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To: Savoirman who wrote (11126)	4/29/1998 11:39:00 AM
From: Savoirman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13925

MICROSOFT GETS INTO SPEAKER BIZ From the Yahoo site by cartmanlovesdvd Microsoft Digital Sound System 80 The software giant dips into the hardware pool What good is a good game without a good controller and good speakers? Microsoft has apparently been asking that same question, and just in time for the holiday season, it's going to release distinctive new hardware that'll have you wondering "How the hell did I survive just using the keyboard?" The boys from Redmond enter the aural dimension--with a little help from Philips Electronics--with their forthcoming Digital Sound System 80. This three-piece subwoofer/satellite combo includes all manner of audio and digital tricks to make the room rumble. On the bass section, the DSS 80 uses a dual driver scenario consisting of a 6-inch paper-cone woofer in a medium-density fiberboard sealed box. Coupled to this woofer and sitting right next to it inside this box is a 6-inch, double-foam, surround-laden, passive radiator driver, or auxiliary diaphragm. This combination, dubbed WooX, allows a small box to kick out deep bass--in this case, the DSS-80's sub box measures in at 3.7 litres. Mids and highs are taken care of by twin sealed satellites, each housing a lone 3-inch midrange driver. Powering this little setup are a couple of Class D amplifiers, with 44 watts going to the sub and 16 watts going to each satellite, with the crossover point set to a nonadjustable 160Hz. But, all this audio tom-foolery is one-half of the Microsoft/Philips combo. While you can link the DSS 80 up via 1/8-inch mini stereo cables, it's not until it interfaces to a system via USB that this system puts the "digital" in DSS. Once enabled, all tunes and tones are piped down the USB port into a digital-to-analog converter located on top of the subwoofer box. Only then is it converted back into a signal palatable for those speakers to use. By digitizing the audio signal, it allows all sorts of digital signal processing to occur, which will include a 10-band graphic equalizer, volume control, and more. Included in all this delectable digital mix is a Philips-developed Microsoft Surround Sound algorithm, which will decode all forms of surround sound, including Dolby Pro Logic, and mixes it up for two-speaker virtualization consumption. You'll be able to program different equalization settings depending on your listening situation, but you'll need Windows 98 to get full USB functionality. We fired up a beta box on our own resident Win98 box, and after installing all the necessary USB hub drivers (the device comes up as a USB audio device), we fired up a few games and listened away. With everything set to a flat response, the 3-inch mids kick out a smooth response, but it clearly lacked any real high frequency sparkle. The equalization and DSP software wasn't ready, but once that's in place, you can boost frequencies to your heart's content. The bass did crank out some kick with minimal cone noise. Once all the components are in place, the Digital Sound System 80 may find its way on a desktop come this holiday season. -- Bryan Del Rizzo