Xonar D1 Audio card User manual
E4009 First Edition V1 July 2008 Copyright © 2008 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved. 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”).
Contents Contents........................................................................................................ 3 Notices........................................................................................................... 5 Safety information........................................................................................ 6 Trademarks.................................................................................................... 6 License..........................................
Contents When Using Ableton Live…............................................................. 50 When Using Sonar LE….................................................................. 51 7. 8. 9. RMAA Test Guide........................................................................... 54 7.1 Setting Up Xonar D1 Audio Card...................................... 54 7.2 Configuration and Test with RMAA................................... 57 7.3 RMAA Testing Results.....................................
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.
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 signal cables to the device. 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.
1. Introduction 1.1 Package contents • • • • • 1.2 ASUS Xonar D1 audio card ASUS Xonar D1 support CD (including RMAA V6.0.6 utility) Additional low-profile bracket S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adapter x1 Quick Installation Guide System requirements • One PCI compatible slot for the audio card • Microsoft® Windows® Vista/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005 • Intel® Pentium® 4 1.
Items Description 1.
VocalFXTM Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) Smart Volume NormalizerTM Karaoke Functions -DS3D GX 2.0 adds latest VocalFX voice effects for online gaming or chatting.
2.
No Item Description 1 Microphone jack Connect your external PC microphone to this 3.5mm jack for voice input. Built-in high-quality Microphone preamplifier. 1 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. (Through Ultra-high fidelity 115dB SNR A-D converter) 1 S/PDIF Output jack Optical S/PDIF output jack.
3. Installing the Xonar Hardware 3.1 Preparing your computer 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 sound cards on your PC. (For BIOS setting or uninstallation of other sound cards, refer to the user manuals of your motherboard and sound card) 1. Power off your computer and disconnect the power cord. 2. Open the computer’s case. 3.
3.3 Connecting to a graphics card with HDMI support 1. Install a graphics card with HDMI output support. 2. Using the bundled S/PDIF cable, connect one end to the 3-pin S/PDIF Out header on the Xonar D1 audio card, and connect the other end to the 2-pin S/PDIF In header on the graphics card.
3.4 1. Connecting a TV tuner card If you have a traditional PCI or PCI Express TV tuner card on your PC, you may need to connect it to the audio card to send the tuner card’s sound to your PC speakers. 2. Secure the PCI/PCI Express 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 audio card, as shown in the figure below.
4. Installing Software Installing the audio card driver 1. After you have installed the audio 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 instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
5. Connecting Speakers and Peripherals 5.1 Connecting Digital Speaker Systems (Home Theater) The Xonar D1 supports Dolby Digital Live technology, which transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard Dolby Digital surround bit-streams. This makes playback through your home theater system possible, creating an immersive and impressive cinema surround sound experience.
5.2 Connecting Headphones 5.2.1 Connecting Stereo Headphones 1 No Item Description 1 Front Out/Headphone Jack The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.
5.2.2 Connecting 5.1 channel Headphones 1 2 3 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.
5.3 Connecting Analog Speaker Systems 5.3.1 Connecting Analog Power Amplifier 1 2 3 4 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the “left front” and “right front” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the “left surround” and “right surround” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable.
5.3.2 Connecting 2/2.1 Channel Speakers 2 Speakers 1 2.1 Speakers 1 No Item Description 1 Front Out/Headphone Jack Connect the 2/2.1 speaker set’s 3.5mm plug into this Front Out jack.
5.3.3 Connecting 4/4.1 Channel Speakers 4 Speakers 1 2 4.1 Speakers 1 2 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 4/4.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 4/4.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.
5.3.4 Connecting 5.1 Channel Speakers 5.1 Speakers 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 3 Center/Subwoofer Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.. 5.3.5 Connecting 6.1/7.1 Channel Speakers 6.
7.1 Speakers 1 2 3 4 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 3 Center/Subwoofer Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable. 4 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port of the 6.1/7.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.
5.4 Connecting Microphone 1 No Item Description 1 Microphone Input Jack Connect the microphone’s 3.5mm plug into this Mic-In jack for voice communication, recording, or karaoke. 5.5 Connecting Line-In Audio Sources 1 No Item Description 1 Line Input Jack Connect the 3.
