ChrisMorley
11-14-2011, 08:31 PM
http://www.maingear.com/blogfiles/maingear-epicxaudio.jpg
Customizeability is a word that gets thrown around a lot in this business. So is innovation. But are you really innovating when you’re just pulling components off the shelf and throwing them all in a configurator? How does that customizability differentiate you from the myriad of other companies offering the exact same, albeit long, list of components that anyone can buy?
We ask ourselves that question, and that’s how, in the past two years, we’ve been able to greatly impact the direction of the boutique market, beginning with the SHIFT. Since then, our message of clean aesthetics and design and function without compromise has turned a lot of heads and has put us down a new path of bringing real innovation through truly new and unique products, not just listing new products in our configurator.
The EPIC lineup of closed-loop watercoolers was our next step. We partnered with CoolIT to use their patented micro-fin technology and their ECO II pump to power an out-of-spec 180mm radiator, the first and only on the market. This allowed us to reach the thermal efficiency of more expensive hand built liquid cooling loops without the constant maintenance and without the worry of leakage.
We’ve been able to apply the EPIC 180 to various duties inside the SHIFT. We’ve used it in conjunction with CoolIT’s OMNI plates to offer the world’s only closed-loop dual GTX 590 and dual Radeon HD 6990 solutions. And because of the size of the EPIC 180, we’re actually able to keep temps and noise down. With the industry standard 120mm radiators on the market we would have only been able to keep one 590 at air cooled temperatures and at about the same noise profile. So when we innovate, we really make a difference.
And if you’ve been paying attention to some recent press, you’ll see we’ve updated our lineup to include Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge E processor. Of course, that’s something that everyone’s doing, but if you read our press release, you’ll see that we also launched another MAINGEAR developed product, the MAINGEAR EPIC Audio Engine (http://www.maingear.com/epic/index.php).
This is a very unique solution, and has never before been seen in the PC market.
As someone who designs high performance computers for enthusiast gamers and professionals, I’ve often mused that going with maxed-out graphics cards leaves you no room for upgraded audio, in most cases. This was just the nature of the beast, I thought.
When I was introduced to APHEX’s Exciter technology, a patented harmonic processor, I was pumped. As an audiophile myself, I take audio very seriously. I have a beautiful 10 year old pair of Definitive Technologies BP-2002 speakers hooked up to an Integra amplifier. I listen to music most of the day when I’m not on the phone. Music is a big part of my life.
So when I had the chance to license the technology inside the Exciter – a studio grade product that has been refined for over three decades, with over a million units product – I started to get excited!
Finally, something we could do about crappy front-panel audio!
Ever listened to music that sounded flat? The vocals and the mids and the lows just kinda blended together into a bunch of audio mud? That’s what EQ’s are for, right? Let’s give it some “Bass Boost.” But then you have to compensate by raising the levels of other frequencies for their perceived loss. Eventually you’ve just made loud audio mud.
The MAINGEAR EPIC Audio Engine featuring APHEX technology brings out desired frequencies without adding gain – the result is audio that’s better articulated. It also features a headphone amplifier, boosting the often weak signal that most PC audio solutions send to the front panel audio connectors. In addition, there’s APHEX processing on the mic return – making it the only solution that actively enhances your voice – wonderful for multiplayer-gaming.
So how does it work? Well, we made it utilizing industry standard connections to make it universally compatible with any combination of hardware. That means that it takes a 4-pin power connector from your PSU, and then instead of connecting your front panel audio into your motherboard or discrete sound card, you plug it into the EPIC Audio Engine. Then you plug the Audio Engine into your sound solution’s front panel header, using the industry standard Intel HD pin out. That’s it. No drivers, no configuration. We include a switch so you can turn it on and off (the amp stays on, either way.) And that’s the gist of it. Audiophiles won’t turn up their nose at plugging their high quality cans into it, and multi-player gamers will love the clarity and distinction it brings to multi-player gaming. It does wonders for team communication!
But we wanted to take it a step further, we wanted to make sure that this product was of the highest audio fidelity – so we brought it to one of our customers, Downtown Music, LLC. Home to artists like Gnarls Barkley, Downtown Music is located in the heart of New York City. So we partnered with them to have the EPIC Audio Engine professionally tuned by their audio engineers. It really validated what we were attempting and it ensured that way we tuned the product would best serve the discerning audio enthusiast.
So that’s it! Just another product we’ve developed and brought to market. This isn’t a mod, this wasn’t done with a Dremel and acrylic – this is a bona fide engineered product that has been designed and manufactured in the United States to address a very real need in the enthusiast desktop market. And that’s the point of MAINGEAR EPIC Research Labs. We have more products in the queue and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!
