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Posted by Thomas
McGuire on August 30, 2001
Manufacturer: Hercules Product:
Game
Theater XP
Find prices
for the Game Theater XP here.
Bundled
Software
The
Game Theater XP comes bundled with the following variety of
Software:
-
Gameloft
package (Utilities to play online & game demos
including Rogue Spear, Midtown Madness, & others)
-
Sensaura
Virtual Ear™ (3D sound positioning configuration
utility)
-
PowerDVD™
(DVD player - Certified Dolby Digital™ Decoder with
2/4/6 channels – Dolby® Headphone Technology)
-
MusicMatch™
Jukebox (Complete digital audio solution - unlimited MP3
encoding)
-
Yamaha
Soft Synthesizer™ S-YXG50™
-
Sonic
Foundry® ACID™ Xpress (25 free loops)
-
Sonic
Foundry® SIREN™ Jukebox press (20 free MP3
rips/encodes)
-
Koolkaraoké
Lite™ software (Up to 20 free songs)
- Magix® playR™ jukebox
Unlike
most Soundcards which usually only have 1 stand out
Application in the bundle, the Game Theater XP actually has
2.
The
first being the full retail version of Sensaura
Virtual Ear, which allows you to customize the HRTF
(Head-Related Transfer Functions)
library used by the Game Theater XP for 3D positional audio
(Based on answers given in the programs Wizard or your own
defined settings). This should in theory allow for improved
audio positioning as your head/ear shape & such can be
accounted for. It’s fair to assume most 3D Sound
algorithms have been designed for the generic, average
shaped head/ears & as a result this Program will be of
greatest benefit to those who don’t fit into the average
shaped head/ear category.
Those
with the SonicFury/Santa Cruz are probably familiar with the
integrated version of Virtual Ear included with those
Soundcards, although the version included with the Game
Theater XP is far better, although as mentioned before the
benefits of it all depend on how different your hearing is
to the average persons. NOTE – Virtual Ear will not work
in Windows NT 4 given the lack of DirectSound support.
The
second notable inclusion is that of PowerDVD
3, an excellent Software DVD decoder, which also happens
to be the full Retail version. One of the main benefits
Power DVD 3 offers over say, WinDVD 2000, would have to be
the wide variety of Audio Output modes it supports –
probably of most note being Dolby Headphone support.
Visual
quality & Audio quality are rather good, although for
the most part there’s little here for the Game Theater XP
to do other than output the Audio to the Speakers/Sub-Woofer
or Dolby Digital decoder (The other modes usually requiring
CPU based decoding). I’ll cover this further in the DVD
section.
The
rest of the bundle is your usual mix of Music
playback/creation software & Game demos. Nothing that
you probably can’t download from the respective company
website. The only lacking Application in the bundle is
Voyetra AudioStation 4.x – although I’ll get in why
later on.
Specifications
Listed
beneath are the specifications of the Game Theater XP (&
External Rack);
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Data
Transfer
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PCI
2.1 bus
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Audio
Processor (DSP)
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Crystal
CS4630
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Audio
Converters
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18-bit
ADC/20-bit DAC for high audio quality at sampling
rates of up to 48kHz
|
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Full
Game & Audio Compatibility
|
Microsoft
DirectSound 3D Hardware accelerator, EAX 1.0/2.0,
A3D 1.0, I3DL2, Sensaura's MacroFX, MultiDrive,
ZoomFX, EnvironmentFX, allow for interactive
positioning on 2 or 4 speakers or headphones.
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Wavetable
Synthesizer
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DSP accelerated synthesis
engine allows for an unlimited number of voices
(64-voice hardware)
-
8MB General MIDI/GS sample
set
-
DLS support - GM (General
MIDI)
-
Yamaha Soft Synthesizer
S-YXG50: 676 instrument sounds & 21 drum kits
Effects: reverb & chorus XG-compatible
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PCI
Card Connectors
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DB44 connector to rack
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1/8" *Aux Line-In
jack
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Internal: MPC connectors
for CD-Audio & Aux2-In.
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Front
Connectors
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1/4"
Headphone output jack with volume control
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1/4"
Line-In 2/Mic-In toggle jack with microphone gain
control
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1/4"to
3.5mm adapter provided
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RCA
Line-In jacks (left & right)
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Game
port & 2 USB ports (1 & 2)
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Rear
Connectors
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1/8"
Main stereo Line-Out jack
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1/8"
Surround stereo Line-Out jack
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6
gold-plated Line-Out RCA connectors: (Main Left
& Right/Surround Left & Right
/Center/Subwoofer)
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2
additional USB ports (3 & 4)
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DB44
connector to PCI card
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Digital
S/PDIF Input (Co-axial & Optical) (32kHz,
44.1kHz, 48kHz)
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Digital
S/PDIF Output (Co-axial & Optical) (Set to
48kHz)
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MIDI-In/MIDI-Out
DIN connectors (MPU-401 compatible)
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Rack
Dimensions
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4.3 x 21.6 x 15.5cm (1/2
U) (H: 1.7 W: 8.5 D: 6.1 inches)
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Cable between the PCI card
& rack: 2m (78.74 inches)
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