<You Mean:> Yup, wrong url. Thanks. Also: <A> Analog Devices Announces Industry's First Microsoft Windows 98-Based Audio Accelerator Supporting Intel AC'97, USB, 1334 Sound, Modem Adaptors
NORWOOD, Mass. -- Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) today took a leadership position in the PC audio/modem industry with its announcement of SoundMAX(TM) 64, the industry's first audio accelerator optimized for Microsoft Windows 98 multimedia applications and supporting Intel AC'97 motherboards and PCI cards, as well as USB and IEEE 1394 audio and modem adaptors. SoundMAX 64 has been designed for accelerating PC audio applications such as DVD/Dolby Digital playback, Microsoft Windows-based 3D gaming, and DLS wavetable music, with modem extensibility that supports 56K Internet access and telephony.
"As the PC industry increasingly makes the transition from ISA to PCI audio and modems, it is also moving from Windows 95 to Windows 98," said Campbell Stras, Analog Devices' SoundMAX product line manager. "SoundMAX 64 provides an attractive solution for PC system OEMs because it supports and complements Intel's and Microsoft's strategic initiatives with MMX processors, AC'97, ACPI and Windows 98. It concurrently accelerates multiple DirectX APIs -- and supports extensible features, including audio/modem integration, that fundamentally attack the system cost structure. All this contributes to the OEM's ability to provide more exciting features for the PC user's dollar, particularly in the rapidly-growing home PC market -- where PC users want interactive 3D and multiplayer gaming, faster Internet access, multimedia conferencing, DVD playback capability -- and compatibility with their installed base of applications."
"A forward-looking audio solution must accommodate several emerging applications such as DirectSound mixing, downloadable MIDI samples, 3D positional audio and multi-channel decoding," said Andy Fischer, senior analyst at Jon Peddie Associates. "OEM's can no longer settle for compatibility with a legacy sound standard, but must investigate ways to distinguish their multimedia offerings. The work that Analog Devices and EuPhonics have done to deliver SoundMAX 64 and EuSynth/Wave-64 demonstrates skillful management of both DSP and host resources in the Windows environment, and should serve as an impressive calling card to both add-in board and system OEMs."
Analog Devices' continuous time oversampling (CTO) sample rate conversion technology delivers professional audio quality for multimedia PCs. CTO performs 64 streams of variable sample rate conversion, synchronization and digital mixing.
The SoundMAX 64 mixer supports variable-rate redirectable streaming under WDM, maintaining PC 98 system performance with USB speakers or other IEEE 1394 audio/video peripherals. Variable sample rate conversion becomes central to PC audio architecture as audio I/O migrates outside the PC enclosure. Systems disaggregate into purely digital accelerators, speakers, DVD drives, voice modems, DBS or CATV receivers, etc. -- each with their own time base. SoundMAX 64 resolves these issues by resampling up to eight independent, asynchronous sample rates.
"Analog Devices used a balanced application of general-purpose DSP and algorithm-specific CTO in architecting the SoundMAX 64 accelerator," commented Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts. "The result is a powerful, yet low-cost audio/telephony engine delivering 1.23 GOPS DirectX and 56K modem acceleration as measured using industry-standard benchmarks."
Because the embedded 723 MOPS programmable DSP core supports a wide variety of algorithms and technology, it can be rapidly customized to OEM-specific requirements, and is "future proofed" since Windows audio and communications drivers can be upgraded in the field.
Pro-Quality Digital Audio and Scaleable Music Synthesis
SoundMAX 64 is fully compliant with PC 98 advanced audio specifications, featuring 90dB system SNR digital audio playback and mixing, as well as independent recording and playback sample rates. To further enhance audio quality, SoundMAX 64 supports DSP-accelerated tone control, speaker equalization and 3D spatial enhancement for any set of OEM speakers as Windows driver configurations.
A powerful PCI bus master with 72-stream scatter-gather DMA engine accelerates DirectMusic and effects -- providing high-quality music synthesis at low cost. SoundMAX 64 incorporates the EuPhonics' EuSynth/Wave64 Synthesizer with DIVA (dynamic interprocessor voice allocation) technology, which provides up to 64 simultaneous voices. DIVA makes best use of the DSP and CPU by accelerating the first 32 voices and synthesizing the rest in the CPU.
