"If music be the food of love, play on!"
We're going to take a very quick look at the Asus Xonar DX sound card today. I say today, but this review was a long time coming. For one, I never did get the card the way I was supposed to, but she fell into my grubby little hands during Christmas, on loan from another member so I could take her for a spin and see what she could do.
I didn't test it exhaustively, but we did the best we can in my schedule. The card gave a very good account of itself, impressing me no end after an initially unfavorable feeling. Do note that it fell significantly short of a few key specifications and the implementation could have been a lot better, but not for the current US$60 price.
So strap yourselves in, and away we go.
[BREAK=Intro to the card]
The Xonar DX is quite a surprice (no, not a typo). At about 60 bucks (US price), it packs in a CS4398 for the front outputs.
This is currently the best DAC that Cirrus makes, which is also present in the E-mu 1212m, the Zhaolu DAC and quite a few pro mixers from Yamaha and Roland. All of the above bar the Xonar cost quite a bit, with the mixers going for thousands of dollars. The Xonar by comparison, costs about as much a night on the town with the gang.
Xonar DX was one of the first PCI-E soundcards to hit the scene, and Creative had to follow suit very quickly. Up until the Xonar line, you could spend big bucks on the Auzentech Prelude, or live with the middling sound quality almost all Creative soundcards were known for, and their bug-infested drivers. Which meant that audiophiles needed to look elsewhere, and regular users without big bucks had to compromise. I've been promised an X-fi of some origin for review later, where we'll look a little more closely at that line later, which I hear had improved.
However, our candidate today shook up the market when it appeared, with little to no competition at that price point. The box promises lots of performance, tens of times better than onboard audio. Very quickly, though factually this is correct, the dB scale used to make comparisons is actually logarithmic, which means that perceived reality could be quite different from this promise.
One quick note: this is a used card. The heavy discoloration on the board is a result of being run in proximity to a very hot 8800GT.
I'm not sure there's been a performance degradation as a result, but the board does have marks due to residual chemicals on areas where through-hole components were soldered. This is actually fairly common after prolonged use near hot surfaces, and is probably not a cause for malfunction, but may shorten the life of the card as capacitors age rapidly when exposed to heat.
[BREAK=Build, included accessories]
The chip complement is quite simple. There's a AV100 processor that can do DD Live encoding...
...a DJ100 presumably for digital I/O...
...and a conversion chain comprised of CS 4398 (Front out DAC), CS 4362 (Surround/sub center out DAC), and CS 5361 (ADC).
Opamps are 4580 and 5532 for the front channels, and 5532 everywhere else.
I didn't spend too much time tracing out the topology or the supply layout. There are lots and lots of 'solid' caps on the board near the output area, presumably for all the channel outputs but I can't be sure, and a bunch of muting transistors that don't really work very well, as we'll see later.
The card caused me some consternation when I inspected it closely. For one, it used NE5532s and 4580s, opamps from the time of Hannibal. I wasn't sure if these Neanderthals still cut it in this day and age. Presumably not, as even Asus don't use them in their top-end cards. Before plugging it in I went and had a look at the distortion papers again for the opamps (which gave the opamps a fair rating but not excellent), so came away unconvinced. Honestly though, I don't think Asus had a better choice at the price points. The card would definitely need modding, I thought. Why take a Ferrari and run it with MRF tyres?
[BREAK=Build, part 2]
Front panel connector for you voice chat and early morning (ahem) movie watching junkies. A set of 4 relays is used to switch the inputs to the ADC, no soft switching (IC) is used so presumably the sound quality doesn't suffer, apart from a small click when switching between inputs.
Nice, as a Mux IC would have done this job easily but may have either interfered with the sound quality or required code. The Xonar designers obviously had something in mind, but I'm not really sure what it was, as if the AV100 can send out a code to a relay, it can send out a code to a chip as well, and chips can be smaller than relays. Anyway, this is not a recording card and we won't dwell on it.
A PLX bridge chip is used to interface the AV100 to the PCI-E slot, and this hot little mother needs a floppy connector for power, as there presumably isn't enough coming off the PCI-E slot. It wasn't my card, so I'm not going to check out the card without it.
Voltage regulation is fair but not exceptional, I did not have the nerve to test a card belonging to someone else very rigorously or I woulda decoded the power supply scheme before testing. I imagine the 5V supplies (which are not part of the PCI-E connectors) are rigged up from the +12V supply, which is also used for the opamps. The PCI-E connector has no -12V supply either, so there is some performance loss potentially there as opamps run better off higher supply voltages.
At the back, we have 4 output connectors and a shared Line/Mic/SPDIF jack. You can continue to use the front mic when the digital connection is active. The connectors are all gold-plated, potentially making for better and corrosion-free connections.
A supplied adapter converts the combi jack to optical out, a clever trick.
A half-height PCI bracket converts the card for low-profile cases, such as....
OK I give up, maybe you know of one sold in this country?
