bit-tech.net | Asus soundcard launches, gets a name

Ghys 8th June 2007, 01:49

"The Xonar D2 should be sampling within weeks, and you can be sure that bit-tech is down on the list for one of the first off the production line to let you all know what the real deal is."

;)

It's about time someone serious gets into the sound card market, Creative , as much as I like their products, has been alone for way too long now

Tim S 8th June 2007, 02:01

thx, I think the 21 hour days are starting to catch up with me and Rich - we can all have a good long sleep after today though :D

./^\.Ace./^\. 8th June 2007, 02:13

Gimme, Gimme :'( I want one, I really want one :'( That would be such a cool sound card

Dizman 8th June 2007, 02:25

99 percent of the time, throwing LEDs on this stuff is just pointless and stupid. But this is brilliant. I can't tell you how many times i've been plugging stuff in behind my desk, in the dark.

iwantiwantiwantiwant

The_Beast 8th June 2007, 02:27

Sweet, sounds cool (bad pun sorry)

samkiller42 8th June 2007, 02:31

Does this thing have a fan on it? It looks like it does from the picture

Sam

Zurechial 8th June 2007, 03:16

Just noticed another typo, Tim/Rich, sorry :o

I think it should be "Ableton Live" rather than "Alberton Live" in the list of included software packages.

--

I've got to wonder how much all the extra software packages add to the price..

The die-hard music-production/audio enthusiasts will probably stick to their dedicated systems like the external M-Audio Firewire cards and Digidesign MBox, while those added extras are mostly useless for the typical gamer who wants the Asus card for game-audio, aside from some "LOL listen! I made myself sound like a chipmunk!!" dabbling.

Not so sure about the LEDs, myself, either - Their choice of orange might help them stand out, but it'd also clash badly with a lot of existing schemes for owners with a discerning eye.

The inclusion of the EMI shield is definitely appealing, as it gives one of the major advantages of an external card without taking up the extra space on your desk, but does the average gamer or HTPC entusiast even notice the noise from EMI?

If there are details here that I've missed, please let me know, but I can't really figure out who this card is really aimed at. It seems to me to be a jack of all trades, but I suppose the 'master' bit can't be tested until it's in the review labs.

If it functions as an entry-level 'pro' soundcard for recording, and includes the named software packages, then it might offer a good bundle for someone who wants to get into that area, but I'd still recommend people to get a 'real' recording card and just choose a single software package to start out with unless the Asus bundle offers an extremely competitive price..

Bluephoenix 8th June 2007, 03:31

I'm definitely picking one up, regardless of price. I do a little bit of DJing (mostly uni parties) using my comp, and I hope the ASIO support on this is a little less finicky on this than on the creative X-Fi.

besides, with what I do, the more ASIO channels the better ;)

the LEDs will help when it comes to setup, and in answer to the EMI interference, when you have a few powerful speakers hooked up pumping out dance music and it suddenly crackles from EMI, its quite noticeable.

given what happened a couple weeks ago, this will be my primary output card as soon as I can get one.

Ghys 8th June 2007, 03:49

are you going to use it in your media server ? You better check if the linux drivers (if there are any) are good

Bluephoenix 8th June 2007, 04:53

no, I use the beast for the DJ work (also gets comp modding some attention when people ask about it)

Bindibadgi 8th June 2007, 06:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by samkiller42
Does this thing have a fan on it? It looks like it does from the picture

Sam

Nope, it's just the design of the EMI shielding.

A combination of long days and being sick as a dog yesterday makes Bindi easily confused :( I've seen so many products and so many names now my heads about to pop.

Tim S 8th June 2007, 06:43

It's a good job you didn't see the bunnies last night... something else might have popped

Bindibadgi 8th June 2007, 06:55

roffles. I can only assume you mean my blood pressure.

Ghys 8th June 2007, 07:06

ahhh it's 10 am in tapei , right ? That's why you guys are posting. Im usually all alone at this time of the night :) (joke all you want about the double meaning of the last sentence)

Spaceraver 8th June 2007, 08:20

As long as they invade Creative's turf, I'm game

[USRF]Obiwan 8th June 2007, 09:58

I think the 'non-professional multi i/o' soundcards (onboard or outboard) have really no need for improvement. All have 5.1 tor 7.1 outputs and dedicated digital out in coax or optical way. Soundwise there is also no need to improve on. Especialy if you use the optical/coaxial out running to a good dedicated suround amplifier with some good speakers.

All the ratio cliams and goldplates outputs are needless (crap really) if and when connected to some cheap plastic pc suround sets. And i think ALL are crap. (but that is personal)

I could go on about comparing a 20 gram soundcart to a 25kilo dedicated amplifier and 20gram plastic speakers agains 45kilo speakers. But i wont...

DXR_13KE 8th June 2007, 17:49

there must be competition in the sound card market against Creative and the opponent has arrived...... ASUS!!!!!! :D

./^\.Ace./^\. 8th June 2007, 18:24

I want to see a company build a super sound card that could handlebetween 9.1 to 15.1 surround sound :D you know closer to an actual theater :D

vegettoxp 8th June 2007, 22:56

Anyone has any info on what is gona be the price of the two cards and when they are gona put it out in the market. I am building a new system right now and I don't want to put another Creative Sound Card in there. There Drivers are horrible when it comes to VISTA.

