How to use RightMark to test your sound card.

[Áedán]

Firstly, you'll ned RightMark Audio Analyser, this can be downloaded from http://audio.rightmark.org/download.html. Install the package you've just downloaded!

Secondly, you will need a minijack to minijack cable to connect the line in to the line out on your sound card!

If you are lucky enough to have an Audigy then Creative have provided a setup document, which can be downloaded from the RightMark site above.

On the other hand, if you have any other card, then read on! Cards with their own mixer software might need to modify these instructions a bit, as I'm using the standard Windows Mixer.

Firstly, bring up your mixer in playback. Select "Properties" from the Options menu. Ensure that all the tick boxes under the "Show the following volume controls" are ticked!

Your volume control should look a bit like this
http://www.hawks.dircon.co.uk/aoa/VolProperties.png

The next step is to select the input we want, so finish with the properties, and go back to the volume control. For a standard line out to line in, we only want to hear the wave output. Everything else should be muted (except for Volume Control!). Doing this results in a mixer that looks big and scary, like
http://www.hawks.dircon.co.uk/aoa/VolumeControl.png

Everything other then Volume Control and Wave is muted, so there's no possibility of other noises getting through! Also, whilst we are here, ensure that the Volume Control and Wave are turned up to about 75%.

Next, we need to go back and do the same thing for the recording. Go back to the properties, and select "Recording", then ensure that all the controls are ticked, just like for the playback.

Next, we choose which source we're going to record from. Tick Line In, and ensure nothing else is selected. You'll have a mixer that looks something like the following
http://www.hawks.dircon.co.uk/aoa/RecordControl.png

If your soundcard can do effects like EAX, Reverb, Chorus and other strange things, ensure they're all turned off. Do the same for any kind of stereo expansion, and ensure that the soundcard is set for 2 speakers only. This will depend on your soundcard as to how you do it!

RightMark Audio Analyser
Start RightMark Audio Analyser up, and click on "Soundcard settings..." This will bring up a screen with playback and recording settings. Ensure that the sample rate is the same for both playback and recording. If your soundcard is an AC'97 based, a Philips Acoustic Edge, or a SoundBlaster Live/Audigy series, then you need to ensure that the sample rate is at 48000Hz. Other cards might perform better at a different setting, so try it out! If you're lucky enough to have a card that really does 96KHz, or 24bits, then you can also try these modes out.

Next, we need to ensure that the inputs and outputs are calibrated to the same level. Close the Soundcard settings window, and click on "Adjust levels". Concentrate on the second set of numbers (The ones at -6dBFS). These numbers need to be at 6.0 or slightly above, so adjust the Line In volume on the Recording Volume to get as close as you can. Below, the one on the left is perfect, and the one on the right is great. However, don't go below 6.0, otherwise you'll get bad results from distortion!

http://www.hawks.dircon.co.uk/aoa/Calibrate.png

Now that you've set up the mixer settings, configured the soundcard settings, and calibrated the input and output, you can run the tests! Click on "Done", and then "RUN TESTS !". Once RightMark Audio Analyser is done, it'll present you with a summary of the quality of your soundcard. If you're really lucky, the summary will look like the following

http://www.hawks.dircon.co.uk/aoa/Results.png

Don't worry if your results aren't as good as this - this particular test was done under some very special conditions!

If you have time there are some other things you can try! If your soundcard has SPDIF In and SPDIF Out, you can try setting it up to play out via SPDIF Out, and record via SPDIF In. See how that affects quality.

If you have more than one set of outputs, and you can choose which output the sound comes out of (A la Santa Cruz), then you can test each of the outputs and see if there's any difference.

Once you've got some results that look reasonable, post them here, even if someone else has already posted them. Not all soundcards are equal, and not all computers provide the same sound quality!

AidanII

[Pinky]

I will do this, just not tonight...

[Spode]

wow! thats really cool. I'm gonna have to rmemeber tat next time I review a motherboard with onboard sound.

[Superman]

Originally posted by Spode
wow! thats really cool. I'm gonna have to rmemeber tat next time I review a motherboard with onboard sound.

It didn't work right with the 8K3A onboard; I couldn't get the microphone volume high enough.

EDIT: Oh, you use the line in. Does it have one? I don't know