Analog Devices Announces SoundMAX Digital Audio System Shipping On New ASUS Motherboards for Retail Channel.

Business/Technology Editors

Intel Developer Forum 

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2002

Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI) today announced that its SoundMAX(R) Digital Audio System (SoundMAX) is now available on two new high-performance motherboards from ASUSTeK Computer, Inc., a leading provider of motherboards to PC OEMs, systems integrators and retail outlets. The SoundMAX Digital Audio System is the industry's highest performance and most reliable PC audio solution for business professionals, audio enthusiasts, musicians and gamers. It is featured on the ASUS(R) P4PE and P4GE-V motherboards, which support the latest Pentium(R) 4 processors. SoundMAX surpasses the functionality and feature set of premium sound cards at a fraction of the cost, delivering outstanding audio quality and state-of-the-art technologies for playback of music CDs, MP3/WMA files, DVD movie soundtracks, MIDI music, Internet audio and enhanced game audio.

"Adding the SoundMAX Digital Audio System to our new P4PE and P4GE-V motherboards allows us to bring the same type of premium audio quality found in consumer electronics to the PC platform," said Joe Hsieh, Director, Motherboard Business Department, ASUSTeK Computer, Inc. "With SoundMAX on our new motherboards, we can now offer the most highly-acclaimed digital audio system to our customers--delivering the ultimate audio experience to our core customer base, which includes gamers and power users."

"We are delighted that ASUSTeK has selected SoundMAX to fulfill its customer demand for a robust audio system that outperforms PCI sound cards," said John Croteau, product line director, Computer Products and Services Group, Analog Devices, Inc. "We are also pleased that users will find it easier to buy SoundMAX-based systems because of the strong market presence that ASUSTeK has with systems integrators and in the retail channel."

About ASUS

Established in 1989, ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (TSE:2357), the perennial leader of the motherboard industry, is also a leading manufacturer of top-quality desktop barebones notebooks, IA devices, servers, graphics cards, broadband modems, wireless products and optical drives. With world-class engineering and offices and subsidiaries located in all corners of the world, ASUSTeK provides innovative solutions to consumers, businesses and OEM customers. The company has been among BusinessWeek's "InfoTech 100" since 1998, with the latest worldwide ranking of 23rd.

About SoundMAX from Analog Devices

The SoundMAX Digital Audio System features a state-of-the-art DLS2 MIDI synthesizer with the popular Yamaha DLSbyXG sound set, the award-winning Sensaura 5.1 Virtual Theater(TM) surround sound, and support for all major game audio technologies, including Microsoft DirectX(TM) 8.0, Microsoft DirectSound 3D(TM), A3D, MacroFX, ZoomFX, MultiDrive 5.1, A3D, EAX and SoundMAX SPX(TM) (Sound Production eXtensions). The exclusive SoundMAX SPX technology renders hyper-realistic sound effects in today's most popular games from companies such as Electronic Arts, Infogrames, Ubi Soft, Sony Computer Entertainment and Fox Interactive.

The SoundMAX Digital Audio System delivers unparalleled audio performance by combining an AC-97 hardware CODEC installed on the motherboard with cutting-edge audio rendering software pre-loaded in the computer, ensuring system-level compatibility and sparing end users from the installation headaches associated with add-in soundcards. In addition, recent benchmark data has shown that the SoundMAX Digital Audio System running on today's fast CPUs (1.8 GHz and above) outperforms standard audio cards, as it is not affected by the slower data transfer rate of the often-congested PCI bus.

The SoundMAX-class of audio CODECs are available in both 2- and 6-channel configurations and offer variable sample rate conversion (SRC), professional quality 103 dB output with 94 dB SNR, and software-configurable speaker equalization (EQ). For more information about SoundMAX, please visit: http://www.soundmax.com/.

About Analog Devices, Inc.

Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications. The company is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts and employs approximately 8,800 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Analog Devices' stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the company is included in the S&P 500 Index.

SoundMAX is a registered trademark and SPX is a trademark of Analog Devices Inc. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.