<PAGE>   1
     AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON AUGUST 2, 1996

                                                  Registration No.
                                                                  --------------

                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                           --------------------------

                            AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
             ------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

           DELAWARE                                      94-3117385
- ---------------------------------           ------------------------------------
(State or other jurisdiction                (I.R.S. employer identification no.)
of incorporation or organization)

                              4245 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE
                                FREMONT, CA 94538
               ---------------------------------------------------
               (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

               OPTIONS GRANTED BY CRYSTAL RIVER ENGINEERING, INC.
                    AND ASSUMED BY AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
              ----------------------------------------------------
                            (Full title of the plan)

                                DAVID J. DOMEIER
                           VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE AND
                             CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                            AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
                              4245 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE
                                FREMONT, CA 94538
               ---------------------------------------------------
                     (Name and address of agent for service)

Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service:  510/252-4245

This registration statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with
Rule 462 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.


                                        1
<PAGE>   2
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Proposed             Proposed
Title of                                 maximum              maximum
securities              Amount           offering             aggregate      Amount of
to be                   to be            price per            offering       registration
registered              registered       share(1)             price(1)       fee
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


<S>                    <C>               <C>                <C>              <C>    
Common Stock             701,183          $0.36             $252,425.88          $ 87.04
Par Value $0.001       1,055,562          $0.12             $126,667.44          $ 43.68
                         888,100          $0.40             $355,240.00          $122.50
                                                                                
TOTAL                  2,644,845                            $734,333.32          $253.22
</TABLE>



                                                                            


- --------------------
   (1)   Estimated pursuant to Rule 457 solely for purposes of calculating the
registration fee. The price is computed on the basis of the exercise price.


                                        2
<PAGE>   3
                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT


Item 3.  Incorporation of Documents by Reference

         Aureal Semiconductor Inc. (the "Company") hereby incorporates by
reference in this registration statement the following documents:

         (a) The Company's latest prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") containing audited
financial statements for the Company's latest fiscal year. The prospectus is
included in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-3870,
effective June 27, 1996).

         (b) All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") since the end
of the fiscal year covered by the registrant document referred to in (a) above.

         (c) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed under the Exchange Act,
including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such
description.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this registration statement which indicates that all
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities
remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this
registration statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such
documents.

Item 4.  Description of Securities

         The class of securities to be offered is registered under Section 12 of
the Exchange Act.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

         Inapplicable.


                                        3
<PAGE>   4
Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers

         Delaware law authorizes corporations to eliminate the personal
liability of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary
damages for breach or alleged breach of the directors' "duty of care." While the
relevant statute does not change directors' duty of care, it enables
corporations to limit available relief to equitable remedies such as injunction
or rescission. The statute has no effect on directors' duty of loyalty, acts or
omissions not in good faith or involving intentional misconduct or knowing
violations of law, illegal payment of dividends and approval of any transaction
from which a director derives an improper personal benefit.

         The Company has adopted provisions in its Certificate of Incorporation
which eliminate the personal liability of its directors to the Company and its
stockholders for monetary damages for breach or alleged breach of their duty of
care. The By-Laws of the Company provide for indemnification of its directors,
officers, employees and agents to the full extent permitted by the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, the Company's state of incorporation,
including those circumstances in which indemnification would otherwise be
discretionary under Delaware Law. Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware provides for indemnification in terms sufficiently broad
to indemnify such individuals, under certain circumstances, for liabilities
(including reimbursement of expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act.

Item 7.  Exemption From Registration Claimed

         Inapplicable.

Item 8.  Exhibits

         See Exhibit Index.

Item 9.  Undertakings

         (a)  Rule 415 Offering

         The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

         (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being 
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

              (i)  To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the
Securities Act of 1933;


                                        4
<PAGE>   5
              (ii)   To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent
post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration
statement;

              (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the 
plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or
any material change to such information in the registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(l)(ii) do not apply if the
registration statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information required
to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d)
of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration
statement.

         (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be
a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

         (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of
the offering.

         (b)  Filing incorporating subsequent Exchange Act documents by
              reference

              The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is
incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

         (h)  Request for acceleration of effective date or filing of
              registration statement on Form S-8

              Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore,

                                        5
<PAGE>   6
unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such
liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or
paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.


                                    SIGNATURE

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that
it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Fremont, State of California, on July 30, 1996.

                                       Aureal Semiconductor Inc.


