Audio Software Portland OR

for Mac & PC v. 3.0
SRP: $79.95; iPod Adaptor: $99.95

SRS Labs USA
2509 Daimler St.
Santa Ana, CA 92705
949-442-1070
www.srslabs.com

SRS Labs is a leader in surround sound, audio and voice technologies. Their various audio enhancement technologies are used by many manufacturers and include SRS WOW, WOW HD, TruSurround XT, SRS VIP, SRS Circle Surround II and SRS Headphone. Some of these enhancements are used in HDTV displays and in entry-level audio players to provide improved sound and even surround sound from the small, basic speaker systems and electronics in such units. Now SRS offers cross-platform enhancement software to improve the sonics from computers and iPods.  Until recently the iWOW software was only available for Macs, but now it has also been made available for PC users.  Both versions are included in the same package. The previous v. 2.0 has just been superceded by v. 3.0, which I evaluated.

iWOW is designed to allow users to enjoy improved audio quality from either the tiny speakers built into their computer video displays, a larger but still entry-level separate speaker system, or over stereo headphones. It can restore sonic fidelity to compressed digital audio files such as MP3s, podcasts, video soundtracks and streaming music from webcasters. The user interface is quite simple.  I merely dropped iWow into my iMac's Applications Folder and it attached itself to iTunes, which then needs no further adjustment.  Whenever iTunes is opened to listen to any audio sources, this display comes up on the screen and can be moved around or out of your way:


There is a volume slider, a digital level meter, and where the pop-down says General there appears a list of various EQ settings for classical, rock, jazz, blues, country and more genres. I found the most accurate setting to be just plain General. Clicking anywhere on the SRS small screen brings up the advanced setting, allowed further customization to your particular speaker setup and your personal hearing. By the way, you can compare the iWOW effects to the untreated signal easily just by clicking on the blue ellipse just under the SRS logo.

I didn't make any adjustments to the Advanced Controls but just A/B'd the tiny built-in speakers of my 20-inch iMac display with and without iWow, followed by feeding the analog out of my iMac to my office integrated amp and Paradigm Atom speakers plus Cambridge Soundworks subwoofer.  The sound quality from the display's tiny speakers is surprising considering the low output of the amp and their small size, plus their downward-facing orientation.  However, adding the iWow processing produces a much more listenable and more stereo-conscious sound.  It made eve...