Xonar HDAV 1.3
(Deluxe)
Audio/Video enhanced combo card
User manual
Contents
Contents ...................................................................................................... iii
Notices.......................................................................................................... v
Safety information ...................................................................................... vi
Trademarks.................................................................................................. vi
License ........................................................................................................ vi
1.
Introduction ..................................................................................... 1
1.1
1.2
1.3
Package contents .............................................................. 1
System requirements......................................................... 1
Specifications summary..................................................... 2
2.
3.
Hardware overview ......................................................................... 4
2.1
2.2
Xonar HDAV card layout.................................................... 4
H6 DAC extension board layout......................................... 6
Installing the hardware................................................................... 7
3.1
3.2
3.3
Preparing your computer ................................................... 7
Installing the Xonar HDAV 1.3 card.................................... 8
Connecting to a TV tuner card......................................... 10
4.
5.
Installing software..........................................................................11
4.1
4.2
Installing the card driver....................................................11
Installing the TotalMedia Theatre software....................... 12
Connecting speakers and peripherals........................................ 13
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater)...... 13
Connecting Headphones ................................................. 14
Connecting Analog Speaker Systems.............................. 16
Connecting Microphone................................................... 23
Connecting Line-In Audio Sources................................... 24
Connecting Digital Audio Sources.................................... 25
6.
Xonar HDAV Center....................................................................... 26
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
Xonar HDAV Center GUI.................................................. 26
Audio-Main Setting........................................................... 28
Mixer/Volume ................................................................... 38
Effects.............................................................................. 41
Karaoke............................................................................ 43
FlexBass .......................................................................... 44
AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancellation)................................... 46
Smart Volume Normalization ........................................... 48
iii
Contents
6.9
DS3D GX and DSP Modes.............................................. 50
VocalFX............................................................................ 52
Video – Splendid HD........................................................ 55
6.10
6.11
6.12
DVD/Blu-ray playback over DH/DVS/DDL/
Multiple Analog Speakers ................................................ 60
7.
8.
9.
ASUS GamerOSD.......................................................................... 68
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
Enabling ASUS GamerOSD............................................. 68
Setting ASUS GamerOSD ............................................... 69
Using ASUS GamerOSD ................................................. 71
Broadcasting games with ASUS GamerOSD .................. 75
RMAA Test Guide .......................................................................... 79
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
Setting Up Xonar HDAV 1.3 card..................................... 79
Configuration and Test with RMAA................................... 82
RMAA Testing Results...................................................... 85
ASUS Xonar HDAV RightMark Audio Analyzer test......... 86
Troubleshooting and FAQs .......................................................... 90
[Troubleshooting] ............................................................................ 90
[FAQs] ......................................................................................... 92
iv
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. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a
residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with manufacturer’s
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However,
there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If
this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:
•
•
•
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected.
•
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Canadian Department of Communications Statement
This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions
from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the
Canadian Department of Communications.
This class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
v
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 singal 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. If you
detect any damage, contact your dealer immediately.
To avoid short circuits, keep paper clips, screws, and staples away from
connectors, sockets and circuitry.
Avoid dust, humidity, and temperature extremes. Do not place the product in
any area where it may become wet.
•
•
Place the product on a stable surface.
If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualified
service technician or your retailer.
This symbol of the crossed out wheeled bin indicates that the product (electrical
and electronic equipment) should not be placed in municipal waste. Check local
regulations for disposal of electronic products.
Trademarks
Xonar and ASUS logo are trademarks of ASUSTek Computer Inc. “Dolby”
and “Dolby Digital Live”, “Dolby Pro Logic IIx”, “Dolby Virtual Speaker”, “Dolby
Headphone” are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. “DTS” and “DTS CONNECT”,
“DTS Interactive”, “DTS Neo: PC” are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems,
Inc. EAX and A3D are trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. Microsoft,
DirectSound3D, Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other company
and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which
they are associated. ASIO is a trademark and software of Steinberg Media
Technologies GmbH.
License
Dolby Master Studio driver is manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories;
DTS Connect driver is manufactured under license from Digital Theater Systems,
Inc.
vi
1.
Introduction
1.1
Package contents
•
•
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card
ASUS Xonar H6 DAC extension board
(ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 Deluxe only)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
H6 extension board cable xꢀ
HDMI cable xꢀ
DVI-to-HDMI cable xꢀ
Stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable x4
S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adapter xꢀ
Support CD (including ASUS Gamer OSD and RMAA V6.0.6 utilities)
Quick installation guide
TotalMedia Theatre Bluray Disc/HD-DVD Software Player (ArcSoft) CD
1.2
System requirements
•
•
One DVI/HDMI graphics output
One PCI Express ꢀ.0 (or higher) compatible slot for the HDAV card, and one
adjacent slot for the H6 DAC extension board
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
One available 4-pin power cable from PC’s power supply unit
Microsoft® Windows® Vista/ XP(32/64bit)/ MCE2005
Intel® Pentium® 4 ꢀ.4GHz or AMD Athlon ꢀ400 CPU or faster CPU
256 MB DRAM system memory
ꢀ00 MB available HDD space for driver installation package
Blu-ray/HD-DVD ROM
An HDMI-ready AV receiver or TV/monitor set (v.ꢀ.3 is better), home theater
system, high-quality headphones, or powered analog speakers, to enjoy the
ultra-high fidelity audio and video of the AV card
ꢀ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
1.3
Specifications summary
Items
Description
Main Chipset
ASUS AV200 High-Definition Audio Processor (Max.
