Listening tests - CD audio
For our listening tests, I called in a few favors and cornered three friends in the Benchmarking Sweatshop. After bribing them with adult beverages and some quality time alone with a GeForce 8800 GTX, I subjected our listeners to several hours of music playback tests spanning all three sound cards and the ADI integrated audio config. Tests were conducted with a pair of 5.1-channel Logitech Z680 speakers connected to each sound card using the same analog cables. Volume levels were normalized to within one decibel, and all environmental effects and equalizers were disabled.

To highlight the differences between cards, 30-second song clips were played back-to-back on different configurations. Four cards gave us six back-to-back tests per configuration, ensuring that each card went head-to-head with the others. The order of playback was randomized for each test, and our listeners were unaware of which cards they were listening to at any given time.

This first set of listening tests examines CD-quality audio playback. We used uncompressed WAV audio ripped directly from source CDs, and tapped Windows Media Player 10 for playback. Below, you'll find a summary of our listeners' impressions of how the Inferno and X-Meridian stacked up against each other and against the X-Fi and ADI 1988A. I've also injected a few thoughts of my own, although since I was running the tests, I knew which cards we were hearing.

Before we start, I should note that this was by far the most difficult set of listening tests we've ever run. In most cases, the differences between the cards were minute, although our listeners were largely consistent in which cards they favored.

Bloc Party - This Modern Love
Ripped from their Silent Alarm debut, This Modern Love combines a healthy dose of artsy, brit punk with a little dash of the acid-washed 80s.

Our listeners felt the X-Meridian had the strongest vocals and percussion of the bunch, but they said that came at the expense of background instrumentals that seemed a little lost in the shuffle. The X-Meridian's highs and lows were bright, they said, but the mids were a little foggy, especially when compared with the X-Fi's more balanced output.

The listeners were split on the Inferno. One thought the card sounded almost identical to the X-Meridian, while the other two were in agreement that the Inferno sounded a little muffled in comparison, especially at the low end of the spectrum. That low-end muffling caused all three to favor the X-Fi's cleaner, crisper output over the Inferno.

None of our subjects were keen on the ADI 1988A with this song. There was some agreement that the ADI audio offered clean vocals, but they weren't as good as those of the X-Meridian. There was also a sense that the ADI 1988A missed the mark with background instruments, and my ears concurred.

Overall, the X-Fi offered the most balanced playback for this track. However, the X-Meridian's stronger vocals and punchier percussion were quite pleasant.

The Rapture - Get Myself Into It
For the first time ever during a TR listening test, we had a subject ask if they could dance. The Rapture's Get Myself Into It is indeed a catchy tune, with soaring vocals and a beat funky enough to induce a little head bobbing.

We all agreed that this track's funky bass line sounded great on the X-Meridian, but it was almost too much, since our listeners found that it overwhelmed the background instrumentals a little. The Inferno didn't have the X-Meridian's punch, according to our subjects, but they also felt that the Sondigo card lacked precision in the mid-range and suffered from slightly tinny vocals.

The X-Fi was the consistent favorite with this song, with each listener preferring it, if only slightly, to the Inferno, X-Meridian, and ADI 1988A. One of our listeners thought the ADI 1988A sounded a little better than the Inferno, although all agreed that the ADI audio lost some of the mid range when compared with the X-Fi and even the X-Meridian.

Gnarls Barkley - Just A Thought
Call me crazy, but I think Just A Thought's obnoxious percussion, sweet strings, and slightly raspy vocals are absolutely beautiful. They also presented quite a challenge for our sound cards.

According to our listeners, this track's thundering percussion was crushing on the X-Meridian, but in a good way. One subject felt there was a little too much reverb on the Auzentech card, and two agreed that the mids were a little too distant when compared with the X-Fi's output.

When the X-Meridian was pitted against the Inferno, our listeners had a hard time distinguishing between the cards. Interestingly, though, they felt that the Inferno missed some of the sweetness in the strings when it was compared to the X-Fi. One listener also heard crisper vocals on the X-Fi, and a little more punch to the bass than what the Inferno offered.

Overall, our listeners liked the X-Fi and X-Meridian's playback the most, favoring the former ever so slightly. The ADI 1988A trailed the Inferno here, with our subjects finding the ADI audio's bass a little too overwhelming at the expense of the vocals and strings.

Personally, I really liked how this track's drum line hit me in the chest on the X-Meridian. You don't get quite the same thump with the X-Fi, but then, the X-Fi's strings did ring a little sweeter.