                                            /s/ David J. Domeier
                                       By:_________________________________
                                             David J. Domeier, Vice President,
                                             Finance and Chief Financial Officer


                                        6
<PAGE>   7
                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

         The officers and directors of Aureal Semiconductor Inc. whose
signatures appear below, hereby constitute and appoint Kenneth A. Kokinakis and
David J. Domeier, and each of them, their true and lawful attorneys and agents,
with full power of substitution, each with power to act alone, to sign and
execute on behalf of the undersigned any amendment or amendments to this
registration statement on Form S-8, and each of the undersigned does hereby
ratify and confirm all that each of said attorney and agent, or their or his
substitutes, shall do or cause to be done by virtue hereof. Pursuant to the
requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration
statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities indicated
on July 30, 1996.


<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Signature                                   Title
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<S>                                         <C>
/s/ Kenneth A. Kokinakis
- ----------------------------------
Kenneth A. Kokinakis                        President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
                                            (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ David J. Domeier
- ----------------------------------
David J. Domeier                            Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer
                                            and Chief Accounting Officer (Principal
                                            Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Brendan R. O'Flaherty
- ----------------------------------
Brendan R. O'Flaherty                       Vice President, Business Development,
                                            Secretary and General Counsel

/s/ L. William Krause
- ----------------------------------
L. William Krause                           Director


/s/ D. Richard Masson
- ----------------------------------
D. Richard Masson                           Director


/s/ Andrew S. Rappaport
- ----------------------------------
Andrew S. Rappaport                         Director


/s/ Thomas K. Smith, Jr.
- ----------------------------------
Thomas K. Smith, Jr.                        Director
</TABLE>


                                        7
<PAGE>   8
                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>

<S>                                                         <C>       
4.1      Second Amended and Restated Certificate of                    
         Incorporation of the Company

4.2      Amendments to the Restated Bylaws of the 
         Company

4.3      The Agreement and Plan of Reorganization                       
         among the Company, Aureal Acquisition
         Corporation, a California corporation and
         wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company
         and Crystal River Engineering, Inc. dated as
         of May 7, 1996 is incorporated by reference to
         Exhibit 5.1 to the Company's Registration
         Statement on Form 8-K filed with the
         Securities and Exchange Commission on May
         22, 1996 (File No. 0-20684)

5        Opinion re legality                                            

23.1     Consent of Counsel (included in Exhibit 5)                     

23.2     Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP                                 

23.3     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP                                   

24       Power of Attorney (included in signature                       
         pages to this registration statement)
</TABLE>


                                        8
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8 DATED AUGUST 2, 1996", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15778}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC", "cik": "0000892433", "assigned-sic": "3672", "irs-number": "943117385", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-09531", "film-number": "96603452"}, "business-address": {"street1": "4245 TECHNOLOGY DR", "city": "FREMONT", "state": "CA", "zip": "94538-6339", "phone": "5102524245"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "4245 TECHNOLOGY DR", "city": "FREMONT", "state": "CA", "zip": "94538-6339"}, "former-company": {"former-conformed-name": "MEDIA VISION TECHNOLOGY INC", "date-changed": "19931210"}}
1
     AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON AUGUST 2, 1996

                                                  Registration No.
                                                                  --------------

                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                           --------------------------

                            AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
             ------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

           DELAWARE                                      94-3117385
- ---------------------------------           ------------------------------------
(State or other jurisdiction                (I.R.S. employer identification no.)
of incorporation or organization)

                              4245 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE
                                FREMONT, CA 94538
               ---------------------------------------------------
               (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

               OPTIONS GRANTED BY CRYSTAL RIVER ENGINEERING, INC.
                    AND ASSUMED BY AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
              ----------------------------------------------------
                            (Full title of the plan)

                                DAVID J. DOMEIER
                           VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE AND
                             CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                            AUREAL SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
                              4245 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE
                                FREMONT, CA 94538
               ---------------------------------------------------
                     (Name and address of agent for service)

Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service:  510/252-4245

This registration statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with
Rule 462 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

                                        1
2
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Proposed             Proposed
Title of                                 maximum              maximum
securities              Amount           offering             aggregate      Amount of
to be                   to be            price per            offering       registration
registered              registered       share(1)             price(1)       fee
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock             701,183          $0.36             $252,425.88          $ 87.04
Par Value $0.001       1,055,562          $0.12             $126,667.44          $ 43.68
                         888,100          $0.40             $355,240.00          $122.50
                                                                                
TOTAL                  2,644,845                            $734,333.32          $253.22
- --------------------
   (1)   Estimated pursuant to Rule 457 solely for purposes of calculating the
registration fee. The price is computed on the basis of the exercise price.

                                        2
3
                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.  Incorporation of Documents by Reference

         Aureal Semiconductor Inc. (the "Company") hereby incorporates by
reference in this registration statement the following documents:

         (a) The Company's latest prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") containing audited
financial statements for the Company's latest fiscal year. The prospectus is
included in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-3870,
effective June 27, 1996).

