ASUS Xonar U1 External Sound Card Review
- Grandma, why do you need such a pretty little white ASUS sound card ?, asked her granddaughter.
“So that my arthritic fingers adjust the volume effortlessly.”
“Grandma, why do you need such a little white microphone that comes with this sound card?” The granddaughter asked again.
- To better hear you, dear, because the new sound card ASUS Xonar U1 uses a special microphone that suppresses background noise.
Think grandmother turned into a wolf? No, she was still the same sweet grandmother, baking pancakes in the morning, digging in the garden in the afternoon, and hanging out in the chatik and VKontakte with her granddaughter in the evening. Stay yourself with the new ASUS Xonar U1 sound card, equipped with a convenient volume control and designed for users who like simplicity, convenience and elegance.
The main hero of this review is a metal baby from ASUS, which can surprise the happy owners of laptops with a great sound. And not only them.
')
ASUS Xonar U1 is an external sound processor with hardware support for EAX and DirectSound, designed to connect to a laptop via USB-port. The device is capable of outputting high-quality 5.1-channel audio over S / PDIF. A whole bunch of Dolby class features are supported: Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Pro Logic IIx. The signal-to-noise ratio is 96 dB, which is quite adequate for home appliances. The device uses a progressive noise reduction algorithm, which allows to reduce the level of extraneous noise to a value of 20 dB. Now look at the box.
The box in which the device itself is hidden is quite small. Here's what's inside:
- Sound card ASUS Xonar U1 ;
- Microphone;
- Two discs;
- Quick Installation Guide.
The sound card and microphone itself are installed in a special cardboard construction that prevents them from moving during transportation. Everything looks neat and very presentable.
The black and white manual contains over 100 pages and is written in as many as 13 languages - however, there was no Russian in our test sample. As for the disks, on one are the drivers for Win XP / Vista (32/64 bit), the manual and the Portable Music Processor Lite program, on the second - the Dolby demo.
I cannot call the appearance of a sound card innovative - we have already seen something similar ... however, you see, we do not see this every day. The device consists of two metal truncated cones, one on the other. I got a copy of white, although there are persistent rumors that the device can be found in different colors - blue, red, yellow, black and even metallic.
The upper cone rotates clockwise - or against it. True, it allows you to adjust the volume. Rotation is stepped, occurs after a small effort - you can twist for hours. On the upper base of the cone is the company logo and not very bright indicator. When rotating, it changes color and brightness: if it is lit in blue, this is HiFi mode, if it is blinking in blue, user mode; The red color of the indicator means that the sound is turned off. By the way, you can turn off the sound by simply pressing the cover.
At the bottom, in fact, there is nothing but a small depression in which there are two holes. The first is for connecting headphones or speakers, the second is for connecting a microphone. It's nice that at least there is no “childish” coloring of the ports in pink and green colors, because with icons you can understand everything. From the gap between the upper and lower parts of the device comes a slight blue glow, which looks very nice in the dark. On the bottom of the device there is a rubberized insert, which very securely fixes it on almost any surface.
A USB cable with a length of about 30 centimeters is coming from the card - perhaps this is not enough if you use the Xonar with a system unit that will stand somewhere under the table. But, given that the device is designed more for portable devices such as laptops, a small length of wire can be considered a plus. By the way, on the wire there is a velcro clip, which will not let the wire loose.
An interesting addition to the sound card is the microphone that comes with it. It is fixed on a rubberized (soft-touch type coating) stand, from which a wire is about 50 centimeters long. From this stand comes a flexible metal rod, on which, in fact, the microphone itself is fixed.
After connecting the device, you can immediately plug in the headphones, and the sound will immediately appear. But happiness will be incomplete until the drivers are installed from the included disk. Without them, the volume of the sound can not be adjusted, etc.
Drivers get up instantly and without problems, after rebooting everything falls into place. The sound is turned off, regulated - all is well. Skype microphone proved to be quite good.
I don’t have any special instruments for testing a sound card, so it’s quite difficult to make objective conclusions. The sound quality through the device, if you listen with headphones, is good enough - much better than from a laptop or from a sound card that came in my media center. The sound becomes noticeably louder. When you connect 2.1 speakers (Microlab H300), at the maximum volume there are no artifacts, and at a very small volume at night from the speakers there is no unpleasant “hiss-buzz” that previously appeared. Perhaps this is due to the declared noise reduction mechanism and the fact that there is no interference from the internal components of the system to the external device.
Included with the device, as I said, are two disks. One with drivers and a Portable Music Processor Lite program that allows you to convert music to MP3 format. In fact, this is the most common program, which does not particularly stand out against the background of other converters.
On the second disc is a large video, which includes many different audio video and audio fragments. I didn’t have enough for the whole video series, but I liked the sound in the headphones from what I looked.
The graphical shell of the driver looks beautiful, but I did not find much sense from all this. The settings I personally influenced the sound is minimal, so I almost immediately turned off the program from startup.
pros
- Stylish appearance, several options for body color;
- Reliable design, good functionality with minimalism;
- Decent sound, despite the more than modest size of the device;
- Microphone included.
Minuses
- Incomplete work without software, in software there is no Russian language;
- High price (about 4,000 rubles).
On the one hand, the price of this device, in my opinion, is somewhat overestimated - for the same money you can find something of a higher level, but only inside the system unit. On the other hand, it is initially known and intended for a slightly different audience - gadget lovers and happy users of all sorts of portable devices. Having bought myself such a thing, two voiced categories of users will not regret it - the sound quality is any better than what any laptop can offer without an expensive sound card. Also, I think you will enjoy the design.
I would like to note that the company ASUS, recently started developing sound cards, however, offers the public more than interesting devices.
