Asus ROG Xonar Phoebus, Quick Start Manual

Page 1: ...t for the audio card 6 pin peripheral power cable connector from your computer s power supply unit PSU Microsoft Windows Vista Win 7 32 64bit XP 32 64bit MCE2005 Intel Pentium 4 1 4GHz or AMD Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU More than 256 MB system memory More than 60 MB available storage space for driver installation CD ROM drive or DVD ROM drive for software installation High quality headphones pow...

Page 2: ...nce Bus Compatibility PCI Express PCI Express Rev 1 0a specification compatible Max full 2 5Gbps bandwidth per direction and optimized latency for high definition audio processing Compatible with x1 x4 x8 x16 PCI Express slots Main Chipset Audio Processor ASUS CM8888 HDT High Definition Sound Processor Max 192KHz 24bit 24 bit D A Converter of Digital Sources Texas Instruments PCM1796 1 for Front O...

Page 3: ...h any set of stereo headphones Dolby Virtual Speaker Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic 5 1 speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers Dolby Pro Logic IIxx Dolby Pro Logic IIx is the well known technology to process any native stereo or 5 1 channel audio into a 7 1 channel output creating a seamless natural surround soundfield DirectSound3D ...

Page 4: ... ASUS Xonar Phoebus 1 2 3 4 5 2 About Hardware 2 1 Xonar Phoebus Audio Processing Card 1 2 3 4 5 Mic in HP out Box link Line in Front Ctr Sbw Rear Side SPDIF out 9 12 6 7 8 6 7 8 10 11 ...

Page 5: ... Rear Output Port Connect to the back surround input on 7 1 powered analog speakers 8 S PDIF Output Side Out port Digital output jack Connect to an external digital decoder or digital speaker systems Home Theater systems AV receivers for outputting digital audio including PCM Dolby Digital DTS WMA Pro etc Connect to the surround channel input on 5 1 powered analog speakers 9 Aux Input Header 4 pin...

Page 6: ...tlet 3 Touch the metal back or side panel of the computer to avoid static electricity 4 Remove the chassis cover 5 Remove the metal bracket from an available PCIE slot for the Xonar Phoebus audio card 3 2 Installing the Audio Processing Card 1 Face the bracket of the Xonar Phoebus audio card toward the back panel of your computer and insert the audio card gently into an available PCI Express slot ...

Page 7: ... you removed Refer to section 3 1 3 Connect the power cable of your power supply to the power connector on the Xonar Phoebus audio card The PCI Express high quality audio card requires additional power from your computer If the power cable is not connected properly the audio card will not work at all ...

Page 8: ...d to the Aux In header of the audio card as shown in the figure below For optimum TV audio quality Xonar uses ADC recording to digitize the signal and loops it back to DAC playback Please select Aux In as the recording source in the Xonar Audio Center s recording mixer and enable the monitoring button to pass this signal to the audio output Using this setup you can even turn on sound effects such ...

Page 9: ...ally If not double click the setup exe from your Support CD 3 Follow the onscreen instructions to finish the installation The version and content of the support CD are subject to change without notice 4 2 Uninstalling or Reinstalling Software 4 2 1 Uninstalling Software 1 Click Start Settings Control Panel 2 Double click the Add Remove Programs icon 3 Click the Change or Remove Programs button 4 S...

Page 10: ... the Xonar Phoebus card driver 1 Before reinstalling any software it s recommended to uninstall the existing software first 2 After finishing the uninstallation of the software please follow the installation process again to reinstall the same or updated software ...

Page 11: ... 3 No Item Description 1 Microphone Input Port Connect the microphone s 3 5mm plug from the Phoebus Control Box into this Mic In port for voice communication recording or karaoke 2 Headphone Port The headphone port has a built in high quality amplifier to drive headphones Connect the Phoebus Control box directly to this port 3 Box Link Port Connect the Phoebus Control box directly to this port ...

Page 12: ... with external headphone and microphone Mic In Headphone Out No Item Description 1 Headphone Port Connect headphone to headphone port on Phoebus Control box 2 Microphone Input Port Connect microphone s 3 5mm plug to Phoebus Control Box Mic In port 1 2 ...

Page 13: ... cable connection can carry high quality digital audio from any of your PC audio sources to any digital speakers or AV Receivers No Item Description 1 Optical adapter Plug the optical TOSLINK adapter into the S PDIF Out connector 2 Optical cable Connect your decoder s S PDIF In port to the optical adapter with the TOSLINK optical cable Mic In Headphone Out Box Link Line In Front Center Sub Rear SP...