[BREAK=Card specs]
Audio Performance:
* Output SNR (A-Weighted): 116dB Front Outputs
* Output SNR (A-Weighted): 112dB Other Outputs
* Input SNR (A-Weighted): 112dB
* Output THD+N% at 1 kHz (-3dB): 0.00056%(-105dB) for Front Outs
* Input THD+N% at 1 kHz (-3dB): 0.0004%(-108dB) for Line-In
* Frequency Response (-3dB, 24/96kHz format): <10Hz to 48kHz
* Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage: 2Vrms (5.56 Vp-p)
Main Chipset
Audio Processor: ASUS AV100 High Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192kHz/24bit)
Sample Rate and Resolution
Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution 44.1k/48k/96k/192k at 16/24 bit
Analog Recording Sample rate and Resolution 44.1k/48k/96k/192k at 16/24bit
S/PDIF Digital Output 44.1k/48k/96k/192k at 16/24bit, Dolby Digital
[BREAK=Features]
List of bells and whistles:
Dolby® Digital Live
Dolby Digital Live encodes any audio signal on PC in real-time to Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sounds to your home theater environment through one single S/PDIF connection
Dolby® Headphone
Dolby Headphone technology allows users to listen to music, watch movies, or play games with the dramatic 5.1-channel surround or realistic 3D spacious effects through any set of stereo headphones.
Dolby® Virtual Speaker
Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers.
Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx
Dolby Pro-Logic II is the well-known technology to process any native stereo or 5.1-channel audio into a 6.1- or 7.1- channel output, creating a seamless, natural surround sound field.
DS3D GX 2.0
-DS3D GX 2.0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions on Windows Vista. (DirectX/DirectSound 3D compatible)
VocalFXâ„¢
Xonar DX provides VocalFX, the latest vocal effect technologies for gaming and VoIP, including: -VoiceEX: produces vivid environmental reverberation for your voice in EAX games -ChatEX: emulates different background environment effects when you chat online -Magic Voice: changes your voice pitch to different types (Monster/Cartoon…) for disguising your real voice or just for fun in online chatting
Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC)
Provides advanced Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC, eliminates up-to-40dB speaker echo return) and noise suppression technologies for best voice communication quality in VOIP applications or online gaming
Smart Volume Normalizerâ„¢
Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming
Karaoke Functions
Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects like professional Karaoke machine
FlexBassâ„¢
Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system
Xear 3Dâ„¢ Virtual Speaker Shifter
Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning
Other Effects
10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects
3D Gaming Sound Engines/APIs
DirectSound3D® GX 2.0 & 1.0, EAX®2.0&1.0, DirectSound® HW, DirectSound SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability
ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:
Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @16/24bit with very low latency
Let's put the card through our battery of tests, and see what she can do.
[BREAK=Test specs]
PC
Phenom 9950BE
Asus M3A78-EM
Onboard HD3200
Corsair VX450
2GB G.Skill RAM
Dell 3008WFP
Windows XP, SP3 - No Vista tests, so sorry.
Players
Foobar
-44.1KHz
-96KHz (PPHS for test tracks)
-ASIO and WDM
Winamp (WDM only)
Downstream equipment
Amp:
DIY chipamp, ~100 watts/ch
Pioneer VSX-416 receiver (with JBL speakers below)
Speakers:
Dynaudio BM6 passive monitors
Sony SSK90-ED
JBL SCS140 (with Pioneer above)
Music (all wave files from original CDs)
Eric Clapton: One Day
Ray Charles: Georgia on my Mind
Candy Dulfer: Get the funk
Norah Jones: Those Sweet words
Bjork: Human Behaviour (from MTV unplugged)
CSNY: Just a song before I go
Louis Armstrong: Wonderful World
Michael Jackson: Give in to me
Paul Simon: Father and Daughter
Sade: Paradise
Bob Dylan: I shall be released
Bruce Springsteen: Magic
Led Zeppelin: Moby Dick
Nils Lofgren: Keith don't go
The Eagles: Hotel California
ZZ Top: Rough Boy
Hugh Masakela: Stimela
A quick note: I did not test with my all-time favorites and reference recordings. Dave Brubeck's 'Time out', Diana Krall's 'A Case of You' and a few others were notable exceptions. I was pretty sure the card would not show up well with those recordings, and this was borne out with a small listening issue covered later. For the same reason, tests with native 24-bit files were not done.
Games
Deus Ex (!!!!!!!) for more gaming tests, check out the many reviews online. This is not a gaming machine.
Movies
Godfather I
Matrix Revolutions
A Beautiful Mind
[BREAK=Installation, drivers and menus]
The card is a no-brainer to install. Pop open slot cover, fit card, fit floppy power connector and boot up. Use the driver install menu from the CD, not the auto-install. Install takes only 5 minutes and is totally painless. ASIO drivers auto-install, and in the system tray an X marks the spot to show you've installed fine. One reboot and she's ready to rock.
The drivers use about 15MB in WDM mode, and about half in ASIO mode. Out of the box, the card is set up with prodigious gain, so prepare to turn the volume down on your speakers. I eventually had to attenuate the outputs severely to get the card work well with my amps. On the good side, the card is totally silent. My amps always run at maximum volume so the soundcard has to control the volume, and some cards are very noisy at even their lowest volume. The Xonar is whisper-quiet, and one has to put their ear to the speaker to listen for hiss.
There are the following menus in the driver application (Called Xonar DX audio Center):
1. Home: Allows you to change the master volume and balance, mute the system, activate the DSP modes and switch on 'intelligent volume' which basically is a compressor. This is pretty handy for late-night movie watching, squashing the dynamic range so that you don't disturb neighbors with loud explosions - having turned it up to listen to dialog. For music it's not a very nice thing to use though.
2. Main: Allows you to set the sample rate, analog and digital speaker configurations. A little application allows you to rotate the speakers' soundfield, to correct for seating anomalies. This works with either analog or digital speakers. Which is more than you can say for the card itself, which can either work the analog or digital outputs but not both simultaneously. Which is where I encounter my first nasty - why do have to choose between two kinds of output? Even my SB Live! from 2001 allowed you to use all outputs together, very handy for a combined HT/music setup. The second nasty, close in on the heels of the first - there's a very loud pop when switching between the outputs, very unpleasant.
