MaximumPC 2006 04

(Dariusz) #1

O


gling—and then listening to—Creative’s I-Trigue L3800 speakers brings the
above-referenced Sex Pistols’ lyric to mind. The mod, sexy satellites look
stunning bracketing a svelte flat-panel monitor. But lust dissolves into indiffer-
ence the moment they make a sound.
The satellites’ brushed-aluminum cabinets house a pair of tiny NeoTitanium
drivers—a rare metal found only in Creative Labs’ speakers and the occa-
sional science-fiction novel—and look as if they could be displayed at the
Guggenheim. (Snarkiness aside, the trademark springs from the fact that the
drivers are fabricated from titanium, and they’re driven by neodymium mag-
nets.) These high-frequency drivers are supplemented by side-firing midrange
drivers, which lend the 2.1-channel system an impressively wide soundstage.
The satellites are bi-amplified,
meaning that the 1.3-inch tweeters
and 2-inch midrange
drivers are powered
by separate amps
(delivering 9 watts
RMS in total). This
design choice typically
results in superior
fidelity, and the L3800
sats deliver satisfy-
ingly meaty tones
from their mids; but

the tweeters rendered Neil Young’s harmonica work on “Prairie Wind” harsh
enough to grate Parmesan.
The satellite amps were noisy, too; a steady background hiss emanated
from the tweeters in the absence of an input signal. The 6.5-inch, side-firing,
ported subwoofer and its dedicated 30-watt amp, on the other hand, delivered
well-defined and agreeably punchy bass.
The I-Trigue line is designed for use with handheld media players and
console game systems, as well as PCs. This is the first model in that lineup to
come with an infrared remote that controls not just the speakers (power, satel-
lite and sub levels, and mute), but several models of Creative’s Zen players, too.
Plug one of these into the 3800’s wireless desktop receiver—which also has a
convenient headphone jack—and you can use the remote to play, pause, and
skip tracks on the Zen.
The I-Trigue L3800 provides a feast for the eyes, but its noisy
amps and unforgiving tweeters
left our ears feeling famished.
—MICHAEL BROWN

Creative I-Trigue L3800


Speakers


Pretty. Pretty vacant


A


s camera makers have shoved more and more pixels onto tiny imaging
sensors, digital pictures have become increasingly noisy and so filled with
grain that the old craptacular Disc Camera seems superior at times.
Enter PictureCode’s Noise Ninja, an application that takes a +3 katana to
the digital noise that can ruin an otherwise good picture. Ninja comes in a diz-
zying array of flavors but we looked at the stand-alone professional version (a
plug-in for Photoshop is also available). The pro version supports 16-bit images,
batch processing, and multi-threading.
We tasked Ninja with cleaning up a couple of grainy images from our own
collection, one of which was a candlelit JPEG image taken with a Canon 5D at
3200 ISO. (While the 5D’s full-frame sensor is more than capable of producing
clean, sharp pictures, a candlelit shot at 3200 ISO is a challenge for any digital
camera.) To compare the Ninja’s performance, we also ran our images through
Adobe Photoshop CS2’s built-in noise-reduction filter. There was no contest.
CS2’s “free” functionality doesn’t hold a candle to Ninja’s noise reduction, or
speed. Furthermore, Ninja is aided by prebuilt profiles that are available for a
host of digital cameras models.
What really impressed us was the program’s efficiency. Tweaking an
image often requires a lot of back and forth, as you “clean” areas, then revert
back to the original, turn a few knobs, and clean again. With other products,
it can get pretty tedious because of the slow pace at which the changes are

processed. We had no complaints about speed with Ninja. Even on a single-
core 3.8GHz Prescott Pentium 4, the performance was snappy. What’s more,
Ninja is multithreaded, so users with dual-core PCs and PCs with Hyper-
Threading should see an even greater boost in speed. We applaud developers
who support today’s hardware instead of pandering to the unwashed masses
of ancient Pentium IIIs.
Ninja isn’t just about the hardware support though; its snappy perfor-
mance, ease of use, and batch processing make it a must-have for
anyone who is serious about his
or her digital pictures.
—GORDON MAH UNG

Picture Code Noise Ninja


Slice and dice those grainy digital pics


8 MA XIMUMPC APRIL 2006


reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED


Creative’s I-Trigue L3800 speakers offer plenty of sizzle, but
deliver very little steak.

By har-
nessing
the power
of today’s
hardware,
Ninja makes
quick work
of cleaning
up pics.




CREATIVE I-TRIGUE L3800
$150, http://www.creative.com

SPECS


PICTURE CODE NOISE NINJA
$80, http://www.picturecode.com


MA XIMUMPC
KICKASS

SATELLITE SPEAKERS Twin 1.3-inch titanium
tweeters, single 2-inch
paper cone midrange;
magnetically shielded
enclosures
SATELLITE POWER 9 watts per channel, RMS
(bi-amplified)
SUBWOOFER 6.5-inch paper cone driver
SUBWOOFER POWER 30 watts, RMS
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE
RATIO 80dB
Free download pdf