Page 14: ...dphones Connecting stereo hadphones Mic in HP out Box link Line in Front Ctr Sbw Rear Side SPDIF out No Item Description 1 Headphone Out Port The Headphone Out Port has a built in high quality amplifier to drive headphones Please connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack 1 ...

Page 15: ...nes into this jack 2 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port with the mini jack cable 3 Center Subwoofer Out Connect the Center Bass channel 3 5mm plug of your 5 1 headphone into this jack Connecting 5 1 channel hadphones Mic in HP out Box link Line in Front Ctr Sbw Rear Side SPDIF out 1 2 3 ...

Page 16: ...ier 1 3 2 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the left front and right front input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini jack to RCA cable 2 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port with the mini jack cable 3 Center Subwoofer Connects to the Center and subwoofer input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini jack to RCA cable ...

Page 17: ...nnecting 2 2 1 Channel Speakers 2 Speakers No Item Description 1 Front Out Port Connect the 2 channel speaker set s 3 5mm plug into this Front Out jack AUDIO INPUTS Mic in HP out Box link Line in Front Ctr Sbw Rear Side SPDIF out 1 ...

Page 18: ...nt Mic in HP out Box link Line in Front Ctr Sbw Rear Side SPDIF out 1 2 No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 4 4 1 speakers with the mini jack cable 2 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port with the mini jack cable ...

Page 19: ...fer AUDIO INPUTS No Item Description 1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 5 1 speakers with the mini jack cable 2 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port with the mini jack cable 3 Center Subwoofer Connects to the Center Subwoofer input port of the 5 1 speakers with the mini jack cable 1 2 3 ...

Page 20: ...1 Front Out Connects to the Front input port of the 7 1 speakers with the mini jack cable 2 Side Surround Out Connects to the Surround input port of the 7 1 speakers with the mini jack cable 3 Back Surround Out Connects to the Back Surround input port of the 7 1 speakers with the mini jack cable 4 Center Subwoofer Connects to the Center Subwoofer input port of the 7 1 speakers with the mini jack c...

Page 21: ...ing or karaoke 2 Headphone Port The headphone port has a built in high quality amplifier to drive headphones Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack 5 6 Connecting Line In audio sources CD Player MP3 Player Mic in HP out Box link Line in Front Ctr Sbw Rear Side SPDIF out No Item Description 1 Line Input Jack Connect the 3 5mm plug of the CD MP3 Player or any other Line level analog au...

Page 22: ...22 ASUS Xonar Phoebus ...

Page 23: ...his icon to open the Xonar Audio Center utility If the icon could not be found in the system tray go to the Windows Control Panel and double click the Xonar Phoebus Audio Center icon 6 1 1 Function Pop up Menu Xear Audio Center provides serveral sound effects There is a pop menu for each output input device and you can enter the sound effect page to enjoy music movie and gaming To open the pop up ...

Page 24: ... effect indicator Indicates the playback sound effect status Abbreviation of Sound effect SF Xear SingFX for microphone echo SF Xear SingFX for Magic Voice 7 Switch to Profile Panel button Click to switch the status bar to the Profile panel 8 Smart Volume Normalizer SVN Vista XP only Click to enable the SVN function SVN is abbreviated from Smart Volume Normalization which normalizes the volume of ...

Page 25: ...ffects EQ EM etc settings and click to create a user defined mode 3 Delete Profile Click to delete a user defined mode 4 Switch Button Click to switch between the Profile panel and Audio Status Panel 6 1 3 Profile Panel This profile panel for sound effect contails a preset mode and a user defined mode 1 2 3 4 Click the device icon on the right side to open the pop up menu ...

Page 26: ... Windows 7 Only Function Introduction The following items will be replaced by Dolby Home Theater V4 under Windows 7 Operating System 7 1 Virtual Speaker Shifter 10 Band Equalizer Refer to Dolby s official manual for Dolby Home Theater V4 functions ...

Page 27: ... all channels Front Adjust the volume level for the front channel 2 Left Right Channel Lock Click to lock the left right channel to sync L R channel 3 Mute Un mute Click to mute or ummute all channels 4 dB Input Area Key in a dB value in this field to set the volume level The function allows you to control the volume of the Speaker 1 2 3 4 ...

Page 28: ...wap When enabled the function can swap the audio stream between Center LFE Available for 5 1 and above 2 Surround Max When enabled the function allows the stereo to have the benefits of multi surround effects This function allows you to set the speaker numbers stereo quadraphonic 5 1 surround 7 1 surround 2 1 ...

