Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 review - Page 9 - RMAA

by Brann Mitchell on: 09/13/2007 02:00 PM [ ] 0 comment(s)

RMAA 6.0.5

Back to my old saying, another review, another RMAA version, this time to 6.0.5. The gradual improvement on this program is just about as fast I can write reviews anyway, so this is good. RMAA 6 tests the electrical components of a sound card, by playing and recording a set of sounds designed to reveal flaws. Two summaries are presented here, along with three graphs of the important bits.

No matter how you slice it, that's a lot of 0's.

The X-Fi Prelude shows its pedigree with the cleanest measuring THD and IMD to date. Excellent! One thing to notice is that for the 16 bit/44.1 KHz numbers I mistakenly left the Prelude in 96 KHz mode in AudioCreation mode. If you notice the IMD+Noise, you can see the action of the X-Fi's SRC engine at work, increasing IMD about .0030%. Excellent!

Even more 0's

The only thing better would be some professional studio stuff.

The X-Fi Prelude is an excellent card. However, according to RMAA, the super X-Fi Prelude is just a nudge above the X-Fi XtremeMusic and the X-Meridian. What is striking, and I did not notice during listening tests, is the slightly lower crosstalk. Basically, if crosstalk is 0, youve got monaural sound, not stereo. I believe this is most likely a recording artifact and not the actual playback fidelity. In listening tests, I found the stereo imaging excellent.

Flat as a pancake.

Frequency response isnt so much of a problem these days, unless youre using tubes; most consumer cards have great frequency response. You want this as ruler flat as you can. No doubt about it, the X-Fi Prelude is the flattest weve measured, too.

With Total Harmonic Distortion, you obviously want this number to be as low as possible. The X-Fi Prelude possesses the lowest THD weve ever measured.

Intermodulation Distortion is the product of playing two dissonant sounds together, and seeing how well the sound card can handle it.

Overall, the X-Fi Prelude produced a lot of bests with RMAA 6. It has the flattest frequency response, the lowest harmonic distortion, and least amount of intermodulation distortion. Regardless of whether you know or not what these measurements mean, it means that all that high-end hardware on the Prelude is doing its job. A new reference sound card coming in 3... 2... 1...

13 pages « < 8 9 10 11 next »

Auzentech Cappuccino EX Sneak Peek
The audio market is constantly expanding and evolving with new products for the internal and external market places. We always do what we can to bring our readers the latest and greatest information on upcoming audio products for their audio systems. So without further delays, lets get to the good stuff shall we?

Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G Preview
We have an exclusive sneak preview of the Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G soundcard. This card also marks a move back to the highly popular 8788 based chipset (at least for this model) that has been seen on some of the best sounding cards built to date. This card has many of the original ideas that made the XM 7.1 so popular but also has some changes that will appeal to different user types. The card is also aimed at a lower price point with a MSRP of $159.99 which appeals to a larger audience.

Auzentech X-Fi Home Theater HD 7.1 Soundcard review
Auzentech has been developing an HDMI soundcard for quite a while and this new card is said to be loaded with features for any audio tasks. Today in the Guru3D audio lab, we have a brand spanking new Auzentech Home Theater HD 7.1. This ongoing one-upmanship between existing companies is what drives the soundcard market and ensures new products are higher quality and offers new and innovative features to the audio community. The HDMI standard is still considered new in the PC landscape, and while many GFX cards offer HDMI options for graphics the audio side of the standard has been ignored and is lacking. We are going to run this card through our extensive testing and measuring regimen to let our readers know exactly what you will be getting for your hard earned audio dollars.

Auzentech X-Fi Bravura 7.1 Sneak Peak
We have done it again and we have a worlds first exclusive look at upcoming Auzen X-Fi Bravura 7.1 PCI-E Audio Interface. Please understand this card is in the very early stages of development and the board design and final design are subject to change. Without further delays, lets get to the good stuff shall we ?