Posted on Wednesday, 9th August 2006 by Auw Jimmy

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I have done a lot of testing on sound cards. Not too much, around 12 cards actually which result was saved on my hard drive. I will post the RMAA result here just for collections. For your information, all the result here was done by myself. Feel free to contact me if you have any question. We will start in a bit random list. So don’t complain if your card is on the bottom list ;)

Here’s the list:
1. Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
2. Terratec Aureon FireWire 7.1
3. Terratec Aureon Space 7.1
4. Hercules DJ Console
5. ESI Juli@
6. Lynx L22
7. Audiotrak Maya 5.1 MKII
8. Audiotrak Maya EX5
9. SoundStorm (ALC on Gigabyte 7NNXP)
10. Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1
11. M-Audio Revolution 7.1
12. Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro

We will discuss one by one. I will discuss in a brief only. Any further question can be address to me.

1. Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (physical):

Audigy2 ZS
Looks classic. Standard 1/8″ jack and extra FireWire port.

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (frequency response):

FR

The frequency response is not too flat for an audiophile. But since this card is dedicated for gamers, I don’t think you will have to much chance to complain.

2. Terratec Aureon 7.1 FireWire (physical):
Aureon FireWire

Very fancy design. The case was made by aluminium or something so it will transfer heat from inside to outside (the case is simply closed with no hole, so it’s quite hot while operating at long run). You can see three lights on those three button. It can operate as D/A Converter without using PC. For PC, off course you will need a FireWire port.

Terratec Aureon 7.1 FireWire (frequency response):

The frequency response is quite flat for me. A little bit different between channel but not by much. Above average in terms of quality (some ripples shown on the mid to high frequency). I wonder the result will be much better if I use better power supply (better transformer, bigger caps, high speed diode, etc). You can’t expect too much from the standard one.

3. Terratec Aureon Space 7.1 (physical):
Aureon Space 7.1

This card is one of the best Envy24 consumer card. Equipped with WM8770IFT 8 channel, she is amazing in terms of sound quality. You will have one optical input and one ouput. No coaxial.

Terratec Aureon Space 7.1 (frequency response):

The WM8770IFT shows an excellent result. Very good quality for a consumer class card.

4. Hercules DJ Console (physical):
Hercules DJ Console

This is not a device for everybody. As the name shows us, this is for DJ but also has USB sound card inside. She has two platters on the top side which you can use to scratch your vinyl (loaded on software). Dozens of DJ’s effect are also included in the software package.

Hercules DJ Console (frequency response):

Quite flat for a USB sound card. Some ripples found on the high extensions but this should be ok. You won’t need extra high extension when DJ-ing your audience ;)

5. ESI Juli@ (physical):
ESI Juli@

This is one of the most affordable professional card. Price less than US$ 200 (now less than $150), this card offers unbalanced I/O (RCA) or balanced I/O (TRS). You can’t use unbalanced and balanced at the same time because you need to reverse the card. The card has two face, and you should choose which side that you want to use (and face it in to your back casing). Juli@ also offers MIDI I/O and Coax I/O. Optical only provided for output only. Quite impressive design from ESI.

ESI Juli@ (frequency response):

Very flat and extend. Both channel has a same level. Excellent entry professional card.

6. Lynx L22 (physical):
Lynx L22

Lynx has a outstanding image for a it’s sound quality. This L22 only offers 2 I/O and dedicated for professional users. For you who needs more I/O, you can check for Lynx A, B, C or Aurora series. She uses XLR connector which you can assign to have balanced or unbalanced signal.

Lynx L22 (frequency response):

I have no more word. She is beautiful. Same level for both channel and very flat (almost no ripple). Its high and low are very extend beyond most people’s requirements. This is how
a professional card should be designed.

7. Audiotrak Maya 5.1 MKII (physical):
Maya 5.1 MKII

Entry level card, dedicated for a Home Theatre PC or barebone. It can be configured as full PCI or half size PCI (both bracket included). It has anti-pop/click circuit so you will not hear any crack during system power up/down.

Audiotrak Maya 5.1 MKII (frequency response):

Not the best graphic that we’ve seen so far. But I guess it’s adequate for most people. It sounds better than you on board solution for sure.

