M-Audio today announced Sonica Theater, the easy-to-use, portable audio card for desktops or laptops. Sonica Theater provides ultra-immersive 7.1 surround sound output, crystal-clear audio quality, and high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz audio playback and recording. Sonica Theater is the ultimate audio upgrade for any desktop, or for the laptop on the go. It plays DVDs and music in surround sound, makes games more realistic, and can be used to record or mix music. 7.1 surround sound output and high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz fidelity insure that audio is experienced the way that it was meant to be.

Designed by M-Audio—one of the biggest names in the professional music industry—Sonica Theater packs advanced technology into a small, light, bus-powered, external package that’s simple to connect and use. Installation of Sonica Theater is as simple as plugging in a single USB cable. Advanced features like speaker setup software and professional bass management insure that speakers are connected properly and configured for optimum performance and audio quality.

“Sonica Theater is the ultimate surround sound upgrade for laptop users or anyone else who wants the simplicity and flexibility of Sonica Theater’s USB installation,” said Jason Ivan, Director of Product Marketing for M-Audio’s Consumer Audio Division. “The combination of 7.1 surround sound, pristine audio quality, and up to 24-bit/96kHz recording and playback make Sonica Theater the perfect audio upgrade for almost any application.”

With its high signal-to-noise ratio of 101dB, Sonica Theater provides extremely clean audio with little noise. From whisper-quiet audio to room-shaking volumes, audio is clear and clean. The product’s exceptionally low distortion (THD) rating also insures that audio will sound the way it was meant to.

Sonica Theater features Dolby Digital EX decoding with the included WinDVD 4 DVD player, allowing analog output of true multi-channel audio and turning the computer into a home theater component. Sonica Theater also features Dolby Digital and DTS passthrough on its digital output. Sonica Theater supports other multi-channel formats, such as Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio 9 Professional and SRS Labs’ Circle Surround II™, allowing the user to play streaming multi-channel audio off the Internet. Full support for Microsoft Windows Media Audio 9 Professional is a first for a laptop-compatible sound card. With Windows Media Audio 9, Sonica delivers high-quality, discrete multi-channel audio over the Internet today. With Windows Media Audio 9 Professional and Sonica Theater, desktop or laptop users can enjoy incredibly high-quality, high-resolution surround sound streamed live or on demand from the Internet. Sonica Theater’s support for surround sound up to 7.1 and laptop compatibility make it a great way to experience high-quality Windows Media Audio 9 Professional content at lower data rates than other formats. Whether playing back video files in surround sound, or today’s latest music released in stereo or surround Windows Media 9 format, Sonica Theater provides you the most immersive and portable surround solution around.

Built-in SRS Circle Surround II technology instantly transforms CDs or MP3s into incredibly lifelike surround sound. It dynamically separates instruments, vocals, and even crowd noises for an experience that has to be heard to be believed. “Sonica Theater is the first consumer USB audio card to offer the same high-quality Circle Surround II technology found in many home theater receivers around the world” said Ted Franceschi, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales. “SRS Labs is excited to partner with M-Audio in providing laptop and desktop users the ultimate surround sound experience over a computer.” Those without a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system can still enjoy stunning results from Sonica Theater, thanks to built-in SRS TruSurround XT™ technology.

This powerful virtual surround sound process delivers the multi-channel audio experience over standard stereo speakers or even headphones. TruSurround XT enables two-channel listening that brings home what the filmmakers intended to be heard, even if additional speakers are not present.

Sonica Theater includes over $200 of high-quality bundled software with full versions of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, MixMan Studio, Vjay Lite, and the Dolby Digital EX version of WinDVD 4. Also included are award-winning music creation programs with over 100 sounds and loops as well as a free sampler CD of music from M-Powered artists who use M-Audio products.

Sonica Theater is due to ship in January 2003, and will be distributed in major retail stores throughout North America, and will soon be available in Japan and Europe. Estimated street price is $99.99.

M-Audio Web Site

Blaupunkt will introduce a new line of ultra-thin coaxial car stereo speakers at the CES 2003 show in Las Vegas next month.

The new loudspeakers use proprietary technology to achieve a dramatic 1-inch reduction in mounting depth compared to conventional speakers of similar performance capabilities. The Blaupunkt ODx652 will be the first model in the company’s new ‘Thin Line’ series of loudspeakers, and one of five Blaupunkt products to receive the Innovations 2003 Design and Engineering Showcase award at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show.

Blaupunkt’s Thin Line speakers are designed for mounting in shallow door panels, kick panels, and other locations that will not accommodate the much greater mounting depth of conventional coaxial speakers.

