Auzentech XMeridian is finally out!

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Good news, I just got my X-Meridian today, the customs had my card for about a week, I need to fetch the card from them and pay the tax. I think that's the reason for the late delivery. I haven't tried it yet. Before I do a clean windows install of my computer I'll try to install the X-Meridian together with the X-Plosion for a comparison. Also check this out, there someone has been able to have the X-Meridian together with a X-Fi Fatality on his system without any conflict. He said that he will post again later with comparison of the X-Meridian and X-Fi in games.

@phreak144, you should go there as well, the bit perfect output from the X-Meridian has been mentioned there but I can't remember it correctly. You should set the output to stereo and all volumes are set to 100%, or something like that.

Edit: With my X-Plosion, occlusions and obstructions option in rightmark can be used if EAX2.0 is choosed, only the exclusions option is disabled but I still don't like the sound, it sounds funny, too much echo like I'm listening with empty soda cans covering both my ears.
 
I for one doubt occlusions work correctly on the X-Plosion/X-Meridian. The Tech Report did a fairly short investigation on the subject of onboard codecs a couple weeks ago, and their findings weren't pretty (and they're also a bit confused about what EAX does, which is not unusual). I'd imagine that reverb works correctly on C-Media chips, but other 2.0 functions may not work correctly (if at all).

In any case, though, if it's good enough for Thief, it's good enough for me.
 
alg7_munif said:
Good news, I just got my X-Meridian today, the customs had my card for about a week, I need to fetch the card from them and pay the tax. I think that's the reason for the late delivery. I haven't tried it yet. Before I do a clean windows install of my computer I'll try to install the X-Meridian together with the X-Plosion for a comparison. Also check this out, there someone has been able to have the X-Meridian together with a X-Fi Fatality on his system without any conflict. He said that he will post again later with comparison of the X-Meridian and X-Fi in games.

@phreak144, you should go there as well, the bit perfect output from the X-Meridian has been mentioned there but I can't remember it correctly. You should set the output to stereo and all volumes are set to 100%, or something like that.

Edit: With my X-Plosion, occlusions and obstructions option in rightmark can be used if EAX2.0 is choosed, only the exclusions option is disabled but I still don't like the sound, it sounds funny, too much echo like I'm listening with empty soda cans covering both my ears.
Click to expand...

Nice going. I hope its everything you hoped it is.

24bit/96KHz Stereo is the way I like my music when I do listen to it on my computer to my Receiver in 24bit/96KHz Mode with 24bit/96KHz source material, alternate tracks on DTS and DVD Audio Discs.

It sounds bad because it's not Native;) Now if you get the Chance, find a bud with an X-Fi and have them run this same test? Change between EAX 2, then to 3 and then to 4? There's a difference between 2 and 3 as I tried to explain the other day. Yes, EAX 2 sounds like CRAP on any and everything but Creative Cards. In fact, EAX2 wasn't all that great on Creative Cards. It wasn't worth me dumpping my TB Santa Cruz. :D
 
phide said:
I for one doubt occlusions work correctly on the X-Plosion/X-Meridian. The Tech Report did a fairly short investigation on the subject of onboard codecs a couple weeks ago, and their findings weren't pretty (and they're also a bit confused about what EAX does, which is not unusual). I'd imagine that reverb works correctly on C-Media chips, but other 2.0 functions may not work correctly (if at all).

In any case, though, if it's good enough for Thief, it's good enough for me.
Click to expand...

http://techreport.com/etc/2006q4/onboard-eax/index.x?pg=1
 
I managed to get the my X-Meridian working together with my X-Plosion without any conflict by taking out the old X-Plosion and put the X-Meridian in another PCI slot. After finished installing the X-Meridian, I put the X-Plosion back in and they work without any problem. I noticed that the mixer of my X-Plosion will have less volume control bar than before if I use the X-Meridian as my default sound device. When I use the X-Plosion as the default device, I don't get extra volume control in the mixer of my X-Meridian.

So now my first impression of the X-Meridian:

The first thing that I like about the X-Meridian is it has a front panel connector that is missing on the X-Plosion. Then I really like the Xear 3D of my X-Meridian a lot more than the Xear 3D of my X-Plosion because it has a lot more new features. Some new features that are missing in the X-Plosion: Dolby Headphone, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Flexbass, and Speaker time delay setting. For me the speaker time delay setting is an important feature to calibrate my surround speaker, before this only the volume can be changed when calibrating. The delay setting really helps if you are not using a receiver or your receiver didn't have this feature like the receiver of my Z-5400. Another thing that is different from the X-Plosion is that the X-Meridian will continously send a DD/DTS/digital signal to the receiver without the need to enable the magic voice feature. My system will be unstable if I use the magic voice feature with X-Plosion before so I had to disable it, but by doing so I'll miss a fraction of a second from any sound played on my PC(I won't get the sound when clicking on a link because the receiver took a little time to detect the DTS/DD signal before starting to decode it).

Now it's time for some sound testing:

My Z-5400 has 2 optical inputs so I can connect both of the card with optical cable. I use foobar2000 to play a .flac file for this test. I only changed the sound card in the foobar2000's output setting to compare both cards. At first I used my headphone(Sennheiser HD595) that I plugged into the headphone output of my Z-5400 receiver. The results: the sound from the two cards is almost the same and I can hardly tell the different between them. A digital 44.1kHz output(same value as the FLAC file) of the X-Plosion sounds the same as 44.1kHz output of the X-Meridian, DTS interactive of the X-Plosion also sounds the same as X-Meridian and Dolby Digital too. When I unplugged the headphone and use the actual speaker of my Z-5400, it also gives me the same result. So what does this means, does the X-Meridian have a same sound quality as the X-Plosion in digital? Maybe but I only used a PC digital speaker, not a HT receiver, so with a HT receiver the result could be different. I've also monitored my CPU usage when playing flac in foobar2000 with 44.1kHZ, DTS and DD setting for both cards, both cards didn't show any different in CPU usage compared to the CPU usage when my PC is idle.

Not it comes to the most interesting part:

When I plugged my headphone directly to the analogue output of the X-Meridian, I was amazed that the analogue output gave me a much better sound than the headphone output of my Z-5400. Before this the headphone output of my Z-5400 will give me a better sound quality than the analogue output of the X-Plosion. This shows that the X-Meridian has a better DAC/circuit than my Z-5400 but my Z-5400 circuit is better than the X-Plosion's analogue. I don't know how good is the Z-5500 compared to the Z-5400 but if you're planning to buy a Z-5400 and connect it digitally with the X-Meridian, I would say forget it, stay with analogue or get a real HT receiver.

The X-Meridian also can output a bit perfect sound through the spdif, I've confirmed this by playing a DTS wave sound using 44.1kHz digital out but my receiver detect it as a DTS signal. The fact that the X-Meridian supports 192kHz/24bit in 8 channels means that it is time to say goodbye to my X-Plosion.

So if you ask me which card to buy, the X-Meridian or the X-Plosion. My answer would definitely be the X-Meridian but if you are only interested in digital output then get any of the card with the Oxygen HD chip rather than the X-Plosion, the interface is much better than the X-Plosion(continous digital signal and more features).

I've waited long enough for this card and I'm really satisfied with it.
 
very nice update alg7_munif. If you have anymore goodies to share let us now :p
 
So is the general consensus that this card plays music better than an X-Fi Elite Pro, or has that yet to be proven? Gaming aside.

Edit: Also, I'm curious as to rather I could tell a difference with my old fashion (but hi-fi) 4 speaker setup (2x2).
 
Pixel Eater,

I can't give you a confirmed answer for that but most people at Guru3D that have both this card and a normal X-Fi said that this card has a much better sound(games aside). According to someone here the Elite Pro doesn't give much difference compared to a normal X-Fi.
 
Music on the Auzentech cards tends to be very clear(with upgraded opamps) but lacks bass. This is if you connect using analog outputs. The X-fi seems to give more bass and about the same clarity. I'd say my mystique with new opamps sounds as clear or perhaps clearer than my x-fi for music. But that little increase in clarity is not worth losing the bass for. Bass is very important in music and its almost non existent in the mystique. Seeing as the newer cmedia chips only have new digital capability I don't think the analog bass could have changed.

Of course, if you are buying an Auzentech card for analog, your weird.
 
Well not anymore, the X-Mystique is now a crap compared to the X-Meridian because not only the digital feature is improved but the analogue has also been improved a lot. The X-Meridian's analogue output is much clearer and it has a much stronger bass than my X-Plosion analogue. It also has a better sound quality than my Z-5400's receiver but maybe still not as good as a HT receiver.
 
TheBeelzebub said:
Of course, if you are buying an Auzentech card for analog, your weird.
Click to expand...
Are you trying to start something, or is this your actual opinion?
 
TheBeelzebub said:
Of course, if you are buying an Auzentech card for analog, your weird.
Click to expand...

I'm connecting to an old receiver via RCA jacks. That's completely analog, correct? And how's that weird? The more analog power/clarity the merrier, of course.

Can anyone claim/confirm the Meridian is actually lacking bass by comparison? I really don't think this card is any mystique.
 
In analogue the X-Meridian certainly has a lot more bass than my Xplosion and I have done A-B test between them. There is not a single reason for me to still have my Xplosion in my computer. I think that there is only one reason for someone to choose the X-Plosion over the X-Meridian and the reason would be the price. Get any of the cards with the Oxygen HD chip for digital and get the X-Meridian for both analogue and digital. If you have a Z-5450 or Z-5400 like me, forget the digital, analogue sounds better.
 
Do you have any OpenAL titles you could benchmark? Perhaps a FRAPS run through Doom 3, Quake 4 or Prey with sound and no sound?
 
TheBeelzebub said:
Music on the Auzentech cards tends to be very clear(with upgraded opamps) but lacks bass. This is if you connect using analog outputs. The X-fi seems to give more bass and about the same clarity. I'd say my mystique with new opamps sounds as clear or perhaps clearer than my x-fi for music. But that little increase in clarity is not worth losing the bass for. Bass is very important in music and its almost non existent in the mystique. Seeing as the newer cmedia chips only have new digital capability I don't think the analog bass could have changed.

Of course, if you are buying an Auzentech card for analog, your weird.
Click to expand...

But of course, this is all just speculation and really means nothing.
 
Phide,

Can you name me some openAL games, I have just did a clean install on my computer and the only game I've installed is NFS Carbon. I did the Rightmark CPU test a few times but the values are not consistent. For empty test I got 1.0-1.7, direct2D=2.6-4.0, direct3D=2.8-4.3 and direct3D with EAX=3.6-5.8. This is without DTS encoding, with DTS I got empty 1.7, D2D 4.5, D3D 4.7, D3D+EAX 7.2. The Positioning accuracy test works, I got less echo than the X-Plosion with EAX enabled and the occlusions and obstructions works.
 
First, 24bit-192KHz needs a 24bit-192KHz source=P If not, it's nothing more than a Gimmick! It's similar to trying to play 44.1KHz stereo through 96kHz 5.1. The best you can do is upmix. If the source is 24bit-48KHz that's the BEST you'll get=P

Pixel Eater said:
So is the general consensus that this card plays music better than an X-Fi Elite Pro, or has that yet to be proven? Gaming aside.

Edit: Also, I'm curious as to rather I could tell a difference with my old fashion (but hi-fi) 4 speaker setup (2x2).
Click to expand...

No two sets of Ears are created equal. I'll say it right upfront that the Elite Pro easily sounds better than the other X-Fi for Playback and Recording. I have heard them (X-Fi XM vs. X-Fi EP) in an A-B comparison. I've Not heard X-Meridian but I'd more than likely agree with Moofasa here. But keep in mind that how each sounds is in the Ear and Heart of the beholder.

Again, no *dinky computer multimedia speakers for me.
 
The mic input on the front panel of my X-Meridian works, on the X-Plosion, the mic input's volume is very low. I haven't tried the input at the back yet, but I don't think I'll try it because I don't really need it. The front input is good enough for my online phone calls.
 
alg7_munif said:
Phide,

Can you name me some openAL games, I have just did a clean install on my computer and the only game I've installed is NFS Carbon. I did the Rightmark CPU test a few times but the values are not consistent. For empty test I got 1.0-1.7, direct2D=2.6-4.0, direct3D=2.8-4.3 and direct3D with EAX=3.6-5.8. This is without DTS encoding, with DTS I got empty 1.7, D2D 4.5, D3D 4.7, D3D+EAX 7.2. The Positioning accuracy test works, I got less echo than the X-Plosion with EAX enabled and the occlusions and obstructions works.
Click to expand...

http://www.openal.org/titles.html

Albert's Armageddon (FreeBSD, Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Alien Abduction (Windows)
Alien Flux (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
America's Army: Operations (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Armed Assault (Windows)
A Tale in the Desert II (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Battlefield 2 (Windows)
Battlefield 2142 (Windows)
Blender 3D (FreeBSD, Irix, Linux, Macintosh, Solaris, Windows)
Bridge Construction Set (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Call of Juarez (Windows)
Cold War (Linux, Windows)
Dark Horizons: Lore (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
D-Bug (Windows)
Doom 3 (Macintosh, Windows)
Dungeons & Dragons Online (Windows)
El Matador (Windows)
Escape From Monkey Island (Macintosh)
E.V.E. Paradox (Linux, Windows)
FlightGear (FreeBSD, Linux, Macintosh, sgi, Solaris, Windows)
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (Windows)
Gish (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Macintosh, Windows)
Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2 (Linux)
Hot Potato Online (Linux, Windows)
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (Macintosh, Windows)
Jedi Knight 2 (Macintosh, Windows)
Kohan (Linux)
Lineage 2 (Windows)
Mage Knight: Apocalypse (Windows)
Marble Blast (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Massive Assault (Macintosh)
MegaCorps Online (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Minions of Mirth (Macintosh, Windows)
Novus Aster (Windows)
Orbz (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Pariah (Windows)
PlaneShift (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Postal 2 (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Prey (Windows)
Psychonauts (Windows)
Quake 4 (Windows)
RocketBowl (Windows)
Saints and Sinners Bowling (Windows)
Shellshock Nam '67 (Windows)
Skyrocket Screensaver (Linux, Windows)
Soldier of Fortune (Linux)
Soldier of Fortune 2 (Windows)
Star Wars Republic Commando (Windows)
Stubbs the Zombie (Macintosh, Windows)
Super Dudester (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
SuperTux (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
SWAT 4 (Windows)
Tactile 3D (Windows)
Think Tanks (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Tribal Trouble (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Trigger (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Tribes 2 (Linux)
Tribes: Vengeance (Windows)
Ultratron (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Unreal 2 (Windows)
Unreal Tournament 2003 (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
VegaStrike (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Void War (Windows)
Wurm Online (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
X2: The Threat (Linux)
X3: Reunion (Windows)
X-Plane (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
Zap! (Linux, Macintosh, Windows)
 
alg7_munif said:
I have GRAW, so what should I test for?
Click to expand...

While someone is shooting at you, step or run around a corner and see if the sound stays the same or becomes slightly muffled? I don't have Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter but it was something I was planning on getting. America's Army still has some of the best OpenAL support ever.
 
Donnie27 said:
First, 24bit-192KHz needs a 24bit-192KHz source=P If not, it's nothing more than a Gimmick! It's similar to trying to play 44.1KHz stereo through 96kHz 5.1. The best you can do is upmix. If the source is 24bit-48KHz that's the BEST you'll get=P.
Click to expand...

With that being said. Would a game with Dolby Digital.(example Splinter Cell : DA) The hda cards do DDL would that re encode the game or work like an SPDIF?
 
Dion said:
With that being said. Would a game with Dolby Digital.(example Splinter Cell : DA) The hda cards do DDL would that re encode the game or work like an SPDIF?
Click to expand...

Yes but it would still be output-ed at 24bit-48kHz or 96kHz 5.1 at best, nowhere NEAR 192kHz.
 
I tried GRAW last night with generic hardware and EAX enabled. I didn't play much, I just start a new game, on the bridge there is an oil truck and I shoot it. It explodes and then catches fire, when it is on fire I can hear the sound. I turned around and heard the sound moved to the back. Then I faced the fire and move behind another truck, I can hear the sound changed when I got behind the truck. I've also tried it with Dolby headphone and the result is the same. I tried it with all graphic settings are high at 1280x1024 and it runs smoothly, smoother than 2x 6800 Ultras I used before eventhough in 3DMark '06 the 6800ultras got a higher score.
 
Well my X-Mystique ran smoothly at 1280x960 too. :rolleyes:

What about higher ones with aa/af?
 
alg7_munif said:
I tried GRAW last night with generic hardware and EAX enabled. I didn't play much, I just start a new game, on the bridge there is an oil truck and I shoot it. It explodes and then catches fire, when it is on fire I can hear the sound. I turned around and heard the sound moved to the back. Then I faced the fire and move behind another truck, I can hear the sound changed when I got behind the truck. I've also tried it with Dolby headphone and the result is the same. I tried it with all graphic settings are high at 1280x1024 and it runs smoothly, smoother than 2x 6800 Ultras I used before eventhough in 3DMark '06 the 6800ultras got a higher score.
Click to expand...