8. Audiotrak Maya EX5 (physical):
Maya EX5

Another unique approach from Audiotrak. They offer USB solution with 5.1 channel capability. You will have Coaxial I/O too.
Audiotrak Maya EX5 (frequency response):

Quite flat at low, but little bit fast roll-off at high end. But again, it’s just an upgrade for your onboard card (especially for your notebook). And for such purpose, this card is more than enough. Digital I/O connectivity via Coaxial is a nice thing for most user.

9. SoundStorm with ALC D/A on Gigabyte 7NNXP (physical):
NForce 7NNXP

I forget what D/A used on this board. IIRC, it uses ALC 650 or 655. The main audio processor is MCP-T from NVIDIA (with SoundStorm technology).

SoundStorm with ALC D/A on Gigabyte 7NNXP (frequency response):

The analog ouput is far from flat (though it’s just 0.5 dB deviation). I guess the implementation of this onboard solution is not perfect or maybe the limitation of the D/A itself. Anyway, you got it for free inside your motherboard. I recommend to use digital output (so you will not use the ALC). NVIDIA and SoundStorm is well know for it’s digital output.

10. Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 (physical):
Audiotrak Prodigy

This card is very similiar with Terratec Aureon Space 7.1 in terms of its chipset (Envy24HT), D/A (WM8770IFT), and design. The diffrent is on the digital output side. Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 prefers coaxial, not optical like on the Aureon. Audiotrak also bundles more useable software than Terratec. And of course, Prodigy use red PCB compared black/brown on Terratec ;)

Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 (frequency response):

Though the Prodigy shares same design with Aureon Space, the result is little bit different. Prodigy tends to have an increase in high extension. Maybe you can expect a little bit brighter sound. Overall sound quality is excellent.

11. M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (physical):
M-Audio Revolution

Another excellent Envy24 HT card. But this card used AKM D/A instead of WM (like on the Prodigy or Aureon). M-Audio is quite famous for its professional card. This is one of their first consumer card. Still, this card has good quality because it’s from M-Audio. You have one digital coaxial output only. No digital input and no optical I/O. The software almost not offers any extra features.
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (frequency response):

The graphic is somehow similiar with Audiotrak Prodigy. The high is increased a little bit, but the left/right channel are more level matched than Prodigy. Overall, this is excellent for a consumer grade sound card.

12. Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro (physical):
X-Fi

Creative offers complete option in X-Fi Elite Pro. She uses one of the latest D/A from AKM (even higher than the one at Lynx card). This card is quite pricey but offers no professional grade connector (balanced or XLR).
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro (frequency response):

Creative has big problem on their cards before X-Fi. The problem is on the poor resampling algorithm. Now, the have fixed it. The graph looks perfect (compared to the old Audigy2 ZS), as perfect as it can be from a professional grade card. It’s a pity becase Creative doesn’t offer any kind of professional grade connector.

Conclusion:
In my years testing sound card, I prefer Juli@ to have good and warm sound. X-Fi (the Elite Pro) which costs your 3 times than Juli@, may sounds to bright for me. Some people say it is details, but my ears just don’t suit with it. So I choose my Juli@ over the others (though beside Juli@, I use EMU 1820M to, but I haven’t done the RMAA test yet, little bit busy later these days)

Envy24 based like Prodigy, Aureon, and Revolution are good card. The AKM (Revolution) tends to have warmer sound than WM based (the Prodigy and Aureon). But it’s a matter of taste anyway. If you don’t do game too intensive, these cards offer good musicality at reasonable price. For your information, all non-Creative cards only support up to EAX 2.0. For Creative cards like Audigy or X-Fi may support up to EAX 4.0 or 5.0.

For a gamer, I see no reason to choose anything others than Creative brand. Creative has done a good job on X-Fi. They have fixed the resampling algorithm (you can see the different between Audigy2 ZS and X-Fi on the graphs, right?). So, now Creative has a card that good for music and for movie.

On the other side, for professional, your option is a professional card. Professional here isn’t only about quality, but also connectivity. ESI Juli@, Lynx, and EMU 1820M offer this. They both will do best on professional environment due to balanced connectivity and offer some extra features needed by professional.

