Slashdot Mirror
What's Up With Computer Audio?
Mr.Tweak writes "Last month during QuakeCon it became clearly apparent that computer audio has become somewhat of a forgotten component in the computer industry when talking to gamers and listening to companies at the gaming event. We'll present some benchmark numbers of five different sound solutions as well as provide commentary along the way on our thoughts of computer audio solutions and what should be done to improve things using nVidia's SoundStorm APU as an example."
Maybe for most people it's nice to have one component that just works as advertised, and doesn't necessarily need to be replaced with an expensive upgrade every 2 years. Not to cast aspersions on the geek's need to endlessly tinker, but don't we have our hands full already with graphic cards, processors, memory, etc.?
It is quite ironic (yes, this is irony, not coincidence) that an article that purports to bemoan the neglect of sound in favor of picture proceeds to rate the audio gear based on how it impacts graphics performance.
It doesn't matter how good your sound card is if the game is outputting a simple stereo single with a music loop and some canned effects. If the developer doesn't go the extra mile to create decent sound content and a good audio playback engine in the game, then it will never sound as good as it looks- but it is possible to do both at once with the right approach.
There's an interesting rant from one of Halo's programmers here about the state and future directions of game audio.
I can tell from page 2 that the authors are biased towards this AMD solution for some reason.
These guys actually try and claim that a $149 add-on card cannot provide 5.1 (6-channel) sound. Seriously, look at their comparison chart. It's so wacked you'd think it was Microsoft's work.
I mean, seriously, for less than $30 you can get a SB Live! 5.1 that will provide a lot of what's being listed on their page 2 chart. And certainly by the time you've reached their $149 price-point you're able to get yourself a nice SB Audigy2 that can do everything they want but hardware AC3 encoding.
And I have to be honest -- is the hardware AC3 encoding really going to be much of an issue for most people? I don't see audio enthusiasts being geared for onboard audio (no matter what it is capable of), and the value segment rarely goes for some fancy surround sound.
Basically, I'm saying this article is bullocks from the second page on. I know it's easier to critisize than to write a good article... but still, these guys seem to be entirely too biased towards this product to make their 'review' worth my time. Personally, I think it's worth a grain of salt.
Now go ahead and mod me down for being a crotchety old man.
/dev/random
Video is something that is easily noticeable by an end user. The graphics look better on a monitor. Audio is different, you have to have a good sound system and if you want surround sound you have to have a room suitable for the 6 speaker setup.
Most people don't have surround sound at their computers and never will, I would if I was able to physically have the speakers surrounding me. I can't. Alternatively the only other speakers I can get are 2 satellites plus a sub. No ones offers a 3.1 dolby pro logic setup for computers. We have to make baby steps to surround sound - let's get that centre channel speaker in there.
The only time surround sound will ever become as big of a focus as graphics for developers is when someone can buy a single canister speaker that does surround sound in the entire room.
I bet if you heard a really good quality sound card, you'd agree that sound quality is important. If all you've ever heard is cheap audio gear, then you won't see the big deal.
Also, surround sound does also make a big difference. I never thought about it until I bought surround sound speakers.