3. Mixer: Individual speaker and source levels, can be set for recording and playback. Basically, a visual application instead of the Windows Volume Control.
4. Effects: DSP and EQ settings, described later.
5. Karaoke: Vocal Canceller, Mic Echo and Pitch Shifter, described later.
6. FlexBass: LFE crossover and high-pass filter. Cheap speaker insurance, described later.
6. AEC: Mic feedback canceller. Untested.
7. VocalFX: Voice DSP. Untested.
[BREAK=Measurements]
There are 4 graphs on the page, one each for 16/44, 16/48, 24/96 and 24/192. We Only tested the front outputs, not the rest of the system. An analog cable was used to loop the input and output together, so the test results are the sum of both the input and output. That is likely to spoil the party a bit for Asus, but we won't worry about that right now.
First let's look at the really good ones. Here's the frequency response graphs:
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
The response @192 extends to beyond 40KHz, very good indeed. Note that the horizontal scale changes depending on the samplerate. In other cards (like the 1212m) the number of I/O becomes severely disabled at 24/192, so it's quite an achievement for the AV100 to continue operation on all outputs even at this sample frequency (high workload). There is no problem, the card is usefully flat through the entire audio band even at the highest sampling frequencies.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 2]
Noise levels, or signal/noise ratio (SNR):
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
Again, superb performance, very close to spec at 192 KHz. The lower performance at 16-bit is expected and normal, not something to worry about. The real test is the card's resampling, which will determine whether we can run the card in this mode or not. We'll need to listen to it to determine that.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 4]
Dynamic range. Nothing to complain about here, very close to maximum spec. Superb measured performance.
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 5]
THD - Harmonic distortion
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
The first grey goose - the measurements are significantly higher than the specs. This is quite disappointing. The figures themselves are still very good, but one expected better. Better opamps will surely help the cause here, but even so the performance is not bad, managing to beat out onboard audio by a bit (not 35 times). The reason? Asus fell into the trap of publishing the DAC specs, not the final piece of equipment. Or, my sample has actually suffered from the heat and the caps are slowly failing. Not likely though, unless the caps were substandard to begin with - which I doubt.
Even if you account for the distortion of the input affecting the output, the results need to be at least half of what we see here. Like I said, this is not a deal breaker, but the very complex distortion spectrum at high bitrates cause a lot of concern. The overall numbers seem low, but the very bad harmonic distortion may be unpleasant. Listening tests would bear me out on this later.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 6]
IMD - intermodulation distortion
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
The ear is extremely sensitive to IMD. Asus does not specify the figure, but it measures very low, and beats onboard audio by a small margin. It is not competitive with pro cards on this particular spec, but is usefully small.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 7]
Results summary...
...and a comparison with the ALC1200 onboard. You can see that the Xonar is two or more magnitudes of order better than onboard, but not 35 times better.
[BREAK=Music tests]
Note that I do not have an analog multichannel system to test the card's other DACs so all measurements and listening results apply only to the front outputs. Also, I will not be comparing subjective performance against the ALC1200 or any other onboard - their analog performance is so pathetic I can't stand to listen for more than 5 minutes anyway. I wish I had the Intel/Sigmatel combo here though, as that codec had very good subjective analog performance. I don't, so let's move on.
Primary mode: 16/44.1, stereo
Secondary mode: 24/96, stereo
The card performed very well in the music tests. In the primary mode, the music was very neutral and without much colour through the entire spectrum. The CS4398 is known to be a little bass light, and this card was no different. The bass had very good definition and speed, but a little more would definitely not hurt. In my much more expensive E-mu 1212m, the change of the output caps to Black Gate NX types did the trick for me, but this is not my card so modding is out of the question. The Candy Dulfer track has prodigious bass, the big ED speakers reach real low, and through other source/amp combos can cause bowel movements. On the Xonar though, it felt shallow.
The top end was simply there, not calling attention to itself, but presenting itself when required. If you've heard this particular Bjork track, the opening guitar has the sound of a set of brand-new Phosphor bronze strings. The Xonar retrieved the details of the overtones exceedingly well. If there's one thing this card does beautifully, it is this.
[BREAK=Music, Pt. 2]
My only complaint with the card was in the midrange, which was pretty rough to begin with. A slight nasal tone was evident whenever the vocals were very prominent in the mix, such as the Dylan or Masakela tracks. It smoothened out a bit as the card warmed up, but still bothers me a wee bit. It falls short of most of my other sources in this regard.
Separation in the upper frequencies is stellar, the CSNY track has some guitars doing a few nice things. Lesser sources fail at retrieving this information, but with the Xonar this was very clear and you could hear David and Neil separately, quite distinct, with their individual parts adding up very nicely. At the same time, sibilance is well controlled and the sound is never harsh or fatiguing.
The card is not euphonic, warm or 'musical', so a comparison with other DACs that do that is pointless (such as my Alien DAC). It stands up very well to the studio-quality cards I have though, with a very evenly balanced and uncoloured presentation. It would make a fine starter card for a musician as well. More inputs would be the only shortcoming in such a situation.
In the secondary mode, resampling artifacts are quite clearly heard if the input is of a different sampling frequency. I would recommend matching the card's working frequency with the incoming samplerate. This usually means leaving the card at 44.1 KHz so you get the highest fidelity for music, and let the card resample for movies and games (usually 48KHz). Unless you have 24/192 or 24/96 sources, this config should suffice for most users, and allow maximum performance when needed.
