Asus Xonar U5 5.1 Channel USB Soundcard and Headphone Amplifier

I have a Fujitsu Esprimo C910-L desktop computer running Windows 7 Professional. The computer has 2.1 speaker sockets and no way of installing an internal sound card. Having returned to Amazon a cheap external sound card which I was unable to get to work I decided to spend a bit more and ordered the Asus Xonar U5, having been very happy with a Xonar internal sound card I had installed in a previous computer. When it arrived, the first thing that impressed me was the quality of the box it was contained in. This was obviously a serious piece of kit. I installed the driver from the included disc and it all went without a hitch. The Sonic Studio interface is something else. It provides a multitude of devices and adjustments designed to get the maximum performance out of a speaker system including realistic virtual surround sound. With the Xonar powering my Creative speaker system my little computer room is now a concert hall. The lesson learned is that if you are serious about audio quality, don't bother with the many cheap external sound cards out there but go straight for the Xonar U5. It's well worth the extra outlay.

Excellent product

Updated review 2015-05-05:Purchased this USB soundcard for a new Tritton "true" surround sound gaming headset and must say was quite impressed with the stereo headphone amplifier and was expecting the 5.1 playback to just be awesome.While 5.1 gaming audio is crystal clear.. Unfortunately the playback of stereo music and videos through the Tritton True 5.1 Headset is not quite up to par with the U5 as the soundcard lacks the Dolby technology many of the other cards have, so I will have to reduce the rating to 4 stars. (Let's say 3.5 to be honest.)______The U5:The device is about the size of a modern smart-phone, except thicker of course. It has one mic-input, one headphone plug, three plugs for 5.1 output an Spdif and USB connector._______________What's included:It came with a respectable length USB cable, optical cable, manual, quick-start guide and CD-Rom with the drivers / software._______Buttons:There's a big volume adjuster wheel on the top which mutes audio output when tapped (it seems to switch between headphone and speaker output) and there's +/- buttons on the front for adjusting your microphone volume.- - - - -______Issues:_______________________________Xonar U5 and Steam Chat / VoiceI had a problem with the Steam in-game Voice-chat which did not seem to pick up anything from the Microphone._________Solution:In Sonic Studio on the top of the application window you can see "Output Device" and "Input device". If you click the little arrow on "Input device" and choose "Select the capture device" you can select "Line" (by clicking picture) and click OK.In Steam, under Settings -> Voice if you 'auto-scan' for new input hardware it will find the Line Xonar U5 and will pick up the audio-input then. However, using Line will grey out the Perfect Voice options in Sonic Studio.___________________________________Noise Reduction and Windows / SkypeI love the noise reduction feature with this sound-card but the rest of the major tech players seem to have not provided much thought to such a great tool.For example, in Windows if you right-click the little speaker icon and choose "Recording devices", you can double-click on your Microphone (ASUS XONAR U5 Microphone). Under the "Custom" tab there is a button for "AGC" which stands for Auto GAIN Adjuster (or something), now here's the thing..The AGC is designed to increase the GAIN (gross audio input) automatically so that people can hear you, however when you are using the U5 noise-removing feature the AGC keeps upping the volume, thinking the volume is set too low (because there is no background noise?)This can lead to crazy swings in the input volume level and your voice could jump from a screaming pitch to quiet and back again._________Solution:Un-tick the AGC box and click "OK"This problem also manifests in Skype._________Solution:Open Skype -> Options -> Audio settings and make sure "auto volume adjust" is turned OFF for Microphone. (You can leave auto-volume adjust for "Speakers" turned ON.)_________________________Sonic Studio v1.0.1.17704If under "Audio Config" you click "Stereo" configuration it opens an option under "Tuning" to allow "Virtual Surround". However, if you leave "Virtual Surround" ON and then select the 5.1 speaker configuration, I find when I re-open the software that it would show the 7.1 speaker configuration it shows when "Virtual Surround" is enabled.The option to turn on/off Virtual Surround is greyed out when you choose 4.0 or 5.1 speaker configuration, but it seems to remain active and negatively affect audio quality.________Solution:Click "Stereo" and make sure to turn "Virtual Surround" to OFF.I noticed a dramatic increase in sound quality, which makes sense if the driver is trying to "emulate" a 7.1 surround system (which it would normally do through a stereo system) via a True 5.1 Surround System which has Front, Center and Rear speakers.To achieve the highest quality audio playback, I recommend downloading the latest Xonar U5 drivers from the ASUS website:http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Xonar+U5Some of these issues may (or may not) be rectified by downloading the latest version of the Xonar U5 driver software.