Computer Audio Asylum

Is Asrock AD525PV3 better sounding than H55M-USB3,

203.210.8.154

jackwong96

In Reply to: RE: The Singing Atom posted by Douwe01nl on December 20, 2011 at 14:05:36

under the same Windows and hardware conditions?

Follow Ups:

Yes Asrock AD525PV3 is much better - Douwe01nl 01:11:41 12/21/11 (4)
Hi JackWong, yes, the AD525PV3 is sounding much better!
I'm very happy, and even more happy when i think about implementing your hw-tweaks on bypassing caps and dedicated DRAM-psu!!!
Same setup for both AD525PV3 and GA-H55M-USB3 boards:
- minimal nLite install, MPS-Multiprocessor
- AWE
- minlogon
- boot.ini tweaked as per steppes mem=256
No hardware tweaks (only Juli@ has dedicated psu)
Edit: yes 1 difference in HW setup: AD525 runs on 30GB-SSD (40 cd's stored), h55m has 120GB-SSD (80 cd's stored). I'll check effect on sq in next weeks.
Edit 2: after comparing 30GB and 120GB SSD's in AD525PV3: subtle difference in favour of 30GB SSD. Conclusion: AD525PV3 beats H55M-USB3 with ease.
AD525PV3 provides more detail, more musical. I really heared some new details. In multi-voice songs the location of the singers is better, more subtle.
And it needs less power: h55m could run 6 hours on SLA-batteries, AD525pv3 sings 10 hours.
Nice thing is, there is only one cpu power phase. Simple design, less switching, more constant power-draw (i think but not sure - i'm sure about the SQ though). Easy to tweak/bypass with sikorel-Wima combo's.
Other nice thing is the Rcomp control in bios. Playing with these settings can provide different optimum-settings for instrumental / sing-a-song / classical. Three different bios settings can be stored in bios (like the h55m).
So if one could do with 88.2/96 upsampling or less, one should definitely try the ad525pv3. I'll keep the h55m for future use in a roomcorrection setup.
Of course i'm still very interested in your h55m-usb3 development. We have a shared reference now (untweaked h55m-usb3). During the next weeks, after burning in, i'll do another A-B test (ad525-h55m) and report.
Question: Could you have a look at the 2nd picture in
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/9/98866.html
Top left corner: between sound-chip and pci-slot, you can see a tiny black smd-souldered 'thing'. There is another right next to it (in the picture it's hidden behind the pci-slot). Could this be the choke for powering sound-chip? So if i remove it i disable the sound-chip?
Is it the same thing as you described in http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/9/98886.html ?
Besides that i can't wait until your next post on DRAM-psu!!
Cheers!
Douwe

Edits: 12/21/11 12/21/11
- RE: Yes Asrock AD525PV3 is much better - jackwong96 09:51:08 12/21/11 (3)
  Yes. Removing the choke will disable the sound chip, although partially. I checked the data, the chip needs 3.3V and 5V supply. You will disable either of them.
  
  Based on your experience, I re-test my GA-D510UD (1.66Ghz, 1M cache), underclocked to 1.0Ghz, 0.95V, ram 1.8V(no lower setting), Julia@, similar CMP as yours. I must say I was disappointed, when compared to others. There are only 3 chokes on this mobo, 6 on yours. I believe this is the reason.
  - RE: Yes Asrock AD525PV3 is much better - Douwe01nl 06:17:49 12/22/11 (2)
    Yes i guess chipset and GPU of the Asrock get cleaner power.
    Thanks for the advice on audiochip. i'll remove the chip by (de)soldering.
    
    Since in bios cpu and memory frequency are directly related, i willtry the asrock AD525PV, which has DDR2. I'll try to runit on slowest possible memory, but with CL3. I think i can get cpu to 900MHz, while running DDR2 memory on 100MHz. A 100Mhz CL3 gives closely the same action-time as 166Mhz with CL5 memory. to be continued...
    
    Douwe
    - RE: Yes Asrock AD525PV3 is much better - jackwong96 08:48:18 12/22/11 (1)
      It would be very difficult to remove the chip by solder iron, because the iron tip cannot transfer heat to all the pins at the same time. You may try but a heat gun is preferable.
      
      Doesn't this Mobo use DDR3? The manual says so.
      - RE: Yes Asrock AD525PV3 is much better - Douwe01nl 06:35:39 12/24/11 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yes Asrock AD525PV3 is much better posted by jackwong96 on December 22, 2011 at 08:48:18
        
        The AD525PV3 uses DDR3, the AD525PV uses DDR2. It will arrive in a few days. Later on i will try to remove the sound-chip.
        
        Happy Christmas!
        Douwe

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable