November 2001 to December 2001

News Roundup
December 31, 2001

Could VIA's alleged poor implementation of the PCI bus be the cause of the data corruption issues with the Live! card? Check out this piece of news at The Register.

A copy protected CD is being released. This time with a warning label. More: ZDNet

Live! and Audigy Data Corruption Test
December 17, 2001

Added a link to the VIA tech page for an article written by a VIA engineer on the data corruption issues with most VIA KT133A motherboards that use a VIA 686B southbridge. It also brings to light some issues, like non-PCI compliance, noise caused by the sound card and the actual fixes that were implemented in the 4-in-1 drivers and BIOSes to fix this problem.

News Roundup
December 16, 2001

The Register: KaZaA claims it can't stop users sharing music
CNET: Anti-piracy feud bodes ill for Web music
CNET: Bounty of DVD-recording PCs hit market
ZDNet AnchorDesk: Pressplay and MusicNet: Legal music, but not for MP3 players
ZDNet Commentary: Music industry sounds awful

Help Continue Megafont
December 3, 2001

Spyro contact me and told me about his conversations with LastNight, the lead programmer of the dynamic SoundFont caching software, Megafont. He is willing to give away the source code to someone who is able to program and continue development on Megafont with some features like saving of mapping files to hard drive instead of the registry, and to add support for the Audigy. If you can help, do keep the spirit alive by sending an email to LastNight.

The Man Behind MIDI
December 2, 2001

TechTV has an interesting article on how MIDI really came about.

Hardware Reviews
November 22, 2001

Here are some hardware reviews for your reading pleasure:

3DsoundSurge: Klipsch ProMedia 5.1
3DsoundSurge: Logitech Z-560 Early Impressions
CNET: Xitel MD-Port AN1

First Mass-Produced Anti-Rip CD Irks Buyers
November 21, 2001

Well what can I say. I think the record companies had it coming. An audio CD that doesn't play on a CD-ROM drive isn't going to please consumers. And Natalie Imbruglia had to take the flak along with BMG. More: The Register

News Roundup: Copy Protection and File Swapping
November 18, 2001

CNET: Sites spotlight reports of copy-protected CDs
CNET: File-swapping case may break new ground
CNET: Napster rivals winning popularity contest

PlayCenter Update
November 18, 2001

Creative has updated their help site with a PlayCenter update for Windows XP, as well as the Windows XP drivers.

EAX on nForce?
November 18, 2001

The nForce was touted to support EAX when it was introduced to the media in the mid of 2001, but as it rolls out in retail, the drivers still do not have support. I wonder if it can do pretty heavy effects processing like the EMU10K1 or the Audigy DSP. More: The Inquirer

Memory Leak with WinXP Driver
November 11, 2001

Adrian Hensler tips us off about a knowledge base article at Microsoft that indicates the default Live! drivers for WinXP has a bug that may slow down the PC. More information at the WinXP driver page.

Sound Control Plus 2.05
November 11, 2001

The latest version of this excellent freeware utility is out. The bug fix list and download link can be found in the download page. Here's what the author Paul mentioned:

The major change in this release is the fixed expiry date has been removed as I consider the application to be out of it's infancy and appears to be reliable and effective on most set-ups now. The removal of the expiry date also frees me up to start on the next major update which will include a major rewrite of the hot key handling which will implement full support of volume control in most (if not all) DirectX based games.

I hope the removal of the expiry date is welcomed by all my supporters and they will continue to support freeware by continuing to visit the web site and visiting the supporters.

PowerDVD XP 4.0
November 11, 2001

Warp2Search reviews the latest version of Cyberlink's popular software DVD player, now optimized for Windows XP. Of course, it supports Dolby Digital and DTS passthrough on the Live! and Audigy.

News Roundup: DVDs & DeCSS
November 11, 2001

The Register: 'DeCSS' DVD descrambler ruled legal
CNET: Movie industry dealt DVD-cracking blow
The Register: Snow White DVD Glitch

News Roundup: Online Music
November 11, 2001

ZDNet Commentary: Music firms still don't get it
The Inquirer: Napster delays legit service launch
CNET: Napster issues first round of layoffs
ZDNet: MusicNet delivers music platform

WinXP's MP3 Support
November 11, 2001

CNET takes a look at the purpoted MP3 support in Windows XP and looks at Microsoft's strategy to increase share of their own WMA technology. More: Microsoft's music pitch a little off-key