192KHz/24bit)
Audio Processor
Video Processor
ASUS Splendid HD Video Processor
TI Burr-Brown PCM1796 *1 on AV card;
*3 on H6 DAC Extension Board
24-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources:
(123dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
24-bit A-D Converter for Analog Inputs:
Output Audio OPAs
Cirrus-Logic CS5381* 1 (120dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
Swappable DIP-typed NS LM4562 *4 (Ultra low THD+N~
0.00003%)
Analog Audio Performance
Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
Up to 120 dB for all channels
Up to 118 dB
Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
Output Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at
1KHz:
Up to 0.0004% (-108dB)
Input Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1KHz: Up to 0.0003% (-110dB)
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ):<10Hz to 46kHz
DAC Cross-talk at 1KHz:
ADC Cross-talk at 1KHz:
Down to -130 dB
Down to -115dB
-2.2 Vrms (6.22 Vp-p) for output
-2.0 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p) for input
Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage
Bus Compatibility
-PCI Express Rev.1.0a specification compatible
-Max. full 2.5Gbps bandwidth per direction and optimized
latency for high-definition audio processing
PCI Express
-Compatible with X1, X4, X8, X16 PCI Express slots
Sample Rate and Resolution
HDMI 1.3 Playback Sample Rate and Resolution
-44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit PCM
-Dolby Digital /EX, DTS 5.1/ES pass-through
-Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD Master
Audio pass-through upgradeable by TotalMedia player
Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution
Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
-44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit PCM
-Dolby Digital /EX, DTS 5.1/ES pass-through
S/PDIF Digital Output
S/PDIF Digital Input
I/O Ports
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
HDMI-Out Type A *1
HDMI-In Type A *1
HDMI Ports
RCA jack *2 (Front L/R)
RCA jack *6 (Side/Back L/R, Center, Subwoofer)
Analog Output Jack:
Analog Input Jack:
3.50mm mini jack *1 (Line-In/Mic-In shared)
-For connecting headphone/front-out jack and mic-in jack
on the front-panel of the PC case
-Works with both Intel HD Audio and AC97 standard front-
panels (2 x5 pins)
Front-Panel Header
Other Line-level Analog Input (for CD-IN/TV
Tuner):
Aux-In 4-pin header
Coaxial and high-bandwidth TOSLINK optical combo
connector supports 192KHz/24bit
High-bandwidth TOSLINK optical connector (shared with
Line-In/Mic-In jack) supports 192KHz/24bit
Digital S/PDIF Output
Digital S/PDIF Input
(continued on the next page)
2
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
Driver Features
Operation System
Windows Vista/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005
Dolby Digital Live encodes any audio signal on PC in real-
time to Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sounds to your
home theater environment through one single S/PDIF
connection
ꢀ
Dolby Digital Live
Dolby Headphone technology allows users to listen to music,
watch movies, or play games with the dramatic 5.1-channel
surround or realistic 3D spacious effects through any set of
stereo headphones.
ꢀ
Dolby Headphone
Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic
5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as
few as two speakers.
ꢀ
Dolby Virtual Speaker
Dolby Pro-Logic II is the well-known technology to process
any native stereo or 5.1-channel audio into a 6.1- or 7.1-
channel output, creating a seamless, natural surround
soundfield.
ꢀ
Dolby Pro-Logic IIx
DTS® Connect contains DTS Interactive Encoder and DTS
Neo:PC technologies. DTS Interactive encodes any sound
on PC to “DTS 5.1 Surround” high bitrate digital stream to
your home theater through S/PDIF connection. DTS
Neo:PC can convert stereo audio into 5.1 or 7.1-channel
high-fidelity surround sounds.
ꢀ
DTS Connect Technologies
-DS3D GX 2.0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and
DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions for more games
on Windows Vista & XP. (DirectX/DirectSound 3D compatible)
-DS3D GX 2.0 adds latest VocalFX voice effects for online
gaming or chatting.
DirectSound3D Game EXtensions 2.0 & 1.0 (DS3D
GX 2.0)
Xonar DX provides VocalFX, the latest vocal effect technologies
for gaming and VoIP, including:
-VoiceEX: produces vivid environmental reverberation for your
voice in EAX games
-ChatEX: emulates different background environment effects
when you chat online
VocalFXTM
-Magic Voice: changes your voice pitch to different types
(Monster/Cartoon…) for disguising your real voice or just for
fun in online chatting
Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant
level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and
advantages in gaming
Smart Volume Normalizer
Provides advanced Acoustic Echo Cancellation
(AEC) for best voice conferencing quality in VOIP
applications or online gaming
Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC)
Karaoke Functions
FlexBass
Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects
Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system for
small or large speakers
Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning and shifting to adjust the
optimum soundfield for your speaker placement
Xear 3D Virtual Speaker Shifter
Other Effects
10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects
DirectSound3D® GX 2.0 & 1.0, EAX®2.0&1.0,
DirectSound® HW, DirectSound SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL
generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability
3D Gaming Sound Engines/APIs
ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:
Software Utility
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
7.1-ch Bluray disc/HD-DVD/DVD movie player supports HD
video/audio decoding
TotalMedia Theatre
ASUS Gamer OSD
On-screen-display utility for gaming
Easy but powerful software intended for testing the quality
of audio equipments
RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.0.6
Accessories
-H6 Extension Board cable (for connecting HDAV card and
extension board) *1
Accessories
-DVI-to-HDMI cable *1
-Stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable * 4
-S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adaptor *2
*Specifications are subject to change without notice.
3
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
2.
Hardware overview
2.1
Xonar HDAV card layout
7
8
9
1
2
3
10
4
5
6
No Item
Description
Connects to the DVI port of a graphics card using the
1
HDMI In port
bundled HDMI-to-DVI cable for DVI signal transmission, or
connects to the HDMI Out port of an HDMI graphics card
using an HDMI cable.
2
3
HDMI Out port
S/PDIF Out port
Connects to a device with HDMI support.
Coaxial and optical TOSLINK combo digital output port.
Connects to an external digital decoder or digital speaker
systems, Home Theater systems, AV receivers for outputting
digital audio including PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA-Pro,
etc.
4
5
Front Right Out port
Connect the Right audio cable (red) from your 2/2.ꢀ channel
speakers to this port. For multi-channel speaker systems,
connects to the Front Right In port on the powered speakers.
Front Left Out port
Connect the Left audio cable (white) from your 2/2.ꢀ channel
speakers to this port. For multi-channel speaker systems,
connects to the Front Right In port on the powered speakers.
6
6
Microphone In port
Connect your external PC microphone to this 3.5mm port for
voice input. Built-in high-quality Microphone pre-amplifier.
Line In port
Connect analog devices like MP3 players, CD players,
music synthesizers and other line-level sound sources to
this 3.5mm port for audio recording or processing. (Through
Ultra-high fidelity ꢀꢀ5dB SNR A-D converter)
(continued on the next page)
4
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6
7
S/PDIF In port
Optical TOSLINK digital input jack. Connects to external
digital audio sources such as MD players, CD players, or
DVD players, for audio recording or loopback.
Front panel audio
header
Connect one end of the front panel audio cable to the front
panel audio header on the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card, with the
other end to the chassis-mounted front panel audio I/O
module.
8
Aux Input Header
Usually connects to the Analog Audio output of TV tuner card
or other sound source inside your PC system. (To monitor
your TV tuner card’s audio from this Aux-In, you must enable
the “monitor” function for Aux-In in the Xonar HDAV Center
software’s recording mixer.)
