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Printed On: | July 6, 2008, 6:39 am |
| Category: | Digital Audio Devices | |
| Type: | Reviews | |
| Posted By: | floppy | |
| Date Posted: | August 1, 2007, 11:50 am |
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Introduction
The Asus Xonar D2 was first spotted at Cebit, and subsequently at Computex. We got our hands on it, stripped it and took some nice pictures of it. The Xonar will be pitted against a series of other cards in Rightmark Audio Analyzer, something the industry watchdogs will be waiting for...
As we all know by now, the Xonar is based on the C-Media HD Audio (CMI8788) solution and probably isn't too far off in terms of specifications from the Auzentech X-Meridian, except that Asus put their PCB design expertise into good use with an excellent PCB design, something that was never seen before in previous consumer level soundcards. For example, the usage of dual voltage operation amplifiers without the need of a DC capacitor in the audio path. This design change allows less coloration imparted to the audio signals compared to tradititional soundcard design.
We have a total of 9 cards in our sound testing repository, and our users gathered to do some listening tests a while back, you can read more about the comments and flames in our forums here 
Closed up pictures of the Xonar can be found in our "Asus Xonar 2nd Look! Article", and some of our initial comments made on the Xonar D2 can be found in our "First Look" article.
We will be pitting the Xonar against 3 cards in the above picture for our RMAA tests as well as sacrificing some of our precious operational amplifiers to fix the Xonar up. More in the following pages.
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Contenders
At the end of the day, we decided that we should just choose 3 cards out of the pool of contenders for our RMAA tests against the Xonar, instead of spending time on everyone on them.
First on the list, the Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 XT
The Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1
Of course, the Asus Xonar D2
The ESI-Juli@ was used as a Loopback (Line-In) reference for the 4 cards listed above.
Test Platform:
- Core 2 Duo E6400
- Gigabyte P35T-DQ6
- 4x 1GB PC11000 DDR-3 RAM
- Asus 8600GTS Silent
- Verudium VortexHE 500W
- Seagate 7200.7 HDD
- Coolermaster ATCS-110 Case
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16-bit, 44 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | Creative X-Fi Elite Pro | ASUS Xonar D2 |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | +0.03, -0.03 | +0.02, -0.15 | +0.01, -0.07 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -95.8 | -95.8 | -96.2 | -91.9 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 96.1 | 95.8 | 96.2 | 91.9 |
| THD, %: | 0.0065 | 0.0017 | 0.0007 | 0.0009 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0089 | 0.0052 | 0.0047 | 0.0075 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -96.7 | -95.1 | -97.6 | -92.1 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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16-bit, 48 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | SB X-Fi Elite Pro | ASUS Xonar D2 |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | +0.03, -0.03 | +0.04, -0.04 | +0.06, -0.02 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -95.8 | -95.8 | -96.3 | -92.2 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 96.2 | 95.8 | 96.4 | 92.2 |
| THD, %: | 0.0066 | 0.0017 | 0.0008 | 0.0010 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0089 | 0.0052 | 0.0047 | 0.0074 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -96.7 | -95.1 | -97.0 | -93.5 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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16-bit, 96 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | ASUS Xonar D2 | Creative SB X-Fi Elite Pro |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | +0.03, -0.27 | +0.06, -0.03 | +0.02, -0.05 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -98.9 | -98.2 | -92.4 | -98.9 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 99.1 | 98.3 | 92.4 | 98.9 |
| THD, %: | 0.0065 | 0.0019 | 0.0011 | 0.0008 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0082 | 0.0044 | 0.0072 | 0.0037 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -97.7 | -97.2 | -92.0 | -98.2 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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16-bit, 192 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | [MME] Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 | [MME] ProDigy 7.1 XT | [MME] ASUS Xonar D2 Audio | [MME] SB X-Fi Audio [C200] |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.15 | +0.03, -0.27 | +0.07, -0.06 | +0.02, -0.08 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -101.2 | -100.5 | -93.1 | -101.6 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 101.2 | 100.4 | 93.1 | 101.7 |
