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Hardware Asus Maximus VI Impact Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Meanmotion, 20 Nov 2013.

  1. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    I am still at a loss as to how good the sound might be with this and Bit-Tech seems to be avoiding the issue.

    I think I may end up having to choose a mATX board instead and still add on a separate dedicated sound card, all because I can't get the answers I need. I guess the only thing left to ask is if Bit-Tech is going to review the MAXIMUS VI GENE any time soon?
     
    Last edited: 21 Nov 2013
  2. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    been looking for the information since the board has been released .... no luck. I'll go mATX or external DAC
     
  3. Tulatin

    Tulatin The Froggy Poster

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    So, no pictures of the box and bundle, then?
     
  4. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Well, it's hardly avoiding the issue. But there's this powerful internet search tool called Google that reveals: http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/489...ini-itx-board-sound-quality-signalnoise-ratio
     
  5. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    That is just a table of how loud certain motherboards were measured to be rather than any information regarding the quality of the device. Not to mention if and what software that may or may not be provided with it.

    As for my comment about avoiding the issue, it still comes across as an excuse not to even bother. Apart from the briefest of mentions at the start of the article, that part of the board is not mentioned again. This is something that is significant as ASUS have deemed it important enough to include additional sound hardware. The article even refers to it as 'essentially a discrete sound card attached at right angles to the main board PCB', but then fails to make any comment about how good it is, how it is constructed, if it is an evolution of ASUS own dedicated sound cards or merely an improvement on the Realtek parts. I may be asking silly questions but this feature is important to me and I would expect a full review to cover it. Bit-Tech said in the article 'While the lack of PCI-E slots in addition to the main 16 x PCI-E 3.0 slot is a bitter pill to swallow for discrete sound card lovers, Asus has taken one giant leap towards appeasing you with what is essentially a discrete sound card attached at right angles to the main board PCB.' To me that is like saying 'ASUS have released a new product that will please those who prefer dedicated soundcards' and then saying nothing more about the product apart from two dB stats.
    The article doesn't even mention that they would 'like' to test and review the soundcard side of the motherboard but that they can't and then go on to outline a couple of reasons why. Then I would have an understanding of the issues faced. So yeah, that is why I said 'avoiding the issue'.
     
  6. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    I've severly used google for that information. What I'm after is not an SNR figure, as it tells nothing about the sound quality. You can easily have a noiseless signal that sounds like pure bag of s***.

    I'm after something like a real sound card review, like that :

    ixbtlabs.com/articles2/proaudio/infrasonic-quartet.html

    What about distortion, DAC chipset used, OPAMP stage ? No harmonic spectrum signal, which is by far the most important information.

    On a side note, valves sound better than solid states mainly because of the harmonics. Our ears are 'even order harmonics tuned'. Valves produce even order harmonics, while solid states produce odd order ones.

    I'm not saying that solid states are bad, just that valves sound more natural due to physical caracteristics :D.

    Now, sound quality <> SNR. SNR = signal quality, but doesn't say anything about how good the souns will be
     
    Last edited: 22 Nov 2013
  7. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    All valid comments, but Bit-Tech is not a hifi enthusiasts site. All the reviewers can do is plug the thing in some good speakers (which is a challenge in itself) and give their subjective opinion on how it sounds. I mean, it's an add on board on a mITX mobo. If you really want to prioritise sound quality, you need to buy something that can take a discrete high-end soundcard.

    All the technical details are on the Asus website.
     
  8. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    Very true. The good speaker made me laugh, I really see the scene in my head.

    True, but I'm more into external sound now :)

    I do not trust makers figures when it comes to audio :D
     
  9. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    Really? This is all they can do? Then how can they test and review a dedicated soundcard? I am still trying to find out WHY these items can't be reviewed in the same manner.


    The fact that it is an 'add-on' board is exactly why this interests me and in the 'review' Bit-Tech hint but go no further that maybe we wouldn't need a dedicated soundcard. So I really wanted to know if it is any better than the Realtek offerings of if I would still be better with a £50-£100 dedicated soundcard.


    Surely the point of any review is to test the information given from the manufacturer's website or press releases to see if it stands up as true and also to compare it against other products. I mean, who is going to come out with a statement such as 'Our product is very good, but there are better options out there.'?

    P.S. In furtherance, the lack of comments from the Bit-Tech team to adequately explain the situation and to just move on with other articles and posts reinforces my earlier comments of 'avoiding the issue'.
     
  10. ArthurB

    ArthurB What's a Dremel?

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    Bit-tech / Antony Leather.

    In future reviews of Asus motherboards, please take screenshots of the UEFI BIOS by pressing the F12 key and saving them to a USB flash drive rather than using a digital camera. The difference in quality is huge (as you can see in the image below).

    http://i.imgur.com/iX5JqD6.jpg
     
  11. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    I didn't even notice that myself, you would think that a professional would know better.
     
  12. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Dude, anything is better than a Realtek offering.

    No manufacturer is going to say that they use this chip with these specifications while they don't. So we can assume technical data to be largely correct.

    They may have omitted or ignored the issue, but there's no reason to avoid it. But please, tell me some more how a free website should offer you a perfect, silver platter service. I think you have a somewhat overdeveloped sense of entitlement.
     
    Last edited: 23 Nov 2013
  13. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    Free? I think you'll find it is paid for by adverts and endorsements along with the magazine subscriptions for CustomPC.

    As for trusting the manufacturers, no, they aren't going to lie about components but they all say they have the best product. Let me ask you this, if we all trust the manufacturers, what exactly is the point of a review at all then?
     
  14. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    All I know is that I click on my browser and I read the reviews. Didn't pay a penny for anything. To us it is indeed free.

    To see whether the subjective claims that they make are indeed true.

    GuilleAcoustic raised two problems. He wanted to know the technical specs of the sound card, so he could make his own informed decision as to the likely quality of the product. I directed him to the manufacturer's website, which will state that information. Since this is a bunch of facts, the manufacturer is not going to lie. Facts can easily be checked, and there is this whole set of laws around false advertising to protect the consumer.

    The second problem was that he wanted a reviewer's evaluation of the sound quality. This is a subjective judgement, and as such impossible to prove or disprove. Manufacturers know this is a grey area, so will happily make subjective claims about their products. This is where reviews need to check whether these claims are reasonable, and for what given value. The problem with that is that one man's "good" is another man's "poor". Too often have I read reviews of PC speakers which are rated as good, and when I listen to them in person I find them rather poor. The only informed judgement can come from an audiophile --and Bit-Tech guys are PC enthusiasts, not HiFi audiophiles, sorry.
     
  15. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    I'm pretty sure that the ad revenue from the site and CPC along with the subs income go straight to the Dennis accounts team, and then they carefully trickle just enough money to the site to keep it from going under.

    I'm sure Meanmotion will correct me if I'm wrong, but you can be sure of one thing: Bit-tech is run on a shoestring. I think they do remarkably well considering.
     
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