[BREAK=Surround]
We had a very quick surround check - multichannel fans need to look elsewhere, as I did not run comprehensive tests in the time I had the card. The supplied SPDIF dongle was used to hook up the card to my Pioneer receiver with an optical cable. This is not a gaming machine, so we did not spend too much time playing them. However the card performed identically to the onboard in digital pass-through mode. The inclusion of DD Live! was quite a handy feature, and Deus Ex (don't laugh!!!) felt very real, if the sounds weren't always quite in the right places.
Movies were simply great. I'm not much of a movie person, but I can tell you this card will do whatever you need it to. The simulated surround is great, but if you have AC3 filter there is really no added functionality as the DD encoder in AC3 filter works exactly as well as the one in the Xonar. That works only for movies and not for games though, so if you do a lot of gaming and need surround sound, the Xonar is a good bet.
Surround music was a washout. It just feels weird to have music all around you. I guess you would like it if you dig that sort of thing, but I gave up playing with the presets very quickly. I prefer to play in a band if I want to be in the music, otherwise I prefer to be in the audience, thank you very much.
I only regret not being able to test the multichannel analog output performance as my surround system is digital, and not of the high performance levels of my stereo equipment. But again, there are no high quality all-in-one analog 5.1 systems on the market anyway, unless you're getting a custom system. For those kind of systems, the Xonar should be a good source to start with.
[BREAK=Untested and minor features]
I didn't manage to test anything with a mic. I only have pro mics which I'm not trusting to anything except a professional input. So the Acoustic Echo Cancellation and VoIP features shall remain untested.
The Karaoke works well enough, but when you cancel the voice you lose the bass along with it. Good enough to practice with and great fun at a party, whether you have a mic or not. The variable vocal means you can tune the singer out partially if people are too drunk to remember the lyrics, and the pitch shifter helps make Ray Charles sound like a chipmunk, or Pavarotti if you prefer. Fun Fun Fun, though there're a ton of plugins that do exactly the same thing.
FlexBass help you tune the crossover frequency, or cut the amount of bass going into your front speakers so you can reduce distortion at high output levels. This is actually very helpful for most people with regular computer speakers, but I don't see anyone buying this card and pairing it to some poor little speakers that can't produce any real bass.
Oh wait, there may be some people buying Bose speakers, I forgot. Apologies.
The effect page allows you set ambience simulations so you can feel what music would sound like in a stone corridor, like in Castle Wolfenstein. Nice, but totally useless for me. They've had these since World War II in all consumer soundcard drivers, maybe it's time to drop it? And an equaliser is a great inclusion, but all media players have it, and most amps and speakers have some form of tone control too. I didn't even touch the thing, but I'm sure it's real nice. The functionality is no different from any other graphic equaliser out there, and may help if your speakers aren't up to scratch in all areas. If you do need to use it to correct your speakers' response, I would suggest better speakers. The card itself is ruler-flat through the entire frequency range.
[BREAK=Conclusions]
Down to the brasstacks, here's a quick list of cons and pros. I've reversed the list for a very particular reason.
(-)Requires a floppy connector for power, aiding cable mismanagement.
(-)Improper muting implementation, loud pop when switching outputs
(-)Click when switching inputs
(-)Slightly nasal midrange performance
(-)Can't use analog and digital output at the same time
(-)Somewhat untruthfully specified, 4X the specced distortion figures
(+)Superb price-performance ratio
(+)Very good overall performance
(+)Intelligent component selection
(+)Tons of bells and whistles, every feature you'll ever need
(+)Excellent treble performance
(+)Somewhat truthfully specified, dynamic range and noise levels very close to specs
(+)Compatibility with high-resolution audio files
(+)Front panel compatibility
The verdict? This is the easy part. Asus has been selling this as an alternative to onboard audio. Whereas this is a smart move from a marketing point of view (basically going for the high volume market that does not invest in sound cards), the card itself can probably aim higher. So if that's what you need to do, it's really not something to think about, you should just pick one up without thinking. The complications happen when you have to use digital connections, in which case a motherboard with a digital output onboard will do almost everything the Asus will, without any of the trimmings but with similar (not exactly the same) performance level.
Onboard audio solutions are very weak when analog performance is accounted for, and for digital a lot of them don't have any surround encoding features or encoding that partially works, such as the AD1988B on my P5N32E-SLI which freezes if DTSi is activated. So for most of us who still use regular analog speakers, the Xonar is a great investment towards improved sound quality, and if you use digital surround encoding (gaming), the Xonar works flawlessly as well. Audiophiles will still need to look elsewhere, but the performance is stupidly good for this kind of money.
Measured performance is excellent in some areas, and listening tests bear out that the card will leave onboard audio far behind - if, that is, you're using the analog outputs. As a matter of fact, the card can go comfortably against a few peers at higher price points. I eagerly await the E-mu 0404 for its tests pretty soon, and the X-fi as well. However, the Xonar does not need to be modded - except for fanatics, and then there are better cards to start with anyway. So the 'MRF tyres' work, just about getting the 'Ferrari' moving, just not at maximum performance all the time. At stock it hits some of its performance targets out of the box, and is a great addition to any sound chain.
It's a rare occasion that a product lives up to the hype surrounding it, but the Xonar just about manages to do that - with a combination of very good performance and great pricing. All they need to do is not drop the product quality, which is a temptation marketers quickly succumb to to hit volumes.
Here's a quick rating of the card:
Sound: 7/10
Features: 9/10
Build: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 8/10, very good!
Overall, the Xonar is definite buy if you have the cash and the need for good sound.
