As far as benchmarking goes, I used RightMark 3DSound v2.3 for the synthetic benchmarking. For real world benchmarking,
I used a more subjective technique. I used my ears.
With RightMark 3DSound v2.3, I performed the tests for 2D Hardware, 3D Hardware, and 3D Hardware with EAX 2.0. The first test
used 0MB of system memory, meaning the system was not under load for the test. The second test used 512MB of system memory, meaning the system
was under load for the test.
RightMark 3DSound
Using the above settings, the results from the test audio file provided by RightMark resulted in the following values:
RightMark 3DSound with 0MB Load
RightMark 3DSound with 512MB Load
Changing between standard mode and Dolby Pro Logic IIx was like night and day. It takes an existing 2-channel or 5.1 channel audio signal and
converts it to a 6.1 or 7.1 signal on the fly. You can set the width of the center channel using the control panel for music, movies or games, to get a
custom audio signal to meet your needs.
Watching DVDs and HD WMA files on my PC was quite an experience on the X-Meridian. I changed signals while watching, trying Dolby Headphone, 7.1 Virtual
Speaker Shifter, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, and DTS Neo:PC. You can customize the sound of your music, movies and games to your exact liking.
Gaming under the X-Meridian was incredible. I did notice a lack of OpenAL support in Quake 4, but other than that, the Virtual 7.1 surround sound worked
perfectly. Audio on this gaming rig never sounded so good. Audio on Doom 3 under Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound sounded crisp and realistic. Then I plugged
in my headphones...
