Sound BlasterX G6 Virtual Surround Musings and Measurements

The amp output from the G6 sounds dirty, slightly weaksauce. The timbre in the highs could be better, but hardly bad. The G6's strength was @Hands noted was its liveliness and expressiveness which often isn't heard with cheap stuff like this. The K5Pro has more expansive headstage (rendered moot if one uses the above G6 settings for virtual surround). However, the K5Pro was glarey in the highs and boring / unengaging / insipid otherwise.

I am surprised? Nope, not if you know what parts are used and the topology of the design. The parts and topology will determine a large part of the perceived sound. More than any single SINAD measurement with a specific set of parameters.

 

This is for the amp section only, that is without the external DAC. External power brick was used. Also, gain was set to high (to get sufficient output because without, max output is too low). Note that setting gain to tends to result in worse THD because less negative feedback is used in the circuit.

 

TBH, I did use an external input (from the AP generator which would be pristine). The mediocre results above are probably because the input circuit sucks and adds more crap to the signal. The measurements below are using the optical digital input of the G6.

Here's the AmirNAD panel. 1kHz, 20kHz bandwidth, 2Vrms, 300-ohm load, high gain (with volume adjusted)


"SINAD" ain't bad per if you are reasonable person. I think what's more concerning are the presence of higher harmonics tat actually increases slightly as we go up in frequency.


Here is x1 gain at at lower more reasonable for headphones: 0dbU (0.775Vrms). It's a little bit better at this gain (more feedback) and lower level.