         (b) All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") since the end
of the fiscal year covered by the registrant document referred to in (a) above.

         (c) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed under the Exchange Act,
including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such
description.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this registration statement which indicates that all
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities
remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this
registration statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such
documents.

Item 4.  Description of Securities

         The class of securities to be offered is registered under Section 12 of
the Exchange Act.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

         Inapplicable.

                                        3
4
Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers

         Delaware law authorizes corporations to eliminate the personal
liability of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary
damages for breach or alleged breach of the directors' "duty of care." While the
relevant statute does not change directors' duty of care, it enables
corporations to limit available relief to equitable remedies such as injunction
or rescission. The statute has no effect on directors' duty of loyalty, acts or
omissions not in good faith or involving intentional misconduct or knowing
violations of law, illegal payment of dividends and approval of any transaction
from which a director derives an improper personal benefit.

         The Company has adopted provisions in its Certificate of Incorporation
which eliminate the personal liability of its directors to the Company and its
stockholders for monetary damages for breach or alleged breach of their duty of
care. The By-Laws of the Company provide for indemnification of its directors,
officers, employees and agents to the full extent permitted by the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, the Company's state of incorporation,
including those circumstances in which indemnification would otherwise be
discretionary under Delaware Law. Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware provides for indemnification in terms sufficiently broad
to indemnify such individuals, under certain circumstances, for liabilities
(including reimbursement of expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act.

Item 7.  Exemption From Registration Claimed

         Inapplicable.

Item 8.  Exhibits

         See Exhibit Index.

Item 9.  Undertakings

         (a)  Rule 415 Offering

         The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

         (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being 
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

              (i)  To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the
Securities Act of 1933;

                                        4
5
              (ii)   To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent
post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration
statement;

              (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the 
plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or
any material change to such information in the registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(l)(ii) do not apply if the
registration statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information required
to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d)
of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration
statement.

         (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be
a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

         (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of
the offering.

         (b)  Filing incorporating subsequent Exchange Act documents by
              reference

              The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is
incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

         (h)  Request for acceleration of effective date or filing of
              registration statement on Form S-8

              Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore,

                                        5
6
unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such
liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or
paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.

                                    SIGNATURE

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that
it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Fremont, State of California, on July 30, 1996.

                                       Aureal Semiconductor Inc.

                                            /s/ David J. Domeier
                                       By:_________________________________
                                             David J. Domeier, Vice President,
                                             Finance and Chief Financial Officer

                                        6
7
                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

         The officers and directors of Aureal Semiconductor Inc. whose
signatures appear below, hereby constitute and appoint Kenneth A. Kokinakis and
David J. Domeier, and each of them, their true and lawful attorneys and agents,
with full power of substitution, each with power to act alone, to sign and
execute on behalf of the undersigned any amendment or amendments to this
registration statement on Form S-8, and each of the undersigned does hereby
ratify and confirm all that each of said attorney and agent, or their or his
substitutes, shall do or cause to be done by virtue hereof. Pursuant to the
requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration
statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities indicated
on July 30, 1996.
Signature                                   Title
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/s/ Kenneth A. Kokinakis
- ----------------------------------
Kenneth A. Kokinakis                        President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
                                            (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ David J. Domeier
- ----------------------------------
David J. Domeier                            Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer
                                            and Chief Accounting Officer (Principal
                                            Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Brendan R. O'Flaherty
- ----------------------------------
Brendan R. O'Flaherty                       Vice President, Business Development,
                                            Secretary and General Counsel

/s/ L. William Krause
- ----------------------------------
L. William Krause                           Director

/s/ D. Richard Masson
- ----------------------------------
D. Richard Masson                           Director

/s/ Andrew S. Rappaport
- ----------------------------------
Andrew S. Rappaport                         Director

/s/ Thomas K. Smith, Jr.
- ----------------------------------
Thomas K. Smith, Jr.                        Director
7
8
                                  EXHIBIT INDEX
4.1      Second Amended and Restated Certificate of                    
         Incorporation of the Company

4.2      Amendments to the Restated Bylaws of the 
         Company

4.3      The Agreement and Plan of Reorganization                       
         among the Company, Aureal Acquisition
         Corporation, a California corporation and
         wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company
         and Crystal River Engineering, Inc. dated as
         of May 7, 1996 is incorporated by reference to
         Exhibit 5.1 to the Company's Registration
         Statement on Form 8-K filed with the
         Securities and Exchange Commission on May
         22, 1996 (File No. 0-20684)

5        Opinion re legality                                            

23.1     Consent of Counsel (included in Exhibit 5)                     

23.2     Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP                                 

23.3     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP                                   

24       Power of Attorney (included in signature                       
         pages to this registration statement)
8