Rohde & Schwarz UPP and UPV vs the APx 500 B Series
All R&S audio analyzer products have been discontinued with no replacements on the horizon. Reasons why to make the switch to AP:
• For the past 15 years, AP has averaged two APx500 software releases per year, while R&S delivered three firmware updates in eight years for the UPV and UPP.
• Do you use VXI-11 and VISA (with LabVIEW, Python or Matlab) commands to control your instruments? While the command syntax is different between R&S and AP instruments, the functionality and process for making the measurements is quite like what you’re used to with R&S.
• Switching to APx500 software provides logging measurement data which means you can be assured of getting the same test results as with your R&S equipment. You can be sure by running a few DUTs across your R&S system, then running those same devices across the AP system for proper comparisons.
• AP provides a LabVIEW DLL for allowing LabVIEW to control our analyzers. The commands for controlling the instruments are different between the AP and R&S analyzers, but this work will have to be done regardless of which brand of analyzer you choose to replace the discontinued R&S units.
• AP provides a competitive price to the R&S products when matching base performance. AP also offers products that are higher performance than the R&S product. With APx500 FLEX, prices will likely be significantly lower than R&S.
Key Differences Between R&S and AP Products:
| Rohde & Schwarz | Audio Precision |
|---|---|
| Stand-alone instrument (embedded Windows Computer) – no PC hardware upgrade available | Uses external computer, allows user to pick performance level of PC. Can change PC models at any time |
| Uses only Win XP or Win 7 – severely outdated and poor protection for threats | Compatible with many versions of MS Windows (up to Win 10 currently) |
| Has embedded GPIB command set and hardware, uses VXI-11 protocol | PC controls instrument via USB port. |
| UPV has HW & SW UI UPP has SW UI | APx analyzers have SW UI |
| UPV/UPP software updated only 3x in 8 years | APx software updated 2x per year minimum |
| Suited for electronic test – not well suited for EA test | Models and accessories to support all types of audio test |
| Audio analyzers are on the periphery of R&S RF core business | Audio Analyzers are AP’s primary focus |
Digital I/O Offering Comparison: R&S vs. AP:
| Rohde & Schwarz | Audio Precision | |
|---|---|---|
| DIO/ADIO | UPV-B2 – XLR, BNC, and Toslink. Jitter impairments are optional purchase (UPV-K22). | ADIO provides AES3, AES/EBU balanced digital I/O on XLR. Unbalanced SPDIF digital I/O on BNC. TOSLINK optical digital I/O. Jitter impairments included. |
| Universal Digital Interface /DSIO | 1 or 2 channels. 16, 24, or 32 bits per channel. Data rate 6.75 kHz to 400 kHz. 8-32 audio bits | TDM data (1 data line): 1 to 16 channels. (up to 4 data lines: 2 channels on each line. Word width 8-128 bits. Bit depth 8-32 bits. 4k to 432 kS/s sample rate. |
| PDM | Uses universal digital interface, with option UPV-K421. | AP has PDM and PDM 16 modules. PDM has one 2-ch input and one 2-ch output. PDM 16 has 16 inputs. Bit clock and Vdd supply available. PSR test on Vdd. |
| Bluetooth | Not available. | Bluetooth-DUO offers both Tx and Rx connections. |
| HDMI | Not available on UPV Is available on UPP | HDMI offers Tx and Rx HDMI Video (test pattern) and ARC audio channel Tx and Rx. |
| R&S Base Models | AP Suggested Substitution Models |
Suggested Replacement Models:
| R&S | Base Performance | higher performance | lower price |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPV | APx525B + ADIO | APx555B + ADIO | APx500 FLEX + ASIO audio interface |
| UPV66 (Same as UPV, no front panel) | APx525B + ADIO | APx555B + ADIO | APx500 FLEX + ASIO audio interface |
| UPP200 | APx515B – DIO | APx525B – DIO | APx500 FLEX + ASIO audio interface |
| UPP400 | APx526B + ADIO | APx526B + ADIO | APx500 FLEX + ASIO audio interface |
| UPP800 | APx582B/APx582B | APx582B/ APx582B | APx500 FLEX + ASIO audio interface |
1146.2003.02 1146.2003.68 R&S UPV66 R&S UPV R&S UPP200 1411.1003.02 R&S UPP400 1411.1003.04 R&S UPP800 1411.1003.16 Acoustic measurements on mobile phones Speech and audio quality measurements software for hearing aid tests PDM bitstream analysis digital audio interfaces Test of audio Ics Jitter and interface test Digital protocol analysis and generation Audio analyzer, two channels Audio analyzer, four channels Audio analyzer, eight channels FFT analyzer Multichannel digital audio generator HDMI digital audio generator
