Audio Performance:
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Weighted)
Stereo Output : 120dB (part spec)
Front and Rear Channels : 120dB (part spec)
Center : 120dB (part spec)
Subwoofer and Side Channels : 120dB (part spec)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (-3dBFS, A-weighted) : 0.001% - part spec
Frequency Response (+/-0.01dB, 24-bit/44.1kHz input ) : 20khz (part spec)
Frequency Response (+/-0.01dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ) : 43.5 khz (part spec)
16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
To give you an idea, most Creative boards have a Stereo Output S/N ratio of 109 dB, while the Elite Pro is 116 dB.
The Total Harmonic Distortion is 0.004% while the Elite Pro is 0.0008%.
Sound Testing:
The following tests were conducted with the sound card hooked up to a Technics Stereo Amplifier and a pair of JBL towers.
For headphone testing the Sennheiser HD280 Pro were used (wish I had 595 or 650s to test with)
DD 5.1 448 kb/s through PowerDVD Ultra (set to 2.0)
DD Plus 5.1 640 kb/s through PowerDVD Ultra (set to 2.0)
DD TrueHD through PowerDVD Ultra (set to 2.0)
MP3 @ 256 kb/s through iTunes
Battlefield 2 (all settings max)
The Dolby results:
To be honest, there is not much difference here between the Creative card, and the Auzentech card.
With the mode set to Audio Creation and the bit-matched playback enabled, the two cards sound nearly identical.
The most difference is shown in the TrueHD soundtrack, where the Auzentech card seems to have more clarity and deeper bass.
But otherwise, the cards are both excellent. Liquid gold in, liquid gold out
The MP3 results:
With a flat listening experience (bit-matched) the Auzentech card has a crisper, less veiled sound.
The Creative card has duller highs and bass. Still, it's not night and day, they are pretty evenly matched.
Where the Auzentech card really excells is the post processing. The Creative card just doesn't stand a chance.
Where before the Crystallizer was a hiss/bass distortion feature, it now becomes a fantastic feature.
The Crystallizer gives your flat MP3s a much needed extended bass and high range that is clean and crisp, not distorted and uncomfortable.
To measure this difference, I will show you an example with numbers.
With the Xtreme Music, as soon as you raise the Crystallizer level above 0% you can already start to hear bass distortion at high volumes.
With the Auzentech I find myself enjoying up to 50% Crystallizer at high volumes with absolutely pristine bass and highs. Clearly the better components on the card are paying off here.
The Battlefield 2 results:
This deserves a 10/10 for improvement, there is just no comparison. With the Crystallizer enabled now that its actually worth using, the sound is just insane.
If I even try to raise the Crystallizer above 0% with the Xtreme Music, the distortion is evident. With the Prelude the Crystallizer is everything it should be.
Im not sure I can portray with words the fact that when you fire a shell from your Abrahams tank, your ears ring.
It actually feels like your inside the tank, thats how amazing it is. Its not flat and dull, its punchy and crisp.
Wrapping things up:
This card shows clear improvement over the cheaper Creative cards, when the card is stressed to its limits.
These limits are reached by using the Crystallizer at high volume, because this feature enhances the bass and the highs so much
that if the components are not up the task the resulting sound is actually worse than the original pre-processed signal.
So who should purchase this card?
You should not be purchasing this card
1) if your speakers or headphones are worth less than the card. Its as simple as that.
You will not notice the difference with sub 200 dollar speakers or cheap headphones, it just wont happen.
2) if you like low volumes. You need the right amount of sound pressure to hear the difference,
at low volumes the card does not sound 100 dollars better than the Xtreme Music or the Xtreme Gamer cards.
You should be purchasing this card
1) if you have a nice set of speakers (like the Logitech Z5500s) and you frequently turn them up for good listening sessions or movie watching,
or if you connect your PC to a receiver/amplifier with good quality speakers.
2) if you have high-end headphones like HD595s, HD600, HD650, Beyerdynamic DT-880 and 990s, AKG K701s.
If you have an amp for your headphones you will enter PC-as-source audio nirvana.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2409557&postcount=1
E testes reais? Respostas em frequência? SNR?
, mas muita gente tem, basta ver o forum da creative. Exemplo são os problemas em sistemas com 4GB mem ou mais = BSOD em vista, que andam à meses para resolver, a última tentativa resultou para uns poucos, ficou igual ou piorou a maioria dos queixosos, e andam nisto. Entre muitas outras coisas.
