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(<[email protected])
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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(<[email protected])
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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
