ASUS Xonar team is launching world’s first ROG gaming soundcard set, Xonar Phoebus , named after the Greek God of Sun and Music, brings to you exclusive noise reduction ROG command technology for seamless communication, hassle-free user experience with brand new Xonar audio center and gamer-focused control box for easy control and command. With decades of experience in perfecting hyper-grounding technology and leveraging top-notch components, Xonar promises to deliver premium audio quality through 118dB SNR for gamers to command their way to victory!
$ 195.99
The New King of Audio Cards?,
I purchased this on pre-order and received my shipment pretty much day one.
The products is similar in configuration to the ASUS Xonar STX, but less blingy with a dark finish. Two things distinguish this from previous ASUS cards – the new C-Media processor and the headphone/microphone box.
Gamers may wish not to read further – I am a computer enthusiast and audiophile, not a gamer. I bought this because I have a ROG motherboard (990 chipset) and because I already have the HT Omega Claro XT, ASUS Xonar and M-Audio 2496 in other configurations and wanted something new for my primary rig.
I have used the card with three types of transducer, my M-Audio BX-5 speakers, Grado 325 headphones, and Monster Turbine in-ear monitors. It is a little overpowering for the in-ear units. The performance with the speakers is quite good – comparable to the other high end sound cards, but where this unit shines is in headphone performance and convenience. The amp has the power to drive high impedance cans, and offers good detail across the different types of music. I listened primarily to jazz and rock.
Due to the location of my computer in my office, I find the desktop control unit to be much more convenient than plugging headphones or a microphone directly into the sound card.
I am aware that some other users have had issues with this card and BF3 but that does not affect me. Presumably a driver fix is in the works, I already have gone through one upgrade.
System Equipment
Grado SR 325
Monster Turbine Pro in-ear speakers
M-Audio BX-5 speakers
AMD FX-8150 CPU
Asus Crosshair V 990 MB
XFX 6950 Video Card
Kingston Hyper X SSD
Seagate Barracuda XT HDD
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-850W
Lian Li 2120X
Associated Equipment for Review/Comparison
HT Omega Claro Halo XT
Asus Xonar STX PCI
M-Audio 2496
Ray Samuels Audio Predator
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|It’s the simple things,
Bought it, to power a 7.1 Razer Tiamat.
Didn’t like the Tiamat.
So figured why am I spending $200 on a soundcard I’ll never use.
No fault of the card, it worked well enough.
Although, one glaring thing that the engineers at ASUS missed is color coding the ports in the card.
Only the mic and headphone outs have a pretty cool light.
The others are plain gold, and for novices it’s a huge hassle when the entire planet seems comfortable with color coding.
Seems like something so simple, but in their rush to gold plate everything they neglected an often helpful tool and guide for plugging in advanced headsets.
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|Great hardware but drivers need some work,
First of all, use the beta drivers and not the ones on the CD. I had to knock 1 star off because of the current driver status. The beta drivers seem to correct many of the previous issues with certain games and settings.
The card has a lot of custom settings and it has great sound(depending on your speakers of coarse). The card looks good, easy to setup, and does fine in W7 64bit. I am still playing around with the settings to customize my sound based on what I am doing. This card gives you all the tools to do just that.
I am sure the driver issue will be resolved soon. It’s no excuse for Asus, but sometimes new product do have driver bugs. If you are cautious about the drivers, then I would suggest waiting to buy this card. As for me, as a long time Asus user I have never had any issues with Asus not standing behind their products.
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