Winter Audio Reference: On-Board, Consumer, and Pro Solutions
by Derek Wilson on February 3, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Audio Quality: RightMark Audio Analyzer 16/48
These numbers look as what we would expect with the on-board solution under-performing the rest of the pack. Everything else looks to be on par with eachother.
| 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: | +0.03, -0.09 | +0.04, -0.11 | +0.04, -0.11 | +0.26, -0.31 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -92.7 | -97.0 | -95.8 | -87.7 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 92.7 | 95.8 | 95.9 | 87.6 |
| THD, %: | 0.0054 | 0.0053 | 0.0054 | 0.0034 |
| IMD, %: | 0.0084 | 0.0067 | 0.0069 | 0.012 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -93.6 | -95.4 | -94.6 | -86.4 |
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation distortion
Stereo crosstalk
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
89 Comments
View All Comments
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.