8. Test System And Audio Measurements

Obviously our test system is different from the one we usually use. It's based on an "average" Centrino notebook, but it's enough to use the Notebook in high-performance mode with no problem.

Remember that the exact figures from the tests using RMAA depend on several factors, including the adjustment of the reference level. For example, if you set it near 0 dB, distortion increases but signal-to-noise ratio improves. So slight differences aren't significant.

Compared to internal cards in the same class, many external cards - including the Notebook - attenuate the lowest frequencies of the audio spectrum, and subsonic frequencies even more. That's not a problem for ordinary use, but you have to think about that if you want to use this kind of card outside its normal application (with instruments, for example).

Behavior At 16 Bits/44.1 KHz

Overall, the Notebook's performance was very good, though it didn't reach the limits of 16 bit operation, which some cards can. The weakest point, however, was frequency response, which showed some peaks and valleys and dropped off a little early. But everything is relative. In absolute terms these are very good performance results.

Frequency response : Some ups and downs were visible and you can see the sharp attenuation at 20 Hz, but most of the audio spectrum is within a fraction of a decibel.

Noise level : Noise was low and particularly linear, without no hiccups.

Dynamic range : An excellent result for this configuration!

Distortion : Distortion was extremely low; the highest harmonics were at around -100 dB...

Intermodulation distortion : Again, distortion was very low and will be no problem.

Stereo separation : Stereo crosstalk was practically nil up to 1 kHz, then increased a little, but was still far from being a problem.