13. Simple But Effective Software, Continued

The package of course includes the usual Hercules sound card software. Mediastation II is a multifunction player/recorder which can play video and even display photos for a quick slide show. For real music, it is very basic but it can handle play lists, so it is a useful tool for building up your own music program in a few mouse clicks. The big shortcoming is the lack of DVD playing software, so to benefit from the 5.1 outputs, you'll need to get a program that can decode Dolby Digital and maybe DTS as well.

Honorable Performances

The Muse Pocket has been revamped, after its initial launch served up some small defects that have subsequently been improved. The improvements are mainly in the low range response - now smoothly linear - and a substantial reduction in noise. Frequency response is thus now very honorably linear, especially for a product in this range. The noise level is the same as for others in this category. The only real weak point is Stereo crosstalk, which rates quite low. We should say, though, that this criterion is not critical for general purposes: in real life, stereo crosstalkis a lot less than what a card like the Muse Pocket gives. On the whole, then, the Muse Pocket behaves itself very satisfactorily.