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On April 23, 2001, Sun and Creative announced the availability of a new line of sound cards for Sun workstations with PCI support. There are 2 products in the lineup - Sound Blaster for Solaris Ultra costing US$149 with 2 channel stereo support. The advanced version is dubbed the Sound Blaster for Solaris Ultra PRO and costs US$399. It adds digital connectivity for pro-audio work.
What is interesting is that it uses the new EMU8020 chip which is more than an upgrade of the EMU8000 chips used in the AWE Sound Blasters a long time ago. Here are some similar features mentioned in the press release that are also found in the EMU10K1:
Here are the interesting new stuff that Creative packed into these cards:
Talk Back!
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About your solaris feature, I'd just like to point out that emu10k1==8010. The emu10k1 is the name of the chip, 8010 is the name of the dsp arch inside. So the 8020 "chip" is most likely a emu10k2 ("audigy") variant, unless the emu10k2 still uses the 8010 engine. There's a doc on the 8010 architecture here (you'll need a postscript viewer) |
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The new sun workstation cards are kind of a joke to me. Think about it-dvd audio is currently 24bit/96khz. High end dats are the same. I do all of my recording on my computer (and I might add, have a fairly professional setup) and would not even look at a card that has less than 24 bit converters. I have a sblive in my computer for use as a cheap sampler, but if I were to switch over to a sun workstation for recording (yea, right) I wouldn't even consider these cards. |
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From what it seems, these cards are not really something we should expect to see coming on the PC. The reason is that, the EMU8020 DSP appears to be evolutionary over a 10K1, although the obvious name difference could mean that it is not intended to be a succesor to the 10K1. I believe that sound clarity is of vital importance on these cards, that is why they are sold at such a high price-tag. On the other hand, the Audigy(???) series needs a more powerful engine tuned towards reverb processing, as well as more advanced HRTF-engine, possibly being A3D. The WDM architecture of current and upcoming Windows could require different engines than the ones Solaris or JavaSound require... Anyway, I could be mistaken as the EMU8020 could be retuned for the PC due to its DSP nature. |
New Cards Offer High Quality Audio for Digital Content Creation, Streaming Media, Visual Simulation, Technical and Commercial Markets.
LAS VEGAS, NV -- NAB Conference -- April 23, 2001 -- Sun Microsystems Inc. announced today plans to offer two new sound cards that should provide unprecedented levels of audio for added multimedia capabilities on all of its PCI-equipped Sun[tm] workstations and servers.
Creative®, the world leader in multimedia and computer-based sound, and its wholly owned subsidiary, E-MU Systems, Inc., developed both new cards using their latest DSP chip, the EMU8020[tm] digital signal processor, to provide the most advanced audio processing available on Sun[tm] systems. Users of PCI-equipped Sun workstations and servers can use the new audio cards to produce, record and playback CD-quality sound.
"Sun customers in digital content creation, streaming media and technical markets require the high quality audio capabilities offered by these new cards, combined with the balanced architecture of our 64-bit Solaris[tm] Operating Environment and UltraSPARC[tm] architecture," said Fred Kohout, Director of Marketing of Sun's Technical Market Products Group. "We're investing in these markets to provide solutions for the ever-increasing requirements of content creators and to enable the explosive growth of web-based content."
"Creative and E-MU are excited to offer our cutting-edge technology to the Sun marketplace," commented Don Scott, President and CEO of E-MU Systems, Inc. "Our advanced audio card technology coupled with Sun's high-performance systems will offer customers an unbeatable combination of high-performance audio and high-performance computing."
The Creative Sound Blaster for Solaris Ultra is a high performance card for the general user. Priced at US$149, it features stereo inputs and outputs, along with a microphone input. It is compatible with all stereo Cambridge SoundWorks speaker systems.
The Creative Sound Blaster for Solaris Ultra PRO, priced at US$399, is a professional-quality card with digital stereo inputs and outputs for connection to audio mixers, amplifiers or other professional audio gear. Both cards are expected to be available in late May from Authorized Sun Resellers or via the web at http://sun.emu.com.
"The Creative Labs and E-MU audio cards on Sun products validate that high-quality audio is required in all markets and price points, from traditional entertainment to visual simulation in manufacturing," said Samuel Turcotte, Senior Segment Manager of Digital Media at Sun Microsystems.
KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS
Both the Ultra and Ultra PRO cards feature the EMU8020 advanced audio processor, providing superior audio quality with advanced effects with its patented 8-point interpolation.Both cards leverage core Sun technologies, including Java[tm], Java Sound, Java Media Framework, and underlying audio support to help ensure compatibility across all Sun product lines. Compatible with the Solaris 8 Operating Environment.
High quality stereo outputs for connection to Cambridge SoundWorks amplified speakers, audio mixers, amplifiers, routers, or other audio gear.
High quality stereo inputs for recording from external audio equipment.
Analog and digital header connectors for internal connection to CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drives.
Both cards feature high quality audio recording and playback for Sun systems, with 20-bit converters on the Ultra PRO, and 16-bit converters on the Ultra card. Both cards offer substantially improved performance over the on-board 8 bit audio systems.
The EMU8020 chip features the ability to add audio effects to multiple sound streams or objects simultaneously, such as reverb, pitch changing and equalization. This allows improved 3D effects for use in audio spatial simulation. The flexible audio bus routing architecture allows for processing up to 64 independent channels of audio simultaneously. The EMU8020's advanced sample rate converter allows remarkably high-quality, real-time sample rate conversion for any sample rate from 16 kHz to 96 kHz.
The Ultra PRO card supports AC3 audio input and output via the S/PDIF digital I/O connection, enabling host-based encoding and decoding of multichannel audio. Additionally, the AC3 pass through input allows AC3 encoded audio to be recorded by a Sun workstation or server with no modification to the encrypted data.
Additional advanced features of these sound cards, such as real-time digital audio effects, multi-channel mixing, support for surround sound, and SoundFont based sampling are expected to be made available with future software releases.
ABOUT CREATIVE LABS
Creative (Nasdaq: CREAF) is the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for the personal computer and the Internet. Famous for its Sound Blaster line of audio cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed NOMAD Jukebox. The company's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment anytime, anywhere. www.creative.com
ABOUT E-MU SYSTEMS
Founded in 1972, E-MU Systems Inc. is a premier supplier of digital audio and music products based on digital sampling technology for professional musicians, sound designers, composers and audio engineers worldwide. Acquired in 1993 by Creative Technology of Singapore (Nasdaq: CREAF), E-MU SYSTEMS is a wholly owned subsidiary. Found in some of the world's finest studios and on tour with top name acts worldwide, E-MU SYSTEMS provides Creative Magic for the Arts. Visit our Web site at www.emu.com.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer[tm] -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $19.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com
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