I see mirror mode works with generator 1. Can I also have generator 2 active for IM testing? I know it does not work with the chirp.
I wish you would bring out a QA404 that would directly interface to the Windows sound driver or ASIO driver. Then all the functionality could go to a DAC connected to the computer.
A USB source connected to the laptop that would drive the QA404 spectrum analyzer function is also needed. This would make the QA404 a dual-domain, like every sound card on the market.
I like the QA40X graphic user interface. I do not want to replace it with REW. I just want it to work in the digital domain, in and out with USB devices connected to the computer, like it does in the analog domain now.
Using external .wav files and trigger mode is far from having a USB signal source drive the QA403 direct.
HI @DavidR, the version 2 of the software is still ways out, but it will let the QA402/QA403/QA404 do what you want. In 2.0, whatever you specify for the output of the QA403 will be mirrored to the PC. That includes, chirps, multitone, etc, and also to the front-panel I2S of the analyzer.
If I understand, an improved mirror mode is coming to the current QA403 product. A purchase of new hardware is not needed.
What would then be missing is a method to test an external USB ADC. The ADC will send the encoded data to a computer via USB, and the data then needs to be sent to the QA403 for spectrum analysis. Are your software updates going to allow this?
What is a QA404 if you can add the function I am asking for in a QA403?
My company has two of your products. We like them, but we are considering moving to EIDA products with REW to gain the functionality of a true dual-domain processor.
I hope the QA404 will also function as a dual domain audio test system, allowing full USB communication with devices that have USB in and out. What AP pioneered. Unlike AP, it is fine for a computer to be required to interface between the USB audio devices under test and the QA40X products.
Hi @DavidR, if you just want to run REW with your QA403, you can use ASIO401.
What you desire isn’t a hardware limitation–it’s a limitation of the current 1.x version of the QA40x software (that is, the ability to play anything other than sines on a PC). So, if you move to REW with the QA403 (using ASIO) the limitation goes away.
And eventually in 2026, version 2.x of the QA40x software will fix that. But until then, ASIO will let your QA403 work as a sound card and you run just about any software with it.
I will wait for version 2.0 and stay with your display. I will have to use mirror mode for now and .wav files of IM tests direct to the DAC under test. I will use another,wav file of your chirp for frequency response to send to the DAC. All this adds time to do testing so I hope the 2.0 version comes soon.
Will version 2.0 allow me to test a USB ADC? In consumer electronics ADCs alone are found in boxes with phono preamps so the album can be recorded on a PC.
I also would like to test USB Audio Sound Cards on the analog in side. This is the same issue that an ADC needs to be tested with its output on a USB cable.