Visiosonic's `Forensic Audio Lab' Software Converts Muffled, Noisy, or Barely-Audible Audio Surveillance Tapes into Crystal Clear Evidence

Business Wire, Nov 21, 2001

Business Editors/Technology Writers

CLEARWATER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2001

Law Enforcement and Press Invited to Visiosonic

Open House and Forensic Audio Lab Demonstrations

on November 28th, 11:00 am -5:00 pm

Visiosonic, (http://www.visiosonic.com), a leading multimedia software developer, announced the release of Forensic Audio Lab, a PC-based application that allows law enforcement to convert muffled, noisy, or barely-audible audio surveillance tapes or 911 recordings into crystal clear audio files capable of being easily heard and understood by juries and courtroom officials. The software can be professionally used by personnel with average computer skills, and is capable of outperforming traditional audio processing hardware costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Law enforcement personnel and press are invited for demonstrations of the Forensic Audio Lab software during an Open House on November 28th, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Visiosonic Ltd., 21939 US 19 North, Clearwater, Florida. 33765. Those interested in attending may contact Ali Martin, ali@visiosonic.com, 727.799.3828 x236.

"The audio evidence a prosecutor brings into court has to be compelling. He doesn't want a passing truck, flushing toilet, or gust of wind to overpower the subject's incriminating statements -- the voice has to be clear and unmistakable," said Visiosonic CEO, Joe Vangieri. "Forensic Audio Lab contains the exact tools needed to isolate and boost the subject's voice and lower each type of background noise so there will be no doubt about what was said and who said it."

Vangieri said juries often have problems with audio picked up through a body wire and recorded to cassette tape. The subject's voice level is typically low -- often muffled by clothing. Common background distractions include traffic noise, air conditioners, and hums from components of the recording equipment itself. The software was especially designed to eliminate these and other background audio distractions that often make tape recorded conversations a problem for juries to decipher.

"The spectrum of the human voice is typically between 350 Hertz and 3,500 Hertz," says Vangieri. Forensic Audio Lab has a `Brick Wall Filter' which abruptly cuts everything below 350 Hertz and everything above 3,500 Hertz. This feature quickly and dramatically makes recorded voices more intelligible. It's just an example of one of the many forensic filters built into the software."

Vangieri said unless they had very large budgets, most law enforcement departments cannot afford their own in-house forensic audio units -- until now.

"Any department with a free computer can have their own state-of-the-art sound lab," said Vangieri. "They may have to upgrade their soundcard, but this program allows them to duplicate and surpass the work done by technicians using 50-thousand-dollar audio processing hardware."

Vangieri said that Forensic Audio Lab can turn any PC into a powerful surveillance tool for use in the field.

"Any of the program's filters can be used in real-time to clean audio input before it's recorded to tape," said Vangieri. "If there's a strong wind blowing against your microphone diaphragm, you can route that dirty microphone signal into your laptop, bring up a series of filters to attenuate the wind noise, and then route the clean signal to a tape recorder -- or skip the tape recorder and record it as a WAV file directly onto your laptop's hard drive."

In addition to its suite of advanced forensic filters, Forensic Audio Lab contains dozens of audio enhancement tools, from tube emulators to proprietary "Paragraphic Equalizers."

"When lives are on the line, you need the highest quality audio evidence that modern technology can produce -- that's what Forensic Audio Lab delivers to law enforcement," said Vangieri.

Forensic Audio Lab, with a suggested retail price of $3995.00, is now used by investigators at top law enforcement agencies around the country, including FBI, FDA, and DEA.

For more info on Forensic Audio Lab, contact Visiosonic, 21939 US 19 North, Clearwater, Florida, 33765, USA, or call 727.799.3828, or email sales@pcdj.com.

System Requirements: Pentium 300 or above, 32 Megs RAM.