ASUS ROG Launches The Xonar Phoebus Solo
ROG has just launched its new Xonar Phoebus Solo sound card. It’s the same Phoebus tech underneath – 118dB SNR and 600 ohm headphone amp – but without the desktop controller, so if you were always after a gaming sound card only – the ‘Solo is the one to get.
Taipei, Taiwan (18 April, 2013) — ASUS today announced the ROG (Republic of Gamers) Xonar Phoebus Solo 7.1 PCI Express gaming sound card with precise positional audio and lifelike immersion for gamers. Xonar Phoebus Solo continues to exhibit the previous Xonar Phoebus’ hardware excellence, including clear 118dB signal-to-noise ratio, a powerful 600 ohm headphone amplifier, Dolby® Home Theater V4, and DTS™ UltraPC II surround sound.
Designed for superior sound
The ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo sound card features an EMI shield and exclusive ASUS Hyper Grounding technology that significantly reduce the detrimental effects of the electromagnetic interference present inside all desktop PCs.
Hyper Grounding technology brings the considerable motherboard expertise of ASUS to audio products, with a multi-layer PCB and high-quality power supply that help eliminate electrical noise from nearby components, resulting in cleaner, less distorted audio. Together with the high-fidelity PCM1796 digital-to-analog converter, the ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo delivers clear and crisp sound with a 118dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which means gamers will hear and experience every audio detail.
Power for headphone users
Many gamers play wearing headphones to avoid disturbing others and ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo is one of the few soundcards to use the top-flight TPA6120A2 with 600ohm impedance for superior sound clarity. Xonar Phoebus Solo also features Dolby® Home Theater V4 audio enhancement for cinematic surround sound both with external speakers and headphones. Support for the new DTS™ UltraPC II audio technology also ensures superior audio quality for every PC application, including gaming, movie-watching and even internet telephone calls.
Dedicated game profiles and Xonar Phoebus driver update
Genre-optimized game audio profiles allow gamers to choose from four different audio presets with ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo. Profiles for first person shooters, real time strategy, role playing and racing stimulation games mean gamers can enjoy audio tuned specifically for the game their playing.
Existing ROG Xonar Phoebus users can also enjoy upgraded audio gaming with the new genre-optimized gaming audio profiles and DTS™ UltraPC II suite via the Phoebus driver update.
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo will be available in Europe from early May.
SPECIFICATIONS 1 |
|
SNR |
Up to 118dB (A-weighted) |
Total harmonic distortion (output) |
0.00039% (-108dB) at 1kHz (A-weighted) |
Frequency response @ 96kHz, 24-bit |
10Hz to 48kHz |
Headphone amplifier impedance |
32 to 600 ohms, with 3 gain settings |
Channels |
7.1 |
Bus compatibility |
PCI-Express |
Maximum sample rate & resolution |
192kHz, 24-bit (all channels) |
Connectivity |
5x 3.5mm analog-out 2x 3.5mm analog-in 1x S/PDIF-out |
Operating system |
Microsoft® Windows® 8/7/XP (32/64-bit) |
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Senior Member
Posts: 933
Joined: 2003-04-17
the biggest problem i have with my card (phoebus) is channel switching
when i start watching a movie or even during a movie you hear a loud CLICK from the speakers and all channels are mixed
i am using analog out to my receiver (5.1) and stereo sounds upmixed to all speakers
when i trow in a new music file CLICK channels mixed again (vlc player MPC all same problem)
sometimes it goes good for hours and sometimes i cant even make it for 5 minutes
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: 2013-03-24
i got Xonar Phoebus some time now and work super onlye desktop control is crap
Senior Member
Posts: 22110
Joined: 2005-12-10
no problems whatsover with the phoebus
Senior Member
Posts: 332
Joined: 2013-01-03
I have yet to find a sound card that can tear me away from my STX. Ok the Phoebus is intended for gaming, but I love the quality of STX, plus the fact I can plug my guitar into it for amazing sound. the desktop control is great too.
I hear many complaints about the phoebus, but surely it wasn't that bad of a soundcard was it?
Senior Member
Posts: 17558
Joined: 2009-02-25
The Xonar D2X I'm using is getting a bit old but the unified (unofficial) driver package - http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/ - has worked pretty well, I might upgrade the sound card eventually but first I need a proper speaker setup or it wouldn't make much of a difference.
(Upgrading the sound card probably isn't something that's done all that often, I'll replace it if it starts breaking down of course, Realtek on-board chip would work until a replacement should it come to that.)