Asrock Z97E-ITX/ac (LGA-1150) Motherboard 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.

16 Bit, 44KHz (DVD Quality)

16 Bit, 96KHz (Studio Quality)

24 Bit, 96KHz (Studio Quality)

Sadly this is where the mighty ITX board takes its fall. With fully updated audio drivers from the ASRock website, we only achieved an Average scoring. To most people, this wouldn’t be much of an issue and it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker if you are considering this motherboard.

Latencymon Audio Latency Analyser

Latencymon 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. Available here.

Sadly, with our update to Windows 8.1, we lost functionality of our previous latency checker (DPC Latency Checker). This required utilising a known functional latency checker. Here we see a slightly higher latency that the alternatives, but as with previous experience, a BIOS update when available, should bring the latency down.