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Software test equip vs Hardware equipment.

Satcom123

Satcom123

Super Member
Hello. I've got a question about test equipment for audio testing. I am not talking about audio test equipment for room acoustics. I'm talking about injecting signals into audio equipment like reel to reel, cassette decks, amplifiers and the like.

I am from old school and have used separates of test equipment like sweep signal generators, spectrum analyzers, power meters, oscilloscopes and the like.

I currently have a Marconi dual signal generator, frequency counter, wow and flutter meter and an old but working dual oscilloscope. Much of this test equipment is very expensive.

I was thinking of getting one of those software programs that have much of the test equipment described above and have a dedicated laptop for it. A much less expensive way to go but I wonder about the drawbacks.

When one has a computer program test equipment suite, is there some special interface one has to get to use it? I had heard that you could just use the on board sound card but I just wonder about how good it is when making accurate measurements and such.

Does any of you use such a program and what are the accessories needed to perform tests?
 
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Satcom123 said:
When one has a computer program test equipment suite, is there some special interface one has to get to use it? I had heard that you could just use the on board sound card but I just wonder about how good it is when making accurate measurements and such.

Does any of you use such a program and what are the accessories needed to perform tests?
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You usually have to get some sort of interface for it because the onboard sound chips are nowhere near capable of recording or outputting signals accurately, no matter what the chip is.

I use a free program called VA analyzer, and I use an expresscard soundcard, the Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook. These cards use Wolfson DAC and ADC's. You would also need an outboard amplification stage if using mics and such.
I have actually tried out the program on other devices in the house, and all of the devices that were using onboard audio were wayyy off in distortion, spectrum analyzation, and signal generation.

Think about it. If we have some DACs that are better than others, wouldn't that mean that the lesser sounding cards would give you lesser accurate readings? Music, measurement, it's all the same thing.


If you already have all that quality measurement equipment, why not just keep using it? :yes:
Most equipment like that is more accurate anyway.
 
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Usually you need both. Computer based test system is good for high precision measurements. But you still need rugged enough gear like DMM and oscilloscope if you do real repair work. Computer equipments is too sensitive to operator's errors and requires more steps to get desired results.
Considering that you can get DMM, DSO and DDS generator together under $1000 (which is a price of decent laptop), getting them should not be a big financial burden.
 
dusty42701 said:
Don't you still need to have an accurate soundcard for that? It has no digital interface of any kind. It's basically a repeater.
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Yes you do. What it does - it protects your expensive ($300-600 if you really care about measurement result) sound card from imminent failure when you connect it to a wrong circuit. All professional tools have that kind of protection by design, but sound cards do not.
 
I have a couple programs that will output and input signals using a sound card: TrueRTA and Holm Impulse. I use them for acoustic measurements, but both can also be used as general purpose test interfaces.
 
I think an excellent solution would be Labview and some usb interface... unfortunately it is not cheap. You could find a pirated copy or buy an older version from someone and that'd be a cheaper way of doing it... you'll still need a usb interface (or other interface).
 
Get an HP. I forgot the model but my tech swears by his and I'm still kicking myself for not buying his spare. I ended up getting a Leader signal generator which couldn't output clean square waves into my 'scope.
 
Techtronic Scopes and HP signal generators and analyzers are what I've been using for 30+ years.
 
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