All of the sounds in SoundBursts are true CD-quality 16-bit, 44.1KHz stereo samples. Because they are compressed, they take up surprisingly little room on disk. SoundBursts is broken down into two sets of about 100 sounds each. The Effects collection includes nonmusical sounds such as a champagne bottle popping, a door slamming, and a machine gun. Also included are several alternative beep sounds. The musically inclined will be particularly interested in the Percussion Set, a comprehensive collection of percussion sounds. Combined with a multitrack sequencer, these can turn your NeXT into a powerhouse drum machine.
Since sound is so well integrated into the NeXT environment, any NeXT user can benefit from SoundBursts. In fact, MIDIapolis Systems includes a comprehensive user manual that explains exactly how to use these sounds with a variety of programs, including Concurrence, DataPhile, and FrameMaker.
Along with the sounds themselves, SoundBursts includes a simple sound-playing application called BIGplay and a trio of UNIX utilities that allow you to play, compress, or get information about a group of sounds all at once. Developers are encouraged to use these sounds within their applications, and all of the sounds come with a full license. MIDIapolis Systems hopes to follow NeXT in releasing its software on CD-ROM, but for now SoundBursts is shipped on floppies. The disks are clearly labeled and have an index.
by Lee Sherman
Collections of professionally recorded CD-quality stereo clip sounds for use with all NeXT programs that support sound. Sound quality is excellent and both collections are varied enough to suit a variety of purposes, from multimedia to personalizing your workspace.
$99
MIDIapolis Systems, 3208 Lake St. W., Ste. 133, Minneapolis, MN 55416.
612/822-1604.