The install:

     To test the Prelude I used a build based in the ABIT Fatal1ty AN9 32X motherboard.  The build includes an AMD Athlon AM2 5600+,  2 x EVGA 7800 GTX cards cooled by Artic Cooling 5 series coolers  and a x 2 GB kit of Crucial Ballistix Series DDR2-8500 powered by an Ultra X3 1000 Watt power supply.  Storage was provided by both a 160 GB and a 250 GB Maxtor SATA II drives and a Lite-on 16x DVD burner all mounted in a Tagan El Diablo chassis.

     For comparison I will be testing a Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Music card that uses the exact same X-Fi chipset to see just how the Auzen offering stands up to the original.  Since our Creative offering does not have a matched set of digital outputs we will be testing in the traditional analog ports for consistency.  (Believe me using the fiber ports against the Creative card just wouldn't be fair.)

     For testing today I will be using the latest build of Rightmark Audio Analizer (RMAA) from RightMark,  Rightmark provides some of the most accurate software audio testing tools we have ever used and the basic build is available for free here.  The site also offers comprehensive testing guides and a full forum.  I will be using Build 6.0.6 and testing both X-Fi chipsets using the methodology described in the Soundblaster X-Fi Series Testing Methodology provided by creative and found here.

     I will also be using a copy of the Ziff-Davis Audio WinBench '99 to test the CPU load and relative performance of the X-Fi Prelude.  Audio WinBench is a terrific testing utility that has not been updated for some time, but offers a suite of testing tools that make it well worth hunting down this free tool.

RMAA:

Before we start lets review the settings we will be testing under.  the following chart shows the test setup as configured in the RMAA too according to the Creative testing guide.

Summary:

The completed test provides a wealth of information regarding the cards performance and sound quality.  For the casual user this information is distilled below.  As you can see the Auzen X-Fi Prelude receives the highest rating possible in all but one area.  These are the best scores we have seen on a sound card to date!  Even the THD rating is only just below an Excellent mark.  I would venture repeated testing would only improve these numbers as Auzen recommends "aging" your card for about 24 hours a bit before true performance levels will be reached.

For the true audiophiles out there, here are the test details:

Noise Level

Dynamic Range

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

Intermodular Distortion (IMD)

Crosstalk

Intermodular Distortion (IMD) + Noise