Page 29: ...k sample rate to 48K 88 2 KHz set the playback sample rate to 88 2K 96 KHz set the playback sample rate to 96K 176 4 KHz set the playback sample rate to 176K 192 KHz set the playback sample rate to 192K 2 Bit Depth button 16bit set the playback bit depth to 16bit 24bit set the playback bit depth to 24bit This function allows you to set the sample rate for the Speaker 1 2 ...

Page 30: ...ing for each band key in a name in the input field and then click save to add your new setting New setting will appear in the Manual Mode List Click trash to delete settings 4 Preset mode Select a preset mode for equalizer that is designed accordingly There are 12 preset modes such as Bass Treble Live Rock Jazz etc This 10 band EQ function allows you to adjust the EQ band manually and create custo...

Page 31: ... box to enable disable Environment Effect 2 Environment Effect mode Click on an Environment Effect button or drop the dropdown list to choose an Environment Effect 3 Room Size Change the Room Size icon to simulate a larger or smaller space This function provides 28 special environment emulations for different sound reflections and revweberation 3 1 2 ...

Page 32: ...s in the real world 3 Volume Control Each virtual speaker virtualizes one channel of the 7 1 channel speakers in the real world 4 Volume indicator Indicate the volume of each channel 5 Reset Reset the location of virtual speakers virtual listener to default 6 Manual Shifting Free Moving Mode Use the pointer to click and drag to move the location of individual virtual speakers 7 Manually Rotation M...

Page 33: ...ker size is set to small you can hear the sound resonance more obvious and reverberation from subwoofer 4 Speaker Diagram You can also check the speaker size from this home theater diagram 5 Cut Off Frequency The cut off range of low frequency is from 50Hz to 250Hz This function allows you to increase decrease the LFE strength This function would cut the low frequency band 50 250Hz of stereo music...

Page 34: ... change function There are four steps to shift up or down Use the slide bar to change the key level 2 Vocal Fading It provides the vocal removing function for any stereo music content eg Mp3 WMA and CD Use the slide bar to change the vocal fading level Xear SingFX function provides two features for karaoke applications 1 2 ...

Page 35: ...aker enable disable switch The Xear Surround Speaker allows you to enjoy the multichannel effects on stereo Click the checkbox to enable or disable it 2 Surround Max Click the checkbox to enable or disenable the Surround Max 3 Sound Field Expansion Speaker Angle Change to simulate a larger or smaller space 1 3 2 ...

Page 36: ...36 ASUS Xonar Phoebus 6 3 Headphone Function Introduction Function Introduction Click the device icon on the right side to open the pop up menu ...

Page 37: ... Windows 7 Only Function Introduction The following items will be replaced by Dolby Home Theater V4 under Windows 7 Operating System 7 1 Virtual Speaker Shifter 10 Band Equalizer Refer to Dolby s official manual for Dolby Home Theater V4 functions ...

Page 38: ... Adjust the volume level for all channels 2 Left Right Channel Lock Click the lock unlock button to lock unlock the left channel and right channel to sync L R channel 3 dB Input Area Key in a dB value in this text box to set the volume level 4 Mute Un mute Click this button to enable disable the mute function 4 ...

Page 39: ... No Item Description 1 Normal Gain High Gain Extra High Gain 0dB for 64 ohms 6dB for 64 150 ohms 12dB for ohms 1 6 3 3 Headphone Settings Function Introduction You can set the gain setting based on your headphone impedance ...

Page 40: ...k sample rate to 88 2K 96 KHz set the playback sample rate to 96K 176 4 KHz set the playback sample rate to 176K 192 KHz set the playback sample rate to 192K 2 Bit Depth button 16bit set the playback bit depth to 16bit 24bit set the playback bit depth to 24bit 1 2 6 3 4 Sample Rate Function Introduction This function page provides a sample rate setting for the headphone device ...

Page 41: ... name in the input field and then click save to add your new setting The new setting will appear in the Manual Mode List Click trash to delete settings 4 Preset mode Select a preset mode for equalizer that is designed accordingly There are 12 preset modes such as Bass Treble Live Rock Jazz and so on 1 2 6 3 5 Equalizer Function Introduction This 10 band EQ function allows you to adjust the EQ band...

Page 42: ...ronment Effect mode Click on an Environment effect button or drop the dropdown list to choose an Environment effect 3 Room Size Change the Room Size to simulate a larger or smaller space 1 2 6 3 6 Environment Effects Function Introduction This function provides 28 special environment emulations for you to enjoy different sound reflection and reverberation 3 ...

