| How well does the new SB Live! perform?
I have run some tests on both of these cards using a spectral analysis program
called Spectralab. This application is available from Soundtechnology on the web and may be
used for thirty days free of charge. This is the first such application I've come
across which can give accurate weighted background noise readings of the sort generally
used ny hardware manufacturers to rate their cards.
I am interested in two readings in particular for these cards. The first
is how noisy the card records via the analogue inputs and second, how noisy the internal
synth and audio processing is. I want a figure that I can compare with the
manufacturers ratings and thus compare with the specifications of other cards.
All measurements are made with the repective levels on full. The
total power utility in Spectralab displays the total RMS power level for the entire
spectrum. This is the figure often quoted by manufacturers. The Awe32 has had its
I/O gains set to 1x. These results are for the left channel only. Results for
the right channel are virtually identical and are thus not displayed here.
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Soundblaster Live! Performance at 48KHz Turn on the 20dB Mic gain and the noise shoots up by 13dB.
The Mic-in and the TAD-in show a slight increase below 300Hz.
The analogue ports all roughly show the same value of
-86.40dB.
All digital ports are virtually identical and total -93.40dB
power.
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Soundblaster AWE32 Performance at
44.1KHz Turn on the Mic gain
and the noise shoots up to -60.30dB.
The Mic-in with no extra gain performs over 16dB quieter.
The Awe32 MIDI Synth matches the Mic in noise at -76.90dB.
The Line-in has odd peaks between 400 and 2500 Hz.
The analogue CD input on the board is the quietest port at
-80.80dB.
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AWE32 vs SB Live! at 44.1KHz AWE32 Line-in recording at 44.1 KHz with -78.00dB total power.
Line-in on the SB Live! improves nicely to -86.60dB.
The Awe32 MIDI Synth is rather noisy at -76.90dB.
MIDI on the Live! is treated to a respectable -91.70dB hiss
level.
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AWE32 vs SB Live! at 48KHz AWE32 Line-in recording at 44.1 KHz with -78.00dB total power.
Line-in on the SB Live! remains the same at -86.40dB.
The Awe32 MIDI Synth is still noisy at -76.90dB.
MIDI on the Live! drops even further to -93.40dB hiss level.
The Awe32 is not able to work at 48KHz. This last chart is simply shows the
total inprovement in dynamic range that the SB Live! has over the AWE32. This is in
fact the figure that Creative will be quoting when they refer to the noise levels of the
card.
Read my opinion and the conclusion.
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