9
Power Connector
Connects to the power cable of your power supply.
10
Bridge connector
Connects to the extension board with the bundled bridge
cable.
5
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
2.2
H6 DAC extension board layout
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
No Item
Description
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Right Side Surround
Out port
Connects to the surround channel input on 4/5.ꢀ/6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ
powered analog speakers.
Left Side Surround
Out port
Connects to the surround channel input on 4/5.ꢀ/6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ
powered analog speakers.
Center Out port
Connects to the front center input on 5.ꢀ/6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ powered
analog speakers.
Subwoofer Out port
Connects to the front subwoofer input on 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ powered
analog speakers.
Right Back Surround
Out port
Connects to the Right Back Surround input on 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ
powered analog speakers.
Left Back Surround
Out port
Connects to the Left Back Surround input on 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ powered
analog speakers.
Bridge connector
Connects to the Xonar HDAV card with the bundled H6
extension board cable.
6
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
3.
Installing the hardware
3.1
Preparing your computer
Before you proceed with the following installation steps, it is recommended that
you disable the onboard audio device in the 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.)
ꢀ.
2.
3.
Power off your computer and disconnect the power cord.
Open the computer chassis.
Remove the metal brackets from one unused PCI Express xꢀ slot for the
Xonar HDAV card and its adjacent slot for the H6 DAC extension board.
7
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
3.2
Installing the Xonar HDAV 1.3 card
Securing the Xonar HDAV card and the H6 DAC extension board:
ꢀ.
Carefully insert the Xonar HDAV card into the PCI Express xꢀ slot and the
extension board into the other adjacent slot. Ensure both the Xonar HDAV
card and the extension board sit properly in place.
2.
Secure both the Xonar HDAV card and the extension board with screws or
metal brackets.
1
2
Connecting cables:
ꢀ.
Using the extension board cable, connect the Xonar HDAV card to the
extension board.
2.
Connect a 4-pin ATX power cable to the ATX power connector on the card.
The Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card requires additional power to work. Ensure that you
connect the ATX power cable to the card to provide ample power.
ATX power cable
Extension board cable
ꢁ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
Connecting to a discrete graphics card:
ꢀ.
2.
Install a discrete graphics card on your motherboard.
Using the bundled HDMI-to-DVI cable, connect the DVI Out port of the
graphics card to the HDMI In port of the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card.
If you are using an HDMI graphics card, connect your graphics card with the
Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card using the HDMI cable that comes with your graphics card
package.
HDMI-to-DVI cable
Graphics card
Connecting to an HDMI display device:
Using an HDMI cable, connect one end to the HDMI out port of the Xonar HDAV
card and the other end to the HDMI display device.
•
•
Ensure that you have properly connected the DVI-to-HDMI cable for normal
video signal transmission. Otherwise, there might be no display on your
HDMI display device.
Some LCD TVs with HDMI output do not support PC resolutions and may
lose audio output, excepting on following video resolutions: 4ꢁ0i/p, 720p,
and ꢀ0ꢁ0i/p.
ꢂ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
3.3
Connecting to a TV tuner card
1. If you have a traditional PCI or PCI Express TV tuner card on your PC, you
may need to connect it to the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card to send the tuner card’s
sound to your PC speakers.
2.
3.
Secure the PCI/PCI Express TV tuner card and screw it into the back-panel.
Connect the audio output header from the TV tuner card to the Aux-In header
of the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card.
For optimum TV audio quality, Xonar HDAV uses ADC recording to digitize the
signal and loops it back to DAC playback. Select Aux-In as the recording source
in the Xonar HDAV Center’s recording mixer and enable the monitoring button
to pass this signal to the audio output. Using this setup, you can even turn on
sound effects such as Pro-Logic IIx to expand the stereo TV audio to 5.ꢀ or 7.ꢀ
channel surround sound. TV audio on your PC will become even better than on
your TV set.
ꢀ0
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
4.
Installing software
4.1
Installing the card driver
Ensure that you have installed the VGA card driver before installing the Xonar
HDAV driver. Otherwise, driver installation error may occur.
ꢀ.
2.
3.
After you have installed the Xonar HDAV card, turn on your computer.
Windows® automatically detects the HDAV card and searches for device
drivers. When prompted for the drivers, click Cancel.
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.
The installation program will remind you to make sure you have connected
the additional power cable from your power supply unit to the card. If the
power cable is not connected properly, the card will not work at all. If it has
not been done, turn off the computer to install the power cable before you go
on the installation process.
4.
Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation. Read the
“END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT” in the process and make sure you
understand and accept it before you continue the installation. When the
installation finishes, you may be prompted to restart your computer. You can
choose to restart the computer later if desired.
ꢀꢀ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
4.2
Installing the TotalMedia Theatre software
ꢀ.
Insert the TotalMedia Theatre installation CD into the optical drive. If Autorun
is enabled in your system, the setup starts automatically. If not, run setup.
exe from the installation CD.
2.
3.
Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation.
When prompted, enter the license key located on the installation CD sleeve.
ꢀ2
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.
Connecting speakers and peripherals
5.1
Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater)
The Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 supports Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive technologies,
which transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard
Dolby Digital or DTS 5.ꢀ surround bit-streams. This makes playback through your
home theater system possible, creating an immersive and impressive cinema
surround sound experience. A single digital cable connection can carry high-
quality Dolby Digital or DTS 5.ꢀ digital audio from any of your PC audio sources
to any digital speakers or AV Receivers with Dolby Digital or DTS 5.ꢀ decoding
capabilities.
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
SPDIF Out
2
No Item
Description
1
Optical adapter
Plug the optical TOSLINK adapter into the S/PDIF-Out
combo connector.
2
Optical cable
Connect your decoder’s S/PDIF-In port to the optical adapter
with the TOSLINK optical cable.
You can also use a coaxial cable for a S/PDIF connection. Just plug the coaxial
RCA male connector to the S/PDIF-Out combo jack and connect the other end
into the coaxial S/PDIF input on your decoder.
ꢀ3
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.2
Connecting Headphones
5.2.1
Connecting Stereo Headphones
(Xonar HDAV card)
SPDIF Out
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
Stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable
The Left/Right Front Out ports have a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones.
Connect your stereo headphones to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable, and then
connect the Left/Right ends to the to Front Left/Right Out ports on the Xonar HDAV card.
ꢀ4
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.2.2
Connecting 5.1 channel Headphones
1
2
3
(H6 DAC extension board)
(Xonar HDAV card)
Right Side Out
2
Left Side Out
Center Out
3
Subwoofer Out
1
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
No Item
Description
1
2
3
Front Left/Right Out
Connect the front-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.ꢀ
headphones to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable, and
then connect the Left/Right ends to the to Front Left/Right
Out ports on the Xonar HDAV card.
