KVR Audio

nuffink · Post by **nuffink** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:22 am

Looks good http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6538

ASUS readies its upcoming Xonar D2 and Xonar D2K PCI and PCIe x1 sound cards

ASUS last week at CeBIT demonstrated its upcoming Xonar-series sound cards. The upcoming Xonar-series spawns two variants, the D2 and D2K in PCI and PCIe x1 interfaces. Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect multi-channel audio encoding technologies are available for digital multi-channel audio. The Xonar-series also features 7.1-channel analog outputs for those that prefer analog to digital.

Early reports claim the ASUS Xonar-series feature an Analog Devices audio DSP, however, ADI denies any involvement in the sound card.

"I checked with our sales team and there is not an ADI part in this unit," said Sandra Perry, product line manager, SoundMAX, DSP Division.

ASUS also touts Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Virtual Headphone technologies for multi-channel upconverting and surround sound with stereo speakers and headphones. ASUS rates the Xonar-series with an 118dB playback and 115dB recording signal-to-noise ratios. The upcoming Xonar-series sound cards support 24-bit/192 KHz playback and recording resolutions and ASIO 2.0 as well.

ASUS internal testing reveals the Xonar-series is capable of low total harmonic distortion rates. The Xonar-series has 0.000006% THD on all eight analog outputs and the single line input, between the frequencies of 20Hz to 20 kHz. ASUS also equips the Xonar-series with an EMI shield and touts it provides "stable audio quality."

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:03 pm

Balanced outputs?

Ben

stoolz · Post by **stoolz** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:24 pm

lets face it chaps this is a gamers card, yes it is one of the first pci express souncards but it just wont cut the mustard in a pro music setup. Also it has a fan which means noise...

vonRed · Post by **vonRed** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:48 pm

It doesn't have a fan. It has a sheet of metal to shield the PCB from interference. And yes, it's aimed at games and DVD use, but if it has a decent ASIO driver it might well be a very nice, if basic, card for a DAW. They suggest a retail price of €70 or so.

nuffink · Post by **nuffink** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:01 pm

stoolz wrote:lets face it chaps this is a gamers card, yes it is one of the first pci express souncards but it just wont cut the mustard in a pro music setup. Also it has a fan which means noise...

I used to wonder if emblazening the word PRO across a piece of audio kit had any effect. I used to think people were far too suss nowadays to fall for that kind of marketing bullshit.

Used to.

stoolz · Post by **stoolz** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:08 pm

i read somewhere it did, whats the round thing on top, a round heatsink?

vonRed · Post by **vonRed** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:20 pm

stoolz wrote:i read somewhere it did, whats the round thing on top, a round heatsink?

No, it's a, cough "Stylish EMI Shield for stable audio quality." cough Really.

I'll still withhold judgment until there's a few tests and a driver.

GreyLion · Post by **GreyLion** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:01 pm

The technology does keep getting better. I'm willing to believe that this year's generic card is as good as the recording cards from a couple of years back.

We'll still need to see tests on stuff like frequency response, crosstalk, and stability, like vonRed said.

stoolz · Post by **stoolz** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:51 pm

everyone has audio quality prety sewn up now, features, stability, ins-outs seem the selling point now.

snooky · Post by **snooky** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:59 pm

yeah seems like a nice card!

Reverse Engineer · Post by **Reverse Engineer** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:04 pm

Old news

New ASUS soundcard