Sonic's Embedded Audio Synthesis (EAS) Technology provides high-quality music and content-based revenue generation for toy manufacturers

For Immediate Release

Boston, MA/June 16, 2004 --- Sonic Network, Inc., a music industry veteran providing audio synthesis technology and high quality instrument wavetables, announced today that Valence Semiconductor Design Limited, a leading IC design house and a subsidiary of SRS Labs, has licensed Sonic’s Embedded Audio System (EAS) technology for its new integrated circuit design intended for the Asian toy and other consumer device markets.

In order to meet customer demand for high quality music reproduction at low-end price points, Valence, is incorporating the EAS technology into a new standard IC (applications specific integrated circuit), which is targeted for availability in late 2004 or early 2005. Volume is expected to be between 500K and 1M units in the first year.

In addition to Sonic’s audio synthesis technology, Valence has licensed several of Sonic’s wavetables for distribution. The wavetables contain sets of audio samples that recreate the sound of musical instruments. Since these tables are in software and are separate from the actual audio hardware, Valence customers will be able to select from a variety of options to optimize memory needs and playback quality, thereby allowing them to target their products at various specific market segments. For instance, companies selling into the Asian markets will be able to utilize wavetables with musical instruments native to countries such as China, Japan and Korea.

“The EAS technology will give toy and other consumer good manufacturers a much higher quality of music reproduction than with previous generation devices,” states Philip Wong, CEO of ValenceTech. “In our in-house evaluations of competitive products, we felt that Sonic’s EAS technology delivered the right combination of performance and quality. Since they produce their own wavetables at their in-house recording studios, we were able to specify exactly what we felt we needed for a successful product offering; we were not restricted in having to choose from a limited set of what the other vendors had available for shipment.”

“We are working forward to working with Valence to bring out embedded synthesis technology to their IC designs for the toy industry,” said Jennifer Hruska, president of Sonic Network. “Together, we are working to integrate the advanced sound technology we find in the cellular industry into the toy industry and we are starting to see a new generation of high quality but affordable toys that provide music that rivals MP3 or other real audio playback – only doing so at a fraction of the cost."

In addition, since this technology is MIDI based, manufactures can now look towards creating residual revenue streams beyond the initial product sale by selling song refills or upgrades. In fact, this revenue model has been well proven in the cellular industry with some analysts pegging ringtone sales in the hundreds of millions of dollar range. Peter Eggleston, Director of Sales and Marketing for Sonic Network states “Clearly the content model is well understood in the toy industry, but until now with the addition of the MIDI synthesis vehicle through devices such as Valences’ ASIC, there wasn’t an appropriate vehicle for cost effective implementation. With all the MIDI content that is now out there thanks to the ringtone industry, I think we are going to see the early MIDI adopters in other consumer industries make a lot of money. Valence is exactly on track to assist toy manufactures in doing so!”

About EAS:

Sonic Network's Embedded Audio System (EAS) technology is a multi-platform audio engine for a variety of embedded audio systems and devices such as semiconductors, wireless handsets, PDAs, sound cards, toys, and other consumer devices. The EAS solution is a customizable software package comprised of a digital audio player, General MIDI (GM) synthesizer, matched wavetable soundsets, and audio extensions for multiple MIDI formats, digital audio effects, mixers, audio codecs, and graphics integration.

About Sonic Network, Inc.:
Sonic Network, Inc. provides embedded audio technology and content (music and sounds) that enable high quality, engaging audio and multi-media playback. The company licenses its products in a wide variety of markets including Wireless Devices, Semiconductors, PC Soundcards, Games, and Music Synthesizers. Consumers enjoy crystal clear music and multi-media playback on all devices, despite a particular platform's memory, processing or functional constraints. For this reason, Sonic has gained a well-deserved reputation of providing superb next-generation quality audio. 

About Valence: