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Asus Xonar U1 Dolby USB Sound Card

Asus Asus Xonar U1 Dolby USB Sound CardEverything USB
Recommended

Attractive, portable, and easy to use, with clean sound reproduction, DSP processors that add new dimensions to the music, and surround sound that makes any pair of headphones into a capable home theater system, the Xonar U1 USB Audio Station is an excellent product.

Review by Eric Hanson | November 12, 2007 | + Share

Unless you're prepared to lay out a significant chunk of change for a higher-end laptop with a brand-name sound card, chances are your mobile computing solution has the hardware to play sounds and music, but offers nothing particularly interesting: no equalizations options, no digital signal processing, and no surround sound. To put it in another context: you'll have no problem playing the audio on your presentation, but won't be able to make the DVD you're watching truly immersive. Solving the problem can be as simple as adding an external USB sound card, but the key is for that extra piece of equipment to both feature-rich and lightweight so it's easy to carry. Enter the ASUS Xonar U1 Audio Station, a USB sound module that weighs about two pounds and supports a whole group of digital processing features. Could it be the external sound card you need? Let's find out. Continue reading full review @ Everything USB

ProsCons
  • Nifty, easy to understand design
  • Uses a number of powerful sound technologies
  • Excellent sound processing abilities
  • Surround sound in movies and games
  • Could serve as a sound card for gaming
  • Array microphone for VoIP or online gaming
  • No min. & max. setting on the volume wheel
  • Needs an adapter for analog surround speakers
  • DSP Mode settings aren't editable
  • Software doesn't associate settings with programs