supports it. The EAX system also allows games to "offload" special sound effects like reverb. CREAF has worked with Microsoft to make sure the DirectSound APIs support EAX.
CREAF had a soundproof "theater" for showing off EAX. It is divided into two parts. In the first part they make you sit through a canned, sound-only, marketing presentation on EAX. Then they bring you into a room with 5 PC listening stations, each running "Unreal" with prototype versions of the SoundBlaster Live EAX sound card.
I had played "Unreal" extensively before going to E3 and I am very familiar with its sound capabilities. I'm sure that many people don't realize that "Unreal" sounds REALLY, REALLY GREAT on just a regular sound card, but it is true. When I first played it on my totally boring OEM sound card, I was blown away by the echo effects and the sound placement throughout the stereo field.
So when I heard "Unreal" on the EAX system, my honest reaction was: "Sounds the same to me, except with a subwoofer." After all the build up, I was kind of disappointed. I'm sure other people may have been very impressed by it, but it was not the mind-altering sonic euphoria I was expecting.
To further explain: With Aureal, you can tell if a sound is in front of you or behind you, but to pinpoint it's exact location behind you is sometimes difficult. With EAX, I was expecting to be able to locate sounds behind me with pin-point accuracy. That definately did not happen with the demo they showed.
Of course, the subwoofer shook up all of my vital (and non-vital) organs, but I wasn't convinced that it was actually improving the game play in a tangible way.
The problem for me is that I really don't have a place for the 2 rear speakers (and the wiring) in my house. In order for me to justify mounting them on the ceiling in some manner, I really need to know that they'll make a _big_ difference in my playing experience over a 2-speaker system. Coming out of the CREAF booth today, I wasn't convinced that they would.
On the way out, I asked someone in the CREAF booth if the system supported headphones and was told that it did not. This is a big issue for me as I often play games after my 2 year old (http://www.nwlink.com/~chipa/erica.jpg) has gone to sleep.
So those were my thoughts. I'll be the first to admit that it's a mostly subjective evaluation - but, hey, it's the best I could do. Take it for what it is worth.
Chip
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