ASUS External USB Audio Station Xonar U1 User Manual

Xonar U1

External USB Audio Station

User’s manual

E3348

First Edition V1 September 2007

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, modified or altered, unless such repair, modification 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 identification or explanation and to the owners’ benefit, without intent to infringe.

iii

Contents

Contents ...................................................................................................... iii

Notices .......................................................................................................... v

Safety information ...................................................................................... vi

Trademarks .................................................................................................. vi

License ........................................................................................................ vi

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

1.1 Package Contents .............................................................. 1

1.2 System Requirements ........................................................ 1

1.3 Specifications summary ..................................................... 2

2. About Hardware .............................................................................. 4

2.1 Xonar U1 Audio Station ...................................................... 4

3. Installing the Xonar Hardware ....................................................... 5

3.1 Installing Xonar U1 ...................................................................... 5

4. Installing Software .......................................................................... 6

4.1 Installing the Audio Station Driver ...................................... 6

4.2 Installing the PMP Lite software

(Portable Music Processor™ Lite) ..................................... 7

4.3 Uninstalling or Reinstalling Software ................................. 7

5. Connecting Speakers and Peripherals ......................................... 9

5.1 Connecting Digital Speaker Systems (Home Theater) ...... 9

5.2 Connecting Headphones ................................................. 10

5.3 Connecting Microphone ....................................................11

5.4 Connecting Line-In Audio Sources ....................................11

6. Xonar U1 Driver Guide .................................................................. 12

6.1 Introduction to the Xonar U1 Audio Center GUI ........................ 12

6.2 Main Setting ..................................................................... 14

6.3 Mixer/Volume ................................................................... 22

6.4 Effects .............................................................................. 25

6.5 Karaoke/Magic Voice ....................................................... 27

6.6 Mic Array .......................................................................... 28

6.7 Smart Volume Normalization ........................................... 29

6.8 DSP Modes ...................................................................... 31

Contents

7. Portable Music Processor™ Lite Software Guide ...................... 32

7.1 Introduction ...................................................................... 32

7.2 Converting music in “Main Setting” Page ......................... 34

7.3 Find Converted Music in “PMP Music” Page ................... 36

8. Troubleshooting and FAQs .......................................................... 37

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.

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

Safety information

•

Before installing the device on a motherboard, carefully read all the manuals that came with the package.

•

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. 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 qualified service technician or your retailer.

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.

ASUS Xonar U1

1. Introduction

1.1 Package Contents

• Xonar™ U1 Audio USB dongle

• Driver Support CD (including Portable Music Processor™ Lite utility)

• S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adaptor *1

• Array Microphone *1

• Dolby Demo CD

• Quick Start Guide

1.2 System Requirements

• IBM compatible PC with one USB1.1 (or higher) compatible port for the USB audio device

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

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

• > 256 MB 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 decoder, to enjoy the Ultra-High Fidelity sounds of the USB audio device

ASUS Xonar U1

1.3 Specications summary

Category Item

Description

Audio Controller and Codec

Audio Chipset

ASUS UA100 USB Audio Chip

Bus Interface

USB Bus

USB 2.0 and 1.0 Full-speed compatible

USB Audio Class USB Audio Device Class v1.0 compatible

I/O Ports

Analog Output Jack & Digital S/PDIF Output Combo

3.50mm mini analog and digital combo jack *1 (Headphone/Speakers/SPDIF output)

Built-in Headphone Amplifier

To drive best listening quality with common stereo headphones (recommended 8~150 ohms @ >10mWx2)

THD+N< 0.005% @ 47mW x2/ 32ohms

THD+N< 0.006% @ 88mW x2/16ohms

96dB SNR

>1.1Vrms full-scale output voltage for >8 ohms load

Frequency Response (-3dB/48KHz): 20~20KHz for 32ohms

Analog Input Jack:

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

Outlook Features

Volume Knob

Metal and consumer typed rotary volume knob

Hot Buttons

Mute (short push) and Hi-Fi mode (long push) switch by pushing volume knob

LED indicator

Red (for mute) and blue (for Hi-Fi mode) LED

Driver Features

Operation System

Windows® Vista/XP(32/64bit)

Dolby® Technologies

Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Virtual Speaker, Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx, Dolby® Digital Live

Smart Volume Normalizer™

Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level

Xear 3D™ Virtual Speaker Shifter

Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning

Magic Voice™

Modifies the sound of your voice, for VOIP and online chat applications (Windows XP)

Karaoke Functions

Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects (Windows XP)

Array Microphone Suppress the ambient sounds and noises into

the microphones for up-to-15dB and delivers only your front-side (+-60dB degree) clean voice for better online communication/gaming experience. It can also enhance the accuracy of voice recognition applications.

