Audio

Audio

My reference audio is the onboard Realtek HD Audio controller optically feeding an external Audio-gd Sparrow ‘A’ DAC/Amp. The Audio-gd drives the AKG K-701s. While not the most spectacular sounding setup I’ve ever heard, it’s good enough to deliver consistently great audio. The Sparrow A also has a Wolfson WM8741 DAC, which should make for some good sport comparing the two. I used a wide variety of sound files in the comparison, from Lo-Fi Youtube sources, to 192KHz, 24-bit WAV files, looking for differences. I set the Devil HDX in 192KHz, 24-bit mode for all listening tests.

The Devil HDX has a dynamic and detailed sound, with a very wide stereo field. Its very low noise floor makes sound very pure, while at the same time a little tonally dry. It’s bass output is also not the deepest, but impactful and enjoyable. I spent many hours and many nights playing music through the Devil HDX.

Anyway, here are some of the listening notes between the Devil HDX and my reference.

• Cake - Commissioning a Symphony in C - 44.1KHz, 16-Bit WAV, ripped from the CD.
• Black Sabbath, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Side 1, 96KHz, 24-Bit WAV, digitized by a Terratec X-Fire.
• Bob Marley Babylon By Bus - Jammin - 192KHz, 24-Bit WAV, digitized by an Audigy 2ex.
• Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty - Intergalactic 128Kbps MP3.
• Beatles - Because - 320Kbps MP3, encoded with LAME.
• Whitest Boy Alive, Dreams, Burning - 859Kbps FLAC .

Since I had just upgraded to Windows 10 for this review, Beatles was the first on the playlist for the new card. Don’t ask why, it just was. Using the Devil HDX’s beta Windows 10 drivers, we get sound. Keeping the volume around 30 in Windows makes a comfortable level.
 

Devil HDX with its Wolfson WM8741 DAC on the headphone output has a less pronounced top end, but what is there is more detailed than the Sparrow A, less harsh. Nice. The Devil HDX also has a more dynamic quality, wider soundstage, but doesn’t thump quite as deep as the Sparrow A. The Devil HDX also sounded, because I assume it's fresh out of the box, tonally dry. A 96KHz, 24bit, encode of a  Black Sabbath vinyl disc, recordings had a little more life from the dynamics from the Devil HDX beast, but it lacked a little bit of harmonic richness of the Sparrow A. It’s hard to describe, but instruments had a little more sweetness to them through the Sparrow than the Devil HDX.

The Devil HDX does provide ample bass, which is a property of its dedicated power supply and headphone amp. To test this, we turn to the Beastie Boy’s Intergalactic, in 128Kbps MP3. You don’t expect headphones to rattle your rectum, but you can certainly feel something down there with this song. I reminisced about several sound cards, the M-Audio Prodigy, the X-Meridian, and the Devil HDX is along the same vein, ultimate bass extension sacrificed in favor of detail. I ain’t complaining. The Devil HDX and Sparrow A were really pretty close, just the little more bass from the Sparrow A wins this one.

On more subtle tracks, like Whitest Boy Alive’s Burning, the dynamic capabilities of the HDX really shined. Punchy as a prize fighter, and delicate as a violin player, the Devil HDX pulled out some very nice tone and detail from the 16bit, 44.1KHz WAV. The Sparrow A had much the same sound, but was more massive sounding, meaning less dynamic room all around. Win to the Devil HDX.

Of course I didn’t confine my listening tests to just the above, song after song played, and I enjoyed all the music for several hours at a stretch. Without torturing you, dear reader, about the fine differences between the Devil HDX and the Sparrow A, I think we can sum up the Devil HDX’s sound: It’s dynamic, detailed, with a wide stereo field, but just a little bass shy, at least on my setup. It’s very neutral sounding, which is what we’re really after, and the Devil HDX has become my default sound card. Of course the absence of a physical volume knob on an external DAC/Amp combo is missed, the sound of the Devil HDX wins overall. Let’s move onto gaming!