______________________________________Volume levels with a True 5.1 Headset:If you are using a surround system at home with multiple speakers, trip-hazard cables running everywhere, you'll probably notice that in a larger environment your ears tend to pick up forward sound clearer.I find as awesome as the Tritton True 5.1 Headset is, having all the speakers at equal volume when they are physically close to my ears undermines this true immersive effect._________Solution:Under Sonic Studio "Main Settings" you can click the gearbox under "playback volume" and you can set the "front" sliders ahead of the "rear" and "side" sliders. (make sure front-left + front-right sliders are set at equal volume. Left-Right speakers should always be equal, especially with a headset.)This makes the playback much more realistic with a True 5.1 Headset IMO and makes playing back stereo movies / music feel much more natural.Personally I have the "side" and "rear" sliders set to 12 to give a bit of an audio boost and the "front" speaker sliders set to 16, which can be adjusted easily via the Sonic Studio software.- - - - -I've been playing around with it for a few days now but have found a slight issue which may explain some of the negative comments:--If you plug your stereo headset into the "headphone" 3.5mm jack on the back, it may sound different than plugging it into the "stereo" speaker ("front") jack. The headphone output has an amp which really improves playback quality :-\ I wonder if I can activate that amp to improve sound output to the new Tritton True 5.1 Surround headset.However different headsets can be of varying quality. For example, I was using a headset with a special 3.5mm connector which I usually use with my phone as the headset has an onboard mic, and strangely enough the sound would only be clear when the push-button (for answering calls) was depressed._________________Included Software:After playing around with the included software, I found it to be extremely effective if rather a handful for the average consumer.It has a equalizer, options for Bass Boost, Voice Clarity (playback), Virtual 7.1 Surround, Reverb, Perfect Voice (mic), individual speaker volume adjustment option. Output format 44.1, 48, 96, 192. 16/24 bits.An option to save profiles and instantly switch between them from a list. (very handy)(Like any complex tool, there's an annoyance factor if you can't get it to work. I assume the few negative comments are because of this. Bad headsets, broken 3rd party components, incorrect hardware setup, etc)_________________It has a noise-cancellation system for the microphone, which will be perfect for the Tritton True 5.1 headset, which doesn't have noise-cancellation onboard.The noise-cancellation has been causing trouble for many people because it appears that Windows AGC and other software just don't know how to adjust mic-input when the signal is perfect clear.It's good with 5.1 games. Playback quality of Stereo audio over the 5.1 headset however, I have to say is very disappointing. The card just doesn't have the Dolby technology onboard. :-\For people with older computers, I would recommend making sure to plug it into a USB 2.0 plug on their computer (for example, some USB hubs are only USB 1.0) as it is powered through USB.There is a small switch on the bottom of the USB U5 to switch between USB 1.0 and USB 2.0, which is set at USB 2.0. I would definitely not change that. Kind of like a flash-light running low on batteries, the light tends to flicker. If you're trying to power this sound card for true surround sound from a USB 1.0 port, you may find it does not operate as it should.It disables most of the features of the card and greys out most of the options in the Sonic Studio software if you flick the switch to USB 1.0 and plug out the USB and plug-it back in (to re-initialize).

I cannot recommend this sound card at all. While the sound is rather good, the loud popping sound that it makes when you turn on the computer and when you switch from line out to headphones and back is a complete letdown. The driver support is also quite bad, last update is from 2015 if I’m not mistaking. ASUS should really think of updating the external sound card line with up to date models and stop selling 5 years old models.

Hardwares Dolby digital decoder converts ANY stereo input to a FULLY ENJOYABLE 5.1 CINEMA EXPERIENCE.... read the manual, though. ;-)

Its a very good product, But i find that it does not quite have the power for larger headphones, When compared to the sound blaster Z internal card this does not produce as good soundVery nice to have it sat on your desk to turn the volume up and down and to switch between speakers and headphones

Sometimes this card causes a screeching sound after pausing/stopping the playback of a sound. It becomes annoying after a while. The volume capabilities are nice. The drivers are a bit janky (noticed this a lot with ASUS), but when I bought a new motherboard and started booting in UEFI mode, the drivers would not install properly because they aren't signed, it seems. Even when disabling secure boot to bypass the requirement for signed drivers, it would cause serious problems with Nvidia ShadowPlay. (Loud af)NOT compatible with the PS4 either, if you are wondering. Refuses to be recognised as an output device.

Superb, installed with no problems.