Check out pics from Wallace and my trip to Downtown Music and the EPIC Audio Engine on our Facebook page, here. (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150460166927037.426611.13483097036&type=1)
Customizeability is a word that gets thrown around a lot in this business. So is innovation. But are you really innovating when you’re just pulling components off the shelf and throwing them all in a configurator? How does that customizability differentiate you from the myriad of other companies offering the exact same, albeit long, list of components that anyone can buy?
We ask ourselves that question, and that’s how, in the past two years, we’ve been able to greatly impact the direction of the boutique market, beginning with the SHIFT. Since then, our message of clean aesthetics and design and function without compromise has turned a lot of heads and has put us down a new path of bringing real innovation through truly new and unique products, not just listing new products in our configurator.
The EPIC lineup of closed-loop watercoolers was our next step. We partnered with CoolIT to use their patented micro-fin technology and their ECO II pump to power an out-of-spec 180mm radiator, the first and only on the market. This allowed us to reach the thermal efficiency of more expensive hand built liquid cooling loops without the constant maintenance and without the worry of leakage.
We’ve been able to apply the EPIC 180 to various duties inside the SHIFT. We’ve used it in conjunction with CoolIT’s OMNI plates to offer the world’s only closed-loop dual GTX 590 and dual Radeon HD 6990 solutions. And because of the size of the EPIC 180, we’re actually able to keep temps and noise down. With the industry standard 120mm radiators on the market we would have only been able to keep one 590 at air cooled temperatures and at about the same noise profile. So when we innovate, we really make a difference.
And if you’ve been paying attention to some recent press, you’ll see we’ve updated our lineup to include Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge E processor. Of course, that’s something that everyone’s doing, but if you read our press release, you’ll see that we also launched another MAINGEAR developed product, the MAINGEAR EPIC Audio Engine (http://www.maingear.com/epic/index.php).
This is a very unique solution, and has never before been seen in the PC market.
As someone who designs high performance computers for enthusiast gamers and professionals, I’ve often mused that going with maxed-out graphics cards leaves you no room for upgraded audio, in most cases. This was just the nature of the beast, I thought.
When I was introduced to APHEX’s Exciter technology, a patented harmonic processor, I was pumped. As an audiophile myself, I take audio very seriously. I have a beautiful 10 year old pair of Definitive Technologies BP-2002 speakers hooked up to an Integra amplifier. I listen to music most of the day when I’m not on the phone. Music is a big part of my life.
So when I had the chance to license the technology inside the Exciter – a studio grade product that has been refined for over three decades, with over a million units product – I started to get excited!
Finally, something we could do about crappy front-panel audio!
Ever listened to music that sounded flat? The vocals and the mids and the lows just kinda blended together into a bunch of audio mud? That’s what EQ’s are for, right? Let’s give it some “Bass Boost.” But then you have to compensate by raising the levels of other frequencies for their perceived loss. Eventually you’ve just made loud audio mud.
The MAINGEAR EPIC Audio Engine featuring APHEX technology brings out desired frequencies without adding gain – the result is audio that’s better articulated. It also features a headphone amplifier, boosting the often weak signal that most PC audio solutions send to the front panel audio connectors. In addition, there’s APHEX processing on the mic return – making it the only solution that actively enhances your voice – wonderful for multiplayer-gaming.
So how does it work? Well, we made it utilizing industry standard connections to make it universally compatible with any combination of hardware. That means that it takes a 4-pin power connector from your PSU, and then instead of connecting your front panel audio into your motherboard or discrete sound card, you plug it into the EPIC Audio Engine. Then you plug the Audio Engine into your sound solution’s front panel header, using the industry standard Intel HD pin out. That’s it. No drivers, no configuration. We include a switch so you can turn it on and off (the amp stays on, either way.) And that’s the gist of it. Audiophiles won’t turn up their nose at plugging their high quality cans into it, and multi-player gamers will love the clarity and distinction it brings to multi-player gaming. It does wonders for team communication!
But we wanted to take it a step further, we wanted to make sure that this product was of the highest audio fidelity – so we brought it to one of our customers, Downtown Music, LLC. Home to artists like Gnarls Barkley, Downtown Music is located in the heart of New York City. So we partnered with them to have the EPIC Audio Engine professionally tuned by their audio engineers. It really validated what we were attempting and it ensured that way we tuned the product would best serve the discerning audio enthusiast.
So that’s it! Just another product we’ve developed and brought to market. This isn’t a mod, this wasn’t done with a Dremel and acrylic – this is a bona fide engineered product that has been designed and manufactured in the United States to address a very real need in the enthusiast desktop market. And that’s the point of MAINGEAR EPIC Research Labs. We have more products in the queue and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!
Check out pics from Wallace and my trip to Downtown Music and the EPIC Audio Engine on our Facebook page, here. (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150460166927037.426611.13483097036&type=1)