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 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
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
89 Comments
View All Comments
sxr7171 - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
Chapbass - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
I remember hearing a while ago about the M-audio revolution 7.1 card, but its been a while since ive heard anything. Those seemed pretty good for music listening, if i remember the review right. Could be some good competition for the other cards in this review.Either way, I'm really excited that anandtech might be making more updates in the audio market. I'm a big fan of audio, but it just seems like that category gets overlooked alot compared to some of the other ones. Maybe theres a place where im not looking (if there is, let me know please : ) ), but it'd still be nice to have more audio reviews.
lol, as i think about this post i guess it doesnt totally have a meaning, but its late and im rambling...just thought id try to raise a little discussion :).
ksherman - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
especially the soudstorm nforce 2 variants... kind of a confusing review, but ill try again when im awake ;-)MAME - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
on board nvidia audio would be interesting as well as an older sb live 5.1 card for referenceProviaFan - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
BTW, good choice on the DT DVD! :DProviaFan - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
I was just kidding about the MOTU, as I'm sure it wouldn't be too practical for you to review their higher end stuff - it's not what most people here would be concerned about. However, I would be interested in how these cards work in real life in a professional multitrack recording application. What kind of latency, do you experience dropouts? Practical stuff like that would be my only suggestion, but that might be kind of hard to implement.DerekWilson - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
Feel free to make your audio review requests here, we are open for business ;-)I'm not saying we'll get to them all, but we'll certainly consider them.
Also, we welcome your feedback. This is the first audio review we've done in a long time, and we really want to know what we can do to make our audio reviews the best they can be. Tell us what you want and we'll do our best to deliver. :-)
Derek Wilson
ProviaFan - Thursday, February 3, 2005 - link
Where was the MOTU? ;)http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/HD192/body....
raju - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
hii want to download waves files from internet please support me 1234567890