Friday, February 16, 2001

Introduction Guillemot, a well-known designer & manufacturer of PC sound-cards, has been supplying us with its marvels for quite some time. Recently, we received the Guillemot Maxi Sound MUSE (pictured opposite) for analysis, which we'll now be happy to pit against others of its kind in an effort to determine its merits. The MUSE is primarily based upon the CM8738 audio chipset, which includes support for 4 simultaneous voices out. Let's take a closer look, now, shall we?

The particularities of the Maxi Sound MUSE

Introduction As mentioned earlier, the MUSE is based around the C-Media 8738 audio chipset. Being as it's no clear match for the EMU10K1 chipset that accompanies the Soundblaster Live and Live Value sound-cards, the CM8738 is now more commonly found imbedded in logic-boards that require integrated sound support.

While capable of supporting upto 6 simultaneous voices at any one time, the CM8738 on the Maxi Sound MUSE is equipped to emit 4. With its ability to produce 16-bit sound rated at 48KHz, though, the MUSE is capable of supporting such varied audio formats as Microsoft DirectSound, EAX 1.0 and A3D 1.0, DirectMusic, and DirectX Sudio. 120-voice XG-compatible MIDI is also supported via the Yamaha software interface.

Unfortunately, the MUSE's stated specifications seem to be a bit behind the times, as the EAX standard has now reached revision 3.0, and certain games such as Quake 3 require a much more up-to-date rendition of the A3D standard.

With a price of about $35USD, the Maxi Sound MUSE is a compelling lure in terms of its MIDI reproduction. Thanks to it Yamaha XG Studio synthesizer software, users are provided with a selection of over 676 instruments, and 21 drum sets. From a point-of-ear perspective, we were very agreeably surprised by the finesse & detail that was rendered.

Next: The software pack

Technical specifications