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ART8
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1993-09-27
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Sound Galaxy
NX PRO 16
by Tony Curro
Several years ago people said, "Who needs sound?" Today, if you do
not have sound, you feel left out. I cannot imagine opening or
closing Windows without hearing my wave files play. But, today's
sound is more than that. How many times have you entered data in
your spread sheet, and then had to double check the entries by
looking at the hard copy and the screen? Or did the same with a
letter or other document? How many times have you sent a letter or
E-Mail to an associate, and would like to say something to him or
her in the document? All of these things and more can be achieved
with a sound card. Aztech Labs, an up and coming company in the US,
and a worldwide award winner, has a whole series of sound cards and
even multimedia kits to help you. They have eight packages to choose
from starting at $99. All of their cards come bundled with hundreds
of dollars worth of software. In addition they come with: speakers,
microphone and speakers, or microphone and headphone.
I looked at the Sound Galaxy NX PRO 16. This card has built-in
support for several AT-Bus CD-ROM drives, and the option to purchase
an add-on SCSI CD-ROM interface. Sound Galaxy NX PRO 16 is currently
the ONLY sound card to support all the major sound card standards.
It has support for the following: AdLib, Sound Blaster, Sound
Blaster II, MS Windows Sound System, Covox Speech Thing and Disney
Sound Source. Of the sound cards I have either reviewed or worked
with, Sound Galaxy performed the best in Sound Blaster
compatibility.
Sound Galaxy NX PRO 16, operating in the 16-bit mode, provides a
sampling rate from 4kHz to 44.1kHz in full stereo. It also features
stereo digitized audio playback and recording. The stereo mixer can
record from multiple sources simultaneously, including stereo FM,
stereo microphone, stereo line-in, stereo CD-Audio, and Covox/Disney
Sound Source voices.
Sound Galaxy NX PRO 16 comes with a microphone and headphone,
Windows 3.1 drivers and the following bundled software:
* HSC Interactive -- provides stunning animation graphics.
* Windows Digital Audio Transport (Windat) OLE -- allows users to
edit audio.
* Voyetra AudioStation - Hi-Fi style control panel to play CD audio,
Wave files and MIDI files.
* Voice Annotation - embedding recorded messages.
* Text to Speech Utility -- enables users to read Windows
applications for text, spread sheets, DTP and electronic mail.
* Sound Tracks -- gives users a range of music to play while
working.
* CD Player Utility.
Installation is quick and easy. Most configuration settings are done
via software, eliminating the need to open the system and remove the
card. Sound Galaxy NX PRO 16 requires a 16-bit slot in your
computer.
I was able to get the SCSI extender also. It has software that
supports a wide range of popular SCSI CD-ROM drives, and the ability
to daisy-chain up to seven devices. The addition of this card just
elongates the NX PRO, rather than many that then overlap on another
slot.
Overall, I was pleased with Sound Galaxy NX PRO 16. It is a solid
well-constructed card that works as advertised. With the option of
both AT-Bus and SCSI CD-ROM support, this card is flexible and
should work with almost any configuration. The card comes with a one
year warranty.
Product Information
Sound Galaxy
NX PRO 16
List Price -- $269.
Aztech Labs, Inc.
46707 Fremont Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94538
510-623-8988
510-623-8989 (FAX)