"With SoundMAX 64, Analog Devices has finally solved the industry riddle of 'why move audio from ISA to PCI?,'" said EuPhonics' president and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Barish. "The combination of a PCI bus mastering variable rate mixer/resampler and a programmable DSP engine sitting on a high-bandwidth bus to powerful Intel MMX processors and main memory yields an extremely powerful, flexible and cost-effective audio/communications architecture.
It perfectly complements EuPhonics' scaleable DIVA technology and SoundCore algorithm suite. OEMs and end users get 64-voice polyphony and a no-compromise gaming experience for mass-market home PCs."
Interactive Windows-based 3D and Multiplayer Gaming
With algorithms from Aureal, Bose, EuPhonics and Harman, SoundMAX 64 accelerates the latest generation of DirectSound 3D-compatible games. The high-performance DSP core localizes up to 24 sounds within a 360 arc around a player's head, and the sound dynamically tracks the on-screen 3D graphics, contributing to a more immersive and realistic experience for the user.
"In SoundMAX 64, Analog Devices developed a solution that completely utilizes the new audio features in Windows 98. Through the Win32 Driver Model (WDM), SoundMAX 64 can deliver robust legacy compatibility, full hardware acceleration, and the ability to transfer audio through digital busses like USB and IEEE 1394," said Jay Torborg, director of graphics and multimedia, Windows Operating Systems Group at Microsoft Corp. "By providing the ability to concurrently accelerate DirectSound, Direct3D, and the upcoming DirectMusic APIs, Analog Devices is well positioned for the future of audio."
For multiplayer gaming and H.324 multimedia conferencing, the SoundMAX 64 architecture supports full-duplex speakerphone operation using redirectable WDM streaming, thereby obviating the need for wiring between the audio subsystem and the network adapter. Optional DSP-accelerated monaural or stereo echo cancellation enables hands-free, open-room conversations without voice dropout in conferencing and multiplayer gaming. And users can enjoy these applications over standard POTS lines because SoundMAX 64 will support V.70 DSVD and H.324 conferencing, using DSP-accelerated G.728 and G.723 voice codecs.
PC Theater Expandability
SoundMAX 64 decodes various multichannel formats such as Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic and MPEG II to support audio playback of old and new movie content on DVD (Digital Video Disc). The PCI device also supports multipoint AC-Link configurations of up to three AC'97 codecs, thereby supporting 5.1 output channels for two front and two rear satellites, and one center channel speaker, plus a subwoofer.
Audio/Modem Integration for Fast 56K Internet Access
SoundMAX 64 provides PC system OEMs with the additional benefits of conserving system resources while driving down costs because it eliminates the need for a separate PCI modem. "The trend toward audio/modem integration is accelerating with the move to PCI audio and modem devices and higher performance host microprocessors," said Dean McCarron of Mercury Research. "Integration of these low-bandwidth devices reduces the number of PCI loads to one, which saves OEMs a valuable PCI load and slot for additional high- performance hardware."
SoundMAX 64 supports MMX-based and DSP-accelerated audio/modem integration via AC'97 Rev. 2 extensions, which facilitate this trend for both native host and hardware-accelerated modem configurations. The RAM-based DSP architecture supports software acceleration of up to 56K modems including x2(TM) and K56FLEX(TM) technologies and future ITU standards since it is field upgradeable. SoundMAX 64 will also provide a highly-integrated, visually- appealing user interface for telephony or communications applications, audio playback and recording, and DVD playback, because it incorporates the innovative WillowMedia audio/telephony applications front end from Willow Pond.
"We applaud the initiative that Analog Devices has taken in audio/modem integration based on native Pentium and hardware-accelerated solutions," said Russ Hampsten, Audio Marketing Manager of Intel. "Our new AC'97 Revision 2.0 specification supports this trend with standard interfaces to scaleable devices for stereo audio, as well as handset and telco line interfaces."
Availability and Pricing
SoundMAX 64 board-level OEM evaluation units will be available in the first quarter of 1998, with volume production in the second quarter. For audio configurations, OEM chipset pricing starts at under $20.00.
With sales of $1.2 billion for fiscal 1997 Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications. Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs approximately 7,500 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the Philippines and Taiwan.
NOTE: SoundMAX is a trademark of Analog Devices, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
READERS SHOULD CONTACT: Analog Devices, Inc., Ray Stata Technology Center, 804 Woburn Street, Wilmington, MA 01887, Tel: 781-937-1428 or Fax: 781-821-4273/
/EDITORS' ADVISORY: These industry analysts have been briefed on Analog Devices' SoundMAX 64:
Forward Concepts, Will Strauss, 1-602-968-3759
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