Left/Right Side
Surround Out
Connect the side surround-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.ꢀ
headphones to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable, and
then connect the Left/Right ends to the to Left/Right Side Out
ports on the extension board.
Center/Subwoofer Out
Connect the Center/Bass-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.ꢀ
headphones to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable, and
then connect the Left/Right ends to the to Center/Subwooder
Out ports on the extension board.
ꢀ5
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.3
Connecting Analog Speaker Systems
Connecting Analog Power Amplifier
5.3.1
1
2
3
4
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
(H6 DAC extension board)
Right Side Out
2
3
Left Side Out
Center Out
Subwoofer Out
Right Back Out
Left Back Out
4
ꢀ6
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
No Item
Front Left/Right Out
Description
1
2
3
4
Connects to the “left front” and “right front” input ports of the
analog amplifier with the mini-jack-to-RCA cable, and then
connect the other end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm
cable. Finally, connect the Left/Right ends to the Front Left/
Right Out ports on the Xonar HDAV card.
Left/Right Side
Surround Out
Connects to the “left surround” and “right surround” input
ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack-to-RCA cable,
and then connect the other end to the bundled stereo RCA-
to-3.5mm cable. Finally, connect the Left/Right ends to the
Left/Right Side Out ports on the extension board.
Center/Subwoofer
Connects to the “Center” and “subwoofer” input ports of the
analog amplifier with the mini-jack-to-RCA cable, and then
connect the other end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm
cable. Finally, connect the Left/Right ends to the to Center/
Subwoofer Out ports on the extension board.
Left/Right Back
Connects to the “left back” and “right back” input ports of the
analog amplifier with the mini-jack-to-RCA cable, and then
connect the other end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm
cable. Finally, connect the Left/Right ends to the to Left/Right
Back Out ports on the extension board.
Surround Out
ꢀ7
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.3.2
Connecting 2/2.1 Channel Speakers
2 Speakers
2.1 Speakers
1
1
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
No Item
Description
1
Front Left/Right Out
The Left/Right Front Out ports have a built-in high-quality
amplifier to drive headphones. Connect the 2/2.ꢀ speaker
set’s 3.5mm plug to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable,
and then connect the Left/Right ends to the Front Left/Right
Out ports on the Xonar HDAV card.
ꢀꢁ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.3.3
Connecting 4/4.1 Channel Speakers
4 Speakers
4.1 Speakers
1
2
1
2
(H6 DAC extension board)
(Xonar HDAV card)
Right Side Out
2
Left Side Out
1
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
No Item
Description
1
Front Left/Right Out
Connects to the Front input port of the 4/4.ꢀ speakers with
the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other end to the
bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally, connect the
Left/Right ends to the Front Left/Right Out ports on the
extension board.
2
Left/Right Side
Surround Out
Connects to the Side Surround input port of the 4/4.ꢀ
speakers with the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other
end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally,
connect the Left/Right ends to the Left/Right Side Out ports
on the extension board.
ꢀꢂ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.3.4
Connecting 5.1 Channel Speakers
5.1 Speakers
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
3
2
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
1
(H6 DAC extension board)
Right Side Out
2
3
Left Side Out
Center Out
Subwoofer Out
No Item
Description
1
2
3
Front Left/Right Out
Connects to the Front input port of the 5.ꢀ speakers with
the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other end to the
bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally, connect the
Left/Right ends to the Front Left/Right Out ports on the Xonar
HDAV card.
Left/Right Side
Surround Out
Connects to the Side Surround input port of the 5.ꢀ speakers
with the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other end to
the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally, connect
the Left/Right ends to the Left/Right Side Out ports on the
extension board.
Center/Subwoofer Out
Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 5.ꢀ
speakers with the mini-jack cable, and then connect the
other end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable.
Finally, connect the Left/Right ends to the Center/Subwoofer
Out ports on the extension board.
20
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.3.5
Connecting 6.1 / 7.1 Channel Speakers
6.1 Speakers
7.1 Speakers
1
4
1
4
2
2
3
3
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
(H6 DAC extension board)
Right Side Out
2
3
Left Side Out
Center Out
Subwoofer Out
Right Back Out
Left Back Out
4
2ꢀ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
No Item
Front Left/Right Out
Description
1
2
3
4
Connects to the Front input port of the 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ speakers with
the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other end to the
bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally, connect the
Left/Right ends to the Front Left/Right Out ports on the Xonar
HDAV card.
Left/Right Side
Surround Out
Connects to the Side Surround input port of the 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ
speakers with the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other
end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally,
connect the Left/Right ends to the Left/Right Side Out ports
on the extension board.
Center/Subwoofer
Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ
speakers with the mini-jack cable, and then connect the
other end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable.
Finally, connect the Left/Right ends to the Center/Subwoofer
Out ports on the extension board.
Left/Right Back
Connects to the Back Surround input port of the 6.ꢀ/7.ꢀ
speakers with the mini-jack cable, and then connect the other
end to the bundled stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable. Finally,
connect the Left/Right ends to the Left/Right Back Out ports
on the extension board.
Surround Out
22
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.4
Connecting Microphone
1
2
2
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
Mic In
2
No Item
Description
Front Left/Right Out
port/Headphone port
Connect the headphone’s 3.5mm plug to the bundled stereo
RCA-to-3.5mm cable, and then connect the Left/Right ends
to the to Front Left/Right Out ports on the Xonar HDAV card.
1
Microphone Input
Jack
Connect the microphone’s 3.5mm plug to the Mic-In port on
the Xonar HDAV card for voice communication, recording, or
karaoke.
23
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.5
Connecting Line-In Audio Sources
(Xonar HDAV card)
Front Right Out
Front Left Out
Line In
1
No Item
Description
1
Line Input Jack
Connect the 3.5mm plug of the CD/MP3 Player or any other
Line level analog audio sources into this Line-In jack for
sound recording or real-time Dolby/DTS sound processing
through the Monitoring path (See the “Mixer” section of the
driver guide).
24
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.6
Connecting Digital Audio Sources
(Xonar HDAV card)
1
SPDIF In
2
No Item
Description
1
Optical adapter
Plug the optical TOSLINK adapter into the S/PDIF-In combo
connector
2
Optical cable
Connect your MD/CD/DVD player’s S/PDIF out port to the
optical adapter with the TOSLINK optical cable
You can also use a coaxial cable for a S/PDIF digital connection. Just plug the
coaxial RCA male connector to the S/PDIF-In combo jack and connect the other
end into the coaxial S/PDIF output on the player.
