ASRock N3150 Braswell Motherboard Round-up Review

Audio Performance

RightMark Audio Analyser (RMAA)

RMAA suite is designed for testing quality of analog and digital paths of any audio device. The results are obtained by playing and recording test signals passed through the tested audio path by means of frequency analysis algorithms. A more common mark is also provided for those unfamiliar with measured technical parameters. Available here. We run the RMAA test using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable connecting the line out to the line in to test the quality of the motherboard audio codec not any external audio devices. We run the complete playback and recording test at default settings and then get RMAA to interpret the results giving the below outputs. We sync the playback and recording audio devices to the same setting as the test for accurate results.

Due to there being three boards, each with 3 results; the result screen shots would merge into one another and be harder to interpret; so here is a written version.

16 Bit, 44KHz (DVD Quality)

N3150-ITX – Very good

N3150B-ITX – Averga

N3150M – Good

16 Bit, 96KHz (Studio Quality)

N3150-ITX – Very good

N3150B-ITX – Good

N3150M – Good

24 Bit, 96KHz (Studio Quality)

N3150-ITX – Very good

N3150B-ITX – Good

N3150M – Good

Some very good results here, but the audio options on the N3150M and N3150B-ITX were less than impressive compared to the N3150-ITX.

DPC Audio Latency Analyser

DPC is a Windows tool that analyses the capabilities of a computer system to handle real-time data streams properly. It may help to find the cause for interruptions in real-time audio and video streams, also known as drop-outs.

Despite using audio codecs that are on other boards, they provided poor latency compared to the ASUS Z97.