Hey...
So... I'm currently rocking the ALC 1150.
The new board I am looking at is saying ALC 892...
The question is more than basic...
What is the difference?
My current board have an op-amp, and headphone amp and other stuff, that I don't really use so I won't really miss. But what is the difference between the different sound chips and should I look at higher end one?
It's not really about the chip- it's more about the isolation of the wiring. IMO you should consider anything other than onboard, but if you don't care so much or otherwise use it in a noisy environment, it won't matter anyway.
As far as the differences in the chips themselves go, I can't say.
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892 is a bit lower end I believe.
I have had boards with both of them and I can't really tell the difference between them though. Unless you're an extreme audiophile I doubt you'd notice and in that case you'd be using an external Amp/DAC anyway
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Well, I didn't notice a difference between the 1150 and my old 11years old gigabyte am2 board's audio...
And that is exactly why I'm asking. Cause I don't really notice a difference, but there should be... I mean the world is moving towards ALC 1220...
As almost an engineer I don't really think that makes any difference...
I understand the principal idea of it, but everything is digital on this board and to isolate analog signal...
Idk...
My question is more about the chip. I mean Asrock likes to put those lower end chips on their boards. I rather they removed something for a bit better audio, but then again, Idk what the difference is, so they may just save money without really loosing much quality if any...
It still spews EMI over an unbalanced connection. If you want something really clean, get something with a balanced connection that isn't on the motherboard.
Pretty much, if you ask me.
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Well it's all set then...
The audio was pretty much the main issue I had with the board...
Curiosity is still here, so if someone have some knowledge on the topic I would be interested to know.
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Same
Both the 892 and 1150 have ten DAC channels that simultaneously support 7.1-channel sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo outputs
Both also have two stereo ADCs that are integrated and can support a microphone array with Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), Beam Forming (BF), and Noise Suppression (NS) technologies.
Both have analog I/O that are input and output capable, and headphone amplifiers that are also integrated at three analog output ports (port-D/port-E/port-F). All analog I/Os can be re-tasked according to user definitions.
Both have support for 16/20/24-bit SPDIF and I2S (Master mode) output with up to 192kHz sample rate offers easy connection of PCs to consumer electronic products such as digital decoders and speakers. The ALC1150 and 892 also feature secondary SPDIF-OUT output and converter to transport digital audio output to a High Definition Media Interface (HDMI) transmitter.
Differences
The 1150 incorporates Realtek proprietary converter technology to achieve Front differential output 115dB Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) playback (DAC) quality and 104dB SNR recording (ADC) quality, and is designed for Windows Vista premium desktop and laptop systems.
The 1150 has 0.75dB per step output volume and input volume control
While the 829 has 1dB per step output volume and input volume control
The 1150 has a built-in analog LDO
Looks to me, that both chips are very similar. But the 1150 has the ability to boost up the SNR to 115/110 db. But that 115/110 is only available thru the front DAC. As the documentation for the 1150 says
DACs (except Front-DAC) with 96dB SNR (A-weighting), ADC08h with 93dB SNR (A-weighting)
The 892 SNR for both front and back DAC
DACs with 95dB SNR (A-weighting), ADCs with 90dB SNR (A-weighting)
Sources
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=328
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=284
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So 1-2dB snr difference...
I see...
PS: SNR = Signal to Noise Ratio
DAC = Digital to Analog Converter
ADC = Analog to Digital Converter...
Just FYI for people, that are wondering...
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