25
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.
Xonar HDAV Center
6.1
Xonar HDAV Center GUI
ꢀ.
After the driver installation is complete and your computer has been
rebooted, you will find the Xonar HDAV Center’s icon in the system tray on
the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Double click this icon to open the
Xonar HDAV Center utility.
If the icon could not be found in the system tray, launch the Xonar HDAV Center
from the Windows desktop by clicking Start > All Programs > ASUS Xonar
HDAV > Xonar HDAV Center.
2.
The Xonar HDAV Center is the Graphic User Interface (GUI) for the Xonar
HDAV ꢀ.3 driver. You can control the functions and features of the Xonar
HDAV ꢀ.3 driver on the Xonar HDAV Center. The following picture shows
a basic overview of the Xonar HDAV Center. The following sections of this
manual will describe its functions in more detail.
6
Minimize button
Close button
1
2
7
8
3
9
10
4
11
5
12
26
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
No Item
Description
1
2
Support link
Clicking this button will lead you to the ASUS official website.
Display Area
This display area shows the ꢀ0-band signal meter, volume
level, and the status of the Dolby/DTS technologies, EQ, and
DSP modes. Note: this area just displays information, but is
not used to alter settings.
3
4
HDMI mode
Click this button when you connect the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card
to an HDMI device.
Sound Card mode
Click this button when you connect the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card
to powered analog speakers or digital home theater systems,
etc.
5
Setting Menu Panel
This panel gives access to setting tabs, including Main
Settings, Mixer/volume, Effects, Karaoke/MagicVoice, and
FlexBass. (see the following details)
6
7
Information icon
Clicking this icon will pop up driver’s Information window.
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.
8
Audio/Video
configuration switch
Click the corresponding switch to configure the related
settings while using the audio/video features.
9
Master Volume
Mute Button
SVN Button
This rotary knob controls the master playback volume. Drag
the small circle inside it to change the volume level.
10
11
Click this button to mute audio playback; it will display a red
light when playback is muted.
Click this button to enable the “Smart Volume Normalization”
feature for constant volume from all playback sources. It will
display a blue light when enabled.
12
DSP Mode
These 4 buttons give access to quick sound effects
combinations for Music, Games, DVD Video, and effect-free
(Hi-Fi) modes.
27
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2
Audio-Main Setting
6.2.1
HDMI Out mode / Analog Out mode
Select the appropriate mode corresponding to the device you connect the Xonar
HDAV ꢀ.3 card to.
HDMI Out / Speaker Test / Speaker Swap
Click the HDMI mode button and configure the related settings when you
connect the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card to an HDMI device.
1
2
3
No Item
Description
1
HDMI Out
The HDMI Out setting is used to match your actual speaker
setting, such as headphones, 2 speakers (or 2.ꢀ), 4
speakers (or 4.ꢀ), 5.ꢀ speakers, 7.ꢀ speakers. Xonar HDAV
will play the channels and does the proper 3D/Dolby sound
processing accordingly. Please select the correct speaker
type for your connected speakers.
HDMI Out also allows you to select one of the following two
formats:
-Dolby Digital Live real-time 5.ꢀch encoding
-DTS Interactive real-time 5.ꢀch encoding
2
3
Speaker Test
Click this button to show the speaker test window in the right
pane. Click the “play” button to test each speaker one by one
or click each speaker manually to test.
Speaker Swap
Clicking this button will pop up an advanced setting window
to allow you to:
–Swap center/bass outputs for 5.ꢀ/7.ꢀ-speaker set ups
-Swap Side/Surroud outputs for 7.ꢀ-speaker set ups
Check the box if your speakers are outputting the incorrect
channel. Otherwise, leave them blank.
2ꢁ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
Analog Out / Speaker Test / Speaker Swap
Click the Analog mode button and configure the related settings when you
connect the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card to powered analog speakers or digital
home theater systems, etc.
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.ꢀ),
4 speakers (or 4.ꢀ), 5.ꢀ speakers, and 7.ꢀ speakers. Xonar
HDAV ꢀ.3 will play the channels and do the proper 3D/Dolby/
DTS sound processing accordingly. Please select the correct
speaker type for your connected speakers.
2
3
Speaker Test
Click this button to show the speaker test window in the right
pane. Click the “play” button to test each speaker one by one
or click each speaker manually to test.
Note: the Speaker Test function is not available on Windows
Vista due to a limitation in its audio stack.
Speaker Swap
Clicking this button will pop up an advanced setting window
to allow you to:
–Swap center/bass outputs for 5.ꢀ/7.ꢀ-speaker set ups
-Swap Side/Surroud outputs for 7.ꢀ-speaker set ups
Check the box if your speakers are outputting the incorrect
channel. Otherwise, leave them blank.
2ꢂ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.2
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 HDAV ꢀ.3 card can support sample rates up to ꢀꢂ2KHz (44.ꢀK, 4ꢁK, ꢂ6K,
ꢀꢂ2KHz). Usually audio CDs and MP3 files are 44.ꢀKHz; DVD-Video uses 4ꢁKHz;
DVD-Audio or other HD media may contain ꢂ6KHz or ꢀꢂ2KHz high-definition audio
content. Please select the corresponding sample rate for your playback sources
to get the best audio fidelity. Even if your setting differs from the audio source’s
sample rate, the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 engine will do super high fidelity sample-rate-
conversion with a double floating-point filter, which can reduce total harmonic
distortion (THD+N) by -ꢀ40dB.
1
No Item
Description
1
Sample Rate
Select the sample rate that corresponds to (or exceeds that
of) your playback sources, for optimal audio fidelity. The
Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card supports sample rates up to ꢀꢂ2KHz
(44.ꢀK, 4ꢁK, ꢂ6K, ꢀꢂ2KHz). Typical values:
-Audio CD, MP3, WMA, Wave files are 44.ꢀKHz;
-The audio of DVD-Video is 4ꢁKHz;
-DVD-Audio or other HD media may contain ꢂ6KHz or
ꢀꢂ2KHz high-definition audio content.
30
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.3
SPDIF Out/DDL/DTS Interactive
Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 is capable of outputting Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive,
which are real-time encoders that transcode any audio, including games and
music, into industry-standard Dolby Digital or DTS 5.ꢀ 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 or DTS 5.ꢀ surround audio from your
PC to digital speakers and AV Receivers.
