Expands Into Electronic Music Distribution With Sonic iMaster

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2000--At the recent National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB) Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq: SNIC) introduced iMaster(TM), the latest addition to the SonicStudio HD family of audio mastering systems. With iMaster, Sonic Studio HD will now provide integrated Electronic Music Distribution (EMD) capabilities in addition to support for traditional CD mastering and DVD-Audio mastering for High Density Audio and surround sound. Based on Sonic's leading digital audio workstation SonicStudio HD, iMaster enables professional audio engineers to work at the highest possible audio quality for CD-Audio and DVD-Audio production and simultaneously compress the resulting master to achieve the best results when delivering audio over the internet.

"We believe the Internet is becoming one of the most important distribution mediums for record companies and digital content providers," said Toni Fiedler, Managing Director and co-founder at SYRINX music & media, a leading DVD production house in Hamburg, a major center for digital media business in Europe. "In addition to preparing content using traditional CD-Audio and our work in new formats such as DVD-Audio and audio for DVD-Video, we now look forward to preparing audio for Internet distribution. By adding multiple format functionality into our SonicStudio HD workstation, Sonic ensures that we will be a true multi-format production facility for clients who are planning to distribute in any secure fashion."

Sonic is the first company to incorporate audio compression technology into the standard music mastering process, with the objective of providing better quality audio for digital delivery. Utilizing a familiar workflow, the audio mastering community can easily integrate iMaster into their everyday workflow -- ensuring an easy transition into Internet audio production.

"Our goal has been to make SonicStudio HD a complete solution for preparing audio masters for a wide range of applications. SonicStudio HD already supports premastering for DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD, and CD-Audio," said Yuki Miyamoto, Product Marketing Manager for New Audio Formats at Sonic Solutions. "With the addition of iMaster, SonicStudio HD users will now be ready to take advantage of the enormous opportunities for providing music on the Internet."

About Sonic iMaster

EMD masters produced by Sonic iMaster are compatible with SMDI compliant DRM (Digital Rights Management) systems. iMaster not only lets users create a master from a new recording, but also allows them to load a CD, DDP and 1630 master automatically from archived content. iMaster compression uses the AutoSonic automation system to ensure maximum productivity.

About AutoSonic

AutoSonic is a suite of software tools that enable efficient batch processing of soundfiles either by distributed processors on a network or by a single SonicStudio HD workstation. AutoSonic consists of four applications: AudioClient, QueueManager, AutoSonic Server and Audio Worker. AutoSonic provides batch DSP processing of soundfiles and is currently available with sample rate conversion and NoNOISE sound restoration plug-ins.

About SonicStudio HD

SonicStudio HD is the latest version of SonicStudio -- the most widely used digital audio workstation for CD premastering. SonicStudio HD consists of a high-performance audio processor, multi-channel digital I/O up to 192 kHz, 24-bit and a powerful suite of applications for recording, editing, processing and formatting digital audio. A true multi-format mastering system, SonicStudio HD supports CD, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, SACD and EMD mastering. SonicStudio HD is used today by major record labels, recording studios and mastering facilities to prepare more than two out of every three commercially released CDs. SonicStudio HD users have consistently won Grammy, Emmy and Oscar awards for their exceptional sound work.

About Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq: SNIC)

Based in Marin County, California, Sonic (http://www.sonic.com) is the leading manufacturer of solutions for DVD publishing and interactive, streaming video on the Internet. Sonic DVDit! (http://www.dvdit.com) is the first application for DVD authoring targeted at consumers and corporate video producers, and is bundled with major video editing, capture, encoding and media production systems. Streaming DVD is the first interactive technology based on DVD for content distribution over the Internet. Sonic DVD Creator and DVD Fusion are the most widely-used systems for professional DVD publishing, and are installed worldwide at major studios, post production facilities and in corporate marketing departments. SonicStudio HD is the leading digital workstation for preparing audio for release on CD and the first for creating content for the new DVD-Audio format. Sonic is also a full voting member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format.

The above paragraphs of this press release contain forward looking statements that are based upon current expectations. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties including, among others, the timely introduction and acceptance of new products, costs associated with new product introductions, the transition of products to new hardware configurations and platforms and other factors, including those discussed in the Company's annual and quarterly reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contain a more detailed discussion of the Company's business including risks and uncertainties that may affect future results.