The Maxi
Sound Muse is a low budget card designed for
??today?s price conscious multimedia user.?Naturally, we all want the latest and
greatest in sound cards, but not everyone has the
budget for the top of the line cards that are on
the market today.The people at Guillemot have come up with
what promises to be a low-cost sound card that
offers a practical balance between features and
price.With
support for Microsoft DirectSound 3D acceleration
on 4-speaker systems, and the popular EAX 1.0 and
A3D 1.0 APIs, this card promises to satisfy both
the music lover and gamer alike.With a MSRP of $29.99, the Maxi Sound
Muse could be just what the budget doctor
ordered.
Specifications
/ Features Of The Maxi Sound Muse
The
Goods...
Features
DSP CMI 8738 processor
Sampling up to 48kHz
128-voice polyphony XG (General MIDI compatible)
3D sound processed by CRL 3D audio engine
Supports earphones, two and four channel speaker modes,
3D positional audio in 4 channel speaker mode
MPU-401 Game/MIDI port and legacy audio SB16 compatible
HRTF 3D positional audio, supporting DirectSound 3D, A3D
1.0 and EAX 1.0
Installing the
Maxi Sound Muse sound card was as
easy as could be expected. After removing my
old Creative PCI 128 and its drivers, I followed
the hardware installation instructions as outlined
in the manual. The less experienced user
should like the addition of detailed photos
designed to guide them with their upgrade.
Although the images were a bit small, larger ones
could be printed from the Manual PDF located on
the installation CD. I was a little
surprised that there are no instructions specific
to Windows ME though. This made it a little
unclear which driver to install when I was
ultimately given three to choose from. Since
Windows ME is most closely related to Windows 98,
I opted for the Windows 98 drivers and the
installation completed without error.
Right
out of the box, the Maxi Sound Muse makes a
good impression.It?s obvious that the architects at
Guillemot have put a lot of thought into the
physical design of this card and it?s clear from
the start, that it was time well spent.From the precise placement of the circuitry
and input connections, to the sleek black coating
that leaves no traces exposed, the Maxi Sound
Muse is clearly a quality made sound card.