6. Xonar D1 Driver Guide 6.1 Introduction to the Xonar D1 Audio Center GUI 1. After the driver installation is complete and your computer has been rebooted, you will find the Xonar D1 Audio Center’s icon in the system tray on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Double click this icon to open the Xonar Audio Center utility. If the icon could not be found in the system tray, go to the Windows Control Panel and double click the “Xonar D1 Audio Center” icon. 2.
No Item Description 1 Display Area This display area shows the 10-band signal meter, volume level, and the status of the Dolby technologies, EQ, and DSP modes. Note: this area just displays information, but is not used to alter settings. 2 Menu Open/Close Clicking this button will move the display area and reveal the configuration area below. Clicking it again will move the display area back down. 3 Master Volume This rotary knob controls the master playback volume.
6.2 Main Setting 6.2.1 Sample Rate The Sample rate determines the number of audio samples per second that the Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC) and S/PDIF digital interface will output. The Xonar D1 audio card can support sample rates up to 192KHz (44.1K, 48K, 96K, 192KHz). Usually audio CDs and MP3 files are 44.1KHz; DVD-Video uses 48KHz; DVD-Audio or other HD media may contain 96KHz or 192KHz high-definition audio content.
6.2.2 Analog Out/Speaker Test 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Analog Out The Analog Out setting is used to match your actual speaker setting, such as headphones, 2 speakers (or 2.1), 4 speakers (or 4.1), 5.1 speakers, 7.1 speakers, Front Panel Headphone and Front Panel 2 speakers (or 2.1). Xonar D1 will play the channels and do the proper 3D/Dolby sound processing accordingly. Please select the correct speaker type for your connected speakers.
6.2.3 SPDIF Out/DDL Xonar D1 is capable of outputting Dolby Digital Live, which are real-time encoders that transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard Dolby Digital bit-streams on-the-fly. This is ideal for playback through a home theater system, creating an immersive and impressive cinema surround sound experience. It enables a single digital connection to carry high quality Dolby Digital surround audio from your PC to digital speakers and AV Receivers.
6.2.4 Audio Channels (For Vista only) This setting only appears in Windows Vista. Vista will deliver the audio channels to the audio driver according to this setting, no matter what the original audio content is or how many channels they have. Therefore, you need to set this in accordance with your audio content before you play it. Please note that this setting is synchronized with Vista’s system speaker configuration and changing the setting during playback will cease the audio playback program.
6.2.5 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter The 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter has the following major features: • • • Expanding/upmixing audio to 7.1-channel surround sound Virtualizing 7.1 surround sound over any set of speakers Shiftable virtual speaker positioning allows you to adjust the best sound field easily without moving physical speakers and wires 2 4 3 5 1 6 8 7 No Item Description 1 Shifter enable/disable Click this check box to enable the 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter.
6.2.6 Dolby Pro-Logic IIx Dolby Pro-Logic IIx is a 7.1 surround upmixing technology and is widely used in home theater systems, TVs, game consoles, and car audio systems. It can expand stereo audio, such as MP3, CD, and TV programs into immersive 5.1 or 7.1channel surround. 3 5 4 1 2 6 No Item Description 1 Dolby Pro-Logic IIx enable/disable Click this check box to enable Dolby Pro-Logic IIx. Clicking the text bar will switch the right window to the Pro-Logic IIx page for manual adjustments.
6.2.7 Dolby Headphone Dolby Headphone creates a stunning multi-channel surround experience over ordinary stereo headphones for playing 3D games, watching 5.1 DVD movies, and listening to music. Dolby Headphone produces surround sound cues so realistic that you will believe you are listening over speakers in a well-controlled studio. Dolby Headphone can also improve listening comfort and reduce "listener fatigue" from long listening over headphones.
6.2.8 Dolby Virtual Speaker Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers. Dolby Virtual Speaker also creates a wider two-channel environment during playback of stereo CDs and MP3 content, and when combined with Dolby Pro Logic® II processing, delivers a virtual 5.1-channel surround listening experience from any high-quality stereo source.
6.3 Mixer/Volume The mixer page is designed to control the volume for playback and recording on the Xonar D1. In addition, the Xonar D1 also provides a high-quality digital monitoring function for hearing the recorded audio from the speakers. You can also process the input signals with all playback sound effects such as Dolby technology. 6.3.1 Playback Volume 6 1 5 4 3 2 No Item Description 1 Playback Volume Tab Click this button tto show the playback volume page.