We're going to take a very quick look at the Asus Xonar DX sound card today. I say today, but this review was a long time coming. For one, I never did get the card the way I was supposed to, but she fell into my grubby little hands during Christmas, on loan from another member so I could take her for a spin and see what she could do.
I didn't test it exhaustively, but we did the best we can in my schedule. The card gave a very good account of itself, impressing me no end after an initially unfavorable feeling. Do note that it fell significantly short of a few key specifications and the implementation could have been a lot better, but not for the current US$60 price.
So strap yourselves in, and away we go.
[BREAK=Intro to the card]
The Xonar DX is quite a surprice (no, not a typo). At about 60 bucks (US price), it packs in a CS4398 for the front outputs.
This is currently the best DAC that Cirrus makes, which is also present in the E-mu 1212m, the Zhaolu DAC and quite a few pro mixers from Yamaha and Roland. All of the above bar the Xonar cost quite a bit, with the mixers going for thousands of dollars. The Xonar by comparison, costs about as much a night on the town with the gang.
Xonar DX was one of the first PCI-E soundcards to hit the scene, and Creative had to follow suit very quickly. Up until the Xonar line, you could spend big bucks on the Auzentech Prelude, or live with the middling sound quality almost all Creative soundcards were known for, and their bug-infested drivers. Which meant that audiophiles needed to look elsewhere, and regular users without big bucks had to compromise. I've been promised an X-fi of some origin for review later, where we'll look a little more closely at that line later, which I hear had improved.
However, our candidate today shook up the market when it appeared, with little to no competition at that price point. The box promises lots of performance, tens of times better than onboard audio. Very quickly, though factually this is correct, the dB scale used to make comparisons is actually logarithmic, which means that perceived reality could be quite different from this promise.
One quick note: this is a used card. The heavy discoloration on the board is a result of being run in proximity to a very hot 8800GT.
I'm not sure there's been a performance degradation as a result, but the board does have marks due to residual chemicals on areas where through-hole components were soldered. This is actually fairly common after prolonged use near hot surfaces, and is probably not a cause for malfunction, but may shorten the life of the card as capacitors age rapidly when exposed to heat.
[BREAK=Build, included accessories]
The chip complement is quite simple. There's a AV100 processor that can do DD Live encoding...
...a DJ100 presumably for digital I/O...
...and a conversion chain comprised of CS 4398 (Front out DAC), CS 4362 (Surround/sub center out DAC), and CS 5361 (ADC).
Opamps are 4580 and 5532 for the front channels, and 5532 everywhere else.
I didn't spend too much time tracing out the topology or the supply layout. There are lots and lots of 'solid' caps on the board near the output area, presumably for all the channel outputs but I can't be sure, and a bunch of muting transistors that don't really work very well, as we'll see later.
The card caused me some consternation when I inspected it closely. For one, it used NE5532s and 4580s, opamps from the time of Hannibal. I wasn't sure if these Neanderthals still cut it in this day and age. Presumably not, as even Asus don't use them in their top-end cards. Before plugging it in I went and had a look at the distortion papers again for the opamps (which gave the opamps a fair rating but not excellent), so came away unconvinced. Honestly though, I don't think Asus had a better choice at the price points. The card would definitely need modding, I thought. Why take a Ferrari and run it with MRF tyres?
[BREAK=Build, part 2]
Front panel connector for you voice chat and early morning (ahem) movie watching junkies. A set of 4 relays is used to switch the inputs to the ADC, no soft switching (IC) is used so presumably the sound quality doesn't suffer, apart from a small click when switching between inputs.
Nice, as a Mux IC would have done this job easily but may have either interfered with the sound quality or required code. The Xonar designers obviously had something in mind, but I'm not really sure what it was, as if the AV100 can send out a code to a relay, it can send out a code to a chip as well, and chips can be smaller than relays. Anyway, this is not a recording card and we won't dwell on it.
A PLX bridge chip is used to interface the AV100 to the PCI-E slot, and this hot little mother needs a floppy connector for power, as there presumably isn't enough coming off the PCI-E slot. It wasn't my card, so I'm not going to check out the card without it.
Voltage regulation is fair but not exceptional, I did not have the nerve to test a card belonging to someone else very rigorously or I woulda decoded the power supply scheme before testing. I imagine the 5V supplies (which are not part of the PCI-E connectors) are rigged up from the +12V supply, which is also used for the opamps. The PCI-E connector has no -12V supply either, so there is some performance loss potentially there as opamps run better off higher supply voltages.
At the back, we have 4 output connectors and a shared Line/Mic/SPDIF jack. You can continue to use the front mic when the digital connection is active. The connectors are all gold-plated, potentially making for better and corrosion-free connections.
A supplied adapter converts the combi jack to optical out, a clever trick.
A half-height PCI bracket converts the card for low-profile cases, such as....
OK I give up, maybe you know of one sold in this country?
[BREAK=Card specs]
Audio Performance:
* Output SNR (A-Weighted): 116dB Front Outputs
* Output SNR (A-Weighted): 112dB Other Outputs
* Input SNR (A-Weighted): 112dB
* Output THD+N% at 1 kHz (-3dB): 0.00056%(-105dB) for Front Outs
* Input THD+N% at 1 kHz (-3dB): 0.0004%(-108dB) for Line-In
* Frequency Response (-3dB, 24/96kHz format): <10Hz to 48kHz
* Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage: 2Vrms (5.56 Vp-p)
Main Chipset
Audio Processor: ASUS AV100 High Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192kHz/24bit)
Sample Rate and Resolution
Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution 44.1k/48k/96k/192k at 16/24 bit
Analog Recording Sample rate and Resolution 44.1k/48k/96k/192k at 16/24bit
S/PDIF Digital Output 44.1k/48k/96k/192k at 16/24bit, Dolby Digital
[BREAK=Features]
List of bells and whistles:
Dolby® Digital Live
Dolby Digital Live encodes any audio signal on PC in real-time to Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sounds to your home theater environment through one single S/PDIF connection
Dolby® Headphone
Dolby Headphone technology allows users to listen to music, watch movies, or play games with the dramatic 5.1-channel surround or realistic 3D spacious effects through any set of stereo headphones.
