Benchmarks: audio
16 bit, 192KHz
The audio experience is always going to be subjective; different users will have different audio equipment, prefer different sound profiles and so forth. Rightmark Audio Analyser provides a good way of getting around this subjectivity as it measures theoretical audio quality. The benchmark analyses a number of variables before outputting a performance summary.
The MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition delivers solid audio performance for the price point with some impressive test results. The Realtek ALC892 codec isn't quite as capable as the ALC1150 used on pricier Z97 motherboards, however, the user-perceivable loss in quality is debatable.
DPC latency is an alternative way of inferring audio quality when each system starts from the same clean software base. Any value below 500 microseconds will result in smooth audio and visual playback so the MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition does just fine with 144 microseconds.