These speakers are also significantly lighter than conventional coaxials, with the 6-1/2-inch ODx652 full-range speaker weighing less than 1 pound. Blaupunkt’s engineers eliminated the large ferrite magnet assembly that is conventionally mounted at the rear of the speaker basket, and replaced it with a lightweight high-power neodymium magnet. This magnet is mounted within the voice coil assembly, providing the same driver power, but at a much lower premium of space and weight.

At less than 1/2 the mass of conventional speakers, the Blaupunkt ODx652 thin coaxials are an ideal solution for ‘tuner car’ enthusiasts, where every ounce matters. A Thin Line system can save over 10 pounds of weight in a standard four speaker coaxial system. These speakers are also perfect for mounting applications where excess weight can stress and damage trim or paneling.

The ODx652 thin coaxial speaker will be available in March at a suggested retail price of $169.95. Other models in this line will be announced at that time.

Blaupunkt USA Web Site

Consumer Electronics Association – CES 2003 Web Site

Acacia Research Corporation announced today, that its Acacia Technologies Group has licensed its Digital Media Transmission (DMT) Technology to Radio Free Virgin, a leading digital broadcast company. Acacia’s DMT Technology is a patented process for the transmission and receipt of digital audio and digital video content.

Radio Free Virgin is a privately held company funded by Richard Branson, which provides CD-quality streaming audio via the Internet through over 40 genre-based music channels. Listeners receive Radio Free Virgin’s streaming audio content via the Internet by downloading a media player.

About Acacia Technologies

The Acacia Technologies group is the part of Acacia Research Corporation that focuses on media technology, a business that licenses its V-chip technology to television manufacturers, and owns pioneering Digital Media Transmission (“DMT”) technology. DMT technology covers the transmission and receipt of digital audio and digital video content, commonly known as audio on-demand, video on-demand, and audio/video streaming, and is supported by 5 U.S. and 17 international patents.

Buyers of LIVE 2, the performance-oriented audio sequencer by Ableton, will now be entitled to free sample or sound effects downloads from the Sonomic Online Library.

Ableton, the innovative Berlin-based music software company, and Sonomic, the premier provider of sound library management solutions, have joined forces to bundle the Sonomic Online Library Card with Ableton’s LIVE 2 audio software.

Sonomic’s Library Card will enable LIVE users to search, audition and download 10 samples or 5 sound effects from the Sonomic Online Library. Currently over 200,000 sounds large, the Sonomic Online Library features the complete and most-up-to-date collections from Zero G, Sound Ideas, Sampleheads, Q Up Arts, BBC, Universal SoundBank and many more.

Once downloaded in standard .wav or .aiff formats, Sonomic sounds can be instantly stretched, warped and mangled in LIVE 2, the award winning sequencing instrument for Mac OS9, Mac OSX and Windows.

The Library Card offers LIVE users virtually an unlimited sound palette to draw upon and furthers the sonic possibilities already inherent in LIVE 2. LIVE 2 is currently shipping with the Online Library Card enclosed in the box.

About LIVE

Introduced in 2001 as an audio sequencer to be played like an instrument in live performance, LIVE was quickly embraced by studio musicians and post production professionals because of the swiftness and ease with which they could sketch out musical ideas. LIVE version 2 offers enhancements to the performance and jamming features of the original software and also adds multi-track recording and editing with “Elastic Audio”.

About Ableton

Ableton’s function is to support creative people with modern software technology. Since the company started in 1999, more than twenty developers and business professionals have joined Ableton–many of them active musicians or DJs. Since the launch of LIVE in October 2001, the company has received outstanding press and customer feedback.

About Sonomic

Sonomic (www.sonomic.com) gives you instant access to the sounds you need through a suite of tools designed to optimize production efficiency and enhance creativity. The industry-leading Sonomic Sound EngineTM locates, auditions and imports samples and sound effects with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Sonomic’s flagship Total Library Server (www.sonomic.com/server) integrates your own CD library with the Sound Engine to create a fast, efficient digital resource. Sonomic digitizes, categorizes and indexes your entire CD collection onto a custom-built server, searchable from any networked workstation. The Total Library Server connects automatically to the 200,000 sound (and growing) Sonomic Online Library, featuring the entire collections of Sound Ideas, Valentino, Zero-G, Clack, and many more. The net result is that hundreds of thousands of sounds are instantly available, so you always have exactly what you need right at your fingertips.

Ableton Web Site

Sonomic Web Site