Dolby® Virtual Speaker
Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers.
Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx
Dolby Pro-Logic II is the well-known technology to process any native stereo or 5.1-channel audio into a 6.1- or 7.1- channel output, creating a seamless, natural surround sound field.
DS3D GX 2.0
-DS3D GX 2.0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions on Windows Vista. (DirectX/DirectSound 3D compatible)
VocalFXâ„¢
Xonar DX provides VocalFX, the latest vocal effect technologies for gaming and VoIP, including: -VoiceEX: produces vivid environmental reverberation for your voice in EAX games -ChatEX: emulates different background environment effects when you chat online -Magic Voice: changes your voice pitch to different types (Monster/Cartoon…) for disguising your real voice or just for fun in online chatting
Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC)
Provides advanced Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC, eliminates up-to-40dB speaker echo return) and noise suppression technologies for best voice communication quality in VOIP applications or online gaming
Smart Volume Normalizerâ„¢
Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming
Karaoke Functions
Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects like professional Karaoke machine
FlexBassâ„¢
Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system
Xear 3Dâ„¢ Virtual Speaker Shifter
Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning
Other Effects
10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects
3D Gaming Sound Engines/APIs
DirectSound3D® GX 2.0 & 1.0, EAX®2.0&1.0, DirectSound® HW, DirectSound SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability
ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:
Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @16/24bit with very low latency
Let's put the card through our battery of tests, and see what she can do.
[BREAK=Test specs]
PC
Phenom 9950BE
Asus M3A78-EM
Onboard HD3200
Corsair VX450
2GB G.Skill RAM
Dell 3008WFP
Windows XP, SP3 - No Vista tests, so sorry.
Players
Foobar
-44.1KHz
-96KHz (PPHS for test tracks)
-ASIO and WDM
Winamp (WDM only)
Downstream equipment
Amp:
DIY chipamp, ~100 watts/ch
Pioneer VSX-416 receiver (with JBL speakers below)
Speakers:
Dynaudio BM6 passive monitors
Sony SSK90-ED
JBL SCS140 (with Pioneer above)
Music (all wave files from original CDs)
Eric Clapton: One Day
Ray Charles: Georgia on my Mind
Candy Dulfer: Get the funk
Norah Jones: Those Sweet words
Bjork: Human Behaviour (from MTV unplugged)
CSNY: Just a song before I go
Louis Armstrong: Wonderful World
Michael Jackson: Give in to me
Paul Simon: Father and Daughter
Sade: Paradise
Bob Dylan: I shall be released
Bruce Springsteen: Magic
Led Zeppelin: Moby Dick
Nils Lofgren: Keith don't go
The Eagles: Hotel California
ZZ Top: Rough Boy
Hugh Masakela: Stimela
A quick note: I did not test with my all-time favorites and reference recordings. Dave Brubeck's 'Time out', Diana Krall's 'A Case of You' and a few others were notable exceptions. I was pretty sure the card would not show up well with those recordings, and this was borne out with a small listening issue covered later. For the same reason, tests with native 24-bit files were not done.
Games
Deus Ex (!!!!!!!) for more gaming tests, check out the many reviews online. This is not a gaming machine.
Movies
Godfather I
Matrix Revolutions
A Beautiful Mind
[BREAK=Installation, drivers and menus]
The card is a no-brainer to install. Pop open slot cover, fit card, fit floppy power connector and boot up. Use the driver install menu from the CD, not the auto-install. Install takes only 5 minutes and is totally painless. ASIO drivers auto-install, and in the system tray an X marks the spot to show you've installed fine. One reboot and she's ready to rock.
The drivers use about 15MB in WDM mode, and about half in ASIO mode. Out of the box, the card is set up with prodigious gain, so prepare to turn the volume down on your speakers. I eventually had to attenuate the outputs severely to get the card work well with my amps. On the good side, the card is totally silent. My amps always run at maximum volume so the soundcard has to control the volume, and some cards are very noisy at even their lowest volume. The Xonar is whisper-quiet, and one has to put their ear to the speaker to listen for hiss.
There are the following menus in the driver application (Called Xonar DX audio Center):
1. Home: Allows you to change the master volume and balance, mute the system, activate the DSP modes and switch on 'intelligent volume' which basically is a compressor. This is pretty handy for late-night movie watching, squashing the dynamic range so that you don't disturb neighbors with loud explosions - having turned it up to listen to dialog. For music it's not a very nice thing to use though.
2. Main: Allows you to set the sample rate, analog and digital speaker configurations. A little application allows you to rotate the speakers' soundfield, to correct for seating anomalies. This works with either analog or digital speakers. Which is more than you can say for the card itself, which can either work the analog or digital outputs but not both simultaneously. Which is where I encounter my first nasty - why do have to choose between two kinds of output? Even my SB Live! from 2001 allowed you to use all outputs together, very handy for a combined HT/music setup. The second nasty, close in on the heels of the first - there's a very loud pop when switching between the outputs, very unpleasant.
