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Microsoft
Licenses Reverb Technology From Waves Ltd.
Microsoft to Integrate Waves' TrueVerb Technology Into New
DirectMusic Application Programming Interface LOS ANGELES - Jan. 28, 1999 - Today at the
International Music Market (NAMM) show, Microsoft Corp. and Waves Ltd. announced
that Microsoft has licensed elements of Waves' TrueVerb™ technology for
incorporation into future versions of its operating systems. TrueVerb will be
integrated into Microsoft® DirectMusic™, a new application
programming interface (API) that enables software developers to deliver
high-quality interactive music in applications written for the Windows®
operating system. TrueVerb is an artificial reverberation process for creating
the illusion of distance and space in an audio stream. While maintaining
relatively low computational costs, TrueVerb can convey an accurate simulation
of rooms, halls and other acoustic spaces, making it seem as if the sound is
being heard in the simulated space. TrueVerb has previously been delivered in a
number of consumer products, such as home theater multimedia products and sound
cards, games, and musical instruments. Using TrueVerb, DirectMusic scores will
sound larger than life, seeming to be performed in concert halls, small chambers
or vast stadiums. The DirectMusic API is based on the DirectX® API,
a group of Windows technologies that enable application developers to take
advantage of the rich multimedia capabilities of modern personal computers, such
as full-color graphics, video, 3-D animation, interactive music and surround
sound. The Waves technology has been delivered as part of the DirectMusic
software synthesizer, a component of the Windows operating system that enables
consistent playback of music soundtracks, regardless of the audio hardware
installed in a user's personal computer, when used in conjunction with
applications designed to take advantage of DirectMusic. "Waves' TrueVerb will help us take music on the Windows
platform to a new level by greatly improving users' listening experience,"
said Trudy Culbreth Brassell, program manager for DirectMusic at Microsoft.
"By adding extremely efficient, high-quality reverb capabilities to
DirectMusic, we are enabling composers and developers to deliver incredible
soundtracks for applications and Web sites that sound consistently great across
a wide range of Windows-equipped PCs." "We are pleased to offer TrueVerb technology to
Microsoft," said Gilad Keren, president and CEO at Waves. "As
consumers become more sophisticated about audio, software platform providers and
audio hardware manufacturers will need to differentiate themselves not only on
cost, but on sound quality and performance as well." Availability DirectMusic, including Waves' reverb technology, is scheduled
to be available on Feb. 1 as part of the DirectX 6.1 Software Development Kit
(SDK). More information about DirectX, including instructions on how to receive
the DirectX SDK, is available at http://www.microsoft.com/directx/. About Waves Founded in 1988, Waves is a privately held company. Waves has
established itself as one of the world's leading software suppliers of signal
processing and user interfaces for the Windows and Macintosh professional audio
and multimedia markets. The company has developed 20 different algorithms for
enhancing audio and sound perception. Waves maintains its R&D in Israel and
sales and marketing in the United States and Great Britain. Copyright (C)
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