Skip to main content

Asus Xonar U7 USB DAC & AMP Review

By
I got this Asus Xonar U7 soundcard, (DAC&AMP) in 2014 when I was exploring the idea of Hifi music & Lossless audio qualities. And this product has a very good audio output quality for its price point. This DAC/AMP is best used for pairing with Computer Speakers especially the 5.1&7.1 setups and thereby replacing the on board sound cards.



The Technical Specifications are as follows:

DAC: Cirrus Logic CS4398

Connectivity: Analog Output
                       4 x 3.5 mm jack (1/8") (Headphone out /Side out/Center-Subwoofer out/Rear out)
                       2 x RCA (Un-Balanced) 
                       Analog Input 
                       1 x 3.5 mm jack (1/8") (Line-in/ Mic-in combo)
                       Digital
                       1 x S/PDIF out (1 x Coaxial)

Special Features: Dolby® Technologies : Dolby® Home Theater v4

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

Frequency Response: 10 Hz to 46 KHz 

Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR): 114db 


Here are my thoughts and impressions of the Asus Xonar U7.

Sound Quality: This sound card is actually very good upgrade to sound cards installed on PC motherboards. The sound is balanced. The fidelity is high. The lower end of sound spectrum (bass) is tight. According to me, the best part of this sound card is its ability to convert stereo to 5.1/7.1 surround sound. I have this sound card paired with my creative inspire 5.1 setup. There is no leaking of sound in channels, and hence the sound separation is very good. Further tweaking of sound is possible through numerous iterations and settings and can be done in the interface to suit your personal taste. Switching from on board sound card to Xonar U7 one feels a stupendous increase in quality and quantity of sound. For me, I just enable the Dolby home theater settings in Music mode and the sound expands exponentially. Beautiful it sounds. As for the headphone amplifier part of this sound card it has 3 gain settings for low gain (<32 Ohms), medium gain (32-64 Ohms) and high gain (>64 Ohms). Pairing this with my Sennheiser HD650s the 300 ohm headphones, the Xonar U7 drives them fairly good. The most important part is that the headphones amplifier is quiet and does-not produce noise even when sound is increased to high levels and this is the most desired quality of any amplifier. The sound-stage is very open, bass is tight, highs are crisp, everything is to the point. The Xonar U7 sounds musical when paired with HD 650s. It give a non fatiguing sound. One can listen to the 650's for hours.

Build Quality: The build quality is good. It is made of plastic but does not have a cheap feeling to it. It is relatively compact (130mm X 80mm X 25mm, L x W x H) in size. This card is aimed for portable use taking power from the Computers USB Port. All in all it is a very well built package.



Final Verdict: All in all this is a very good product and provides audiophile level quality. This sound card shines when paired with 5.1 & 7.1 setups. The Asus software complements the hardware perfectly and give us a product which is worth having.  If you are an audio enthusiast, and are looking for a superior alternative to the quality of your onboard soundcard, then you should go ahead and get this sound card.
  



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diljit Dosanjh - G.O.A.T. (Review)

By
I haven’t done any review in recent times since I am a bit busy these days but my brother reminded me to get back to my stuff especially since my last reviewed album was Diljit’s CON.FI.DEN.TIAL.  Before I give my opinion on Diljit Dosanjh’s 11th album, let’s agree here that Diljit does not make average/below average songs these days. His vocals cannot and should not be reviewed. He is in his own league and has seasoned well, while many of his contemporaries has fallen off the scene. In his latest offering, Diljit has made a compilation of 16 new songs with more than 20 featured artists. So with that in mind let’s get to the stuff and see how Diljit fairs with his latest offering to his audience. 1.    Intro : First Track on the album is an intro. Diljit is both humble and bragging about his accomplishments in the intro which I feel is a bit unwanted since I can’t imagine a person who does not know who Diljit is. No rating for the intro. 2.    G.O.A.T :  Th...
1 comment
Read more

Pen Review: ASA Royal, Custom Handmade Pen

By
One fine day we, a group of fountain pen enthusiasts Vaibhav, Tervinder, Rakshit, Sulagno, Pradeep, Prithwijit, Kapil and myself  were engaged in discussions to design a pen. The design was going through numerous iterations and me and a fellow fountain pen lover Sulagno liked one of the design prototypes very much. We approached ASA pens with the design and asked for help to make the design a reality. ASA pens took up the task and also procured the last pieces of a vintage acrylic material to be used to create the pen. Thus the ASA royal was born.
17 comments
Read more

Diljit Dosanjh Con.Fi.Den.Tial review

By
And Diljit Dosanjh has dropped a new album out of nowhere after a gap of five years. There was no hype around this album, moreover, nobody knew about this album till Diljit disclosed it on his Twitter/Instagram account a few days back. Diljit has risen to new heights of stardom in last five years featuring in Bollywood movies, judging national talent shows and winning Filmfare award for his debut in Bollywood. But does this newly found fame weigh-in for his choice of songs in his new album Con.Fi.Den.Tial or is he going to continue the raw folk style he started on his last album Back To Basics alongside Tru-Skool. Not to mention that there is no featuring of likes of Tru-Skool and Veet Baljit; instead, Diljit has opted for Snappy as the music director and Rav Hanjra as the lyricist for his latest offering giving a kind of urban vibe to his new album. The title and song listing of the album also lay the ground for an Urban/R&B/Hip-Hop offering giving a 180-degree shift from his...
1 comment
Read more