3. Mixer: Individual speaker and source levels, can be set for recording and playback. Basically, a visual application instead of the Windows Volume Control.
4. Effects: DSP and EQ settings, described later.
5. Karaoke: Vocal Canceller, Mic Echo and Pitch Shifter, described later.
6. FlexBass: LFE crossover and high-pass filter. Cheap speaker insurance, described later.
6. AEC: Mic feedback canceller. Untested.
7. VocalFX: Voice DSP. Untested.
[BREAK=Measurements]
There are 4 graphs on the page, one each for 16/44, 16/48, 24/96 and 24/192. We Only tested the front outputs, not the rest of the system. An analog cable was used to loop the input and output together, so the test results are the sum of both the input and output. That is likely to spoil the party a bit for Asus, but we won't worry about that right now.
First let's look at the really good ones. Here's the frequency response graphs:
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
The response @192 extends to beyond 40KHz, very good indeed. Note that the horizontal scale changes depending on the samplerate. In other cards (like the 1212m) the number of I/O becomes severely disabled at 24/192, so it's quite an achievement for the AV100 to continue operation on all outputs even at this sample frequency (high workload). There is no problem, the card is usefully flat through the entire audio band even at the highest sampling frequencies.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 2]
Noise levels, or signal/noise ratio (SNR):
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
Again, superb performance, very close to spec at 192 KHz. The lower performance at 16-bit is expected and normal, not something to worry about. The real test is the card's resampling, which will determine whether we can run the card in this mode or not. We'll need to listen to it to determine that.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 4]
Dynamic range. Nothing to complain about here, very close to maximum spec. Superb measured performance.
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 5]
THD - Harmonic distortion
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
The first grey goose - the measurements are significantly higher than the specs. This is quite disappointing. The figures themselves are still very good, but one expected better. Better opamps will surely help the cause here, but even so the performance is not bad, managing to beat out onboard audio by a bit (not 35 times). The reason? Asus fell into the trap of publishing the DAC specs, not the final piece of equipment. Or, my sample has actually suffered from the heat and the caps are slowly failing. Not likely though, unless the caps were substandard to begin with - which I doubt.
Even if you account for the distortion of the input affecting the output, the results need to be at least half of what we see here. Like I said, this is not a deal breaker, but the very complex distortion spectrum at high bitrates cause a lot of concern. The overall numbers seem low, but the very bad harmonic distortion may be unpleasant. Listening tests would bear me out on this later.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 6]
IMD - intermodulation distortion
16/44:
16/48:
24/96:
24/192:
The ear is extremely sensitive to IMD. Asus does not specify the figure, but it measures very low, and beats onboard audio by a small margin. It is not competitive with pro cards on this particular spec, but is usefully small.
[BREAK=Measurements, pt. 7]
Results summary...
...and a comparison with the ALC1200 onboard. You can see that the Xonar is two or more magnitudes of order better than onboard, but not 35 times better.
[BREAK=Music tests]
Note that I do not have an analog multichannel system to test the card's other DACs so all measurements and listening results apply only to the front outputs. Also, I will not be comparing subjective performance against the ALC1200 or any other onboard - their analog performance is so pathetic I can't stand to listen for more than 5 minutes anyway. I wish I had the Intel/Sigmatel combo here though, as that codec had very good subjective analog performance. I don't, so let's move on.
Primary mode: 16/44.1, stereo
Secondary mode: 24/96, stereo
The card performed very well in the music tests. In the primary mode, the music was very neutral and without much colour through the entire spectrum. The CS4398 is known to be a little bass light, and this card was no different. The bass had very good definition and speed, but a little more would definitely not hurt. In my much more expensive E-mu 1212m, the change of the output caps to Black Gate NX types did the trick for me, but this is not my card so modding is out of the question. The Candy Dulfer track has prodigious bass, the big ED speakers reach real low, and through other source/amp combos can cause bowel movements. On the Xonar though, it felt shallow.
The top end was simply there, not calling attention to itself, but presenting itself when required. If you've heard this particular Bjork track, the opening guitar has the sound of a set of brand-new Phosphor bronze strings. The Xonar retrieved the details of the overtones exceedingly well. If there's one thing this card does beautifully, it is this.
[BREAK=Music, Pt. 2]
My only complaint with the card was in the midrange, which was pretty rough to begin with. A slight nasal tone was evident whenever the vocals were very prominent in the mix, such as the Dylan or Masakela tracks. It smoothened out a bit as the card warmed up, but still bothers me a wee bit. It falls short of most of my other sources in this regard.
Separation in the upper frequencies is stellar, the CSNY track has some guitars doing a few nice things. Lesser sources fail at retrieving this information, but with the Xonar this was very clear and you could hear David and Neil separately, quite distinct, with their individual parts adding up very nicely. At the same time, sibilance is well controlled and the sound is never harsh or fatiguing.
The card is not euphonic, warm or 'musical', so a comparison with other DACs that do that is pointless (such as my Alien DAC). It stands up very well to the studio-quality cards I have though, with a very evenly balanced and uncoloured presentation. It would make a fine starter card for a musician as well. More inputs would be the only shortcoming in such a situation.
In the secondary mode, resampling artifacts are quite clearly heard if the input is of a different sampling frequency. I would recommend matching the card's working frequency with the incoming samplerate. This usually means leaving the card at 44.1 KHz so you get the highest fidelity for music, and let the card resample for movies and games (usually 48KHz). Unless you have 24/192 or 24/96 sources, this config should suffice for most users, and allow maximum performance when needed.
