From: "A.D.R." Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 03:59:46 +0100 (MET) (46 min left), (H)elp, More? Subject: Ultrasound PnP, Ultrasound PnP Pro PRESS R ELEASE Look what I found on the Gravis www site!!! (I know the site presents you just a 'work in progress' page, but you can access everything if you know the filenames!! :-)) FROM the PRESS RELEASES PAGE: (http://advanced.gravis.com/PRESSBOX.HTM) Gravis' New PnP Sound Cards Base On The AMD Interwave(tm) Chip 10/09/95 (http://advanced.gravis.com/press/grpr26.txt) - --------------------cut here----------------------------------------- CONTACT: Megan McFeely imagio 206-625-0252 (45 min left), (H)elp, More? Advanced Gravis' New PnP Sound Cards Use the AMD Interwave Chip to Deliver Wavetable Sound at Reduced Price Full-Duplex Capabilities and Bundle Offer Telephone-Like Communication Via the Internet BURNABY, British Columbia, October 9, 1995 -- Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. announces a new generation of wavetable PC sound cards, the UltraSound Plug & Play and the UltraSound Plug & Play Pro. The new cards offer the quality of wavetable sound and the convenience of Windows '95 PnP at very affordable prices. Expected to be one of the first Plug & Play wavetable sound cards on the market, the standard and Pro versions are estimated to have a street price of $149.00 and $199.00 US, respectively. Competing sound cards typically cost up to $50 more. (45 min left), (H)elp, More? Advanced Gravis is the most prominent company to offer a sound card with full duplex capabilities, making simultaneous, real-time verbal conversation on the Internet possible. To fully showcase this feature, Advanced Gravis is including with the UltraSound Plug & Play a microphone and a complete bundle of software enabling users to utilize the Internet for telephonic communications. This full Internet package is comprised of: - - CompuServer Internet access kit, which includes the Mosaic_ browser for access to the Internet; - - Internet Phone, which allows users to "dial-up" and actually speak to others on-line; - - RealAudio, which delivers real-time sound for programming such as concerts and sporting events. The UltraSound Plug & Play sound cards are the first to announce use of the highly-integrated Interwave chip developed by Advanced Micro Devices. The Interwave chip was developed as the result of a joint venture between Gravis and AMD utilizing Advanced Gravis' UltraSound_ audio technology. The Interwave chip is the first to provide integration of the MPC-3 multimedia requirements. This integrated technology allows Gravis to deliver more honest reproduction of sound and reduce the card's cost without sacrificing the quality of the other components. "Gravis pioneered consumer-priced wavetable synthesis, with its introduction of the world's first affordable 32-voice wavetable sound card, the UltraSound," says Mike Cooper, President of Advanced Gravis. "So, it makes sense that we would be one of the first to introduce Windows 95 Plug & Play wavetable sound cards especially at a reasonable price." For the first time, Gravis is offering instrument samples in ROM format as well as in its widely accepted RAM architecture. The Pro version comes with 512K RAM installed, making it compatible with UltraSound, the industry's most widely supported, full-featured wavetable sound card. Both versions can be upgraded to up to 8MB of RAM delivering the ability to load a broader array of high-quality custom sounds and digital effects such as flange, reverb and chorus. Like the family of UltraSound cards, the UltraSound Plug & Play features musical sound from playback samples of real instruments. Unlike other sound boards that use FM synthesis, the true 16-bit, 32 voice UltraSound Plug & Play cards use all digital wavetable synthesis to produce superior CD-quality sound. (FM syntheses tries to electronically emulate instruments producing unrealistic simulated sounds, while wavetable synthesis relies on digital recordings of actual sound.) The sound quality, price and convenience of the UltraSound Plug & Play line make it an ideal choice for a first-time sound card buyer or as an upgrade for experienced users. The UltraSound Plug & Play will replace the UltraSound MAX in the Gravis line of wavetable sound cards. The UltraSound Plug & Play is an ideal card for the Internet, but also delivers technical and performance enhancements which make it a well-rounded wavetable sound card for other uses. Technical Advantages: - - Built using the AMD Interwave chip - fully transparent in its operation, the AMD Interwave chip provides third generation wavetable technology and quality; - - Plug n Play compliant, Win95 compatible - for maximum ease of use; - - Packaged with popular software - Internet Phone, RealAudio, Cakewalk Express, CompuServe Internet kit with the Mosaic browser, Sound Forgev 2.0, WinDecks stereo rack, 200MB of games and demos for additional fun; - - Enhanced emulation mode - greatly improved and transparent emulation of other sound standards for games that don't support UltraSound directly; optimized to take advantage of new features in the Interwave chip for backward compatibility with Sound Blaster and General MIDI applications; - - Upgradeable to 8MB RAM using standard 30-pin SIMMs - to create and use custom instruments and have access to richer quality sound; digital sound effects such as reverb, chorus and flange will be available via a software upgrade in the first quarter '96. Performance Advantages: - - Ultra-compatible - most widely supported wavetable sound card for DOS games; - - Provides full duplex record and playback - ideal for Internet voice communication and multitrack recording applications; - - 16-bit, stereo recording and playback, up to 48KHz - enables DAT-quality recording from a multitude of sources; - - Speed compensating, full gameport - fastest way to connect your game controllers; - - Full 192 General MIDI instrument set, plus 6 GS drum kits - all the instruments you need for great music; - - 5.6 megabyte General MIDI patch set - on CD-ROM for downloading to onboard memory of the card; - - Support for standard sound libraries - featuri ng the Sound Operating System from HMI and the Audio Interface Library from Miles Design, which together comprise a majority of current games; Standard Features: - - Five input mixer with stereo and volume controls - allow you to control input from your sound sources; - - MPC-3 compatible; - - IDE CD-ROM interface; - - MIDI interface - connects industry standard MIDI instruments; - - External connectors including - stereo line-in, line-out, microphone-in, joystick/MIDI adapter; - - Supports most popular games - games written for Adlib, Sound Blaster, UltraSound, General MIDI, SCC-1 and MT-32. The UltraSound Plug & Play works with all 386 and h igher IBM PCs and compatible computers. UltraSound Plug and Play comes with 1MB of ROM standard. The Pro version has 512K of onboard memory, features a 5.6 megabyte General MIDI patch set and supports applications written for Windows 3.1 and Win 95, Sound Blaster, Roland MT-32, General MIDI and UltraSound. For more press information or photography, please call Megan McFeely, senior account executive, imagio technology advertising and public relations, at 206-625-0252. ### Advanced Gravis is the #1 provider of computer game devices in the world. Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. is headquartered at #101 - 3750 North Fraser Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E9. Telephone: 604 431-5020, Fax: 604 431-5155, Tech Support: 604 431-1807. US Distribution Center: 1790 Midway Lane, Bellingham, WA, USA 98226.