2
3
1
No Item
Description
1
S/PDIF Out enable/
disable
Click this check box to enable S/PDIF output.
2
S/PDIF Output
Formats/Functions
This pull-down menu allows you to select one of the following
four formats:
-PCM (Pulse Code Modulation, which is a typical raw audio
data format.)
-Dolby Digital Live real-time 5.ꢀch encoding
-DTS Interactive real-time 5.ꢀch encoding
-S/PDIF In Loopback to output (typically useful for coaxial/
optical connection transformation)
3
Dobly Digital Live
advanced upmixing
option
This advanced setting will automatically upmix stereo (2ch)
content to 5.ꢀ channel surround with Dolby Pro-Logic II when
using Dolby Digital Live output.
3ꢀ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
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. You may have to
restart the program after the change. It’s recommended that you close all playing
programs before you change the setting.
1
No Item
Description
1
Audio Channels
Here are some typical suggestions:
-MP3, WMA, AAC, CD, VCD, 2D games => 2 channels
-DVD-Video with Dolby Digtial or DTS 5.ꢀ => 6 channels
-DVD-Video with Dolby Digtial EX or DTS ES => ꢁ channels
-3D games => ꢁ channels
32
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.5
7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter
The 7.ꢀ Virtual Speaker Shifter has the following major features:
•
•
•
Expanding/upmixing audio to 7.ꢀ-channel surround sound
Virtualizing 7.ꢀ 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
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
No Item
Description
1
Shifter enable/disable
Click this check box to enable the 7.ꢀ Virtual Speaker Shifter.
Clicking the text bar will switch the right window to the
Speaker Shifter page for manual adjustments.
2
Drag speaker or
listener
You can drag each speaker or listener to a different relative
position “virtually” using only your mouse. The Xonar HDAV
ꢀ.3 card will process it and virtualize each speaker position
in real-time. The Subwoofer has no directional sounds, and
hence can be moved only closer or further away.
3
4
Reset
Reset all Speaker Shifter settings to the defaults.
Increase/decrease
volume
Click + to increase volume (move speakers closer); click – to
decrease volume (move speakers further away)
5
Counter-clockwise
Make all speakers (except Subwoofer) rotate counter-
clockwise
6
7
8
Clockwise
Make all speakers (except Subwoofer) rotate clockwise
Manually drag and rotate all speakers (except Subwoofer)
Manual Rotation
Manual Drag Mode
This is the default mode that allows you to manually drag
each speaker or the listener with your mouse.
33
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.6
Dolby Pro-Logic IIx
Dolby Pro-Logic IIx is a 7.ꢀ 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.ꢀ or
7.ꢀ-channel surround.
2
3
4
5
6
1
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.
2
Center Width
This parameter is used to set the spread of the center, mainly
for the vocal signals of songs and music. Drag the scroll bar
to the left to centralize the vocal signal. Drag to the right side
to widen the vocal sound range.
3
4
Reset
Reset all settings to the defaults.
Dimension
The dimension parameter fades sounds to the front or rear
of the listener.
5
6
Music Mode
Music mode is the default mode for regular music playback.
In this mode, you can adjust the Center Width and
Dimension parameters.
Movie Mode
Movie mode is a preset optimized for movie audio.
34
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.7
DTS Neo:PC
DTS Neo:PC is another 2-to-7.ꢀ channel upmixing technology, using a
sophisticated algorithm from DTS Labs. It can spread stereo audio such as MP3,
CD, and TV programs into an immersive 5.ꢀ or 7.ꢀ-channel surround sound
environment.
2
3
4
5
6
1
No Item
Description
1
DTS Neo:PC enable/
disable
Click this check box to enable DTS Neo:PC. Clicking the text
bar will switch the right window to a DTS Neo:PC page for
manual adjustments.
2
Center Width
This parameter is used to set the spread of the center, mainly
for the vocal signals of songs and music. Drag the scroll bar
to the left to centralize the vocal signal. Drag to the right side
to widen the vocal sound range.
3
4
Reset
Reset all settings to the defaults.
Dimension
The dimension parameter fades sounds to the front or rear
of the listener.
5
6
Music Mode
Music mode is the default mode for regular music playback.
In this mode, you can adjust the Center Width and
Dimension parameters.
Movie Mode
Movie mode is a preset optimized for movie audio.
35
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.8
Dolby Headphone
Dolby Headphone creates a stunning multi-channel surround experience over
ordinary stereo headphones for playing 3D games, watching 5.ꢀ 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.
2
3
4
1
No Item
Description
1
Dolby Headphone
enable/disable
Click this check box to enable Dolby Headphone. Clicking
the text bar will switch the right window to Dolby Headphone
page for manual adjusting.
2
DH1
Dolby Headphone (DH) provides three room filters that may
be used with any type of audio. They differ in the sense of
the “spatial dimension” they impart.
DHꢀ—Reference Room: Small, acoustically damped room.
DH2—Livelier Room: More acoustically live than DHꢀ
3
4
DH2
DH3
DH3—Larger Room: Larger room than DHꢀ; more distant
and diffused effect.
36
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.2.9
Dolby Virtual Speaker
Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a 5.ꢀ-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.ꢀ-channel surround listening experience from any high-quality stereo source.
2
3
1
No Item
Description
1
Dolby Virtual Speaker
enable/disable
Click this check box to enable Dolby Virtual Speaker. Clicking
the text bar will switch the right window to a Dolby Virtual
Speaker page for manual adjusting.
2
Reference Mode
Dolby Virtual Speaker provides two modes of virtualization:
The first is Reference mode, which virtualizes the missing
speakers as in the following picture.
3
Wide Mode
Wide mode virtualizes the necessary speakers and
enhances the surround experience as in the following
picture.
37
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.3
Mixer/Volume
The mixer page is designed to control the volume for playback and recording on
the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3. In addition, the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 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
and DTS technologies.
6.3.1
Playback Volume
1
6
2
3
4
5
No Item
Description
1
2
Playback volume tab
Click this button to show the playback volume page.
Left / Right balance
The horizontal slider controls the volume between the left
and right channels.
3
Volume slider
Drag this slider down to decrease the volume; drag it up to
increase the volume. The tool-tip reveals the percentage
number from ꢀ to ꢀ00 in terms of the full scale level.
4
5
Mute button
Click this button to mute the audio channel; click this button
again to restore the audio output.