Page 43: ... the real world 3 Volume Control Each virtual speaker virtualizes one channel of the 7 1 channel speakers in the real world 4 Volume indicator Indicate the volume of each channel 5 Reset Reset the location of virtual speakers virtual listener to default 6 Manual Shifting Free Moving Mode Use the pointer to click and drag to move the location of individual virtual headphones 7 Manually Rotation Mod...

Page 44: ...hange function There are four steps to shift up or down Use the slide bar to change the key level 2 Vocal Fading It provides the vocal removing function for any stereo music content eg Mp3 WMA and CD Use the slide bar to change the vocal fading level The Xear SingFX function provides two features for karaoke applications 1 2 ...

Page 45: ...nd Headphone enable disable switch The Xear Surround Headphone allows you to enjoy multichannel effects on stereo Click the check box to enable or disable it 2 Surround Max Click the check box to enable or disenable the Surround Max 3 Room Size Change the Room Size to simulate a larger or smaller space 1 3 2 ...

Page 46: ...46 ASUS Xonar Phoebus 6 4 S PDIF Function Introduction Function Introduction Click the device icon on the right side to open the pop up menu ...

Page 47: ... Right Channel Lock Click the lock unlock button to lock unlock the left channel and right channel to sync L R channel 3 dB Input Area Key in a dB value in this text box to set the volume level 4 Mute Un mute Click the button to enable disable the mute function 1 2 6 4 1 Volume Control Function Introduction 3 4 ...

Page 48: ...ack sample rate to 88 2K 96 KHz set the playback sample rate to 96K 176 4 KHz set the playback sample rate to 176K 192 KHz set the playback sample rate to 192K 2 Bit Depth button 16bit set the playback bit depth to 16bit 24bit set the playback bit depth to 24bit 1 2 6 4 2 Sample Rate Function Introduction This function allows you to set the sample rate for the S PDIF device ...

Page 49: ... name in the input field and then click save to add your new setting The new setting will appear in the Manual Mode List Click trash to delete settings 4 Preset mode Select a preset mode for equalizer that is designed accordingly There are 12 preset modes such as Bass Treble Live Rock Jazz and so on 1 2 6 4 3 Equalizer Function Introduction The 10 band EQ function allows you to adjust the EQ band ...

Page 50: ...ronment Effect mode Click on an Environment Effect button or drop the dropdown list to choose an Environment Effect 3 Room Size Change the Room Size to simulate a larger or smaller space 1 2 6 4 4 Environment Effects Function Introduction This function provides 28 special environment emulations for you to enjoy different sound reflection and reverberation 3 ...

Page 51: ... the real world 3 Volume Control Each virtual speaker virtualizes one channel of the 7 1 channel speakers in the real world 4 Volume indicator Indicate the volume of each channel 5 Reset Reset the location of virtual speakers virtual listener to default 6 Manual Shifting Free Moving Mode Use the pointer to click and drag to move the location of individual virtual headphones 7 Manually Rotation Mod...

Page 52: ...hange function There are four steps to shift up or down Use the slide bar to change the key level 2 Vocal Fading It provides the vocal removing function for any stereo music content eg Mp3 WMA and CD Use the slide bar to change the vocal fading level The Xear SingFX function provides two features for karaoke applications 1 2 ...

Page 53: ...53 ASUS Xonar Phoebus 6 5 Microphone Function Introduction Function Introduction Click the device icon on the right side to open the pop up menu ...

Page 54: ...o Item Description 1 Volume Control bar Adjust the volume level of all channels 2 dB Input Area Key in a dB value in this text box to set the volume level 3 Mute Un mute Click the button to enable disable the mute function 4 Monitor Click the checkbox to enable monitoring 4 ...

Page 55: ...ack sample rate to 48K 96 KHz set the playback sample rate to 96K 192 KHz set the playback sample rate to 192K 2 Bit Depth button 16bit set the playback bit depth to 16bit 24bit set the playback bit depth to 24bit 1 2 6 5 2 Sample Rate Function Introduction This function allows you to set the sample rate for the microphone device ...

Page 56: ...unction Introduction No Item Description 1 Microphone Echo Click the check box to enable disable the Microphone Echo function Use the slide bar to adjust the echo level The Xear SingFX function provides two features for karaoke applications 1 ...

Page 57: ...eck box to enable disable the Microphone Magic Voice function 2 Magic Voice mode Monster Carton Male Female Click to choose a magic voice mode While talking to your friends online eg Messenger VOIP online game applications use the Magic Voice effects to simulate funny voices Choose one type of voice only at one time 1 2 ...

Page 58: ...unction Introduction No Item Description 1 Beaming Forming Click the check box to enable disable the Beam Forming function 1 Beam Forming function is available only when the Control Box is connected to the audio card without any other external microphones ...

