Xonar DS Audio card User manual
E7809 Revised Edition V2 October 2012 Copyright © 2012 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any means, except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the express written permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (“ASUS”).
Contents Notices.......................................................................................................... iv Safety information........................................................................................ v Trademarks.................................................................................................... v License.......................................................................................................... v 1. Introduction................................
Notices Federal Communications Commission Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: • • This device may not cause harmful interference, and This device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Safety information • • • • • • • • Before installing the device on a motherboard, carefully read all the manuals that came with the package. To prevent electrical shock hazard or short circuits, switch off the power supply before installing the device on a motherboard or connecting any singal cables to the device. If the device is broken, do not try to fix it by yourself. Contact a qualified service technician or your retailer. Before using the product, make sure all cables are correctly connected.
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1. Introduction 1.1 Package contents • ASUS Xonar DS PCI audio card • Low Profile Bracket x1 • • • 1.2 S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adapter x1 Support CD Quick Start Guide System requirements • One PCI 2.2 (or higher) compatible slot for the audio card • Intel® Pentium® 4 1.
1.3 Specifications summary Items Description Audio Performance Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): Up to 107dB Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 100 dB Output Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at Up to 0.0017% (-95dB) 1kHz (A-Weighted) : Input Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz Up to 0.
VocalFXTM Karaoke Functions 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 Music Pitch-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo effects with Stereo Mix recording (Wave and Mic-in) for online Karaoke or online DJ applications Flex
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No Item Description 1 Microphone In port Connect your external PC microphone to this 3.5mm port for voice input. Built-in high-quality Microphone pre-amplifier. 1 Line In port Connect analog devices like MP3 players, CD players, music synthesizers and other line-level sound sources to this 3.5mm port for audio recording or processing. (Through Ultra-high fidelity 102dB SNR A-D converter) 2 Headphone/Front Out port Connect your headphones or 2/2.1 channel speakers to this 3.5mm port.
3. Installing the hardware 3.1 Installing the audio card Before you proceed with the following installation steps, it’s recommended that you disable your onboard audio device in your BIOS settings, or uninstall any other audio cards on your PC. (For BIOS setting or uninstallation of other sound cards, refer to the user manuals of your motherboard and audio card.) Installing the Xonar DS card 1. 2. Power OFF the computer, the monitor, and all other peripheral devices connected to your computer.
3.2 1. 2. 3. Connecting to a TV tuner card If you have a traditional PCI or PCI TV tuner card on your PC, you may need to connect it to the Xonar DS card to send the tuner card’s sound to your PC speakers. Secure the PCI/PCI TV tuner card and screw it into the back-panel. Connect the audio output header from the TV tuner card to the Aux-In header of the Xonar DS card. For optimum TV audio quality, Xonar DS uses ADC recording to digitize the signal and loops it back to DAC playback.
4. Installing software Installing the card driver Ensure that you have installed the audio card driver before installing the Xonar DS driver. Otherwise, driver installation error may occur. 1. 2. 3. After you have installed the Xonar DS card, turn on your computer. Windows® automatically detects the audio card and searches for device drivers. When prompted for the drivers, click Cancel. Insert the support CD into the optical drive. If Autorun is enabled in your system, the setup starts automatically.
5. Connecting speakers and peripherals 5.1 Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater) The Xonar DS supports DTS Interactive technologies, which transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard DTS surround bit-streams. This makes playback through your home theater system possible, creating an immersive and impressive cinema surround sound experience.
5.2 Connecting stereo headphones 5.2.1 Connecting Stereo Headphones Headphone Out 10 No Item Description 1 Front Out/Headphone Jack The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.
5.2.2 Connecting 5.1 channel Headphones 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connect the front-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.1 headphones into this jack. 2 Side Surround Out Connect the surround-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.1 headphone into this jack. 3 Center/Subwoofer Out Connect the Center/Bass-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.1 headphone into this jack.
5.3 Connecting Analog Speaker Systems 5.3.1 Connecting Analog Power Amplifier 1 2 3 4 12 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the “left front” and “right front” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the “left surround” and “right surround” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable.
5.3.2 Connecting 2/2.1 channel speakers 2 Speakers 1 2.1 Speakers 1 No Item Description 1 Front Out/Headphone Jack Connect the 2/2.1 speaker set’s 3.5mm plug into this Front Out jack.