Source / path name
This shows the source name for each volume control slider,
including:
- WAVE: All digital audio sources except MIDI files
- SW: Software Synthesizer; control the playback volume of
the MIDI files
- CD: CD-ROM digital playback (CD-DA) volume control
- LEFT, RIGHT…: the volume control for each speaker/
channel
Note: Windows® Vista doesn’t support WAVE, Synthesizer
and CD-In volume controls.
6
Reset
Reset all volume controls to the default settings
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
3ꢁ
6.3.2
Recording/Monitoring Volume
1
8
9
2
3
4
5
6
7
No Item
Description
1
2
Recording Volume Tab
Left/Right balance
Click this button to show the recording volume page.
This horizontal slider controls the volume between the left
and right channels.
3
Recording volume
slider
Drag this slider down to decrease the recording volume; drag
up to increase the recording volume. The tool-tip reveals the
percentage number from ꢀ to ꢀ00 in terms of the full scale
level.
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.)
5
S/PDIF-In Advanced
Click this button
S/PDIF-In:
to open the advanced settings for the
Setting
Enabling “Validity Check” will check out the PCM audio
validity bit of S/PDIF input stream to prevent recording or
monitoring non-PCM/not recordable audio (such as AC3,
etc.), which will become unrecognizable sounds from your
speakers.
(continued on the next page)
3ꢂ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6
Monitoring button
Click this button to monitor and loopback recording audio
to outputs (PC speakers). Therefore, the recording volume
will influence the monitoring signals from speaker outputs.
The audio will be mixed into the streams you are playing
out from your PC and all DSP effects will be applied to the
source, too. A typical benefit is to apply Dolby Pro-Logic
IIx 7.ꢀ-ch spreading for your TV audio, CD, MP3, or stereo
game console audio from Wii, Xbox, PS2/PS3/PSP, etc.
To apply Dolby Virtual Speaker is suitable for two-speaker
environment.
NOTE: When the monitoring function is enabled, audio
output from HDMI output is disabled.
7
Source / path name
This shows the source name for each volume control slider,
including:
S/PDIF-In: S/PDIF digital input source
Mix: Stereo Mix which will record all analog inputs and digital
wave audio you are playing on PC
Aux: recording from Aux-In for typically TV-tuner card audio
or other sound sources
Line-In: recording from Line-in jack for external audio devices
WAVE: recording from digital wave audio you are playing on
PC (Note: Windows Vista doesn’t support WAVE recording.)
8
Microphone-In
Click this button
Microphone-In:
to open the advanced settings for the
advanced setting
Enabling “Microphone Boost” will increase a volume gain
to boost microphone input signals. If you connect your
microphone to the front panel audio module, enable “Front
Panel Microphone”. For typical low-cost PC microphone, it’s
recommended to enable this function.
9
Reset
Click to reset all volume controls to the default settings.
40
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
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.
3
1
2
No Item
Description
1
Default environments
These four buttons activate Bathroom, Concert hall,
Underwater, and Music Pub environments, respectively.
2
More options
Clicking this button will apply the environment effect that you
select from the pull-down menu on the right side. There are
another 23 options in this menu.
3
Environment size
There are three size settings for each environment: Large,
Medium, and Small.
4ꢀ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
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 ꢀ2 default
patterns and you can also make your own settings.
1
2
3
4
5
6
No Item
Description
1
Default equalizer
options
There are ꢀ2 available equalizer patterns. Click one to apply
it.
2
3
Equalier slider
Adjust the gain for each band (30~ꢀ6KHz)
User Defined
You can click this button to apply your own defined
parameters saved in the pull-down menu.
4
5
Save name
Add / save
Key in a name for your own “User Defined” equalizer setting
Click this “+” button to save the parameters into User Defined
list
6
Delete
Click this “–” button to delete the parameters from User
Defined list
42
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.5
Karaoke
The Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 provides powerful features for Karaoke, including Key-
Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo. 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.
5
1
2
3
4
No Item
Description
1
2
On/Off
Click the switch to turn on or off the functions on this page.
Key-Shifting
Check the box to enable or disable the key shifting feature
for music playback from 4 semitones below, to 4 semitones
above.
3
Vocal Cancellation
Checkbox to enable or disable the vocal cancellation function
and adjust the voice cancellation level from 0 to +ꢀ00. +ꢀ00
will eliminate most original vocals (default value is 50).
4
5
Mic Echo
Select the Mic Echo function and adjust the gain for echo
signals (30~ꢀ6KHz)
Reset
Reset all settings to the default.
43
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
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. FlexBass will
filter out the bass signals from small speaker channels and redirect them all to the
subwoofer or Large speakers.
4
1
2
3
No Item
Description
1
On/Off
Click this switch to turn on or off all functions on this
FlexBass page.
2
Small / Large speaker
option
Select the speaker type that you connected. If your speaker
type cannot perform low-frequency signals (bass), select
“Small” speaker type and Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 will filter out the
bass signals and send them to the subwoofer channel. If
those speakers are full-range, you can select the “Large”
speaker type.
Note: Usually, low-cost PC’s 2-channel speakers are
small-type speakers. Refer to the speaker’s specification.
If you have any questions, consult your speaker vendor.
However, common 2.ꢀ speakers with a subwoofer should
be categorized as Large speakers because the subwoofer
can redirect the bass signals inside the two channels to the
subwoofer speaker automatically.
3
Picture for Small/
Large speaker
Colors for small/large speakers are different.
Orange: large speakers
Green: small speakers
44
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
4
LFE Crossover
Frequency
Adjusts the cut-off frequency (50~250Hz) for LFE (low-
frequency effects) signals. Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 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.
45
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.7
AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancellation)
Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 provides advanced Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) for best
voice communication quality over your speakers. AEC technology can eliminate up-
to-40dB speaker echo return and suppress noises into your microphone for easier
conversation experience. AEC is an innovative feature to make Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
the best sound card choice for online chatting in VOIP applications (Skype, MSN,
Google, QQ, etc.) or online gaming. AEC provides the following benefits to you:
•
•
Reduces the voice acoustic echoes like speakerphone devices when others
talk to you on line
Minimizes the playback sound echoes into your microphone during gaming or
music playback
•
•
Effectively suppresses background or system noises into your microphone
32-bit floating point algorithm providing precisely adaptive echo cancellation
performance up to 40dB
•
Supports all VOIP applications and online games
To achieve the best performance of AEC function, the ideal system requirements
are as follows:
ꢀ.
2.
3.
4.
Speakers and microphone are low distortion (max. THD < 2%)
Flat frequency response between 300~4KHz
Use omni-direction electret microphone with >=40dB sensitivity
The microphone is more than 30cm far from PC’s speakers (fix the distance)
and do NOT turn your speakers too loud
5.
