Asus Xonar U3 PLUS User manual
Xonar U3 PLUS
Mobile Headphone Amp USB Soundcard
User Guide
ii
E11105
Second Edition (V2)
November 2015
Copyright © 2015 ASUSTeK Computer Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced,
transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any
means, except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the express written
permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (“ASUS”).
Product warranty or service will not be extended if: (1) the product is repaired, modied or altered, unless
such repair, modication of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS; or (2) the serial number of the
product is defaced or missing.
ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ASUS, ITS
DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS,
LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS AND THE LIKE),
EVEN IF ASUS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY
DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT.
SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL ARE FURNISHED FOR
INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY, AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE,
AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ASUS. ASUS ASSUMES NO
RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS
MANUAL, INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT.
Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or
copyrights of their respective companies, and are used only for identication or explanation and to the
owners’ benet, without intent to infringe.
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Contents
Notices......................................................................................................... iv
Safety information ....................................................................................... v
Trademarks .................................................................................................. v
License ......................................................................................................... v
1. Package contents............................................................................ 1
2. System requirements...................................................................... 1
3. Specicationssummary................................................................. 1
4. Card Installation.............................................................................. 3
5. Driver installation............................................................................ 3
6. Hardware introduction.................................................................... 4
7. Connecting speakers...................................................................... 5
8. Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center ........................................................ 7
8.1 Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center GUI .................................... 7
8.2 Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center Icon.................................... 9
8.3 Music Main Settings......................................................... 10
8.4 Mixer/Volume ................................................................... 11
8.5 Effects .............................................................................. 13
8.6 FlexBass .......................................................................... 15
8.7 Karaoke Main Settings..................................................... 16
8.8 Mixer ................................................................................ 23
8.9 Intensier ......................................................................... 25
9. Troubleshooting and FAQs.......................................................... 26
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.
Australia statement notice
From 1 January 2012 updated warranties apply to all ASUS products, consistent
with the Australian Consumer Law. For the latest product warranty details please
visit http://support.asus.com. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be
excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or
refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable
loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the
goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major
failure.
If you require assistance please call ASUS Customer Service 1300 2787 88 or visit
us at http://support.asus.com
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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.
Safety information
•
Before installing the device on a motherboard, carefully read all the user
guides 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 signal cables
to the device.
•
If the device is broken, do not try to x it by yourself. Contact a qualied 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 be exposed to moisture.
•
Place the product on a stable surface.
•
If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualied
service technician or your retailer.
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. EAX and A3D are trademarks
of Creative Technology Ltd. Microsoft, DirectSound3D, and 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.
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1ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
1. Package contents
Check your ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS external USB audio card package for the
following items:
• ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS external USB audio card
• S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adapter x 1
• USB extension cable x1
• Driver / User Guide CD x 1
• Quick Start Guide x 1
2. System requirements
To ensure a successful installation of the Xonar U3 PLUS external USB audio
card, your computer must meet the following requirements:
• IBM compatible PC with one USB1.1 (or higher) compatible port for the USB
audio device
• Microsoft®Windows®10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / XP(32/64bit)
• Intel®Pentium® 4 1.4GHz or AMD Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU
• 256 MB DRAM system memory
• 60 MB available HDD space for driver installation package
• CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive) for software installation
• High-quality headphones or powered analog speakers to enjoy the ultra-high
delity sound of the card
3. Specicationssummary
Category Item Description
Audio Controller
and Codec Audio Chipset CMedia CM6510B USB Audio Chip
Bus Interface USB Bus USB 2.0 and 1.0 Full-speed compatible
USB Audio Class USB Audio Device Class v1.0 compatible
I/O Ports
Analog Output Jack &
Digital S/PDIF Output
Combo
3.50mm mini analog and digital combo jack*1
(Headphone/Speakers/SPDIF output)
Built-in Headphone
Amplier
100dB SNR
1.1Vrms full-scale output voltage for 32 ohms
load
>1.7Vrms full-scale output voltage for 150
ohms load
Frequency Response (-3dB/48KHz):
20~20KHz for 32ohms
Analog Input Jack: 3.50mm mini shared jack *1 (Line-In/Mic-In)
(continued on the next page)
2ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
*Specicationsaresubjecttochangewithoutnotice.