5.3.3 Connecting 4/4.1 Channel Speakers 4 Speakers 1 2 4.1 Speakers 1 2 14 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 4/4.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 4/4.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.
5.3.4 Connecting 5.1 Channel Speakers 5.1 Speakers 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 3 Center/Subwoofer Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.. 5.3.5 Connecting 6.1/7.1 Channel Speakers 6.
7.1 Speakers 1 2 3 4 16 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 3 Center/Subwoofer Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 4 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.
5.4 Connecting microphone 1 1 2 1 Mic In 2 Headphone Out No Item Description 1 Microphone Input Jack Connect the microphone’s 3.5mm plug into this Mic-In jack for voice communication, recording, or karaoke. 2 Headphone Jack The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.
5.5 Connecting Line-In audio sources 1 18 Line In No Item Description 1 Line Input Jack Connect the 3.5mm plug of the CD/MP3 Player or any other Line level analog audio sources into this Line-In jack for sound recording or real-time Dolby sound processing through the Monitoring path (See the “Mixer” section of the driver guide).
6. Xonar Audio Center 6.1 Xonar Audio Center GUI 1. After the driver installation is complete and your computer has been rebooted, you will find the Xonar Audio Center’s icon in the system tray on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Double click this icon to open the Xonar Audio Center utility. If the icon could not be found in the system tray, launch the Xonar Audio Center from the Windows desktop by clicking Start > All Programs > ASUS Xonar DS Audio > Xonar DS Audio Center. 2.
20 No Item Description 1 Support link Clicking this button will lead you to the ASUS official website. 2 Display Area This display area shows the 10-band signal meter, volume level, and the status of the Dolby/DTS technologies, EQ, and DSP modes. Note: this area just displays information, but is not used to alter settings. 3 Setting Menu Panel This panel gives access to setting tabs, including Main Settings, Mixer/volume, Effects, Karaoke, FlexBass, and VocalFX.
6.2 Main Setting 6.2.1 Sample Rate The sample rate determines the number of audio samples per second that the Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC) and S/PDIF digital interface will output. The Xonar DS card can support sample rates up to 192KHz (44.1K, 48K, 96K, 192KHz). Usually audio CDs and MP3 files are 44.1KHz; DVD-Video uses 48KHz; DVD-Audio or other HD media may contain 96KHz or 192KHz high-definition audio content.
6.2.2 Analog Out mode 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Analog Out The Analog Out setting is used to match your actual speaker setting, such as headphones, 2 speakers (or 2.1), 4 speakers (or 4.1), 5.1 speakers, 7.1 speakers, Front Panel Headphone and Front Panel 2 speakers (or 2.1). Xonar DS will play the channels and do the proper 3D/DTS sound processing accordingly. Select the correct speaker type for your connected speakers.
6.2.3 SPDIF Out / DTS Interactive Xonar DS is capable of outputting DTS Interactive, which are real-time encoders that transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard DTS Digital bit-streams on-the-fly. This is ideal for playback through a home theater system, creating an immersive and impressive cinema surround sound experience. It enables a single digital connection to carry high quality DTS surround audio from your PC to digital speakers and AV Receivers.
6.2.4 Audio Channels (For Vista only) This setting only appears in Windows Vista. Vista will deliver the audio channels to the audio driver according to this setting, no matter what the original audio content is or how many channels they have. Therefore, you need to set this in accordance with your audio content before you play it. Please note that this setting is synchronized with Vista’s system speaker configuration and changing the setting during playback will cease the audio playback program.
6.2.5 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter The 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter has the following major features: • Expanding/upmixing audio to 7.1-channel surround sound • Shiftable virtual speaker positioning allows you to adjust the best sound field easily without moving physical speakers and wires • Virtualizing 7.1 surround sound over any set of speakers 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 No Item Description 1 Shifter enable/disable Click this check box to enable the 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter.