That’s all folks. Enjoy reading it!



Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (29)

29 Responses to “Sound Cards RMAA Frequency Response Comparison”

  1. graham Says:
    September 1st, 2007 at 22:47

    i have sony w8010i



  2. graham Says:
    September 1st, 2007 at 22:52

    i its graham here i have a sony w8010i can you send me some info on the audio testing thanks from graham or phone me on 07807418052 asap thanks
    from graham



  3. Windows Says:
    September 4th, 2007 at 10:44

    say i want a card for RTA testing would the sound blaster audigy2 ZS note book work cause i need a card that has a flat response as possible



  4. George Says:
    September 8th, 2007 at 23:24

    I use sound cards for data acquisition. Your frequency response curves all seem to stop at 20 KHz. Why is that? Seems misleading since many of the cards advertise response to 46 KHz or more.



  5. Jimmy Auw Says:
    September 9th, 2007 at 23:55

    I use 44.1 kHz sample rate for testing. It means that the measured band will be half of the sample rate use or at 20 kHz, as stated by Nyquist.

    Why did I use 44.1 kHz? Because this is the common mode for all of computer applications. I can use higher sample rate (96 or 192 kHz) and the band will be wider, but sorry I didn’t test it.

    Thanks.



  6. Paul Says:
    October 12th, 2007 at 05:24

    What external sound card would you reccomend for reasonable price??? My Audigy 2 NX just died and I need something more than integrated sound on my laptop -)
    Can you say something about Philips PSC805 Aurilium ???

    Thank you.



  7. Jimmy Auw Says:
    October 12th, 2007 at 13:01

    For budget card, Aurilium should be ok…



  8. Sound Cards Says:
    October 12th, 2007 at 18:07

    I couldnt have said it better myself! Thanks a lot!!!



  9. dr.Gazza Says:
    February 22nd, 2008 at 16:31

    You never tested onkio-200pci?



  10. ow Says:
    April 18th, 2008 at 14:44

    How about to try a 48KHz test? You can use popular SSRC plugins when listening music, so 44.1kHz resampling problem is not a big one.



  11. Jimmy Auw Says:
    April 18th, 2008 at 21:38

    Since all musics are 44.1 kHz, I don’t see any good to test 48 kHz… except if you have a big use of DVD and or game…



  12. Robert Guthrie Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 01:33

    I have a Audiotrak Maya 5.1 MKII sound card in my Gateway Flex case computer BUT I need the installation CD so to restore the drivers. My machine is running with Windows Me software(which came with the Gateway) I would like to maybe buy a New card or may the installation Cd if anyone has the thinks I need let me know.
    Guthrier@juno.com



  13. Ham Says:
    March 14th, 2010 at 12:28

    Pak Jimmy,
    saya lagi berencana untuk membeli external dac dan akan saya padukan dengan pc karena sebagian besar lagu yang saya dengar dalam bentuk wav,ape dan lossless lainnya.

    Pertanyaan saya apakah saya harus upgrade soundcard saya lebih dahulu dengan soundcard yang let’s say esi juli@ atau sy cukup menggunakan keluaran spdif dari soundcard saya (creative) atau dari soundcard onboard (MSI) sy yang ada sekarang. Mengingat budget terbatas heheheh

    Thanks



  14. Jimmy Auw Says:
    March 14th, 2010 at 22:29

    Halo,
    Ya silakan upgrade sound card dulu untuk hasil yang maksimal. Output digital dari Creative dan onboard sangat tidak bisa diharapkan.
    Thanks.



  15. Ham Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 15:44

    Halo,
    Satu pertanyaan lagi Pak Jimmy, kalo saya beli dac dengan input usb, apa saya masih perlu sound card ?

    Thanks again.



  16. Jimmy Auw Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 23:14

    Ya kalo mau pake USB-nya, tentu ga perlu lagi sound card.
    Tapi kalo ga puas dan mau pake input lainnya, ya butuh sound card juga hehehe.
    Thanks.



  17. Ham Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 11:50

    That the answer that i needed… Looks like you have all the answer.

