SRS Labs Hopes Sound Enhancer Will Compute for Audiophiles

Hoping to cash in on the Internet music buzz, Santa Ana-based SRS Labs today will unveil a software program and a hardware device that both promise to improve the quality of listening to music on a personal computer.

Wow Thing (https://www.wowthing.com) is a software plug-in that works with WinAmp, one of the Internet’s most popular MP3 players. The program, which is free to try and costs $10 to register, acts as a virtual equalizer and can help flesh out the sound of compressed audio files.

The hardware component is a small, blue device and acts as an external audio enhancer. Sold separately for $30, the Wow box can be patched into a wide range of audio devices--a stereo, a personal computer or a video-game console machine, such as a Sony Playstation or Sega Dreamcast.

“These products are designed for people who are psychotic about their sound on their PCs,” said Tony Farinella, product manager for SRS’ software and Internet ventures. “We’re hoping to attract the hard-core game players, because audio quality is really important to these consumers.”

The Wow line also is part of SRS Labs’ ongoing push to broaden its market. For many years, the company was best known for its Sound Retrieval System, which tweaks audio recordings to create a surround-sound feeling from a two-speaker stereo.

But last year’s acquisition of Hong Kong-based Valence Technology Inc. gave SRS the ability to build the hardware and computer chips needed to show off its technology and expand its product line.

SRS’ products are in everything from cable set-top boxes to portable radios, and are incorporated into devices built by electronic giants such as Sony Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc. and General Instrument Corp.

SRS could use a bang from a new product. The company’s shares have fallen steadily from around $10 in early 1998 to the mid-$3 range.