Archives for 1996

Midisoft Reports Increased Revenues Due to Introduction of Sound Bar

Issaquah, WA. Midisoft Corporation has reported financial results for the third quarter of its fiscal year, ending September 30, 1996, showing that revenues increased 136% over the previous quarter (from $491,000 to $1,234,000 US).

Midisoft’s President and CEO, Larry Foster, credits the introduction of four new products for the growth in revenue: Sound Bar™, PlayPiano™ 2.0, MIDI Kit™ 3.0, and Family Music Center™. “The unique capabilities of the Sound Bar to simply, powerfully and inexpensively control PC audio and send audio messages over the Internet has attracted media, retailer and OEM attention. We are now aggressively marketing Sound Bar for integration into OEM products.”

In spite of the increased revenue, Midisoft incurred a net loss for the third quarter of $868,000 (US). This was a marked improvement over the third quarter of 1995 when Midisoft reported losses of $5,512,000 (US).

Matrox Adds Realtime Audio/Video Compression to DigiMotion & DigiSuite

Dorval, Québec, Canada. Matrox Electronic Systems has announced an agreement with Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. of Japan to use Matsushita codec technology in a DV/DVCPRO module that will plug into the Matrox DigiMotion™ board. The module will add realtime compression and playback of dual streams of DV or hybrid DV/motion-JPEG audio/video to the board’s capabilities.

The Matrox DigiMotion board and DigiSuite™ software provide a high-performance platform for the development of professional video/audio editing applications like Softimage™ Digital Studio (code name), D Vision PostSUITE-XED/II™ and others. Along with numerous advanced video and image processing capabilities, the DigiSuite environment includes a full-blown digital audio mixer.

Prodigy Licenses RealAudio for New Internet Service

Seattle, WA. Progressive Networks continues to evangelize it market-leading RealAudio Internet audio streaming technology across the broadest possible base. Progressive announced today that Prodigy Inc. has licensed RealAudio for a broad package of applications on its new-look Internet-based service.

The Prodigy Internet (PI) service was announced yesterday. It is targeted at the new-to-the-net market, and the approximately 90% of American homes that have yet to sign up for an online or Internet service provider. Incorporating enhanced multimedia features such as RealAudio within the PI software is intended to make it easier for new users to get full benefit of what the Internet has to offer, without the typical headaches associated with configuring plug-ins and helper applications.


PI subscribers will be encouraged to access audio and audio-based multimedia content on demand. RealAudio technology will ultimately be used in all content areas, with particular emphasis on delivery of interactive content in PI’s Music sections. Additionally, Prodigy has been granted worldwide distribution rights to the RealAudio player, and will offer the player for free as a pre-installed option to those downloading PI software or installing it from a CD-ROM.

Prodigy Internet The service is available at two prices: The Basic Plan, which costs $9.95 a month and provides ten hours of usage, with additional hours beyond 10 priced at $2.50 each; and the Unlimited Plan, which costs $19.95 a month, and provides unlimited untimed access to both the Internet and PI content. Prodigy Internet software is available (currently for Windows’95 only) at Prodigy’s web site.

MUSICAM Expands Range of Portable Audio Codecs/Mixers for ISDN and POTS

Los Angeles, CA. Some of the most interesting new product action at last week’s World Media Expo and NAB Radio Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center was in the area of codec and remote link technology for sending high quality audio point-to-point via ordinary telephone service or ISDN lines. The most energetic manufacturer on the WME floor in terms of new products was MUSICAM U.S.A.

Leading the lineup for MUSICAM was an enhanced version of the CDQPrima™ series of codecs for ISDN, which the company claims is already the fastest-selling audio codec on the market. The key new feature of the enhanced model is the addition of Layer III MPEG compression capability. With Layer III, the CDQPrima can now deliver 15kHz mono audio over a single ISDN “B” channel.

Front panel of the MUSICAM CDQPrima 120 Audio Codec

Added to the unit’s implementation of enhanced Layer II MPEG (MUSICAM®), the Layer III capability makes the CDQPrima extremely versatile and compatible. In addition to high quality digital audio, mono or stereo, it delivers SMPTE timecode, two ancillary data channels, eight relay contact closures, plus command and control channels, all on a single ISDN line.

Also on the ISDN transmission front, MUSICAM unveiled two new portable codecs with built in mixing capabilities. The top-of-the-line Olympian™ offers bidirectional stereo audio with no compromises. It includes the same MPEG Layer II (MUSICAM) and Layer III algorithms as the codec-only CDQPrima series. In addition to mono and stereo transmission, it supports dual-channel send of separate mono programs over two ISDN “B” channels. It can also send voice-grade analog audio over standard phone lines, when ISDN is unavailable.

MUSICAM's Olympian™ Stereo ISDN Portable Codec/Mixer

The company claims ultra-low distortion (0.01% THD+N) and superior signal-to-noise ratio (greater than 90 dB) for the Olympian. The standard configuration includes a built-in universal ISDN terminal adapter with integrated NT1, three mic inputs with stereo pan, a stereo line input, AES/EBU digital inputs and balanced line out. It also features numerous convenience features such as a snap-shot memory that saves presets of all operating parameters, including level settings, stereo pan position, ISDN numbers, bit rates, line format algorithm and mode, and sampling rate. The Olympian can match an incoming signal’s algorithm, mode, sampling rate and bit rate automatically.

For applications where absolute audio quality is less important, such as news gathering and voice over, MUSICAM introduced the RoadRunner™ portable codec/mixer. It offers similar automatic functions and convenience features as the Olympian, with MUSICAM enhanced Layer II and Layer III MPEG algorithms. But it is limited to mono send of a 15 kHz signal on a single ISDN “B” channel (or analog audio via standard phone line), has two mic inputs plus one mic/line input, and no digital I/O.

The RoadRunner™ Mono ISDN Portable Codec/Mixer

Finally, at the low end of its new product intros, MUSICAM brought out a studio version of its FieldFone audio codec for regular phone lines. The StudioFone™ is intended as the studio side of a field reporters’ link, enabling broadcast quality digital audio back to the studio via a single regular analog phone line. Both the FieldFone and the StudioFone offer frequency response approaching 9 kHz, and a “Sound Shaper” feature to sculpt the frequency response for optimum quality when sending music or other program involving higher bandwidth.

Enco Shows DADPRO Digital Audio Delivery System

Los Angeles, CA. ENCO Systems Inc. is exhibiting the DADPRO on-air, management and production system at WME. The digital audio delivery system is designed for live-assist, automated or satellite-programmed broadcast applications. The DAD workstation can replace all of the traditional recording and reproduction equipment found in a typical broadcast studio. It runs on non-proprietary computer hardware and uses industry-standard network architecture.

DAD interfaces with all commonly available professional broadcast equipment such as multichannel editors, consoles, routing switchers, and satellite receivers. It also supports wide-area networking, which allows any number of facilities to be linked and to share audio files as well as other data globally.

ENCO is also showing two ancillary products that combine with DADPRO to provide total forward control of localized spots, ID’s, and other audio, as well as scheduling instructions: the DADSAT satellite-based store forward management system, and the DAD JR low-cost workstation for unmanned downlink applications.