Asus E7809 User Manual

Xonar DS

Audio card

User manual

E7809

Revised Edition V2 October 2012

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”).

Product warranty or service will not be extended if: (1) the product is repaired, modied or altered, unless such repair, modication of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS; or (2) the serial number of the

product is defaced or missing.

ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ASUS, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS AND THE LIKE), EVEN IF ASUS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT.

SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL ARE FURNISHED FOR INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY, AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ASUS. ASUS ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS MANUAL, INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT.

Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or

copyrights of their respective companies, and are used only for identication or explanation and to the owners’ benet, without intent to infringe.

Contents

Notices ......................................................................................................... iv

Safety information ....................................................................................... v

Trademarks ................................................................................................... v

License ......................................................................................................... v

1. Introduction .....................................................................................

1.1 Package contents ..............................................................

1.2 System requirements .........................................................

1.3

2. Xonar DS card layout ......................................................................

3. Installing the hardware ...................................................................

3.1 Installing the audio card .....................................................

3.2 Connecting to a TV tuner card ...........................................

4. Installing software ...........................................................................

Installing the card driver .................................................................... 8

5. Connecting speakers and peripherals ..........................................

5.1 Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater) ........

5.2 Connecting stereo headphones .......................................

5.3 Connecting Analog Speaker Systems ..............................

5.4 Connecting microphone ...................................................

5.5 Connecting Line-In audio sources ...................................

6. Xonar Audio Center

6.1 Xonar Audio Center GUI ..................................................

6.2 Main Setting .....................................................................

6.3 Mixer/Volume ...................................................................

6.4 Effects ..............................................................................

6.5 Karaoke ............................................................................

6.6 FlexBass ..........................................................................

6.7 Smart Volume Normalization ...........................................

6.8 DS3D GX and DSP Modes ..............................................

6.9 VocalFX ............................................................................

7. Troubleshooting and FAQs ..........................................................

[Troubleshooting] ............................................................................ 43

[FAQ] .........................................................................................

Specications summary ..................................................... 2

....................................................................... 19

iii

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. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

•

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

•

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

•

Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

•

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Canadian Department of Communications Statement

This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

This class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.

Australia statement notice

From 1 January 2012 updated warranties apply to all ASUS products, consistent with the Australian Consumer Law. For the latest product warranty details please visit http://support.asus.com. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.

If you require assistance please call ASUS Customer Service 1300 2787 88 or visit us at http://support.asus.com.

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 x it by yourself. Contact a qualied service

technician or your retailer.

•

Before using the product, make sure all cables are correctly connected. If you detect any damage, contact your dealer immediately.

•

To avoid short circuits, keep paper clips, screws, and staples away from connectors, sockets and circuitry.

•

Avoid dust, humidity, and temperature extremes. Do not place the product in any area where it may become wet.

•

Place the product on a stable surface.

•

If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualied

service technician or your retailer.

This symbol of the crossed out wheeled bin indicates that the product (electrical and electronic equipment) should not be placed in municipal waste. Check local regulations for disposal of electronic products.

Trademarks

Xonar and ASUS logo are trademarks of ASUSTek Computer Inc. “Dolby” and “Dolby Digital Live”, “Dolby Pro Logic IIx”, “Dolby Virtual Speaker”, “Dolby Headphone” are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. EAX and A3D are trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. Microsoft, DirectSound3D, Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. ASIO is a trademark and software of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH

License

Dolby Master Studio driver is manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories.

1. Introduction

1.1 Package contents

• ASUS Xonar DS PCI audio card

• S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adapter x1

• Low Prole Bracket x1

• Support CD

• Quick Start Guide

1.2 System requirements

• One PCI 2.2 (or higher) compatible slot for the audio card

• Microsoft

• Intel

• 256 MB (or above) DRAM system memory

• 60 MB available HDD space for driver installation package

• CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive ) for software installation

• High-quality headphones, powered analog speakers, or a Dolby Digital or DTS

decoder, to enjoy the ultra-high delity sound of the card

Windows® Vista (32/64bit) / XP (32/64bit) / MCE2005

Pentium® 4 1.4 GHz or AMD® Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU

ASUS Xonar DS

1.3 Specications 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 1kHz (A-Weighted) :

Up to 0.0017% (-95dB)

Input Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz

(A-Weighted) :

Up to 0.0017% (-95dB)

Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ):

<10Hz to 48kHz

Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage

1 Vrms (3Vp-p)

Sample Rate Conversion Quality

Almost lossless, high-fidelity floating-point filters, with:

-140dB THD+N (typical value for 44.1K->48KHz, 24bit) 145dB Dynamic Range (typical value for 44.1K->48KHz, 24bit)

