New MPEG Filters for Cool Edit

QDesign Corporation, a leading provider of audio compression technologies and Syntrillium Software Corporation, the makers of Cool Edit and Cool Edit Pro, announce the release of the QDesign MPEG Audio Encode and Decode filters for Cool Edit users. The QDesign MPEG filters for Cool Edit will allow audio professionals in the broadcast and new media industries to easily save their Cool Edit session directly into an MPEG-audio file for storage and transmission. Audio encoded at less than 20 percent of its original file size offers indistinguishable difference in quality to its CD source.

"Fast, high-quality audio compression is a crucial feature for our customers," says Bob Ellison, President of Syntrillium Software. "This is particularly true for broadcast and studio professionals who use Cool Edit to edit and mix their audio tracks and then need to get that audio to a different location for broadcast or further production as quickly as possible. The QDesign MPEG encode and decode software performs extremely well and produces outstanding encoded results."

"SW Networks has used QDesign's MPEG technology in our back-end archive and broadcast transmission systems for several years," reveals Jake Glanz, Senior Director of Engineering for SW Networks. "The QDesign MPEG software is the best professional audio compression software solution in the industry. We now plan to make available the QDesign MPEG along with Cool Edit Pro to all our studios. This will enable everyone from studio engineers to field correspondents to have the means to easily produce and submit interviews and reports whether it is from their desktops or from their laptop digital audio workstations."

"Cool Edit is widely used in professional radio broadcast and multimedia publishing. It is an amazing application that meets the needs of all basic digital audio editing needs," states Mandy Chan, Vice-President of Marketing at QDesign. "The QDesign MPEG compliments Cool Edit by making available the capability to encode high quality audio from directly within the editor without having to use another application. MPEG audio files created with QDesign can easily be incorporated into schedulers from leading radio automation systems because it is based on the standard for digital radio broadcast. Audio professionals can now FTP or e-mail voice-overs to remote locations for final production without having to output to tape and send via physical couriers."

The QDesign MPEG encode and decode filters are fully compliant to the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 Layer II standards for digital audio bitrate reduction. The QDesign MPEG filters allow Cool Edit users to easily save and import MPEG audio files within Cool Edit 96 or Cool Edit Pro. Even on lower end machines, such as Pentium 75MHz-100MHz systems, the QDesign MPEG software encodes 44.1kHz stereo content in real-time.

QDesign's MPEG audio encoding and decoding technology is available for licensing and as stand-alone and plug-in applications. The MPEG stand-alone product for Windows 95/NT is US$299. The MPEG AudioSuite Plug-In for Pro Tools 4.x is US$495. The MPEG filter for Cool Edit is US$149. Visit QDesign at www.qdesign.com for more information.

Syntrillium Software Corporation (www.syntrillium.com) develops, publishes and markets computer software products that enhance individual creativity in the manipulation of sound and visual effects. The company's flagship product, Cool Edit Pro, is a 64-track digital audio recorder, editor and mixer. Cool Edit Pro and its 2-track shareware cousin, Cool Edit 96, enable musicians, multimedia authors, telephone-systems professionals and others who work with sound to record, mix, edit, and add a wide variety of digital effects to Windows .wav-files and other audio formats.

QDesign Corporation develops and markets state-of-the art audio compression technologies to the broadcast and new media industries. QDesign's technologies appear in hardware processors, digital audio production systems, broadcast automation and distribution systems as well as consumer multimedia applications. The technologies are used in Internet streaming, production, archive, broadcast, and new media applications by organizations including Apple QuickTime, Associated Press, BBC, Sony Worldwide Networks, Broderbund and Iomega.