Recap: Hoo based Inventive Know-how (often known as Inventive Labs within the US) in mid-1981 nevertheless it would not be till close to the top of the last decade earlier than the corporate’s devoted audio processing card, the Sound Blaster, was launched. The add-in card did nearly every thing that the competing product from market chief AdLib did plus added extra options like a sport port for much less cash.
Inventive Know-how founder, chairman and CEO Sim Wong Hoo died final week, his firm just lately confirmed. He was 67.
It did not take lengthy earlier than the Sound Blaster grew to become the top-selling PC growth card and a family identify amongst pc fans and PC avid gamers. Inventive dominated the sound card market all through the 90s and into the early 2000s and have become the de facto for high quality audio on the PC earlier than motherboard makers began integrating more and more higher high quality onboard audio into their choices, demoting discrete sound playing cards to area of interest class standing.
Inventive was additionally an early participant within the MP3 participant market with its Nomad and Zen traces of transportable media gamers. The corporate even received a $100 million settlement in opposition to Apple for licensing of its Zen patents.
TechSpot readers of a sure age nearly actually have expertise with Inventive’s line of merchandise, whether or not it’s sound playing cards, audio system or MP3 gamers. I personally went via a few Audigy-branded playing cards over time and most just lately changed a Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme that was ruined by certainly one of my cats with a Sound Blaster Z. I may simply as simply use onboard audio however my motherboard is historic, and I additionally like Sound Blaster’s Crystalizer dynamic vary enhancer. There’s additionally some nostalgia at play; I completely would like to personal a kind of 5.25-inch drive bay audio head items some day only for the aesthetic issue.
Following his passing, Inventive’s board has appointed Lee Kheng Nam as performing chairman. Tune Siow Hui, president of the corporate’s enterprise unit, will function interim chief govt officer till a everlasting substitute is discovered.