6.3.2 Recording/Monitoring Volume 1 7 6 5 4 3 2 9 8 No Item Description 1 Recording Volume Tab Click this button to show the recording volume page.
4 Recording Selector button Click this button to select the path/source you are going to record. Please note that the recording function on Windows is a one-path selector. So, you can select only one default recording source at a time. You may have to restart the recorder program if you switch to a different source. (Note: On Vista, some application programs may allow you to select the recording device/path in the recording programs themselves.
6.4 Effects 6.4.1 Environment Effects Environment effects can be used to create realistic listening experiences that mimic different environments. There are a total of 27 environment options, which can be applied to all 2D sound sources, like music. 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Default Environments These four buttons activate Bathroom, Concert hall, Underwater, and Music Pub environments, respectively.
6.4.2 10-Band Equalizer The equalizer can modify the audio output for different frequencies, and be used to compensate for deficiencies in your speakers/systems. There are 12 default patterns and you can also make your own settings. 3 2 1 4 5 6 No Item Description 1 Default Equalizer Options There are 12 available equalizer patterns. Click one to apply it. 2 User Defined You can click this button to apply your own defined parameters saved in the pull-down menu.
6.5 Karaoke/Magic Voice The Xonar D1 provides powerful features for Karaoke, including Key-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation and Microphone Echo. Microphone Echo can generate natural echo effects on your singing voice just like a karaoke machine. Key-Shifting can change the pitch of Karaoke background music, and Vocal Cancellation can reduce the original vocal in songs and keep the music and symphony for karaoke.
6.6 FlexBass FlexBass, an advanced bass management and enhancement mechanism, allows you to select each satellite speaker’s type for optimal sound performance from the speakers. (Small: common speaker that cannot produce low frequencies; Large: wide-band speakers that can produce low frequencies well). It comes with an adjustable crossover frequency for the boundary of the bass signals.
4 6.7 LFE Crossover Frequency Adjusts the cut-off frequency (50~250Hz) for LFE (lowfrequency effects) signals. Xonar D1 will filter out the bass signals below the crossover frequency from small speaker channels and forward them to the subwoofer. The higher the crossover frequency, the more bass signals will be subtracted. AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancellation) Xonar D1 provides advanced Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) for best voice communication quality over your speakers.
1 2 No Item Description 1 AEC Click AEC function page 2 Enable AEC Click the checkbox to enable AEC function. A alert message will pop up: This message implies the speaker configuration will be set to 2 speakers and all sound effect processors will suspended except AEC function. Click “OK” to accept it; Click “Cancel” if you want to enable it later. Check “Don’t remind me again” will not show this message again. 6.
0dB (Full-scale) Music 1 T -10 dB Music 2 SVN Off SVN On - 2 3 1 No Item Description 1 SVN On/Off Click this button to enable SVN. This button is outlined blue when active. 2 SVN Display When SVN is enabled, “Smart Volume” will be lit up at the bottom of the volume meter and the volume meter will show the level. 3 SVN Blue Light When SVN is enabled, the master volume knob will be illuminated by a blue light. It will be lit red if the volume is muted.
6.9 DS3D GX and DSP Modes Xonar D1 is introducing an innovative technology –DirectSound 3D Game Extensions v1.0 (DS3D GX 1.0)- to restore DirectSound 3D Hardware acceleration mode and its subsidiary EAX effects on Windows Vista for 3D games. Unlike some proprietary API like OpenAL, DS3D GX doesn’t require games to support OpenAL API. All existing games compatible with Microsoft DirectX and DirectSound 2D/3D will be supported with DS3D GX technology.
No Item Description 1 GX Mode DirectSound 3D Game Extensions mode to support EAX and DirectSound 3D Hardware extensions for lots of DirectX/ DirectSound3D games on Windows Vista and XP. 2 Hi-Fi Mode This mode is set for Hi-Fidelity playback, where all effects will be cleared to keep the original digital data and analog output quality as high as possible. 3 Music Mode This mode is set for Music playback. 4 Movie Mode This mode is set for DVD Movie playback.