6.2.6 DTS Neo:PC DTS Neo:PC is a 7.1 surround upmixing technology and is widely used in home theater systems, TVs, game consoles, and car audio systems. It can expand stereo audio, such as MP3, CD, and TV programs into immersive 5.1 or 7.1-channel surround. 2 3 4 5 6 1 26 No Item Description 1 DTS Neo:PC enable/disable Click this check box to enable DTS Neo:PC. Clicking the text bar will switch the right window to the Pro-Logic IIx page for manual adjustments.
6.3 Mixer/Volume The mixer page is designed to control the volume for playback and recording on the Xonar DS. In addition, the Xonar DS also provides a high-quality digital monitoring function for hearing the recorded audio from the speakers. You can also process the input signals with all playback sound effects such as DTS technology. 6.3.1 Playback Volume 1 5 2 3 4 No Item Description 1 Playback volume tab Click this button to show the playback volume page.
6.3.2 Recording/Monitoring Volume 1 7 2 3 4 5 6 No Item Description 1 Recording Volume Tab Click this button to show the recording volume page. 2 Recording volume slider Drag this slider down to decrease the recording volume; drag up to increase the recording volume. The tool-tip reveals the percentage number from 1 to 100 in terms of the full scale level. 3 Recording Selector button Click this button to select the path/source you are going to record.
5 Monitoring button Click this button to monitor and loopback recording audio to outputs (PC speakers). Therefore, the recording volume will influence the monitoring signals from speaker outputs. The audio will be mixed into the streams you are playing out from your PC and all DSP effects will be applied to the source, too. A typical benefit is to apply DTS Neo:PC 7.1-ch spreading for your TV audio, CD, MP3, or stereo game console audio from Wii, Xbox, PS2/PS3/PSP, etc.
6.4 Effects 6.4.1 Environment Effects Environment effects can be used to create realistic listening experiences that mimic different environments. There are a total of 27 environment options, which can be applied to all 2D sound sources, like music. 3 1 2 30 No Item Description 1 Default environments These four buttons activate Bathroom, Concert hall, Underwater, and Music Pub environments, respectively.
6.4.2 10-Band Equalizer The equalizer can modify the audio output for different frequencies, and be used to compensate for deficiencies in your speakers/systems. There are 12 default patterns and you can also make your own settings. 1 3 2 4 5 6 No Item Description 1 Default equalizer options There are 12 available equalizer patterns. Click one to apply it.
6.5 Karaoke The Xonar DS provides powerful features for Karaoke, including Key-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo. Microphone Echo can generate natural echo effects on your singing voice just like a karaoke machine. Key-Shifting can change the pitch of Karaoke background music, and Vocal Cancellation can reduce the original vocal in songs and keep the music and symphony for karaoke.
The following message appears when Mic Echo is selected: This message implies that the recording device will be set according to your requirement. With Mic, you will only record audio source from microphone with echo effects; but you are able to record all audio sources from Wave, Aux, and Mic with microphone echo effect. Click OK to accept it or Cancel if you want to enable it later. Checking Don’t remind me again and this message will not show up again.
6.6 FlexBass FlexBass, an advanced bass management and enhancement mechanism, allows you to select each satellite speaker’s type for optimal sound performance from the speakers. (Small: common speaker that cannot produce low frequencies; Large: wide-band speakers that can produce low frequencies well). It comes with an adjustable crossover frequency for the boundary of the bass signals.
4 LFE Crossover Frequency Adjusts the cut-off frequency (50~250Hz) for LFE (lowfrequency effects) signals. Xonar DS will filter out the bass signals below the crossover frequency from small speaker channels and forward them to the subwoofer. The higher the crossover frequency, the more bass signals will be subtracted.
6.7 Smart Volume Normalization Smart Volume NormalizationTM (SVN) automatically keeps all music or video/TV audio output at a constant level to reduce manual adjustment hassles inherent with sound sources of different loudness. It allows you to listen to various content, like MP3, TV program, DVD video and even games with consistent sound level. The following graph shows how different signals 1 & 2 will become the same level (for example, 10dB below full scale) after you turn on SVN.
3 2 1 No Item Description 1 SVN On/Off Click this button to enable SVN. This button is outlined blue when active. 2 SVN blue light When SVN is enabled, the master volume knob will be illuminated by a blue light. It will be lit red if the volume is muted. 3 SVN display When SVN is enabled, “Smart Volume” will be lit up at the bottom of the volume meter and the volume meter will show the level.
