Aztech puts wavetable audio into software

Created in conjunction with Brooktree Corporation, the software makes a cost-effective upgrade for Aztech's FM sound cards and audio telephony products, the company claims. Users stand to save about £40 compared to a hardware solution.

Software WaveTable uses recordings from instruments and stores the audio files on the host PC's hard drive rather than kept in ROM. The file is then decoded by the CPU and processed through the sound card. The product has more than two years of compatibility testing behind it, according to Brooktree.

"Consumers want CD-quality sound but are unwilling to pay for it ... we have developed a software-based product that, when combined with a low-cost Aztech sound card, creates wavetable quality sound at a fraction of the cost of hardware-based products," said Robert N. Gunn, vice president and general manager of Aztech Labs.