Patent ID: 8843223

Claim:
A computerized test system for digital audio devices, comprising: a personal computer operatively connected to a sound card, said sound card comprising a sound card input for receipt of an analog test signal, an A/D converter adapted to convert the analog test signal to a digital test signal, a D/A converter operatively coupled to a signal receipt channel for receipt of a digital response signal and for conversion into an analog output signal provided on a sound card output; a digital calibration generator adapted to generate a digital calibration signal of predetermined level and spectral content according to calibration signal data supplied by a calibration program executable on the personal computer; a data communication interface being adapted to transmit and/or receive data in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol, the data communication interface comprising an encoder adapted to receive, encode and transmit the digital test signal or the digital calibration signal to an external digital audio device and a decoder adapted to receive and decode an encoded digital response signal from the external digital audio device to provide the digital response signal to the signal receipt channel; and a switching arrangement, operating in accordance with a mode control signal supplied by the calibration program, configured to selectively operate the computerized test system in either: a first mode wherein the digital calibration signal is routed through a cascade of the encoder and decoder to couple the digital calibration signal to the signal receipt channel or a second mode wherein the digital test signal is routed through the data communication interface to the external digital audio device.