Sound card asus xonar ds reviews. Sound card ASUS Xonar DX. Good sound at a reasonable price. ASUS Xonar DX software

ASUS XONAR DS PCI 7.1 Review

1. Introduction

2. Packing and equipment

3. Appearance

4. Characteristics

5. Installation

6. Test stand

7. Listening

8. Conclusion

Introduction.

Probably every computer owner sometime thinks about changing the built-in sound card to discrete.

They do not shine with the sound quality, the sound seems to be not alive, colored, sluggish, not giving any pleasure when listening. The listener, of course, hears something similar to music, but a very large part of the sounds in the songs is not possible to distinguish, they turn out to be blocked, blurred or simply unprocessed, because the built-in sound card was created with the expectation that it should reproduce the basic sounds and have as much as possible lower cost. This can be explained in words but what did you want for that kind of money? But again, a certain detail should be mentioned, you will not hear the difference if you do not have good enough acoustic system.

And now you have definitely decided that you already do not have enough built-in sound card, the question arises: what to choose? It all depends on the price and your preferences, which do you like more?

Let's say you want to listen to music, but you don’t want to pay a lot of money or you don’t have it (but again, it’s worth mentioning that having bought a mega studio sound card for speakers for 1500 rubles, you will not hear the expected result). Yes, you can also mention that before buying, you should consider several models, see reviews, find out if the card is compatible with your equipment, etc.

Packaging and equipment.

Let's start with packaging ..

The volumetric view allows you to estimate the size of the box.

The manufacturer on the box provides an image of the card itself and what basic technologies and goodies it supports.

On the back of the packaging, the manufacturer leads short description the main advantages and possibilities of the card in twelve languages.

When the cover is opened, more detailed description some technologies and features of the card.

The black inner packaging is nothing ordinary.

We open the package and see a card lying in a tray in an antistatic bag.

Raise the tray and find the rest of the contents at the bottom.

Here's what comes with the card besides the card itself.

It includes:

1. Adapter for connecting an ODT (Toslink) cable to a universal connector.

2. Blanking plug for installation in a low profile enclosure (with two screws).

3. CD disk.

4. User manual.

5. Well, the card itself.

Appearance.

Here she herself, to be honest, before I took her in my hands, represented her in a slightly larger size, but the sound is important to us.

Sound card inputs consist of four 3.5 mm minijack connectors and one optical output connector digital sound.. From the right top corner the cards are located: an audio connector for the front panel, an audio input for other devices, an S / PDIF Out connector for connecting to a video card with HDMI support.

There are no details on the back of the audio card, only a label with serial number and the country of production (guess which one).

Specifications

I don't think that many users personal computers focus on quality sound. But nevertheless - there are such! And I want to add you to this list of "interested" people with this little article about a sound card that justifies its price and is excellent in terms of price and quality. So, a review of the Asus Xonar DS sound card:

Foreword:

The Xonar lineup is large, with a myriad of sound cards. But the most budget-friendly and noteworthy option for a home media center would be the purchase of the Xonar D1. But, I don't have this card. Sure, it's slightly better than the Xonar DS (which I own), but it's also more expensive. And the average user will not notice much difference in sound quality between these two units.

Review: discrete type sound card. Plugs into a PCI slot (white connector on the motherboard). There is a variant of exactly the same card - Xonar DSX for a PCI-E x1 slot (as a rule, the smallest slot on a motherboard, is located just above or below the video card slot). Card without its own processor. This means that it will use CPU in the computer, loading it a little bit with additional work. However, op-amps (operational amplifiers) can be replaced on the card itself.

Outwardly, the card is quite nice, inspires "a sort of" confidence in the audiophile! (heh!). The board contains everything according to the standard, like any other electronics: capacitors (there are 16 of them on the card itself), resistors, transistors, op amps, DACs, and other software chips. Interfaces - 5 audio jacks (minijack 3.5 mm). One is for the microphone (pink). The second is the main sound. (green). The third and fourth ports (black and orange) are for additional hardware. The fifth (gray) is an optical output for digital audio. The card is usually supplied in a black box, or in an OEM configuration (no box). In any case, the card will include:

- disk with outdated drivers
- documentation
- adapter for ODT.
- and a plug for installation in low-profile enclosures (with bolts).

By the way, if after installation you have no sound in your computer, we advise you to check different variants why this might happen.

The card itself is on the given time- about 2000 rubles. In fact - an excellent price-performance ratio. When turned on, and initialized, it emits a "click", which indicates the successful launch of the card. I recommend the driver - Uni Xonar (you can download it from maxedtech.com). When adjusting the equalizer for maximum quality sound I advise you to add low frequencies(30, 60 Hz), completely lower the frequencies 120, 250 Hz, and slightly raise the "high" ones (4KHz, 8KHz, 16KHz).

That's all! In fact, you decide whether to take a separate sound card, or use the integrated in motherboard... It all depends on your addiction to sound! Good luck!

Connection interface PCI

DAC, ADC Wolfson Microelectronics WM8776, WM8766

Signal Processor (DSP) ASUS AV200 (C-Media Oxygen HD CMI8788)

Front op amp NJM (JRC) 5532D, DIP-8

Sampling frequencies 44.1, 48, 96, 192 kHz

Permission 24 bit (32 bit - internal processing)

Analog inputs 1/8 "jack (Mic / Line In), AUX In, FP (HDA)

Analog outputs 1/8 "socket (4), FP (HDA)

Digital interfaces S / PDIF-out (2)

Signal level / input sensitivity 1V (RMS)

3D support API EAX 1.0 & 2.0, A3D 1.0, DirectSound, DS3D GX 2.5, Open AL (128 threads)

Estimated price $50

Affordable price; high-quality sound; easy replacement of the front op-amp; half height PCB and header included

High latency in ASIO 2.0

Another excellent product from ASUS for a market that was considered absolutely hopeless a few years ago

Sound cards of the ASUS Xonar family periodically appear on the pages of our weekly, since the manufacturer himself gives more than enough reasons for this.

The 7.1-channel Xonar DS we are reviewing today is a versatile PCI model designed for installation in media centers as well as PC-based gaming and theater systems. Its PCB is "half" high, and the kit comes with a replaceable socket for installing the card in slim-model desktop cases.

ASUS chose to use Wolfson Microelecronics chips. Stereo codec WM8776 allows performing D / A and D / A conversions with signal-to-noise ratio of 108 and 102 dB, respectively. The more affordable WM8766 DAC (103 dB SNR) is responsible for the remaining 6 playback channels, and the ASUS AV200 audio DSP (C-Media Oxygen HD) is responsible for digital sound processing. It would seem that everything is typical - if not for one small nuance.

It is known that the simplest way improving the (subjective) sound quality of the board consists in replacing the standard operational amplifiers at its exit. However, to perform this operation, you have to use a soldering iron, and at the same time be very careful, since manufacturers usually do not provide for the possibility of such an "upgrade" when designing a board.

But ASUS listened to the requests of a rather small cohort of enthusiasts, even among fans of high-quality sound, and installed the output op-amp into the DIP-8 "crib" connector, which can be replaced with a "flick of the hand".

Whether it will be claimed by end users is the tenth thing; the very fact of such an approach is much more eloquent. After all, from a production point of view, this is seemingly a penny question - and yet we have practically no chance of seeing a similar solution on, say, Creative motherboards.