Contents
Introduction
Features & Specifications
Design, Build and Software
Performance
Conclusion
Design and Build
Unboxing the Xonar U7 and holding it in my palm was a pleasant experience. I was puzzled to see how Asus managed to get all the features in such a a small and nifty package. The build is compact and very travel friendly. That doesn’t take away the fact that it sits perfectly on your study/work table. It measures 13.9cm x 7.62cm x2.5cm, a little bigger than the iPhone 4G.
The rear of the U7 has the 7.1 channel outputs (front, rear, side speakers) and the OCA line-level outputs for an external pre-amp/amplifier. The USB also connects to the rear, which sits beside the dual coax/optical S/PDIF port.
In the front of the U7 we find the 3.5 mm headphone output (which is connected to a dedicated DAC) and a microphone input. All ports, in the front and the back are gold plated to allow the best conductivity.
On the top we find the volume knob, which is big and has the perfect amount of friction. The inclusion of knobs is always great, since they allow convenient on-the-fly volume control. You also get three blue LED indicators and a Xonar logo etch.
I wanted to open the U7 to see the PCB layout and quality of internal components but there was no clean way of doing it, and I didn’t want to disappoint the ASUS PR (lol). Opening it would definitely cause the casing to crack, so I refrained. But, I did manage to come across a picture of the board layout.
The CS-4398 DAC is located on the bottom left, who’s signal is carried all the way to the top, where the headphone output lies. The PCB is also a multi-layered (4 layers), which allows for more efficient grounding.
Software
Instead of using the driver CD bundled with the U7, I downloaded the latest drivers from the ASUS website. The OS I use is Windows 8 x64. The Xonar U7 control panel is easy-to-use, accessible and allows you to customize almost about anything you want i.e. sample-rate control, environmental emulation effects, headphone gain, virtual headphone surround. If you’ve used any Xonar software before, you will feel right at home with U7’s software, as principally it is from the same family.
The Dolby Home Theater V4 gets its own dedicated icon on your system tray, along with a brilliant control panel. I really like the Intelligent Equalizer function, which allows you to select from options Balanced, Open, Warm, Bright, Rich and Focused. So if you have headphones that have a bright sound signature, you can select the Warm preset to off-load the brightness. The software also offers many presets for gaming. It would have been better if ASUS integrated the U7 and Dolby control panels together, as some functions may overlap with each other.
Another major gripe I had with the Xonar U7 is its support for OSX, or lack thereof. I know that ASUS Xonar products seldom support OSX, but the U7 is different. It is portable, and has the features most multimedia professionals would use, and considering that most of them use Macbooks, lack of support from the Xonar U7 is a bummer. ASUS is missing a big chunk of its market because of this.
Thanks for the detailed review. Can the Xonar U7 work standalone without being plugged into a computer running Windows? Obviously, one would still need to supply it power through the USB port. Ideally, one would configure the Xonar U7 in Windows using the ASUS software, reboot into OSX or Linux, and listen to the audio from there, assuming the Xonar U7 retains the setup parameters. Would that work?
Have tried that on my Macbook, didnt work. Surprisingly the device’s volume control knob works, but the sound output is still from the internal sound card of the laptop.
The specs look amazing, sadly it’s not available in the US
It is available on Amazon US. http://www.amazon.com/Asus-XONAR-U7-Xonar-USB-Soundkarte/dp/B00CP53ML2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385525419&sr=8-1&keywords=xonar+u7
I actually contacted ASUS support and they said Xonar U7 is not on the list of products offered in North America. As for the amazon US – the three merchants who are currently offering the cards are simply buying them abroad (they say they ship from Korea, Italy, and France) and resell for a higher price. The ASUS rep said the warranty won’t work in the US.
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