Bus Compatibility

PCI

PCI v2.2 or above bus compatible

Main Chipset

Audio Processor

ASUS AV66 High-Performance Sound Processor (Max. 192KHz/ 24bit)

D-A Converter of Digital Sources:

Wolfson WM8776* 1 (108dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)

Wolfson WM8766*1 (103dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)

A-D Converter for Analog Inputs:

Wolfson WM8776* 1 (102dB SNR, Max. 96kHz/24bit)

Sample Rate and Resolution

Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution

44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit for all channels

Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution

44.1K/48K/96KHz @ 16/24bit

S/PDIF Digital Output

44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMAPro

ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:

44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit

I/O Ports

Analog Output Jack:

3.50mm mini jack *4 (Front/Side/Center-Subwoofer/Back)

Analog Input Jack:

3.50mm mini jack *1 (Line-In/Mic-In)

Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner):

Aux-In (4-pin header on the card)

Digital S/PDIF Output

High-bandwidth Optical Connector supports 192KHz/24bit (shared with Back surround output jack)

-additional SPDIF-out header for HDMI audio output

Front-Panel Audio Header

Intel HDA front-panel compatible and supports HP jack-detection and automatically switch audio output from back-panel to front

Driver Features

Operation System

Windows Vista/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005

DTS Technologies

DTS Connect (DTS Interactive Encoder and DTS Neo:PC) for both XP and Vista

-DTS Interactive encodes any 3D gaming audio into true-to-live

5.1 DTS Digital Surround sound experience

-DTS Neo:PC could expand any stereo music to 7.1 surround sounds

DirectSound3D Game EXtensions 2.5 (DS3D GX

2.5)/DirectX

DS3D GX 2.5.0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions on Windows Vista. (DirectX/DirectSound 3D compatible)

Smart Volume Normalizer

Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming

VocalFX

The latest vocal effect technologies for gaming and VoIP, 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

Karaoke Functions

Music Pitch-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo effects with Stereo Mix recording (Wave and Mic-in) for online Karaoke or online DJ applications

AV200

(continued on the next page)

ASUS Xonar DS

*Specications are subject to change without notice.

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 1kHz (A-Weighted) :

Up to 0.0017% (-95dB)

Input Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz

(A-Weighted) :

Up to 0.0017% (-95dB)

Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ):

<10Hz to 48kHz

Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage

1 Vrms (3Vp-p)

Sample Rate Conversion Quality

Almost lossless, high-fidelity floating-point filters, with:

-140dB THD+N (typical value for 44.1K->48KHz, 24bit)

145dB Dynamic Range (typical value for 44.1K->48KHz, 24bit)

Bus Compatibility

PCI

PCI v2.2 or above bus compatible

Main Chipset

Audio Processor

ASUS AV66 High-Performance Sound Processor (Max. 192KHz/ 24bit)

D-A Converter of Digital Sources:

Wolfson WM8776* 1 (108dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)

Wolfson WM8766*1 (103dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)

A-D Converter for Analog Inputs:

Wolfson WM8776* 1 (102dB SNR, Max. 96kHz/24bit)

Sample Rate and Resolution

Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution

44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit for all channels

Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution

44.1K/48K/96KHz @ 16/24bit

S/PDIF Digital Output

44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA-

Pro

ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:

44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit

I/O Ports

Analog Output Jack:

3.50mm mini jack *4 (Front/Side/Center-Subwoofer/Back)

Analog Input Jack:

3.50mm mini jack *1 (Line-In/Mic-In)

Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner):

Aux-In (4-pin header on the card)

Digital S/PDIF Output

High-bandwidth Optical Connector supports 192KHz/24bit (shared with Back surround output jack)

-additional SPDIF-out header for HDMI audio output

Front-Panel Audio Header

Intel HDA front-panel compatible and supports HP jack-detection and automatically switch audio output from back-panel to front

Driver Features

Operation System

Windows Vista/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005

DTS Technologies

DTS Connect (DTS Interactive Encoder and DTS Neo:PC) for both XP and Vista

-DTS Interactive encodes any 3D gaming audio into true-to-live

5.1 DTS Digital Surround sound experience

-DTS Neo:PC could expand any stereo music to 7.1 surround

sounds

DirectSound3D Game EXtensions 2.5 (DS3D GX

2.5)/DirectX

DS3D GX 2.5.0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions on Windows Vista. (DirectX/DirectSound 3D compatible)

Smart Volume Normalizer

Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming

VocalFX

The latest vocal effect technologies for gaming and VoIP, 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