Other Effects

10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects

3D Sound Engines/APIs

EAX® 2.0&1.0, A3D® 1.0, DirectSound® HW & SW, OpenAL generic modes

S/PDIF Digital Output

PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS 5.1 Surround

(Continued on the next page)

ASUS Xonar U1

*Specications are subject to change without notice.

Software Utility

Portable Music Processor Lite Converts digital music content or CD audio into

regular MP3/WMA files with Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker (w/ Pro-Logic II), and Smart Volume Normalization processing (Windows Media Player 10 or above is required)

Audio Performance

Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (silence, A-Weighted):

100dB

Output Dynamic Range (-60dB, A-Weighted):

96dB

Cross-talk (10Kohms, 1KHz) -104dB

Frequency Response (-1dB, 48KHz):

< 20Hz to 20KHz

Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage

1.2 Vrms / 1.1 Vrms

Accessories

-S/PDIF optical adaptor *1

-2-channel vertical Array Microphone

ASUS Xonar U1

2. About Hardware

2.1 Xonar U1 Audio Station

No Item Description

1 Microphone Jack

Connect your external PC microphone to this 3.5mm jack for voice input. Built-in high-quality Microphone pre-amplifier.

Line Input Jack

Connect analog devices like MP3 players, CD players, music synthesizers and other line-level sound sources to this

3.5mm jack for audio recording or processing.

2 Headphone/Front

Output Jack

Connect your headphones or 2/2.1 channel speakers to this jack. For multi-channel speaker systems, connects to the front left/right input on the powered speakers.

S/PDIF Output

Coaxial and optical TOSLINK combo digital output jack. Connects to external digital decoder or digital speaker systems, Home Theater systems, AV receivers for outputting digital audio including PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA-Pro, etc.

3 Volume Knob

Rotate this knob to adjust the volume

Hot Button

Short push this knob to mute the music, and long push to turn to the Hi-Fi mode.

4 LED indicator

Red --> mute; blue --> Hi-Fi mode

ASUS Xonar U1

3. Installing the Xonar Hardware

3.1 Installing Xonar U1

Connect the USB connector to any USB 2.0 port on your notebook or PC as the following drawing shows.

ASUS Xonar U1

4. Installing Software

4.1 Installing the Audio Station Driver

1. After you have installed your audio station, turn on your computer. Windows automatically detects your audio station and searches for device drivers. When prompted for the audio drivers, click the “Cancel” button.

2. Insert the driver installation CD into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. If Windows AutoPlay mode is enabled for your CD-ROM drive, the CD starts running automatically. If it doesn’t start the installation, double-click the setup. exe icon located on the CD-ROM.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation. Please read the “END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT” in the process and make sure you understand and accept it before you continue the installation. When the installation finishes, you may be prompted to restart your computer. You can choose to restart the computer later if desired.

ASUS Xonar U1

4.2 Installing the PMP Lite software (Portable Music Processor™ Lite)

1. From the installation CD menu, select the option to install the PMP Lite software.

2. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation. After the installation is complete, click Finish.

4.3 Uninstalling or Reinstalling Software

4.3.1 Uninstalling Software

1. Select the corresponding uninstallation program, under the “All Programs” section of the Start menu. Otherwise, you’ll need to use the Windows control panel for uninstallation as follows.

ASUS Xonar U1

2. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.

3. Double-click the “Add/Remove Programs” icon.

4. Click the “Change or Remove Programs” button.

5. Select each program you would like to remove, and then click the “Add/ Remove (or Change/Remove)” button.

6. In the InstallShield Wizard dialog box, select the “Remove” option.

7. Restart your computer when prompted.

4.3.2 Reinstalling Software

1. Before you reinstall any software, it’s recommended to uninstall the existing software first.

2. After you finish the uninstallation of the software, please follow the installation process again to reinstall the same or updated software.

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