Winter Audio Reference: On-Board, Consumer, and Pro Solutions
by Derek Wilson on February 3, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
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Audio Quality: RightMark Audio Analyzer 24/96
We've already discussed that RightMark is only as good an analysis tool as the equipment on which it is run. Thus, it does a good job of presenting an overall picture of input and output. If a device shorts itself on input capabilities while maintaining good output, however, its ability test high will fall short. This pushes manufacturers to produce balanced products in order to see good RightMark scores in reviews, but also skews reviews against products that have good output, poor recording, and only use a loopback test.
The other issue that we've run into when testing with RightMark is that when using loopback, input and output grounds are not separated sometimes. This means that running line-out to line-in on the same card can add a ground loop and distort numbers artificially. We could avoid this if we had high quality transformers to build a circuit where we could isolate one side from another. Unfortunately, we don't have the components to build anything of high enough quality on hand. Furthermore, any component that we put between the input and the output of the card would affect the signal and, thus, the test.
In most cases, we can get a good enough picture using loopback, even in situations where a ground loop is created. But we've decided to run one test in a two-card setup in order to get a better picture of what's going on. This gives us a better idea of how things stack up without distorting the picture artificially. In this case, the Intel solution is not capable of recording 24-bit audio, so we set up the Gina3G to record the Intel solution at 24/96 on a separate computer. All other tests were run using loopback. As the Intel and Gina3G solutions were required to loopback to the same physical device, there is the possibility that a ground loop could have raised the average noise slightly.
For our first test, the Audigy 4 is obviously the top card in terms of noise and dynamic range. The Audigy 2 comes in second. The Gina3G wins out in the swept IMD test with its very flat response. We are sad to see that the Intel solution performed so poorly here.
| Test | Echo Audio Gina3G | SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro | SB Audigy 4 Pro | Intel HD Audio |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.01, -0.10 | +0.02, -0.10 | +0.02, -0.09 | +0.14, -0.22 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -102.8 | -107.1 | -109.6 | -82.2 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 102.7 | 106.8 | 108.9 | 82.5 |
| THD, %: | 0.0054 | 0.0014 | 0.0019 | 0.0030 |
| IMD, %: | 0.0062 | 0.0019 | 0.0023 | 0.025 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -102.8 | -102.4 | -108.6 | -76.2 |
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation distortion
Stereo crosstalk
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S0me1X - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
There are many more factors that effects the sound quality than just the chipset...knitecrow - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
Onkyo SE-150PCI is a via ENVY24 based soundcard. I expect it to be like all hi-end VIA ENVY24 based cards.vailr - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
Please also consider, for camparison:Onkyo SE-150PCI PC Digital Audio Board
http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php?product...
knitecrow - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
Its a good primer, got my hopes up... I would have liked to seen a more comprehensive round-upThe soundcards/audio solutions I would like to get compared:
Consumer ENVY24 boards:
$25 chaintech AV-710 (i've found to sound as good as any audigy)
$100 M-audio Revolution 7.1 or Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1
Pro ENVY24 cards:
M-audio audiophile 2496
I like the suggestions about
Creative Live! & turtle beach santa cruze
realtek alc850 onboard
analog devices onboard
nvidia nf2 soundstorm
I'll look forward to such a roundup.
S0me1X - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
However, its not something I'd get if I just want the highest quality sq from a computer ;)S0me1X - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
Motu 828 looks interesting :) Firewire is another excellent interface for this application, if implemented properly.tr1kstanc3 - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
still a good review and i do hope you follow up on your conclusion to test real "pro-audio" interfaces!tr1kstanc3 - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
my motu 828 mkii puts the smackdown on those reviewed cards... gina is decent but i wouldnt quite put it at the 'pro' level. should have used something slightly better like a digidesign 002, motu 828/896, rme...S0me1X - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
#69You should consider EMU0404 or EMU1212 ($100 and $200, respectively).
Even better would be to use digital out from Chaintech AV710 ($25, can be flashed to Prodigy 7.1 firmware and get bitperfect digital out) to a nice external DAC. There are a lot of options for the external DAC, one of the best for this purpose is Benchmar DAC1, which can be had for $975.
sparky001 - Friday, February 4, 2005 - link
Since we are in an era of htpc's. I think we need clarification on playback more than we do recording.I think most people that acctually wanted to do recording would go get a dedicated recording solution.
But because of limited drivers and the like (linux) most playback cards tend to be of the consumer variety.
I very much would like to see the ENVY chips reviewed. And a short piece on OS compatibility.
People will have very specific perposes for looking at these audio reviews. ie
Games- SPdif
Games- Analogue
Playback-SPdif
Playback-Analogue
Recording-All
I guess.
Also unfortunatly the domanant audio source is still 16bit/44.1hkz. Since my HTPC has to playback every CD that I have on my server in uncompressed WAV format, I want the best card for that purpose.
Thanks Derek.