[BREAK=Surround]
We had a very quick surround check - multichannel fans need to look elsewhere, as I did not run comprehensive tests in the time I had the card. The supplied SPDIF dongle was used to hook up the card to my Pioneer receiver with an optical cable. This is not a gaming machine, so we did not spend too much time playing them. However the card performed identically to the onboard in digital pass-through mode. The inclusion of DD Live! was quite a handy feature, and Deus Ex (don't laugh!!!) felt very real, if the sounds weren't always quite in the right places.
Movies were simply great. I'm not much of a movie person, but I can tell you this card will do whatever you need it to. The simulated surround is great, but if you have AC3 filter there is really no added functionality as the DD encoder in AC3 filter works exactly as well as the one in the Xonar. That works only for movies and not for games though, so if you do a lot of gaming and need surround sound, the Xonar is a good bet.
Surround music was a washout. It just feels weird to have music all around you. I guess you would like it if you dig that sort of thing, but I gave up playing with the presets very quickly. I prefer to play in a band if I want to be in the music, otherwise I prefer to be in the audience, thank you very much.
I only regret not being able to test the multichannel analog output performance as my surround system is digital, and not of the high performance levels of my stereo equipment. But again, there are no high quality all-in-one analog 5.1 systems on the market anyway, unless you're getting a custom system. For those kind of systems, the Xonar should be a good source to start with.
[BREAK=Untested and minor features]
I didn't manage to test anything with a mic. I only have pro mics which I'm not trusting to anything except a professional input. So the Acoustic Echo Cancellation and VoIP features shall remain untested.
The Karaoke works well enough, but when you cancel the voice you lose the bass along with it. Good enough to practice with and great fun at a party, whether you have a mic or not. The variable vocal means you can tune the singer out partially if people are too drunk to remember the lyrics, and the pitch shifter helps make Ray Charles sound like a chipmunk, or Pavarotti if you prefer. Fun Fun Fun, though there're a ton of plugins that do exactly the same thing.
FlexBass help you tune the crossover frequency, or cut the amount of bass going into your front speakers so you can reduce distortion at high output levels. This is actually very helpful for most people with regular computer speakers, but I don't see anyone buying this card and pairing it to some poor little speakers that can't produce any real bass.
Oh wait, there may be some people buying Bose speakers, I forgot. Apologies.
The effect page allows you set ambience simulations so you can feel what music would sound like in a stone corridor, like in Castle Wolfenstein. Nice, but totally useless for me. They've had these since World War II in all consumer soundcard drivers, maybe it's time to drop it? And an equaliser is a great inclusion, but all media players have it, and most amps and speakers have some form of tone control too. I didn't even touch the thing, but I'm sure it's real nice. The functionality is no different from any other graphic equaliser out there, and may help if your speakers aren't up to scratch in all areas. If you do need to use it to correct your speakers' response, I would suggest better speakers. The card itself is ruler-flat through the entire frequency range.
[BREAK=Conclusions]
Down to the brasstacks, here's a quick list of cons and pros. I've reversed the list for a very particular reason.
(-)Requires a floppy connector for power, aiding cable mismanagement.
(-)Improper muting implementation, loud pop when switching outputs
(-)Click when switching inputs
(-)Slightly nasal midrange performance
(-)Can't use analog and digital output at the same time
(-)Somewhat untruthfully specified, 4X the specced distortion figures
(+)Superb price-performance ratio
(+)Very good overall performance
(+)Intelligent component selection
(+)Tons of bells and whistles, every feature you'll ever need
(+)Excellent treble performance
(+)Somewhat truthfully specified, dynamic range and noise levels very close to specs
(+)Compatibility with high-resolution audio files
(+)Front panel compatibility
The verdict? This is the easy part. Asus has been selling this as an alternative to onboard audio. Whereas this is a smart move from a marketing point of view (basically going for the high volume market that does not invest in sound cards), the card itself can probably aim higher. So if that's what you need to do, it's really not something to think about, you should just pick one up without thinking. The complications happen when you have to use digital connections, in which case a motherboard with a digital output onboard will do almost everything the Asus will, without any of the trimmings but with similar (not exactly the same) performance level.
Onboard audio solutions are very weak when analog performance is accounted for, and for digital a lot of them don't have any surround encoding features or encoding that partially works, such as the AD1988B on my P5N32E-SLI which freezes if DTSi is activated. So for most of us who still use regular analog speakers, the Xonar is a great investment towards improved sound quality, and if you use digital surround encoding (gaming), the Xonar works flawlessly as well. Audiophiles will still need to look elsewhere, but the performance is stupidly good for this kind of money.
Measured performance is excellent in some areas, and listening tests bear out that the card will leave onboard audio far behind - if, that is, you're using the analog outputs. As a matter of fact, the card can go comfortably against a few peers at higher price points. I eagerly await the E-mu 0404 for its tests pretty soon, and the X-fi as well. However, the Xonar does not need to be modded - except for fanatics, and then there are better cards to start with anyway. So the 'MRF tyres' work, just about getting the 'Ferrari' moving, just not at maximum performance all the time. At stock it hits some of its performance targets out of the box, and is a great addition to any sound chain.
It's a rare occasion that a product lives up to the hype surrounding it, but the Xonar just about manages to do that - with a combination of very good performance and great pricing. All they need to do is not drop the product quality, which is a temptation marketers quickly succumb to to hit volumes.
Here's a quick rating of the card:
Sound: 7/10
Features: 9/10
Build: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 8/10, very good!
Overall, the Xonar is definite buy if you have the cash and the need for good sound.