Page 59: ...lation Function Introduction No Item Description 1 Environmental Noise Cancellation Click the check box to enable disable the Environmental Noise Cancellation function 1 ENC is available only when the Control Box is connected to the audio card with an external microphones ...

Page 60: ...60 ASUS Xonar Phoebus 6 5 7 Microphone Boost Function Introduction No Item Description 1 Microphone Boost Drag the slide bar to boost microphone volume and sensitivity 1 ...

Page 61: ...61 ASUS Xonar Phoebus 6 6 Line in Device Function Introduction Function Introduction Click the device icon on the right side to open the pop up menu ...

Page 62: ... channels 2 Left Right Channel Lock Click the lock unlock button to lock unlock the left channel and right channel to sync L R channel 3 dB Input Area Key in a dB value intthis text box to set the volume level 4 Mute Un mute Click the button to enable disable the mute function 5 Monitor Click the checkbox to enable monitoring 1 2 3 4 5 ...

Page 63: ...ack sample rate to 88 2K 96 KHz set the playback sample rate to 96K 176 4 KHz set the playback sample rate to 176K 192 KHz set the playback sample rate to 192K 2 Bit Depth button 16bit set the playback bit depth to 16bit 24bit set the playback bit depth to 24bit 1 2 6 6 2 Sample Rate Function Introduction This function allows you to set the sample rate for the line in device ...

Page 64: ...64 ASUS Xonar Phoebus 6 7 Aux in Device Function Introduction Function Introduction Click the device icon on the right side to open the pop up menu ...

Page 65: ...l channels 2 Left Right Channel Lock Click the lock unlock button to lock unlock the left channel and right channel to sync L R channel 3 dB Input Area Key in a dB value in this text box to set the volume level 4 Mute Un mute Click the button to enable disable the mute function 5 Monitor Click the checkbox to enable monitoring 1 2 3 4 5 ...

Page 66: ...k sample rate to 48K 96 KHz set the playback sample rate to 96K 192 KHz set the playback sample rate to 192K 2 Bit Depth button 16bit set the playback bit depth to 16bit 24bit set the playback bit depth to 24bit 1 2 6 7 2 Sample Rate Function Introduction This function allows you to set the sample rate setting for the aux in device ...

Page 67: ...pen Click the Open item to restore the USB Audio Software CPL 2 Volume Control Click the Volume Control item to launch the Volume Mixer of Windows OS which allows you to control the volume of speakers and other audio devices seperately 3 Windows Media Player Click the Windows Media Player item to launch the Microsoft Windows Media Player 4 Sound Recorder Click the Sound Recorder item to open the W...

Page 68: ...te for Microphone device 6 Open ASIO Click to open ASIO 7 Settings Click setting to launch the Advanced Settings page as shown below 1 Language Select Change the UI language 2 UI Transparent Adjust the UI vision of transparent 3 Show System Tray Icon Check Show System Tray Icon box to show the Xear Audio center icon in the system tray 8 Exit Click Exit to exit the tray Icon from the system tray ...

Page 69: ... Phoebus Audio Center utility 3 If you cannot find the icon in the system tray go to the Windows Control Panel and double click the Xonar Phoebus Audio Center icon to make it visible in the system tray again 4 After the driver installation is complete it s recommended that you reboot your computer to complete the setup If the icon still doesn t appear please try installing the driver package again...

Page 70: ...ve enabled S PDIF output in the Audio Center GUI Main page 2 Please ensure that you have connected the correct S PDIF output jack in the card to the decoder s AV receiver S PDIF input jack 3 You may need to select the correct input and mode of your decoder or AV receiver For Dolby Digital or DTS output you may have to double check that the AV receiver is in that decoding mode 4 If you are using 19...

Page 71: ... sound effects on Vista Win 7 for a lot of existing DirectX games Q2 Why does the Xonar Phoebus support Dolby technology Answer Dolby is the ONLY brands and technology recognized by the CE industry and available on a wide range of audio equipment The Xonar Phoebus includes these features to make your PC a powerful media and entertainment center Q3 Does the Xonar Phoebus support EAX on Vista Win 7 ...

Page 72: ...EC 60958 can only carry 2 channel PCM data or non PCM AC3 DTS data So when a user selects PCM output for S PDIF the Xonar Phoebus audio card will always deliver 2 channel PCM data through the S PDIF output port To attain the 5 1 channel surround sound you can select DDO which allows the Xonar Phoebus to deliver 5 1 surround sound for DVD movies and even stereo music ...