No Item Description 1 VoiceEX It produces realistic and dynamic environmental reverberation for your voice in 3D gaming communication. 2 Local VoiceEX It produces realistic and dynamic environmental reverberation for your voice in 3D gaming communication. 3 App List You can add VOIP application into VOIP application List. 4 ChatEX It emulates different background environment effects when you chat online.
3. Look for the application’s location and Open it. 4. Your VOIP application has been added into list.
5. Check the check box of ChatEX and Magic Voice. 6. You can use ChatEX and Magic Voice when you chat online. Click the checkbox to enable VocalFX function, then a prompt message will pop up: This message implies the record device will be set to microphone. Make sure the GX function is enabled. Click “OK” to accept it, or “Cancel” if you want to enable it later. Check “Don’t remind me again” if you don’t want to see this messsage pop up next time.
6.11 ASIO 2 Driver ASIOTM (Audio Stream Input Output) is a proprietary audio driver architecture and a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The Xonar D1 driver package has included an ASIO2 compatible driver for application programs that have ASIO or ASIO2 output. ASIO can ensure lower latency during playback and recording on PCs, which is very important for professional music creation and editing.
No Item Description 1 Preferences Step 1 is to open the “Preferences” window from the Options tab. 2 Driver Type Step 2 is to select “ASIO” as the driver type. (WDM and MME are other Windows driver types) 3 Audio Device Step 3 is to choose “ASUS Xonar D1 ASIO” as the Audio Device. 4 Hardware Setup Step 4 is to click the Hardware Setup to configure the Bitdepth (16/24bit) and latency (1ms~300ms). 5 Sample Rate Step 5 is to select the sample rate from 44.1, 48, 96, 192KHz.
2 3 4 5 7 52 ASUS Xonar D1
No Item Description 1 Audio Options Step 1 is to open the “Audio Options” window from the Options tab. 2 Driver Mode Step 2 is to select “ASIO” as the driver mode in Advanced tab. (WDM and MME are Windows driver types) The changes will take effect after you restart the program next time. 3 Playback Timing Master After step 2, Sonar LE will display 4 output drivers: “ASUS Xonar D1 ASIO Out -00~06”. Make sure you are using 00 or another one.
7. RMAA Test Guide The Xonar D1 driver CD includes RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) v5.6, a popular software intended for testing the quality of audio equipment, be it a sound card, portable MP3 player, consumer CD/DVD player, or a speaker system. The measurements are conducted by playing and recording test signals, and using frequency analysis algorithms. The following provides a step-by-step loop-back test guide for your Xonar D1 audio card. 7.
4. Go to the Mixer Recording page and select “Line In” as the recording source. Click “Reset” to make sure the recording volume is on the default highest level (0dB). This allows you to get realistic output and input quality ratings for the Xonar D1 audio card. 4 You should use an external 3.5mm line cable as follows (as short as possible) to connect the Front-Out jack to the Line-In jack for loop-back testing. In that case, please select “Line In” as the recording source on the mixer page. 3.
5. Click “Reset” on the playback volume mixer page to keep the volume setting on default. 6.
7.2 Configuration and Test with RMAA Start RMAA and follow the setup procedure below. 1. Select both of the playback/recording devices as “ASUS Xonar D1 Audio”. 2. Select 24bit and 48KHz for the test signals. (If you change the format here, please remember to go back to set the same sample rate output in the Xonar D1 Audio Center) 1 3. 2 Click “Test options” button in RMAA and check “Analyze noise and distortion only in 20Hz-20KHz range” (audio in-band for human hearing) in the General tab.
4. Go to the Sound Card tab and select “DirectSound” as the Driver Model (because Windows MME mode doesn’t support high-resolution 24bit audio playback and the data may be manipulated by Windows so that the real hardware quality can not be measured properly.) 4 5.
6. Check if the levels shown in the Adjusting level window are OK (the level meter will be green). 6 7. If the recording volume level is not high enough, please check and make the WAVE and Master Volume have been at the maximum level; Instead, if the recording volume level is too high, please lower the WAVE and Master volumes gradually until the level is ok.
8. Begin the test by clicking the “Done” button. If you cannot get the level to be “OK” after the previous step, click “Done” anyways and proceed. 8 9. Enter “ASUS Xonar D1 Audio” in the New slot name and select one Empty slot. Then click “OK”.