| THD, %: | 0.0065 | 0.0016 | 0.0013 | 0.0008 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0076 | 0.0038 | 0.0068 | 0.0030 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -99.3 | -97.4 | -92.0 | -99.3 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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24-bit, 44 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | ASUS Xonar D2 | Creative SB X-Fi Elite Pro |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | +0.03, -0.03 | +0.01, -0.07 | +0.02, -0.15 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -97.3 | -105.1 | -93.8 | -108.4 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 97.4 | 105.1 | 93.7 | 108.4 |
| THD, %: | 0.0064 | 0.0016 | 0.0008 | 0.0007 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0085 | 0.0030 | 0.0062 | 0.0022 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -98.3 | -102.4 | -94.8 | -109.0 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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24-bit, 48 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | ASUS Xonar D2 | Creative SB X-Fi Elite Pro |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | +0.03, -0.24 | +0.07, -0.02 | +0.04, -0.04 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -97.5 | -104.5 | -93.9 | -107.6 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 97.5 | 104.4 | 93.9 | 107.0 |
| THD, %: | 0.0066 | 0.0016 | 0.0009 | 0.0007 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0086 | 0.0032 | 0.0061 | 0.0024 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -97.3 | -103.1 | -94.8 | -108.0 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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24-bit, 96 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | ASUS Xonar D2 | Creative SB X-Fi Elite Pro |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.12 | +0.03, -0.27 | +0.07, -0.03 | +0.02, -0.05 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -99.8 | -104.5 | -94.0 | -106.0 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 99.8 | 104.6 | 94.0 | 106.0 |
| THD, %: | 0.0065 | 0.0018 | 0.0010 | 0.0007 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0079 | 0.0033 | 0.0060 | 0.0023 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -98.7 | -101.0 | -93.4 | -105.7 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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24-bit, 192 kHz RMAA
Summary
| Test | Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 | Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT | ASUS Xonar D2 | Creative Sb X-Fi Elite Pro |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.15 | +0.03, -0.27 | +0.07, -0.06 | +0.02, -0.08 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -102.2 | -104.2 | -94.7 | -107.5 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 102.1 | 104.2 | 94.5 | 107.5 |
| THD, %: | 0.0066 | 0.0016 | 0.0012 | 0.0007 |
| IMD + Noise, %: | 0.0077 | 0.0032 | 0.0060 | 0.0022 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -97.3 | -98.5 | -93.8 | -104.0 |
Frequency Reponse
Noise Level
Dynamic Range
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation Distortion
Stereo Crosstalk
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A little Soldering and Conclusion
The RMAA results of the Xonar is certainly disappointing compared to the rest of the cards tested. Dreamslacker, one of our members took some time off and helped replace the two operational amplifier on the front L/R channel and replaced the plastic capacitors. The missing capacitor you see above is actually soldered on the underside of the soundcard. Sadly, the modification did not bring about any positive results, RMAA results remained the same and the card began to sound....weird.
It's kinda pointless for me to comment on the sound output of the Asus card as sound something that's very personal, one man's meat might be poison for another. For the price point of the Xonar D2, it is a little hard to justify the purchase; it lacks EAX HD for gaming and there are cards out there which cost a lot less and does better in terms of sound output. The soundstage of the Xonar D2 is good as unanimously declared by my fellow compatriots who were listening to the sound test we did about 2 weeks back. The Bling factor of the Xonar is something that might attract the crowd, but ultimately this should be one of the least of your concerns if you want to buy a soundcard.
At the end of the day, the Xonar D2 might be a soundcard that you want to get if money is not a concern at all, but if your computer is made solely for gaming, you might want to consider a X-Fi solution and if you're more into PC Audio instead of gaming, cheaper Envy 24HT cards might be a better option.
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