“So that my arthritic fingers adjust the volume effortlessly.”
“Grandma, why do you need such a little white microphone that comes with this sound card?” The granddaughter asked again.
- To better hear you, dear, because the new sound card ASUS Xonar U1 uses a special microphone that suppresses background noise.
Think grandmother turned into a wolf? No, she was still the same sweet grandmother, baking pancakes in the morning, digging in the garden in the afternoon, and hanging out in the chatik and VKontakte with her granddaughter in the evening. Stay yourself with the new ASUS Xonar U1 sound card, equipped with a convenient volume control and designed for users who like simplicity, convenience and elegance.
The main hero of this review is a metal baby from ASUS, which can surprise the happy owners of laptops with a great sound. And not only them.
')
ASUS Xonar U1 is an external sound processor with hardware support for EAX and DirectSound, designed to connect to a laptop via USB-port. The device is capable of outputting high-quality 5.1-channel audio over S / PDIF. A whole bunch of Dolby class features are supported: Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Pro Logic IIx. The signal-to-noise ratio is 96 dB, which is quite adequate for home appliances. The device uses a progressive noise reduction algorithm, which allows to reduce the level of extraneous noise to a value of 20 dB. Now look at the box.
Equipment
The box in which the device itself is hidden is quite small. Here's what's inside:
- Sound card ASUS Xonar U1 ;
- Microphone;
- Two discs;
- Quick Installation Guide.
The sound card and microphone itself are installed in a special cardboard construction that prevents them from moving during transportation. Everything looks neat and very presentable.
The black and white manual contains over 100 pages and is written in as many as 13 languages - however, there was no Russian in our test sample. As for the disks, on one are the drivers for Win XP / Vista (32/64 bit), the manual and the Portable Music Processor Lite program, on the second - the Dolby demo.
Appearance
I cannot call the appearance of a sound card innovative - we have already seen something similar ... however, you see, we do not see this every day. The device consists of two metal truncated cones, one on the other. I got a copy of white, although there are persistent rumors that the device can be found in different colors - blue, red, yellow, black and even metallic.
The upper cone rotates clockwise - or against it. True, it allows you to adjust the volume. Rotation is stepped, occurs after a small effort - you can twist for hours. On the upper base of the cone is the company logo and not very bright indicator. When rotating, it changes color and brightness: if it is lit in blue, this is HiFi mode, if it is blinking in blue, user mode; The red color of the indicator means that the sound is turned off. By the way, you can turn off the sound by simply pressing the cover.
At the bottom, in fact, there is nothing but a small depression in which there are two holes. The first is for connecting headphones or speakers, the second is for connecting a microphone. It's nice that at least there is no “childish” coloring of the ports in pink and green colors, because with icons you can understand everything. From the gap between the upper and lower parts of the device comes a slight blue glow, which looks very nice in the dark. On the bottom of the device there is a rubberized insert, which very securely fixes it on almost any surface.
A USB cable with a length of about 30 centimeters is coming from the card - perhaps this is not enough if you use the Xonar with a system unit that will stand somewhere under the table. But, given that the device is designed more for portable devices such as laptops, a small length of wire can be considered a plus. By the way, on the wire there is a velcro clip, which will not let the wire loose.
An interesting addition to the sound card is the microphone that comes with it. It is fixed on a rubberized (soft-touch type coating) stand, from which a wire is about 50 centimeters long. From this stand comes a flexible metal rod, on which, in fact, the microphone itself is fixed.
Turn on and work
After connecting the device, you can immediately plug in the headphones, and the sound will immediately appear. But happiness will be incomplete until the drivers are installed from the included disk. Without them, the volume of the sound can not be adjusted, etc.
Drivers get up instantly and without problems, after rebooting everything falls into place. The sound is turned off, regulated - all is well. Skype microphone proved to be quite good.
I don’t have any special instruments for testing a sound card, so it’s quite difficult to make objective conclusions. The sound quality through the device, if you listen with headphones, is good enough - much better than from a laptop or from a sound card that came in my media center. The sound becomes noticeably louder. When you connect 2.1 speakers (Microlab H300), at the maximum volume there are no artifacts, and at a very small volume at night from the speakers there is no unpleasant “hiss-buzz” that previously appeared. Perhaps this is due to the declared noise reduction mechanism and the fact that there is no interference from the internal components of the system to the external device.
Included with the device, as I said, are two disks. One with drivers and a Portable Music Processor Lite program that allows you to convert music to MP3 format. In fact, this is the most common program, which does not particularly stand out against the background of other converters.
On the second disc is a large video, which includes many different audio video and audio fragments. I didn’t have enough for the whole video series, but I liked the sound in the headphones from what I looked.
The graphical shell of the driver looks beautiful, but I did not find much sense from all this. The settings I personally influenced the sound is minimal, so I almost immediately turned off the program from startup.
Check weighing
pros
- Stylish appearance, several options for body color;
- Reliable design, good functionality with minimalism;
- Decent sound, despite the more than modest size of the device;
- Microphone included.
Minuses
- Incomplete work without software, in software there is no Russian language;
- High price (about 4,000 rubles).
findings
On the one hand, the price of this device, in my opinion, is somewhat overestimated - for the same money you can find something of a higher level, but only inside the system unit. On the other hand, it is initially known and intended for a slightly different audience - gadget lovers and happy users of all sorts of portable devices. Having bought myself such a thing, two voiced categories of users will not regret it - the sound quality is any better than what any laptop can offer without an expensive sound card. Also, I think you will enjoy the design.
I would like to note that the company ASUS, recently started developing sound cards, however, offers the public more than interesting devices.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/68117/
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