10. RMAA will pop up the Test results window. You can click the “Select” checkbox and click to “Make html report”. 10 11. Check and key in the report name/options as follows and then click “OK”.
7.3 RMAA Testing Results Open the html file you created and saved in the test above, and it will display the report with both data and plots in your browser. The following report is a sample and you can see how high-fidelity and crystal-clean the Xonar D1 audio card is for both output and input (one of the world’s finest sound cards, it has higher quality than most CE devices.) You can also try testing the performance for other sample rates and bit-depths with the same procedure.
8. RightMark Audio Analyzer test Testing chain: External loopback (line-out - line-in) Sampling mode: 24-bit, 48 kHz Summary Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.01, -0.05 Excellent Noise level, dB (A): -112.7 Excellent Dynamic range, dB (A): 112.6 Excellent THD, %: 0.0006 Excellent IMD + Noise, %: 0.0009 Excellent Stereo crosstalk, dB: -102.4 Excellent IMD at 10 kHz, %: 0.
Noise level Parameter Left Right RMS power, dB: -111.4 -112.0 RMS power (A-weighted), dB: -112.4 -113.0 Peak level, dB FS: -87.5 -88.4 DC offset, %: -0.00 -0.
Parameter Left Right Dynamic range, dB: +111.4 +111.8 Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB: +112.4 +112.8 DC offset, % -0.00 -0.00 THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS) Parameter Left Right THD, %: 0.0006 0.0006 THD + Noise, %: 0.0008 0.0008 THD + Noise (A-weighted), %: 0.0010 0.
Intermodulation distortion Parameter Left Right IMD + Noise, %: +0.0010 +0.0009 IMD + Noise (A-weighted), %: +0.0008 +0.
Parameter Left Right Crosstalk at 100 Hz, dB: -109 -107 Crosstalk at 1 KHz, dB -101 -101 Crosstalk at 10 KHz, dB -82 -82 IMD (swept tones) Parameter Left Right IMD + Noise at 5 KHz, 0.0011 0.0011 IMD + Noise at 10 KHz, 0.0009 0.0009 IMD + Noise at 15 KHz, 0.0009 0.
9. Troubleshooting and FAQs [Troubleshooting] The audio card driver could not be installed on my PC. Instructions: 1. Please make sure that you have properly installed the audio card in the PCI slot on your motherboard. 2. Check that the Windows hardware device manager has discovered a multimedia audio device. If no device is found, please try scanning for new hardware. 3. Please try soft reboot (restart) your Windows. 4. Remove the card, install it into another PCI slot, and try again.
4. Please go to the sound and audio device of Windows Control Panel to check if the playback default device is set to Xonar D1 Audio Device, instead of other onboard AC97 or HDA codec device. If it’s not, please set it to Xonar D1 Audio Device and restart your applications. 5. Please try restart your Windows. I can’t hear audio input (Mic, Line-in, AUX, etc.) from my speakers Instructions: 1. Please go to the mixer recording page in the Audio Center and select the correct input as the recording source.
I can’t hear the TV tuner audio from my speakers Instructions: 1. If you are using a traditional TV tuner card which has analog audio output, please connect it to the Aux-In header on the audio card 2. Select Aux-In as the recording source and remember to turn on the digital monitoring button on the recording mixer page 3. If you are using a TV tuner card which has digital audio output instead of analog, please check that the sound is not muted and whether other applications can play sound out.
Q3: Why is Xonar D1 the best audio card for HTPC and multi-channel speakers? Answer: The Xonar D1 supports Dolby Digital Live, which allow a single digital connection to your AV receiver to carry Dolby Digtial audio. In addition, Xonar D1 also provides Dolby Pro-Logic IIx to upmix TV and other music to multi-channel surround sound in Home Theater environments. Xonar D1 also has Ultra High Fidelity SNR at 192K/24bit, which is the high quality consumer audio card in the world.
Q7: Will PCM sound output through S/PDIF be just 2 channels even with different analog output channels? Answer: The S/PDIF protocol specification (IEC-60958) can only carry 2-channel PCM data or non-PCM AC3/DTS data. So, when a user selects PCM output for S/PDIF, the Xonar sound card will always deliver 2 channel PCM data through the S/PDIF output port. For attaining 5.