Put your microphone 20~30cm away from you (fix the distance) and do NOT
speak too close or too loud into the microphone to avoid signal clipping and
distortion. Enable “microphone boost” on Xonar HDAV Center mixer to get
proper input signal level.
6.
It’s suggested to disable original AEC function residing in some of the soft-
phones or voice communication programs to get best performance from
Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 card.
AEC function will be only suitable for bi-direction voice communication
applications. The speaker type will be set as 2 speakers and special voice
processing mode while AEC is applied (all audio effects will be suspended and
those controls on audio center will be frozen.). After you finish the voice-over-
IP applications, please remember to turn it off for normal high-fidelity audio
playback mode.
46
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
2
1
No Item
Description
1
2
AEC
Enable AEC
Click to open the AEC function page.
Click the checkbox to enable AEC function. An alert message
will pop up:
This message implies that the speaker configuration will
be set to 2 speakers and all sound effect processors will
be suspended except AEC function. Click “OK” to accept
it or “Cancel” if you want to enable it later. Checking “Don’t
remind me again” will not display this message again.
47
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.8
Smart Volume Normalization
Smart Volume NormalizationTM (SVN) automatically keeps all music or video/TV
audio output at a constant level to reduce manual adjustment hassles inherent
with sound sources of different loudness. It allows you to listen to various content,
like MP3, TV program, DVD video and even games with consistent sound level.
The following graph shows how different signals ꢀ & 2 will become the same level
(for example, ꢀ0dB below full scale) after you turn on SVN. Please note that for
lower volume music 2, it will become louder when you turn on SVN; and for higher
volume music ꢀ, it will become quieter.
0dB (Full-scale)
Music 1
T
-10 dB
Music 2
SVN Off
SVN On
- ꢀ
4ꢁ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
3
2
1
No Item
Description
1
SVN On/Off
Click this button to enable SVN. This button is outlined blue
when active.
2
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.
3
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.
4ꢂ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.9
DS3D GX and DSP Modes
Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 is introducing an innovative technology –DirectSound 3D Game
Extensions vꢀ.0 (DS3D GX ꢀ.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. Before you start EAX and DS3D HW
games, enable DS3D GX on the Xonar HDAV Center, and disable the function
after the games.
Supports latest DS3D GX 2.0 for gaming on Vista & XP
DS3D GX 2.0 not only revives EAX and DirectSound HW effects, but also
allows you to run EAX HD 5.0 games on both XP and Vista. It provides the best
compatibility with existing DirectX games. GX2.0 also adds innovative VocalFX
voice effects for existing EAX games or VOIP applications.
Besides the abundant sound effects described above, the Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 also
provides quick Digital Sound Processing modes which are configured for typical
applications including Music, Movies, and Games over different output speaker
types. In addition, Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3 also offers a Hi-Fi mode for hi-fidelity playback
without any effect processing to keep the original audio fidelity. Every time you turn
on Hi-Fi mode, Xonar HDAV ꢀ will clear all sound effects. It’s also recommended
to use Hi-Fi mode for audio quality tests (using RMAA software or another
machine-based measurement). Use the DSP mode button as the quick setup if you
don’t wish to know the details of the effect setup. (Note: no sound effects will be
applied to high-definition ꢂ6KHz/ꢀꢂ2KHz content.)
50
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
3
2
4
5
1
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.
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
4
5
Music Mode
Movie Mode
Game Mode
This mode is set for Music playback.
This mode is set for DVD Movie playback.
This mode is set for Games.
5ꢀ
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.10
VocalFX
VocalFX is an innovative voice processing technology to let your voice get into
the realistic game landscape (VoiceEX) or to emulate the background scenes in
online chat (ChatEX). It also allows you to change your voice pitch to disguise
who you are (Magic Voice). These features dramatically increase the fun for voice
communication on PC.
3
4
5
1
2
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.
(You can hear your voice form speakers)
3
4
5
ChatEX
It emulates different background environment effects when
you chat online.
Magic Voice
App List
Changes your voice pitch to different types for disguising
your real voice or just for fun in online chatting.
You can add VOIP application into VOIP application List.
52
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
For 3D Games
ꢀ.
2.
Check the check box of VoiceEX and Local VoiceEX.
Make sure you and your team member can talk to each other in the game.
For VOIP
ꢀ.
2.
Press App List
If you don’t see the VOIP application of yours in the list, press Add.(Make
sure the Skype and MSN Messenger are the latest version)
3.
Look for the application’s location and Open it.
53
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
4.
Your VOIP application has been added into list.
5.
6.
Check the check box of ChatEX and Magic Voice.
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
message pop up next time.
54
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.11
Video – Splendid HD
Splendid HD is a utility that upgrades the visual performance for your LCD monitor
or LCD TV with the advanced HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia interface) output.
6.11.1
Activating Splendid HD
To use the Splendid HD:
ꢀ.
Click the Video button on the Xonar HDAV Center.
1
2
4
3
Click if your
display is an
LCD TV
Click if your
display is an
LCD monitor
2.
Click the Splendid On button on the Xonar HDAV Center; clicking this button
again will disable this feature.
3.
4.
Click the LCD monitor / LCD TV icon depending on which display you use.
The Splendid HD provides three modes that allow you to change the
configurations according to different viewing conditions, such as viewing
photos, watching movies, and playing games. Click ON / OFF to enable or
disable the mode you select.
55
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
5.
You can also set hotkeys for each mode, which enables you to switch modes
quickly. Follow the steps below to set a hotkey.
a. Click the Hotkey textbox
following:
to display the
b. Click on the Hotkey textbox then press desired keys. Ctrl and Alt keys
are the default keys.
c. Click Set to apply settings.
6.11.2
Photo Mode
To enable the Photo Mode, click the corresponding ON button. The button is
lighted up in green color when Photo Mode is on. Select desired settings from the
two default color-enhanced settings: Nature and Vivid.
If you want to see the comparison between the original screen and the
color-enhanced screen, click the Demo On button. When the demo starts, a
vertical green line divides the screen. The left side of the green line is the original
screen and the right side the color-enhanced screen. Click Cancel to stop
scanning.
56
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
You can customize two more settings based on your needs.
To add customized settings, select CustomA / CustomB then click the Custom
button.
From the customize settings screen, adjust the brightness, saturation, hue,
contrast, and sharpness according to your desired settings and name your
customized setting. Click OK when done.
57
ASUS Xonar HDAV ꢀ.3
6.11.3
Video Mode < |