Category Item Description
Outlook
Features
LED indicator Play music. Idle: LED on
Mute: LED off
Operating System Windows®10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / XP(32/64bit)
Driver Features
Operating System Windows®10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / XP(32/64bit)
Karaoke Functions
Music Pitch-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation,
and Microphone Echo effects with Stereo
Mix recording (Wave and Mic-in) for online
Karaoke or online DJ applications
FlexBass™ Professional Bass Management/Enhancement
system
Audio
Performance
Output Signal-to-Noise
Ratio (A-Weighted): 100dB for Line out
Output Total Harmonic
Distortion + Noise at
1kHz (A-Weighted):
0.005% (-86dB) for Line out
Frequency Response
(-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz
input):
20Hz to 20kHz
Output/Input Full-Scale
Voltage 1.7Vrms
Headphone Impedance Optimized for 32~150Ω
Accessories S/PDIF optical adaptor x1, USB extension cable x1, Driver CD x1, Quick
Start Guide x1
3ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
4. Card Installation
Connect the USB connector to any USB port on your notebook or PC as the
following drawing shows.
5. Driver installation
After installing the Xonar U3 PLUS external USB audio card on your computer,
you need to install the device driver that enables the Xonar U3 PLUS audio card to
work with Windows operating system.
The version and content of the support CD are subject to change without notice.
To install the device driver:
1. Insert the ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS support CD into your optical drive.
If Autorun is enabled, the ASUS Xonar Card Driver screen appears
automatically. Go to step 4. If Autorun is not enabled in your computer,
perform step 2.
2. Click My Computer on your desktop and double-click the optical drive icon.
3. Double-click the setup.exe icon located on the optical drive.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. Read the
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT in the process and make sure that you
understand and accept it before continuing the installation.
5. When the installation nishes, you may be prompted to restart your
computer. You can choose to restart the computer later if desired.
4ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
6. Hardware introduction
Xonar U3 PLUS external USB audio card layout
1. Light indicator
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2
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Description Status
Play music (not Mute) LED on
Play music (Mute) LED off
Idle (not Mute) LED on
Idle (Mute) LED off
2. Headphone & S/PDIF-Out port
3. Mic & Line-in port
5ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
7. Connecting speakers
For Analog Spakers
2 Speakers
For Digital Speakers
SPDIF Out
Plug the optical TOSLINK adapter into the S/PDIF-Out port. Then, connect your
decoder’s S/PDIF In port to the optical adapter with a TOSLINK optical cable.
The TOSLINK optical cable is purchased separately.
6ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
Connecting Line-In audio sources
Connecting headphone / microphone
7ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
8. Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center
8.1 Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center GUI
The screenshots in this section are for reference only. The actual GUI may
differ.
1. After driver installation is complete and your computer has been rebooted,
you will nd the Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center’s icon in the system tray on
the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Double click this icon to open the
Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center utility.
If the icon does not appear on the system tray, launch the Xonar U3 PLUS
Audio Center from the Windows desktop by clicking Start > All Programs >
ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS > Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center.
2. The Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center is the Graphical User Interface (GUI) for
the Xonar U3 PLUS driver. You can control the functions and features of the
Xonar U3 PLUS driver on the Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center. The following
picture shows a basic overview of the Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center. The
following sections of this user guide will describe its functions in more detail.
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8ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
No Item Description
1 Display Area This display area shows the 10-band signal meter, volume
level, status of preset, equalizer, and signal output.*
* This area displays information, but is not used to change
settings.
2 Menu Open/Close Clicking this button will reveal the conguration settings.
Clicking it again will move the display area back to its original
position and hide the conguration area.
3 Master Volume This knob controls the master playback volume. Turn to
change the volume level.
4 SVN Button Click this button to enable the “Smart Volume Normalization”
feature for consistent volume levels from all playback
sources. It will display a blue light when enabled.
5 Mute Button Click this button to mute audio playback. It will display a red
light when playback is muted.
6 Settings Tab Two tabs are available for quick access to Music Playback
and Karaoke features.