6.8 DS3D GX and DSP Modes Xonar DS is introducing an innovative technology –DirectSound 3D Game Extensions v2.5 (DS3D GX 2.5)- to restore DirectSound 3D Hardware acceleration mode and its subsidiary EAX effects on Windows Vista for 3D games. Unlike some proprietary API like OpenAL, DS3D GX doesn’t require games to support OpenAL API. All existing games compatible with Microsoft DirectX and DirectSound 2D/3D will be supported with DS3D GX technology.
1 2 No Item Description 1 GX Mode DirectSound 3D Game Extensions mode to support EAX and DirectSound 3D Hardware extensions for lots of DirectX/ DirectSound3D games on Windows Vista and XP. 2 Hi-Fi Mode This mode is set for Hi-Fidelity playback, where all effects will be cleared to keep the original digital data and analog output quality as high as possible.
6.9 VocalFX VocalFX is an innovative voice processing technology to let your voice get into the realistic game landscape (VoiceEX) or to emulate the background scenes in online chat (ChatEX). It also allows you to change your voice pitch to disguise who you are (Magic Voice). These features dramatically increase the fun for voice communication on PC. 3 4 5 1 2 No Item Description 1 VoiceEX It produces realistic and dynamic environmental reverberation for your voice in 3D gaming communication.
For 3D Games 1. 2. Check the check box of VoiceEX and Local VoiceEX. Make sure you and your team member can talk to each other in the game. For VOIP 1. Press App List 2. If you don’t see the VOIP application of yours in the list, press Add.(Make sure the Skype and MSN Messenger are the latest version) 3. Look for the application’s location and Open it.
4. Your VOIP application has been added into list. 5. Check the check box of ChatEX and Magic Voice. 6. You can use ChatEX and Magic Voice when you chat online. Click the checkbox to enable VocalFX function, then a prompt message will pop up: This message implies the record device will be set to microphone. Make sure the GX function is enabled. Click “OK” to accept it, or “Cancel” if you want to enable it later. Check “Don’t remind me again” if you don’t want to see this message pop up next time.
7. Troubleshooting and FAQs [Troubleshooting] The audio card driver could not be installed on my PC. Instructions: 1. 2. 3. 4. Make sure that you have properly plugged the audio card in the PCI slot on your motherboard. Check that the Windows hardware device manager has discovered a multimedia audio device. If no device is found, please try scanning for new hardware. Try soft reboot (restart) your Windows. Remove the card, plug it into another PCI slot, and try again.
4. 5. 6. If you are using DTS encoder through the S/PDIF output, the analog output will be muted to get rid of the interference between your digital speaker system and analog speakers or headphones. Check if this is the case. Go to the sound and audio device of Windows Control Panel to check if the playback default device is set to Xonar DS Audio Device, instead of other onboard AC97 or HDA codec device. If it’s not, please set it to Xonar DS Audio Device and restart your applications.
[FAQ] Q1: Does the Xonar DS support Windows Vista? Answer: Yes, the Xonar DS driver package does support Windows Vista 32/64 bit and most key features are available. In addition, Xonar DS supports unique DS3D GX on Windows Vista, which can recover DirectSound 3D hardware and EAX gaming sound effects on Vista for a lot of existing DirectX games.
Q6: What is the most important benefit of the Xonar DS for musicians? Answer: 1. 2. 3. Ultimate Fidelity: Xonar DS has the highest quality of audio in/out for the cleanest sound production. Duplex HD: Supports audio sampling rates up to 24bit/192KHz for outputs and 24bit/96KHz for inputs. ASIO 2.0: Xonar DS includes an ASIO 2.0 driver for low-latency, lowdistortion music creation application.
Q9: Why do I found no sound effects when playing 96K or 192KHz sound sources. Answer: Currently Xonar DS effects including DTS support common 44.1K, 48KHz sound sources processing and will assure high-definition audio (96K/192KHz) in hi-fidelity playback. This is also usually the behavior that professional audiophiles and musicians prefer. If you still want to have the effects, you can use some editing software (Ableton Live, Cakewalk, CoolEdit, Soundforge, etc.) to convert the sounds into 48KHz files.
48 ASUS Xonar DS
