Auzentech X-Meridian Discussion Thread Part 2

I tried Foobar but don't really like it. I use Winamp and the Audioburst Resampler plugin. Works great with this card. Alot of members with XM's around here have switched to using it.

 

i havent used winamp in ages...i found it bloatware
i dont understand why kernel streaming was 10db louder and it only seems to affect analog output, thats why i was saying optical is 10db+ softer than analog....
optical is still softer than analog now even (with the same volume level on receiver) but differnce is only 3-4db now

 

Well analog output of the XM is hot. The Digital output would be a standard level set from the specification, you would think anyway. As for Winamp, gives amazing sound if you know how to set it up properly.

 

Resource usage with meridian?

I installed a meridian a couple of weeks ago to replace a x-fi piece of garbage that wouldn't stop popping. Anyhow, no pops, no hangs, or pauses with the auzen. Just pure listening pleasure in games and music.

My question concerns the PC resources this card obviously uses even when no sound is needed. Anyhow, with the auzen I have noticed a 700+ pt (~28200-27300)drop in my 3DMark3 Scores, a 4 second increase on my super pi 1M times (29s to 33s), and a 6 pt increase in my memory latency times (39-45) and large increases in my memory read and write times as well. I have the latest Auzen Beta drivers and have shut down almost all background apps.

This is probably normal, but I was under the impression that adding a soundcard would actually free up resources instead of utilizing more. Apparently, I was wrong. I use my pc for gaming (75%), music and photos/video (~15%), and internet surfing (10%). I know that the Meridian is more of a audiophile card and not primarily a gaming card, but it seems to be the best thing going at the moment. It is, in terms of sound, exponentially better than anything "Creative" I have had in my box. I never took the time to benchmark with the x-fi. I guess I was spending too much time trying to get it to work......which it never did.....Anyhow, besides any help in minimizing resource usage does anyone think that Auzen could effectively minimize resource usage by issuing a set of leaner running drivers ?

 

Resource usage with meridian?

I installed a meridian a couple of weeks ago to replace a x-fi piece of garbage that wouldn't stop popping. Anyhow, no pops, no hangs, or pauses with the auzen. Just pure listening pleasure in games and music.

My question concerns the PC resources this card obviously uses even when no sound is needed. Anyhow, with the auzen I have noticed a 700+ pt (~28200-27300)drop in my 3DMark3 Scores, a 4 second increase on my super pi 1M times (29s to 33s), and a 6 pt increase in my memory latency times (39-45) and large increases in my memory read and write times as well. I have the latest Auzen Beta drivers and have shut down almost all background apps.

This is probably normal, but I was under the impression that adding a soundcard would actually free up resources instead of utilizing more. Apparently, I was wrong. I use my pc for gaming (75%), music and photos/video (~15%), and internet surfing (10%). I know that the Meridian is more of a audiophile card and not primarily a gaming card, but it seems to be the best thing going at the moment. It is, in terms of sound, exponentially better than anything "Creative" I have had in my box. I never took the time to benchmark with the x-fi. I guess I was spending too much time trying to get it to work......which it never did.....Anyhow, besides any help in minimizing resource usage does anyone think that Auzen could effectively minimize resource usage by issuing a set of leaner running drivers ?

 

This MYTH comes from the gaming world. Take a onboard soundcard for instance playing a game you use the card it has EAX 1,2 etc..so running these effects slow the game down. When people move into PCI gaming card such as Creative Labs card and they play a game these routines are handle by the card. it prevents the FPS of the game from dropping but doesn't give a boost as alot of people say. Ever consider changin your Opamps? I have tried quite a few of them read back a page or two and there is some reviews about various popular opamps.

 

rot...they're just a number...I've learned after mucking around with PCs for years...WHO CARES. As long as I don't visually experience a loss in what I do I really don't care if 3DMark score go up or down a hair etc etc etc. One of the main reasons I don't OC my system anymore...what's the point for 3fps lol.

 

What kind of CPU usage are you getting, ROBSCIX, while playing music with Winamp using Audioburst? Mines going around 20% as opposed to around 5% without any mods to Winamp. Oh and I am using Ozone as well.

 

audioburst is the one that bumps up the CPU usage. I'm running an AMD 3500+ just like you and I get actually around 25-30% hits in task manager. If I cut out Ozone it's like 17% or so and if I drop the AudioBurstFX plugin it goes to 0-7%.

So yea you pay for the DSPs and whatnot but man they make one hell of a difference. Probably because I have it upsampling all my audio to 192Khz...

 

Gotcha

 

Yeah your gonna get a CPU hit using these plugins. They are performing alot of calculations on every sample of audio so they are taxing. I will leave them on. My CPU usage, I don't even check -my system is older I am just wating to building a nice new one...

 

I think it's high time I get another set of Opamps. I've gotten so used to listening to the 2134's that it doesn't sound so exciting as it were before when new. I might get 6 pieces this time, 2 for the mic input.

Rob, what plugins would you highly recommend? This might add some new sound dimension on my part.

 

I would suggest getting the 2227's unless your gonna go for the LM's..

 

I really would like to go for the LM's. I'll see what I can come up with.

BTW Happy Easter fellas.

 

The 2227's sound better then the 2134's better bass and better highs.

 

I'll be upgrading my rig at the end of the year to something fairly highend so I won't really worry about CPU usage then but for now because I only have a single core I can't play music with the plugins while gaming. That's my only complaint for now.

 

I want a new rig also in a few more months. I will be still Auzentech for sure. I am thinking of getting a receiver and speakers to go with this powerhouse card. I don;t think PC speakers let out all the potential of this card..

 

no they don't...I just "acquired" an Eagles - Hotel California DTS audio CD and I'm in audio heaven it sounds amazing with 6 speakers.

 

I bet. I have to decide what I want more a HT rig for my curent system or a new rig. I am gonna save for the new rig, this one is LOL, a little dated.
The best part about it is the soundcard After that I will be getting a recevier and a 5.1 setup. Need it for this card.

 

Ok I've decided I'm going to buy the LM4562 so wish me luck on not frying my card hehe. Do I also need to get one for my mic channel? Is it ok to have different opamps on the input than the output?

Also I finally got ahold of an audio DVD (Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon) to try out a higher quality audio source. Only problem is it doesn't seem to be giving me "bit perfect" playback. My question is, what player is best for audio DVDs, and how do I get them to play in bit perfect mode?

I'm currently using PowerDVD, the volume is set to max but on dvd movies at least PowerDVD completely bypasses the volume and lets the reciever figure it out (using SPDIF output). Unfortunately I'm only able to get it to work in 96KHz mode, which I suppose is as good as surround gets but I only need stereo and would like to get it working with 192KHz stereo if possible (kinda doutbful at the moment).

Any ideas?