Out in Front: July 18, 1996

Yet another vendor has developed a software-based audio synthesizer scheme that relies on the host to perform signal processing in lieu of a dedicated sound IC. The Cybersound software from Invision Interactive Inc, however, offers enhanced capabilities and reduces costs compared with competing products. Cybersound includes not only the FM- and wave-table-synthesis algorithms common on PC sound cards, but also the analog and physical-modeling synthesis algorithms usually found on synthesizers for professional musicians.

The choice of algorithms allows software developers and end users to choose the technique that best reproduces specific sound sources. For example, Invision claims that wave-table techniques deliver superior percussion sounds and that physical-modeling techniques more accurately reproduce wind instruments. The Cybersound software requires only a simple audio codec with no synthesizer in a Windows environment, but the software works equally well with codecs that include an FM synthesizer and offer support for legacy DOS-based applications.

Invision plans to sell the software in three ways. Software developers can license the technology and ship a runtime, 300-kbyte synthesis engine with their application programs. For approximately $2 (OEM), system designers can integrate Cybersound in place of a wave-table audio chip, thus saving $10 to $15 per system in hard costs and enhancing audio performance. The company also plans to sell the software as a shrink-wrapped application offering professional-level synthesis to end users. A version for Apple Power Mac systems costs $249, and, this fall, Invision will ship a similarly priced Windows version as a Ring-0 VxD.

—by Maury Wright

Invision Interactive Inc, Palo Alto, CA. (415) 812-7380.