ASUS Xonar range has continually evolved with products that add more tailored features into each release. Right now there’s AV-centric cards with the highest quality Op-Amps, HDMI-out cards, PCI-Express or PCI cards, half height cards – the list continues to grow to cater to everyone’s needs.
The latest addition to the family is the DG – a gamer friendly, half height card that includes a built in headphone amp (that is specifically optimised for 32-105Ω cans). That’s a one of a kind feature which is essential to LAN or hardcore gamers, especially in noisy environments where a quality set of powerful headphones means you can still actually hear the smallest noises that can make the difference between frag or failure.
ASUS Xonar DG gaming soundcard
Ideally you want to check out something like the Sennheiser PC350′s that our illustrious Mrs Mario detailed previously.
The Xonar DG is reinforced with other specifically developed headphone tech – like Dolby Headphone technology for surround sound emulation, and ASUS’ own GX 2.5 audio engine that supports EAX effects in game engines for additional effects.
It’s not limited to stereo output though – the DG has support for the popular 5.1 standard and has very impressive signal to noise ratio of 105dB across all channels.
The DGs low profile means it’s perfect for all cases – low profile boxes, possibly even home theatres with its impressive 5.1 spec, or small form factor LAN boxes where it won’t restrict the airflow needed by the hot graphics card or CPU.
ASUS Xonar DG - half height improves case compatibility
Many gamers put up with onboard sound, instead weighing their budgets towards graphics and speakers that make a more immediate different. While the quality on onboard audio has significantly improved, it still leaves an unbalanced system. Spending extra money on a quality pair of headphones only to connect them to an average source is like putting $50 tyres on a Ferrari: it’ll work, but it’s not going to give you the full benefit of its true performance. With that in mind – and ear – consider your next build budget wisely!
Nick Holland
Nick Holland – Portability and PC gaming are essential to Nick’s life. He’s enjoyed the latter since a very young age – eschewing consoles for customizability of a PC (with the finest backbones like the Asus P3B-F and A7V133) and the feel of a keyboard and mouse. As soon as he could afford a notebook he got one and things have rolled on from there into sleek DTRs (desktop replacements) netbooks, smartphones and he’s already eyeing up the latest tablets while trying to think up an excuse to own one. After writing about all things tech for several years it is only natural he sought to join the already awesome TiS team.