Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

AmigaOne X1000 platform specific issues.
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vox
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Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by vox »

Hi Amigans,

I am pleased with X1000 7.1 audio, but I do wonder should I ever get the PCI card?
https://acube-systemsbiz.serversicuro.i ... -card.html

How does Envy24 sound card compare to X1000 onboard?

I am speaking as AUDIOPHILE (listener) not MUSICIAN :-)

Its not expensive card but to buy or not to buy ...

Does SATA/Sound cards work on X1000 PCI-E x1 slots at all?
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by danbeaver »

Since no one else is responding, the Envy24 board seems to have 24-bits of resolution versus 32-bits of the motherboard (see AHI settings); while I do listen to compressed mp3's, I usually listen to CD's on my stero equipment yet I'm afraid I have 16-bit ears.

There is an adapter for the PCI-e to allow a low profile PCI card, so I would assume that any card with a driver supporting its chip set would work there.

Great enthusiasm for the X1000 by the way :-)
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by vox »

danbeaver wrote:Since no one else is responding, the Envy24 board seems to have 24-bits of resolution versus 32-bits of the motherboard (see AHI settings); while I do listen to compressed mp3's, I usually listen to CD's on my stero equipment yet I'm afraid I have 16-bit ears.

There is an adapter for the PCI-e to allow a low profile PCI card, so I would assume that any card with a driver supporting its chip set would work there.

Great enthusiasm for the X1000 by the way :-)
Thanks Beaver!

Well, I am looking to upgrade it to the best and leave it be on hardware side :-)

Only good thing I believe PCI-E x1 Envy card can do is low-latency ASYNCIO, which is for music software only.
I also don`t feel difference between 16,24 and 32 bit sound on my 2.1 speakers

Thanks bever UBUNTU REMIX has just been replaced with MINT 11 64

About new year I should insert SSD and redo installs as well as 4GB more :-)
And that would be it.
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by nbache »

I'm using that PCIe card in my Sam460ex, and it does work there (only playback tested so far though), so I'd expect it to work in the X1000 as well. In my X1000, I have a PCI ESI Juli@, and it does have the advantage of separate RCA (phono) sockets, so it might (theoretically?) provide greater dampening of crosstalk. Whether you and I can hear that, I don't know.

But otherwise I believe the playback quality of the builtin HDAudio probably cannot be beat or even matched by the PCIe card.

So it might be a question of what you want to do with your audio, for instance I believe the builtin audio does not allow monitoring while recording, while (I assume) the PCIe card, and certainly my ESI Juli@ do.

I'm not sure if Lylehaze is away for AmiWest or ortherwise busy, but he would probably be able to tell more.

Best regards,

Niels
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by LyleHaze »

Greetings all,
Yes, I am away at AmiWest, I have not been reading or posting for a few days.

Having said that, this is a brief partial response, there will be more info later once I am back at home on my machine.

re:24 bit vs 32 bit.. there is no difference in these AT ALL.

What AHI calls 32 bit is "A 32 bit package, carrying 24 bits of audio sample"
What the HDAudio/Envy24 devices consume (both) is "24 bit samples carried in 32 bit packages"

In other words, they each have a different description for the exact same thing. 24 bits of sample in a 32 bit word.

The two devices are probably quite similar, but since I don';t have an Envy24 here, I can only compare one of the two:

Maximum playback rate will ahve a lot to do with it.. HDAudio goes up to 192 Khz, and I CAN definitely hear less noise at the higher rates. I don't know what the envy offers.

The Envy (or at least SOME of them) offer balanced outputs, which should provide a lower noise floor compared to the unbalanced outputs of HDAudio. Whether or not this is significant depends on your situation and what external equipment you are using.

The option for using optical outputs is an equalizer, offering two advantages, you can now isolate the grounds of your computer from the ground of your sound system, and you move the actual Digital to Analog conversion to your receiver, instead of the one on the sound card.. This effectively nulls the "balanced" advantage, and adds ground isolation as well.. BUT it limits your max sampling rate to whatever the upper limit of your S/PDIF receiver, often a bit lower than the 192Khz of the HDAudio chip.

Yes, there are many details missing, but this is all I can offer from the floor at AmiWest. Feel free to ask for more details, but don;'t expect much of a response before Wednesday.

:)
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by vox »

LyleHaze wrote:Greetings all,
LyleHaze, reporting from the main floor of the biggest Amiga Party in the continental United States.
Thanks Lyle, so all-in-one its great sound onboard but for some high fidelity speakers, PCI-E card would
have less noise. I remembered also that MIXER works with those cards and simply doesnt support our onboard sound.

This and maybe low latency for sampling and sound recording may be the only good sides of Envy or other PCI-E
based cards as also may be memory for samples and some DSP processor.

This is not much for non-musicians, but OK, I will save one slot just in case we start supporting some
great cards. I was amazed to learn ASUS has designed a great new series of sound cards, competing with SB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus#Sound_cards

I would love to see AmigaOnes having some GREAT sound cards, as good music quality is our tradition
and your driver is a start of new era :) No more older Sound Blasters, VIA chips etc.
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by LyleHaze »

Home again, catching up as I can.
vox wrote: I would love to see AmigaOnes having some GREAT sound cards, as good music quality is our tradition
and your driver is a start of new era :) No more older Sound Blasters, VIA chips etc.
I am very glad that I could make a contribution, but there were at least four others that worked on
the HDAudio driver, and they did most of the work..

As best I can recall: Davy Wentzler, Alex Carmona, Tony "The Pie Man" Wyatt, and Rene Olsen.

I hope I didn't leave anyone out.
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by Raziel »

LyleHaze wrote:Home again, catching up as I can.
OK, thats enough...back to work ;-)

/me is waiting for some soft :-D
People are dying.
Entire ecosystems are collapsing.
We are in the beginning of a mass extinction.
And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth.
How dare you!
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Re: Envy24HT vs Audio 7.1 onboard

Post by ssolie »

LyleHaze wrote:I hope I didn't leave anyone out.
Well, I did do a tiny bit of refactoring... ;)
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