To test the
Revolution I used Aureal Minerva, 3D Mark 2003, RightMark
Audio Analyser 5.0 & Audio WinBench.
Aureal Minerva
Aureal Minerva
reports the following when the Revolution is set to
Sensaura/Game Mode;
Device Selected:
M-Audio Revolution
DirectSound
reports...
1 Primary buffer
available
33 Total 2D
hardware mixing buffers available
33 Static 2D
hardware mixing buffers available
33 Streaming 2D
hardware mixing buffers available
33 Total 3D
hardware buffers available
33 Static 3D
hardware buffers available
33 Streaming 3D
hardware buffers available
0 Total bytes sound
card memory static buffer storage
0 KB/sec Data
transfer rate to hardware static buffers
48000 KB/sec Max
sample rate supported by secondary buffers
100 KB/sec Min
sample rate supported by secondary buffers
Minerva is testing:
<M-Audio Revolution> for :
DirectSound
acceleration: <available>
DirectSound3D
acceleration: <available>
A3D acceleration &
compatibility: <not available>
As stated in the
Gaming section, the Revolution doesn't provide DirectSound
acceleration; as such the channels are powered by the CPU.
Aside from the higher CPU usage it can be expected the
Revolution would incur in gaming, the number of available
channels should prove sufficient for the majority of games,
though more gaming oriented Soundcards, e.g. Audigy 2, would
provide a higher number of channels supported, along with
DirectSound acceleration (which would provide lower CPU
use).
3DMark 2003
For testing 3D Audio
performance I used 3D Mark 2003's 3D Audio performance test.
For comparison I also tested the nForce APU in 6 channel
output mode (Dolby Digital Encoding being active, or not,
had no effect on the frame rate).
Soundcard
nForce APU
Revolution
7.1
No Sounds
23.0
23.0
24 Sounds
19.6
14.3
60 Sounds
17.3
Not Supported
As you can see, using
the Revolution 7.1 resulted in a rather noticeable frame
rate hit, with the nForce proving far more capable
performance wise, clearly showing the impact using software
channels can have over a more gaming oriented soundcard. As
discussed earlier the Revolution provides a maximum of 33 3D
channels when set to Sensaura/Game Mode, as such the 60
Sounds test 3D Mark 2003 offers wouldn’t run.
Audio WinBench
For CPU usage testing
in DirectSound/DirectSound 3D the Revolution was set to
Sensaura/Game Mode. Due to some motherboard problems I was
unable to carry out comparative tests on a same speed CPU,
though I previously had tested the Audigy 2, nForce APU and
SonicXplosion on a 1.29Ghz Athlon, opposed to the 2400+ XP
used with the Revolution. Here’s a sample of the results,
again, bear in mind the CPU differences:
Clearly the
Revolution is at something of a disadvantage when it comes
to CPU usage, something which the 3D Mark 2003 Audio
performance test results also indicated. The complete
AudioBench benchmark results can be
downloaded here. To some extent this may be improved on
as reportedly the TerraTec DMX 6Fire 24/96 provides more
respectable CPU usage numbers (this uses a similar, more
high-end Envy24 chip).
RightMark Audio Analyser
RMAA is "an
Independent Audio Measurements Open-Source Project". This is
perhaps the most objective testing method I can provide for
the review. Testing was performed in loop-back mode, rather
than using another soundcard for recording purposes (Which
would be more ideal, though I don't own a more recording
oriented Soundcard, e.g. TerraTec DMX 6Fire 24/96). Tests
were carried out at 2 different Bit depths/Sampling rates:
Sampling mode:
16-bit, 44 kHz
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:
+0.12, -0.06
Very good
Noise
level, dB (A):
-93.5
Very good
Dynamic
range, dB (A):
93.4
Very good
THD, %:
0.0009
Excellent
IMD, %:
0.011
Very good
Stereo
crosstalk, dB:
-94.7
Excellent
General performance:
Very good
Sampling mode:
24-bit, 96 kHz
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:
+0.13, -0.07
Very good
Noise
level, dB (A):
-96.2
Excellent
Dynamic
range, dB (A):
95.9
Excellent
THD, %:
0.0006
Excellent
IMD, %:
0.012
Very good
Stereo
crosstalk, dB:
-94.0
Excellent
General performance:
Excellent
For the complete breakdown (with graphs)
of these results please see the respective pages for
16-Bit/44 kHz &
24-Bit/96 kHz.
