ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus 7.1 Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅13-12-12
Features & Specifications
Specifications

Audio Performance
Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted) (Front-out): 118 dB
Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted) (Headphone-out): 110 dB
Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 118 dB
Output THD+N at 1kHz (Front-out): 0.00039 %(-108 dB)
Output THD+N at 1kHz (Headphone-out): 0.001 %(300 dB)
Input THD+N at 1kHz: 0.0003 %(-110 dB)
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24bit/96KHz input): 10 Hz to 48 KHz

Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage:
Unbalanced Output: 2.2 Vrms (3 Vp-p)
Headphone: 7 Vrms (9.9 Vp-p)

Bus Compatibility
PCI Express

Chipset
Audio Processor: C-Media CMI8888 DHT High-Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192kHz/24bit)

Sample Rate and Resolution
Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution:
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit

Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution:
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit

S/PDIF Digital Output:
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit

S/PDIF Digital Input:
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit

ASIO 2.2 Driver Support:
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit with very low latency

I/O Ports
Analog Output Jack:
5 x 3.5mm RCA jack
Analog Input Jack:
2 x 3.5mm RCA jack
1 x Digital S/PDIF Output: 1 x Toslink
1 x Box link
Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner): 4-pin header on the card

Special Features
Dolby® Technologies: Dolby® Home Theater v4
Smart Volume Normalizer™
Xear Surround™
Magic Voice™
FlexBass™
GX 3.0 Game Audio Engine

Accessories
Control box x 1
Driver CD x 1
Quick Start Guide x 1
S/PDIF adaptor x 1
ATX 4P-to-6P power cable x 1

Note
*Dolby Home Theater v4 supports Windows® 7 only.


Precise positioning and lifelike immersion
Get the drop on opponents with improved audio positioning and bask in game music with crystal-clear 118dB SNR sound. All done by the creators of Xonar Xense (2011 CES Innovations Award winner) and Xonar Essence One (2012 CES Innovations Award winner). The commitment of the Xonar team delivers leading-performance gaming products, merged with the excitement of a unique, stylish and gamer-focused design. ROG Xonar Phoebus, named after the Greek god of the sun and music, comes with exclusive ROG Command technology, Hyper Grounding technology, EMI-shielding and top notch components, combined with the latest Dolby® surround enhancement to ensure you hear exactly what game designers want you to hear.
ROG Command Technology Boosts In-game Voice

Environmental noise cancelation
Beyond excellent sound quality, ROG Xonar Phoebus gives you clean and seamless communications for a totally immersive experience. World-exclusive ROG Command technology was specifically developed by the Xonar team to bring effective noise cancelation to a gaming soundcard set. Intelligent sound detection algorithms and array microphones (two on the dedicated control box) enable up to 50% ambient noise reduction, effectively turning loud locations such as LAN parties into something as quiet as a library.

Excellent sound quality
With external microphone
A smart algorithm analyzes sound detected by both the external microphone and one of the micro-mics on the control box to cancel out environmental noise.

Without external microphone
Array microphones on the control box form a virtual 30゚cone of precise voice capture.

Embrace Exceptional Sound Quality for the Win
-118dB Clarity SNR
-Up to 4X audio clarity compared with the SNR ratios of competing gaming audio cards.
-Hyper Grounding technology
-Noise-blocking multi-layer PCB designed with decades of ASUS professional layout experience.

Digital to Analog Converter (DAC)
The PCM1796 digital-to-analog converter on ROG Xonar Phoebus delivers clear and crisp 118dB SNR high fidelity audio. The new soundcard therefore outperforms competing gaming audio products by a factor of four, and onboard audio by an impressive 32 times. It also excels in total harmonic distortion (THD) performance, with a miniscule 0.00039% of sound output experiencing distortion.

EMI Shielding
Stylish and efficient EMI shield blocks electromagnetic interference to help provide cleaner audio

Headphone Amplifier
Since many gamers choose to refrain from disturbing others while insisting on the best sound quality, ROG and Xonar teams integrated the top-flight TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier on ROG Xonar Phoebus, driving up to 600 ohm impedance for genuinely impactful headphone output.

3 Headphone Gain Settings
Three different gain settings cater to various headphone impedance levels, with aesthetic lighting that changes accordingly: blue for ‹64 ohms and red for the two settings over 64 ohms.

Hassle-Free Headset Connections
Clad in the trademark ROG red and black color scheme, the ROG Xonar Phoebus control box offers gamers improved response and convenience. Connected to the card via the back I/O, the control box can be placed on the desk so it remains within easy reach. The control box further offers microphone and headphone connectors, making it possible to use even short-wired headsets with ease, as it brings the connectors closer to gamers.

Instant Volume Tuning
Gamers can easily adjust volume and one-click mute quickly without bringing up game or operating system menus, or having to hunt around for display remote controls.

Illuminated Gold-Plated Jacks

Gold-plated jacks ensure greater durability. To help with gaming in the dark, the control box headphone-out lights up green, while the microphone-in glows red!

New Xonar Audio Center
The latest Xonar audio center brings great sound combined with the spirit of ROG to provide gamers impactful and precise audio control delivered in style. It is designed with a range of effortless adjustment features: with one-click ease, gamers can access features such as I/O settings, volume, game effects, and digital siginal processor (DSP) mode selection. The spacious and intuitive interface further delivers a completely user friendly experience, and gamers can also enable Dolby® Home Theater V4 with a click.

Realistic Surround and Enhanced Sound
New Dolby® Home Theater V4 enhances surround sound with improved processing and playback.

Realistic surround
Surround decoder; converts 2-channel audio sources to multi-channel. Experience immersive audio through multi-channel playback
Surround virtualizer ― delivers stunning virtual surround playback for standard stereo headphones or speakers

Sound enhancement
Intelligent equalizer ― allows users to adjust tone dynamically with easy visual controls
Dialogue enhancer ― improves premium clarity for in-game communications
Volume leveler ― helps maintain chosen volume consistently across audio sources

GX 3.0 Game Audio Engine
The GX 3.0 game audio engine boosts your performance with better legacy EAX® compatibility and immersive surround sound enhancement


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