    Thanks



  18. babar g h Says:
    May 1st, 2010 at 18:10

    drive and softewaer sound blaster augigy 2modal no sb0240



  19. BudiHam Says:
    May 2nd, 2010 at 15:04

    Pak Jimmy, saya akhirnya mendapatkan dac murah buatan cina dacmagic (USD128). Suaranya menurut saya not cheap at all. Saya butuh penjelasan dari pak Jimmy mengenai 2 hal pertama saya pake foobar200 untuk player saya.

    1. DAC ini OS 192khz/24bit, apa saya masih perlu plugin untuk resampler di foobar ? kalo perlu, berapa khz resampler yang sebaiknya saya set ke resampler tersebut?
    2. Di Foobar outputnya saya stick dengan DS usb atau tetap dengan ASIO?

    Saya sadar tentunya semua ini tergantung dari kuping saya tapi saya ingin tau technecally disarangkan seperti apa.

    Thanks
    BudiHam



  20. Jimmy Auw Says:
    May 3rd, 2010 at 20:41

    Hi,
    1. DAC 24/192 tidak berarti semua suara akan diubah ke 24/192. Tergantung jenis DAC-nya juga apakah memaksa untuk resampling atau tidak. Saya lebih seneng jalan as-is, tanpa resampling. DAC umum biasanya akan tergantung pada source. Jika source 16/44, maka jalannya 16/44, unless ada kasus khusus.
    2. Kalo bisa ASIO, saya prefer ASIO.

    Thanks.



  21. Iqbal Says:
    July 13th, 2010 at 10:11

    bro jimmy, great review from what i’ve read good job
    tapi saya bacanya telat, barusan saya beli onkyo se-u55sx sebagai usb soundcard. kira2 suaranya kayak gmn ya dibanding sama soundcard2 yg udah di review diatas?
    thanks



  22. Jimmy Auw Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 22:52

    Hi Bro,
    Tiap2 sound card punya karakter dan spesialisasinya sendiri. Tapi SE-U55SX itu salah satu yang bagus koq.
    Thanks.



  23. Iqbal Says:
    July 21st, 2010 at 11:24

    thanks bro, btw saya pinjam gambar2 mod mx5021 ya? mau saya posting di salah satu forum.
    satu lagi, klo beli komponen audio seperti caps, resistor, induktor dll yg lengkap di glodok sebelah mana ya bro?



  24. Jimmy Auw Says:
    July 23rd, 2010 at 22:48

    Silakan bro.
    Kalo di Glodok coba cari Ayung. Kalo di LTC/Lindeteves, coba cari Bella Audio.
    Thanks.



  25. John Says:
    October 5th, 2010 at 14:17

    Bro kalo boleh buat test perbandingan Freq Response juga dong untuk soundcard-soundcard baru yang pakai Pci-Express… thx…



  26. Andreas Says:
    July 22nd, 2011 at 23:02

    Hello,

    I would be very interested in the upper end of the frequency range of these sounds cards.

    It’s a pity that you did not test it with a higher sampling rate. This way your test is completely useless for me (and obviously also for many other people that commented here).

    Best regards
    Andreas



  27. Auw Jimmy Says:
    July 22nd, 2011 at 23:11

    Hi Andreas,
    Probably useless for you, but not for me and most readers here.

    Mostly my website is talking about audio from the costumer point of view. Not as a professional or producer. So for CD or common audio materials, maximum we use at 20 kHz. So I don’t see any use for doing more than 20 kHz (44.1 kHz test), especially at that time when the article was written.

    Probably now some has changed as we can see 24/96 or 192 materials around in FLAC format. Anyway, do you have good speaker to handle more than 20 kHz?

    Btw actually I have done a complete test at 48/96 and 192 whenever possible as my standard test. But I don’t see any use to upload them all.

    Thanks.



  28. byutea Says:
    August 18th, 2011 at 10:14

    Pak Jimmy, kalo frekuensi respon ini bisa kita tweak tidak (biar lebih baik)? misal dengan mengganti komponen pada sound card-nya itu sendiri.

    Terima kasih.



  29. Auw Jimmy Says:
    August 19th, 2011 at 13:03

    Hampir tidak bisa Pak kalo asalnya karena dari DSP-nya…

    Thanks.



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