Installation:

Software installation is straightforward and after installing the drivers and plugging the Xonar U1 into a USB port, everything was ready to go without a reset. Once installed, the software places a tray icon and through here all functions can be accessed. Opening it up, you'll see three main sections: The top shows the status, including a spectrum analyzer, output options/modes and the volume. The bottom section controls the output options and effects and the rightmost section controls the volume and DSP modes.

Installation.

Main interface.

Output options.

The first section allows you to select what output you are using. For the stereo analog out, you can either select speakers or headphones - selecting headphones slightly changes the output to optimize it for that environment. Additionally, here you can select if you're using S/PDIF output through the optical out as well. You can also configure the various Dolby technologies such as Dolby Headphone/Virtual Speaker or Pro Logic IIx that upmix stereo into 5.1 or 7.1 output. These options alter an existing sound stream to simulate having additional surround channels.

In the volume control panel there are also four DSP modes - Movie, Music, Game and Hi-Fi. The first three basically enable Dolby Headphone/Virtual Speaker effects and then apply processing to the output stream to alter the sound. As suggested by their names, each one is tailored for a specific application - for example, the Game DSP mode tends to emphasize the bass more, but this is just one part of it and it isn't just limited to equalizer settings. Using the "Hi-Fi" mode basically disables the DSP so that audio stream isn't altered at all - audio purists will prefer this option when listening to music. If set to anything other than Hi-Fi, the LED on the Xonar slowly oscillates between blue and off so that it's not really blinking - that would be annoying.

Channel mixer.

Equalizer and effects.

A standard channel mixer is also included, which basically offers the same functionality as the standard Windows control panel. Next is an equalizer. Besides offering a few built-in options, you can also set the equalizer to a user-defined setting. However, making any equalizer changes will disable the current DSP mode.

Karaoke.

Array mic.

Finally, there are some Karaoke settings in case you like signing along to your music. This allows the Xonar to (somewhat) remove the voices from any output stream. (I believe this works on the principal that most music tracks usually have the voice equally distributed in both the left and right channels) However this process does put significant distortion into the sound and so may not be that useful. The last panel is for enabling the array microphone setting; you'll want to use this with the included array microphone but not for a headset mic.

Testing:

I tested the Xonar U1 Audio Station and its software under Windows XP SP2. During testing, I had no driver issues or instability of any kind and the software worked fine. Having the Xonar as an external unit was very nice - just having the physical volume control and mute functions at your fingertips is much more natural than having to adjust something with a mouse or keyboard. I tested the Xonar with both a Sennheiser PC150 headset and a Logitech Z-5500 speaker system.

Listening to music was very enjoyable on the Xonar. In particular, the Music DSP setting was great at improving the quality of some tracks, especially those on live albums. Headphones worked best for this situation. However, on some studio tracks I found that the music setting didn't really improve the experience. This may depend on your tastes, but some tracks just didn't convert well to a 5.1 stream. You can adjust the "simulated" room size when using the Dolby Headphones setting, and I found that the reference and middle-sized rooms were best, as the larger room tended to distort the sound too much. With movies, the ability to output 5.1 channel audio really made a difference. If you only have stereo output on your laptop, this alone is worth the improvement in listening experience. Additionally, listening to the simulated 5.1 audio on headphones was also an improvement from just a stereo option. Positional audio really does come alive with the Xonar.

Gaming provided a decent experience as well. To be honest, I couldn't find that much of a difference between having the Game DSP mode on and having it off, but audio was nonetheless accurately reproduced from the Xonar. With the support for hardware sound, the improvement in sound (especially in FPS games) was noticeable and needed.

Conclusion:

The Xonar U1 USB Audio Station ended up surprising me. Since all laptops come with built-in sound solutions, you might wonder about the need for an external unit like the Xonar, like I did. However, the Xonar has the advantage of offering an optical S/PDIF output that allows for full 5.1 digital output - this is its biggest strength and weakness. In order to take full advantage of the Xonar's abilities, you'll need a system or decoder than can accept this as an input - most lower-priced 5.1 speaker systems will not fully work with the Xonar.

Other than that, the Xonar is a sleek and professional solution from Asus. It's easy to use, easy to setup and doesn't look like a weird gadget. Recommended if you must have 5.1 audio in a portable setup. Many thanks to ASUS for making this review possible.

Pros:

• Offers 5.1 digital output

• Sleek-looking and with easy-to-operate controls for volume/mute

• Dolby technologies for up-mixing to 5.1/7.1 and for headphones surround-sound simulation

• Easy to install/setup

Cons:

• Must have system capable of 5.1 optical input (TOSLINK)

• USB cord is short

 

<< Intro & Specs | VH Main Page >>