Karaoke Functions

Music Pitch-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo effects with Stereo Mix recording (Wave and Mic-in) for online Karaoke or online DJ applications

FlexBass

Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system

Xear 3DTM Virtual Speaker Shifter

Adjustable virtual 7.1-speaker positioning

Other Effects

10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects

3D Gaming Sound Engines/APIs

Vista: DirectSound3D GX 2.5, EAX2.0&1.0, DirectSound



HW, DirectSound SW, A3D1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability

XP: DirectSound3D GX 2.5, EAX2.0&1.0, DirectSound



HW, DirectSound SW, A3D1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability

Bundled Software

RMAA 6.0.6

RightMark Audio Analyzer utility for easily test the audio quality of your sound card in PC

Accessories

-Low-profile bracket

-S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adaptor

ASUS Xonar DS

2. Xonar DS card layout

Audio ports

ASUS Xonar DS

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-amplier.

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 delity 102dB SNR A-D converter)

2 Headphone/Front

Out port

Connect your headphones or 2/2.1 channel speakers to this

3.5mm port. For multi-channel speaker systems, connects to the front left/right input on the powered speakers.

3 Side Surround Out

port

4 Center/Subwoofer

Out port

5 Rear/back Surround

Out port

5 S/PDIF Out port

Connects to the surround channel input on 4/4.1/5.1/6.1/7.1 powered analog speakers.

Connects to the center/subwoofer input on 5.1/6.1/7.1 powered analog speakers.

Connects to the Back Surround input on 6.1/7.1 powered analog speakers.

Optical TOSLINK digital output port. Connects to external digital decoder or digital speaker systems, Home Theater systems, AV receivers for outputting digital audio including PCM, DTS Digital, DTS, WMA-Pro, etc.

6 Front panel audio

header

Intel HDA front-panel compatible and supports HP jackdetection and automatically switch audio output from the back panel to the front panel. Supports both front-panel and sound card mic input mixing

7 Aux Input Header

Usually connects to the Analog Audio output of TV tuner card or other sound source inside your PC system. (To monitor your TV tuner card’s audio from this Aux-In, you must enable the “monitor” function for Aux-In in the Xonar DS Audio Center‘s recording mixer.)

8 S/PDIF Out header

Connects to the graphics card with HDMI support.

ASUS Xonar DS

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. Power OFF the computer, the monitor, and all other peripheral devices connected to your computer.

2. Unplug the computer power cord from your computer and power outlet.

3. Touch the metal back or side panel of the computer to avoid static electricity.

4. Remove the chassis cover.

5. Remove the metal bracket from an available PCI slot for the Xonar DS audio card.

6. Carefully insert the audio card into the PCI slot. Ensure the audio card sits properly in place.

7. Secure the audio card with screws and the metal bracket.

8. Put back the chassis cover.

9. Reconnect all cables.

10. Plug the power cord to the computer and to a power outlet.

11. Power ON the computer.

ASUS Xonar DS

3.2 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.

2. Secure the PCI/PCI TV tuner card and screw it into the back-panel.

3. 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. Select Aux-In as the recording source in the Xonar DS Center’s recording mixer and enable the monitoring button to pass this signal to the audio output. Using this setup, you can even turn on sound effects such as Pro-Logic IIx to expand the stereo TV audio to 5.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound. TV audio on your PC will become even better than on your TV set.

ASUS Xonar DS

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. 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.

2. Insert the support CD into the optical drive. If Autorun is enabled in your system, the setup starts automatically. If not, run setup.exe from your support CD.

3. Follow the onscreen instructions to nish the installation.

The version and content of the support CD are subject to change without notice.

ASUS Xonar DS

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. A single digital cable connection can carry high-quality DTS digital audio from any of your PC audio sources to any digital speakers or AV Receivers with DTS 5.1 decoding capabilities.

SPDIF Out

No Item Description

1 Optical adapter

2 Optical cable

You can also use a coaxial cable for a S/PDIF connection. Just plug the coaxial RCA male connector to the S/PDIF-Out combo jack and connect the other end into the coaxial S/PDIF input on your decoder.

Plug the optical TOSLINK adapter into the S/PDIF-Out combo connector.

Connect your decoder’s S/PDIF-In port to the optical adapter with the TOSLINK optical cable.

ASUS Xonar DS

5.2 Connecting stereo headphones

5.2.1 Connecting Stereo Headphones

Headphone Out

No Item Description

1 Front Out/Headphone

Jack

The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplier to

drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.

ASUS Xonar DS

5.2.2 Connecting 5.1 channel Headphones

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.

ASUS Xonar DS

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