Sweet but it's DS3D that's doing the positional Audio, not OpenAL. One effect at time is done with DS3D. X-Fi can do 4 so you hear folks coming in out of Buildings, around corner and with some games Elevation cues.
 
Moofasa~ said:
Well my X-Mystique ran smoothly at 1280x960 too. :rolleyes:

What about higher ones with aa/af?
Click to expand...

This is the max setting I can set for GRAW(there is no other option for me to choose) and at this setting the game runs smoothly:

Resolutions: 1280x1024@75
Fullscreen: yes
Texture Quality: Medium
Texture Filtering: 16X Anisotropic
Effect Quality: High
Brightness: 1.00
Dynamic Shadows: yes
Dynamic Lights: yes
Post effexts: high
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (I can't choose a widescreen resolution eventhough the aspect ratio is 16:9)

I found out that GRAW runs smoother on this setting with my single GPU than my previous SLi setup.
 
alg7_munif said:
This is the max setting I can set for GRAW(there is no other option for me to choose) and at this setting the game runs smoothly:

Resolutions: 1280x1024@75
Fullscreen: yes
Texture Quality: Medium
Texture Filtering: 16X Anisotropic
Effect Quality: High
Brightness: 1.00
Dynamic Shadows: yes
Dynamic Lights: yes
Post effexts: high
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (I can't choose a widescreen resolution eventhough the aspect ratio is 16:9)

I found out that GRAW runs smoother on this setting with my single GPU than my previous SLi setup.
Click to expand...

Ah alright, why Texture Quality Medium? Seems odd this game only goes up to 1280x1024.
 
Maybe it needs dual GPU for a higher resolution. That's the max setting I can choose.
 
Guru3D is going to review the card according to their forum. I hope more reviews will come.
 
Don't mean to go off-topic at all, but what differentiates this card from the Bluegears b-Enspirer? They both use AKM 4396VF DACs, and the same AUK S4580 SOP-8 opamps...... so aside from the fancy extension board, and having the option to swap the output amps in the future, what is the difference?
 
No problem mate, this thread is here for discussions and I'm not a fanbxx, just wanna get what I want.

The differences:

First the price for X-Meridian is higher. The supports from each company are also different(I wouldn't say that Auzentech is the best but at least they answered some of my emails and I don't know about bluegear). According to Auzentech they didn't go with reference board design from C-Media but they do a new design for it. I don't think that b-Enspirer uses the same DAC, there is another card called sondigo(or something like that, see my first post) that uses the same DAC. For digital output I think they all are the same, the difference is only the analogue output with different components used. If you see the boards I think you'll go with X-Meridian for analogue. Actually I have updated my first post and I have wrote there some other cards that use the same chip.
 
Well, if we look at the pictures contained in the overclockers.co.nz review.... http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=06misc0audio000bluegearenspirer0204


The first image on that page clearly shows the AK4396VF DACs, which the X-Meridian uses. We can clearly see that the X-Meridian uses this DAC, they talk proudly of it on their specifications page here: http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-meridian.php#specifications


As for the OPAMPs, well, if you look closely at this picture of the X-Meridian here: http://www.auzentech.com/site/images/xm_verybig_front.jpg

...you can make out S4580P, which is the same OPAMP the overclockers.co.nz shows ("AUK S4580 SOP-8 low noise OP AMPs are used onboard; they have reasonable quality considering that they are also used on the Audiotrak Prodity 7.1."), and links to. You can see that here , and here is the document for the S4580P here.


Now, if this is all correct, they should have the same analog capability. (right?)

Now, the OPAMP on the b-Enpirer just says 4580, not 4580P.... maybe there is a difference? I'm unsure, but I just found a site with tech specs for both located here.

I'll update after poking through the two documents.


edit: After a quick look, it looks like perhaps the P just indicates the socket type? Which would make sense, since you can replace the ones on the X-Meridian, but not the b-Enspirer.....

edit2: The spec sheets for the S4580 and S4580P are identical.

So it seems to me, these both perform identically for analog. I'll be going with the b-Enspirer I think, since it is much cheaper, and I don't think I'd be swapping out OPAMPs anyhow.