Audioslave - Original Fire
Original Fire rocks out with Chris Cornell's classic wail, plenty of percussion, loud guitars, and even a little tambourine. Loud, straightforward rock music tends to lack the sonic complexity that makes listening tests easy, but there's loads of it in my CD collection, so we gave it a spin.

As expected, our subjects didn't detect much of a difference between the cards here. The X-Meridian and Inferno were all but identical to their ears, although one listener heard a little more mid-range on the Auzentech card. Our listeners also felt that the X-Meridian provided slightly cleaner vocals than the X-Fi, but one also said that the X-Fi provided more punch than the Inferno.

Likely due to this track's lack of complexity, the ADI 1988A fared rather well. A couple of our listeners even felt that the ADI had crisper percussion than the Inferno, but they also thought that it didn't sound as good as either the X-Fi or the X-Meridian.

Pachebell - Canon
I've been using the same classical music compilation for listening tests for quite some time now, and I'll admit I know next to nothing about the genre. However, one of our listeners was familiar enough with Pachebell to note that while he had heard Canon numerous times before, this was his first experience with this particular take on the piece.

That same listener detected a few missing cellos in the X-Meridian's playback when the card faced off against the X-Fi. All three felt that the Inferno was missing something when compared with the X-Fi, as well, although they could only point to the fact that the X-Fi sounded fuller. There was also general agreement that the Inferno and X-Meridian sounded almost identical.

Again, the ADI 1988A was the least favorite of the bunch. Our listeners felt the ADI integrated audio didn't have the body or cradling sound of the other cards, especially when compared with the X-Fi.

I was actually impressed that the ADI 1988A sounded as good as it did, but it was my least favorite of the bunch. To my ears, the X-Fi had a richer sound than either the Inferno or the X-Meridian, although not by much.

Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
Listening tests wouldn't be complete without a little country, and there's no better subject than the man in black. This track, from American IV Recordings, combines subtle piano, acoustic guitar, and Cash's unmistakable vocals.

The rich body of Cash's voice played well on the X-Meridian and Inferno, according to our listeners. They felt that both were superior to the ADI 1988A, which missed a little of the vocal character and clarity. One listener even felt that Cash sounded tinny on the Analog Devices codec. Johnny Cash—tinny!

As much as our subjects liked the playback of the Inferno and X-Meridian, one felt the Inferno sounded a little hollow compared to the X-Fi. Another found the X-Fi's vocals to be a little fuller than those of the X-Meridian, and my ears agreed. With the X-Fi, there seemed to be a little more pain in Cash's voice—additional character, if you will.

Listening tests - multi-channel DVD audio
With digital output a key feature of the Inferno and X-Meridian, we whipped up a second wave of listening tests for our three discrete sound cards. For these tests, we switched to WinDVD 8 and a couple of DVD-Audio discs, and we swapped our analog cables for a TOS-Link optical connection to our Logitech speakers.

Digital output should provide a consistent digital bitstream across the board, so we didn't expect to see much of a difference between the cards. For the first two tracks, we compared the X-Fi, Inferno, and X-Meridian with DTS output. For the second two, we narrowed our focus to the Inferno and X-Meridian with Dolby Digital Live output.

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
The title track from Nine Inch Nails' latest album, With Teeth is heavy on percussion and features an interesting chirping piped to the rear channels.

As expected, our listeners had a hard time telling the difference between the cards. There was a little mumbling that the X-Fi might have sounded a little clearer, but no consensus was reached. To my ears, the three cards were all but indistinguishable.

Nine Inch Nails - Getting Smaller
Getting Smaller circles the listener with noisy, distorted guitars atop a driving bass line. In 5.1-channel surround sound, it's quite the experience.

Again, our listeners detected little difference between the cards. One thought the X-Fi sounded a little cleaner than the Inferno, but the others thought they all sounded about the same.

Blue Man Group - Sing Along
With guest vocals provided by Dave Matthews, Sing Along lulls you into a false sense that you're no longer listening to music played back on PVC tubing.

Predictably, our listeners were unable to detect a difference between the Inferno and X-Meridian. Both cards are passing the same Dolby Digital Live bitstream using the same encoder, after all.

Blue Man Group - Piano Smasher
Piano Smasher almost defies description, but I can add that it's also the background track for the Blue Man Group's DVD menu.

Again here, our listeners were unable to distinguish between playback on the Inferno and X-Meridian. Digital output was consistent, as it should be.