7 Settings Menu Panel This panel provides access to audio settings, including Main
Settings, Mixer/Volume, Effects, FlexBass, and Enhancer.
To start using the Karaoke features of the Xonar U3 PLUS, plug in your
microphone and click the Karaoke tab in the Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center.
Click the Mixer option and select “microphone”.
9ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
No Item Description
1 Information icon Click this icon to display driver options. Double-click the icon
to launch the Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center.
2 Restore Click to restore Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center application
window.
3 About Xonar U3 Plus
Audio Center
Click to nd out more about Audio Center version.
4 Edit Hot Key Click to edit shortcut keys for volume control, master presets,
sampling rate, and analog out.
5 Master Preset Click to apply a master preset.
6 Exit Click to exit.
8.2 Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center Icon
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10 ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
8.3 Music Main Settings
No Item Description
1 Audio Channel The audio channel refers to the available speaker channels
that can be used to mix sounds.
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.
3 Analog Out The analog out setting denes your actual speaker and
headphone setting.
4 S/PDIF Output S/PDIF output enables a single digital connection to carry
high quality audio from your PC to digital speakers and AV
receivers via PCM.*
* PCM - Pulse Code Modulation is a typical raw audio data
format.
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11ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
8.4 Mixer/Volume
The mixer page is designed to control the volume for playback and recording
on the Xonar U3 PLUS. The Xonar U3 PLUS also provides a high-quality digital
monitoring function for playing the recorded audio from the speakers.
8.4.1 Playback Volume
No Item Description
1 Playback Volume Tab Click this button to show the playback volume page.
2 Source/Path Name Left and Right volume controls for each speaker/channel.
3 Mute/Unmute button Click this button to mute or unmute the audio channel.
4 Volume Slider Drag this slider down to decrease the volume; drag it up
to increase the volume. The tool-tip displays percentage
increments.
5 Reset Click to reset all volume controls to the default settings.
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12 ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
8.4.2 Recording/Monitoring Volume
No Item Description
1 Recording Volume
Tab
Click this button to show the recording volume page.
2 Recording volume
slider
Drag this slider down to decrease the recording volume; drag
up to increase the recording volume. The tool-tip displays
percentage increments.
3 Recording Selector
button
Click this button to select the path/source you are going to
record. The recording function on Windows is a one-path
selector. Only one default recording source can be used at a
time. You may have to restart the recorder application if you
switch to a different source.*
Note: On Windows Vista and later OS, some application
programs may allow you to select the recording device/
path in the recording programs themselves.
4 Monitoring button Click this button to monitor and loopback recording audio to
output speakers. The recording volume will affect monitoring
signals from speaker output. The audio will be mixed into
the streams from your PC and all digital audio effects will be
applied to both the source and the output.
5 Source/Path Name Displays the source name for each volume control slider:
Line-In:
Recording from Line-In jack for external audio
devices.
MIC:
Recording from MIC rear panel jack.
6 Reset Click to reset all volume controls to the default settings.
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13ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
8.5 Effects
8.5.1 Environment Effects
Environment effects can be used to create realistic listening experiences that
mimic different environments. There are 27 available environment options that be
can be applied to music and other 2D sound sources.
No Item Description
1 Default environments There are four default environments available: Bathroom,
Concert hall, Underwater, and Music Pub.
2 More options Clicking this button will apply the environment effect selected
from the pull-down menu. 21 additional options are available
in this menu.
3 Environment size Three size settings are available for each environment:
Large, Medium, and Small.
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14 ASUS Xonar U3 PLUS
8.5.2 10-Band Equalizer
The equalizer can modify the audio output for different frequencies and can be
used to compensate for deciencies in your speakers/sound system. You can
create custom settings in addition to the 12 default patterns available.
No Item Description
1 Default equalizer
options
There are 12 available equalizer patterns. Click an item to
apply a pattern to audio playback.
2UserDened You can click this button to apply a selected User Dened
setting.
3 Equalizer slider Adjusts the gain for each band (30~16KHz)
4 Save name Type a name for your own “User Dened” equalizer setting
in the text box.
5 Add / save Click the “+” button to add the dened parameters to the
User Dened list as a preset.
6 Delete Click the “–” button to delete a saved preset from the User
Dened list.
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