Released a few months ago, the new UltraSound Max is the lastest sound card designed by Advanced Gravis. The card does not offer any new technology improvements when compared to the UltraSound itself, but it now has 512 Kb of RAM instead of 256 KB, 16-bit recording and playback up to 48 Khz with hardware compression, and three different CD-ROM interfaces (Mitsumi, Panasonic and Sony).
The bonus software included with the card is quite impressive with eight programs under Windows, two DOS games (Doom Episode 1 and Epic Pinball) and other DOS utilities.
The Patch Manager is a Window utility to audition patches, while Patch Maker Lite enables you to modify and create new MIDI instruments. If you create your own songs, there is Midisoft Recording Session, a music composition, recording and sequencing program with musical notation; Power Chords, a guitar based music sequencer and drum machine, and for DOS users, UltraSound Studio to play, record and mix digital sounds.
Modus allows you to play MOD files, and Wavelite is a WAV file editing program, both running under Windows. Also included is Winsoft Sound Station, a multimedia component control system (CD Audio, WAV and MIDI) and sound mixer. Other utilities to play digital and MIDI files are provided for DOS users.
While most other wave table cards are ROM-based, the UltraSound Max has a unique RAM-based system that lets you modify any existing instrument. The card features an expandable 192 General MIDI instrument set with Voice Crystal (tm) a 5.6 Mb patch stored on the hard disk. However, some people are complaining about the hard disk space used for the patches. But, 5.6 Mb is not much for obtaining the purest sounds available on the market, and hopefully people who only own an old 30 Mb hard drive will soon be upgrading.
The other powerful features of the UltraSound Max are the 16 stereo digital channels which allow 32 voices to play simultaneously, and the 3D holographic sound which places sounds above, below, to the right, left, and back of the player for a complete audio virtual reality experience.
Advanced Gravis offers a memory upgrade from 512 Kb to 1 Mb, which is recommended if you intend to use the card with MIDI files having a complex orchestration.
The UltraSound Max is probably the best sound card available on the market with its outstanding capabilities, but there is something wrong with the card: the Sound Blaster emulation. For all the old games without native GUS support, you will have to use a software emulation to get the Sound Blaster and/or Roland sounds. Two different emulators are provided: SBOS for the Sound Blaster alone, and MegaEm for Sound Blaster and Roland (Sound Canvas and MT-32) at the same time. Both emulations work, but sometimes the Sound Blaster emulation is really disappointing.
The UltraSound and the UltraSound Max are excellent sound cards with a very attractive price. When a game has native GUS support, it is really hard for any other sound card to out perform the superior quality of sound and music. It's a must for gamers and musicians!
Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd.
#101-3750 North Fraser Way
Burnaby, BC, Canada
V5J 5E9
Tel: (800) 663-8558, +1 (604) 431-5020
Fax: +1 (604) 431-5155
BBS: +1 (604) 431-5927 (v32.bis)
In Europe, readers can contact Gravis at:
Advanced Gravis Europe
Antennestraat 70,
1322 AS Almere
Netherlands
Tel: +31-(0)36-5364443
Fax: +31-(0)36-5366011
BBS: +31-(0)36-5360379
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