Jipa 8th June 2007, 23:16

I'm really looking forward to seeing the first reviews of these cards. The name is hardly better than X-Fi, so I should dislike this one as well, but then again it isn't Fatal1ty-megapwnagenator.

As soon as the PCI-e model hits the markets things will get even more exciting.

./^\.Ace./^\. 9th June 2007, 00:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegettoxp
Anyone has any info on what is gona be the price of the two cards and when they are gona put it out in the market.

The card is going to be around $500 US. and I think it should be out by next summer at the latest. if they're smart, then hopefuly Christmas.

./^\.Ace./^\. 9th June 2007, 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jipa
As soon as the PCI-e model hits the markets things will get even more exciting.

Creative must be working on a PCIe card right now, they would be dumb to not look at the processing power that could be put to use in a PCIe sound card. :D

vegettoxp 9th June 2007, 06:27

$500 Is a BIG Price Tag for a sound card. That might be a mistake for Asus, if the card is gona cost that much. I am hoping between $200-300 (Hopefully)

Bindibadgi 9th June 2007, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by ./^\.Ace./^\.
The card is going to be around $500 US. and I think it should be out by next summer at the latest. if they're smart, then hopefuly Christmas.

Linkage please. No price has been given to me even yet. They're still in production, and Asus aren't stupid enough to price themselves out the market. They plan to hit it hard in cooperation with the big hitters of Dolby and DTS.

TomH 9th June 2007, 13:51

I'm still waiting for my SoundStorm 2, but this could be good. Asus aren't my favourite company, but if they can pull this off well... And that includes writing some decent Linux drivers (I don't envision them opening the specs to the FOSS world, but that'd be nicer) so that we can all enjoy it... I might just have one. :)

Bindibadgi 9th June 2007, 14:40

Soundstorm 2 is Duke Nukem Forever: Dont wait up.

You've got to make some noise for linux drivers, but they'll always be behind WinXP, Vista 32, then 64

./^\.Ace./^\. 9th June 2007, 22:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Linkage please. No price has been given to me even yet. They're still in production, and Asus aren't stupid enough to price themselves out the market. They plan to hit it hard in cooperation with the big hitters of Dolby and DTS.

I had a friend tell me, I don't know where he found the info. he has never lied to me before so I would beleave it. he told be about the GeForce 8800 over a year before it came out and he was right at that time. The price was his guess though, so that might not be right.

Zurechial 10th June 2007, 00:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by ./^\.Ace./^\.
I had a friend tell me, I don't know where he found the info. he has never lied to me before so I would beleave it. he told be about the GeForce 8800 over a year before it came out and he was right at that time. The price was his guess though, so that might not be right.

He may not be lying to you, but that doesn't mean he's right, either. ;)

$500 sounds way off for a Sound card, so either it includes some magical feature we haven't been informed of yet, ASUS are making a huge mistake, or your friend is making baseless guesses. ;)

vegettoxp 10th June 2007, 02:05

I agree Zurechial. I think it will be a big mistake if they put this sound card at a really high price. I do't think anyone is gona pay that much for a sound card. Since it is there first sound card, they should go easy and I think $200 or below will be a really good starting price.

./^\.Ace./^\. 10th June 2007, 03:02

I know but he is often right. so lets just see what happens. I think around $150 - $200 sounds closer but what ever :? we will only know when Asus tells us the pice them selves ;)

DXR_13KE 10th June 2007, 11:15

500$ is suicide.

Kipman725 10th June 2007, 18:25

I don't think this card will be ideal for playing audio from cd's as it will have the be re sampled as the DAC in question is only able to operate in 48khz 96khz and 192khz. If the re sampling is anything like the audigy2 it will sound pretty dire. Then again the tech may have improved since then.

Wolfwood 13th June 2007, 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ./^\.Ace./^\.
I know but he is often right. so lets just see what happens. I think around $150 - $200 sounds closer but what ever :? we will only know when Asus tells us the pice them selves ;)

You couldn't make yourself look more stupid.

GigantoR 13th June 2007, 02:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfwood
You couldn't make yourself look more stupid.

Actually, while I may not agree with him, you are the one that looks stupid.

Everybody has their opinion. Chill out man.

I think $200-250 is gonna be the minimum, with a chopped down version coming out later for the $100-150 price range, maybe even a bargain bin version later on in the $75 and under bracket.

pentapus 25th September 2007, 02:13

I've been using this card and it sounds amazing. To fix the ASUS PMP low volume issue:
( http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/09/03/asus_xonar_d2/6 )

1. set your ALT, itunes and other volume faders on FULL.
2. DISCONNECT your headphones, speakers, etc. from the card
3. convert as normal.

This way, the ALT loopback should get 100% signal.

Grings 25th September 2007, 02:29

CustomPC reviewed this this month, and it appears to just be a rebadged oxygen hd, as bit-tech speculated

Quote:

CustomPC: "Looking at the markings on the Asus HD Audio Processing Unit, which is just visible underneath, the chip serial number[ML86G.06] implies that the Asus branded audio processor is a C-media Oxygen HD"

not that this is a bad thing, as Auzentech X-Meridians have been getting hard to find since they started making X-Fi's, and the Razer Barracuda is a bit pricey

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Asus soundcard launches, gets a name

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