Yes, the X-Meridian does not use the reference design, and you get these advantages
-Swappable OPAMPs
-Combination coax/toslink digital ouputs
-Standard 10PIN Front Panel Audio supports connectivity for stereo audio output and a microphone input from most new chassis. (All 7.1channel analog output muted by jack connection sense of front panel headphone out / Dual MIC input available by back panel mic input and front panel mic input)
-Support for an extension board with additional connectivity

Did I miss any advantages?



another edit: As for as the Sondigo Inferno goes, it uses the same AK4396VF DACs, and it uses JRC 4560 opamps. How do these opamps compare to the AUK S4580(P) found in the X-Meridian and the b-Enspirer? I don't know.
 
A bud just RMA-ed his XMeridian and is going with the b-Enspirer. He said there wasn't enough difference between them to spend the extra money. See, no mention of that other company. :D He also said reviews would back what he's saying.
 
Donnie27 said:
A bud just RMA-ed his XMeridian and is going with the b-Enspirer. He said there wasn't enough difference between them to spend the extra money. See, no mention of that other company. :D He also said reviews would back what he's saying.
Click to expand...

There is mention of that company. Like my post right above yours, for example. And if my information is correct in that post, then yes, he is right.
 
Maybe they will perform identically for analog or maybe not. If you look at these two pictures(X-Meridian & b-Enspirer) you can see that the X-Meridian has a more complex board. The X-Meridian has more connectivities than the b-Enspirer(front panel port, extension board, etc). The front panel port of the X-Meridian has a build in headphone amp and according to the extension board specs, you can have 8 channels PCM output through it, maybe this will be used later because I've read somewhere that the HDMI cable can deliver 8-channels of digital audio together with HD picture, so maybe next gen receiver will take 8-channels PCM input.

If the b-Enspirer performs identically as the X-Meridian, I can say that you will love it. Hope that you will enjoy your card which ever you choose.
 
phreak144 said:
There is mention of that company. Like my post right above yours, for example. And if my information is correct in that post, then yes, he is right.
Click to expand...

By that other company I meant Creative Labs.
 
phreak144 said:
Well, if we look at the pictures contained in the overclockers.co.nz review.... http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=06misc0audio000bluegearenspirer0204


The first image on that page clearly shows the AK4396VF DACs, which the X-Meridian uses. We can clearly see that the X-Meridian uses this DAC, they talk proudly of it on their specifications page here: http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-meridian.php#specifications


As for the OPAMPs, well, if you look closely at this picture of the X-Meridian here: http://www.auzentech.com/site/images/xm_verybig_front.jpg

...you can make out S4580P, which is the same OPAMP the overclockers.co.nz shows ("AUK S4580 SOP-8 low noise OP AMPs are used onboard; they have reasonable quality considering that they are also used on the Audiotrak Prodity 7.1."), and links to. You can see that here , and here is the document for the S4580P here.

Now, if this is all correct, they should have the same analog capability. (right?)

Now, the OPAMP on the b-Enpirer just says 4580, not 4580P.... maybe there is a difference? I'm unsure, but I just found a site with tech specs for both located here.

After a quick look, it looks like perhaps the P just indicates the socket type? Which would make sense, since you can replace the ones on the X-Meridian, but not the b-Enspirer.....

The spec sheets for the S4580 and S4580P are identical.

So it seems to me, these both perform identically for analog.

The X-Meridian does not use the reference design, and you get these advantages
-Swappable OPAMPs
-Combination coax/toslink digital ouputs
-Standard 10PIN Front Panel Audio supports connectivity for stereo audio output and a microphone input from most new chassis. (All 7.1channel analog output muted by jack connection sense of front panel headphone out / Dual MIC input available by back panel mic input and front panel mic input)
-Support for an extension board with additional connectivity

As for as the Sondigo Inferno goes, it uses the same AK4396VF DACs, and it uses JRC 4560 opamps. How do these opamps compare to the AUK S4580(P) found in the X-Meridian and the b-Enspirer? I don't know.
Click to expand...

Is it okay with you if I put this on the first post(same like I edited above)? Anyway I just got an e-mail from Auzentech with a copy of my invoice since the invoice is missing from the package, maybe the customs took the original invoice, I wrote to them a few days ago. So I think you can rely on Auzentech for their support.
 
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