ASUS Xonar U7 USB Sound Card and Amp Review

Software: Xonar U7 Audio Center

The Xonar U7 sound card software package consists of two different control panels Xonar U7 Audio Center and Dolby Home Theater V4. They are covered on different pages in this review and this page will focus mostly on Xonar U7 Audio Center.

A driver CD is included, though we had problems accessing the control panel settings with the included Version 7.0.11.17. Downloading and updating to the latest Version 7.0.11.19 from ASUSs global site resolved that issue.

Upon starting Xonar U7 Audio Center, a popup cues instructions on how to modify the inputs and outputs as well as their settings. Clicking the checkboxes on the icons on the left will activate that input or output and submenus are accessed by right-clicking the icon on the left.

The menu layout puts a setting summary at the top, volume control at the top left, submenu access to the left, and the active submenu in the center. The displayed submenu is headphone L/R volume.

These are all the submenus for all the inputs and outputs. They are accessed by right clicking an icon.

Headphone Settings permit changes to the amplifier output. Higher gains will make headphone playback louder and is intended for use with headphones with high amounts of resistance or impedance. In the center of this submenu is a drawing of a headphone with a play button. Clicking the play button will test the left and right channels and give an opportunity to test volume.

Environmental Effects modify headphone playback to give simulated room effects such as a concert hall or padded cell. Not the most interesting feature if you are into a purer sound.

Xear SingFX is one of the CMedias advanced codecs that changes the pitch on headphone playback.

Xear Surround Headphone has a checkbox to activate Cmedia Xear Surround which will deactivate Dolby Home Theater V4 if turned on. Conversely, turning on Dolby Home Theater V4 will disable Cmedia Xear Surround. Cmedia Xear Surround is a virtual 5.1/7.1 home theater codec for headphones that includes options to simulate speaker distance.

Xear Surround Max can be enabled is Xear Surround Headphone is also enabled.

Dolby Home Theater V4 can be launched from within Xonar U7 Audio Center.

The ASIO button in the top left corner opens a popup window for ASIO settings (Audio Stream Input/Output) that allows changes to bit depth and latency.

Advanced Settings are ironically quite basic, allowing changes to whether the tray icon is displayed, the transparency of the Xonar U7 Audio Center interface, language, and disabling the tip that appears at start up.

If you so desire, this is what transparency can look like.