E4253

Xonar Essence STX

Audio Precision Test Report

Version 1.02008/10/6

• Disclaimer:TheinformationandcontentscontainedinthistestreportareforXonarEssenceSTXuser’sreferenceonlyandmaynotbealteredinanymanner.Testresultsmayverywithdifferenttestingenvironmentandequipment.

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The story behind the new Essence series of XonarAimingtocreateaclassicmasterpiece,thedevelopmentofthenewXonarEssencelinehastriggeredustoengageanewquestinsearchfortruehighendaudioandtheessenceofsound.Welookedforalltracesandonlytorealizethattheanswerliesintheveryrootofourownculture,andthatitistheprocessofsearchingforthepurestsoundinharmonywithmanandtheenvironmentthatdefinesthehighestlevelofaudio.

4000yearsago,ourancestorswerealsosearchingforinstrumentsthatplaytheheavenlymusic,notjusttopayhomagetothegods,butalsotorepresenttheharmonybetweenmanandnature.Throughoutthetime,theycrystallizedtheirknowledgeofthematerialsandthespiritualpursuitintothatpieceoftheChimeofTiger.

Likeourancestors,theXonarteamalsosearchedforonlythebestcomponentsandusedonlythefinestdesignsinordertoreproducethatpurestessenceofsound.AstheChimeofTigertotemgold-platedonourEMIshield,XonarEssenceSTXwasbornwiththemixtureofancientbutneverchangedspiritandnowadayscutting-edgetechnologies.

ThisAudioPrecisiontestreportwaspreparednotonlytobackuptheunprecedentedperformanceofXonarEssenceSTX,butisalsoafootnoteofourongoingquestinsearchfortheessenceofsound.

Test Platform Information• AudioCard:ASUSXonarEssenceSTX

• AudioPrecisionInstrument:SYS-2722

• TestSignals:48KHz,24bit(192KHz,24bitforfrequencyresponsetest)

• M/B:ASUSP5N72-TPREMIUM

• CPU:Core2DuoE67502.66G

• RAM:Apacer1GDDR2

• HD:Segate40GHD

• DVDRom:AsusDVDE616A

• VGA:GeforcePCX5750

• Powersupply:Delta650Wpowersupply(GPS-650ABB)

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Audio Precision Test ReportTestSignals:48KHz,24bit(192KHz,24bitforfrequencyresponsetest)

Noise Level(SNR~124dB)

(Line Out)

Frequency Response(<10~90KHz@-3.5dB)

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THD+N Full Band(-116~-110dB for

20~20KHz)

(Line Out)

THD+N 1KHz0.0003% (-110dB) @997Hz

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Dynamic Range(~124dB)

(Line Out)

Crosstalk-132dB @ 1KHz-140~-120dB for

20~20KHz

Left

Right

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Noise Level(SNR~118dB)

(Line In)

Frequency Response(<10~90KHz@-3.5dB)

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THD+N Full Band(-110~-115dB for

20~20KHz)

(Line In)

THD+N 1KHz 0.0002% (-113dB) @997Hz

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Dynamic Range(~118dB)

(Line In)

Crosstalk-102dB @ 1KHz-117~-94dB for 20~20KHz

Left

Right

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Appendix 1: Glossary

• Noise Level Thelevelofanyundesiredsystemnoisesignalsovertheaudiospectrum,includingACmains

hum,whitenoises,straymagneticfield,etc.

• SNR Signal-to-NoiseRatio,theratioofthemaximumamplitudesignaltothesumofthenoise

energy.Thehigher,thebetter.

• THD+N TotalHarmonicDistortionplusNoise,measuredbyattenuatingthefundamentalsignalwitha

narrowbandnotchfilter,thenmeasuringtheremainingsignalwhichconsistsofharmonicsofvariousorder.Thisimpliesthelinearityoftheaudioconverterandthelower,thebetter.

• Frequency Response Ameasureofadevice'sabilitytorespondtoafixedinputvoltage,atdifferentinput

frequencies,andthedifferenceinamplitudereproducedforeachfrequency.Theflattercurveatwiderfrequencyrangeisbetter.

• Dynamic Range Thedifference,usuallyexpressedindB,betweenthehighestandlowestamplitudeportionsof

asignalwhichadevicecanlinearlyhandle.IdeallyitshouldbeveryclosetoSNRvalueandthehigher,thebetter.

• Crosstalk Unwantedsignalcouplingfromanotherchannelofstereoormulti-channeltransmission.The

lowervalueisbetter.

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Team DirectorKent Chien Eric Cheng

Team StaffSean Lai Jason LiangYitse Huang Josephine LinGreen Chuang Teddy LeeIves Chiu Casper CheArthur Tsai Michael ChenMarcus HsuViki Chen

Appendix 2: Credits