Asus Xonar HDAV Slim, User Manual

Page 1: ...Xonar HDAV Slim AVcard User manual ...

Page 2: ...ITIONS 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...

Page 3: ...12 4 Installing software 13 4 1 Installing the card driver 13 4 2 Installing the TotalMedia Theatre software 13 5 Connecting speakers and peripherals 14 Connecting digital speaker systems Home Theater 14 6 Xonar HDAV Center 15 6 1 Xonar HDAV Center GUI 15 6 2 Audio Main Setting 17 6 3 Mixer Volume 27 6 4 Effects 30 6 5 Karaoke 32 6 6 FlexBass 33 6 7 Smart Volume Normalization 35 6 8 DS3D GX and DS...

Page 4: ...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 ...

Page 5: ...tors sockets and circuitry Avoid dust humidity and temperature extremes Do not place the product in any area where it may become wet Place the product on a stable surface If you encounter technical problems with the product contact a qualified 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 D...

Page 6: ...One graphics card with DVI or HDMI out port to AV card for HDMI function 256MB NVIDIA GeForce8400 and above or 256MB AMD ATI HD2400 and above One PCI 2 1 or higher compatible slot for the Xonar HDAV 1 3 Slim card Microsoft Windows Vista XP 32 64bit MCE2005 Intel Pentium 4 1 4GHz or AMD Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU 512 MB or above DRAM system memory for Blu Ray Disc playback 100 MB available HDD s...

Page 7: ...16 24bit Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution 44 1K 48K 96K 16 24bit S PDIF Digital Output 44 1K 48K 96K 192KHz 16 24bit PCM Dolby Digital EX DTS 5 1 ES pass through Analog Audio Performance Output Signal to Noise Ratio A Weighted Up to 109 dB Output Total Harmonic Distortion Noise at 1KHz Up to 98dB Frequency Response 3dB 24 bit 96kHz input 10Hz to 47kHz DAC Cross talk at 1KHz Down to 113 ...

Page 8: ...ction DTS Neo PC can convert stereo audio into 5 1 or 7 1 channel high fidelity surround sounds DirectSound3D Game EXtensions 2 0 1 0 DS3D GX 2 0 DS3D GX 2 0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions for more games on Windows Vista XP DirectX DirectSound 3D compatible DS3D GX 2 0 adds latest VocalFX voice effects for online gaming or chatting VocalFXTM The la...

Page 9: ...o DVI cable for DVI signal transmission or connects to the HDMI Out port of an HDMI graphics card using an HDMI cable 3 HDMI Out port Connects to a device with HDMI support 4 Front panel audio header Connect one end of the front panel audio cable to the front panel audio header on the Xonar HDAV 1 3 Slim card with the other end to the chassis mounted front panel audio I O module 5 Aux Input Header...

Page 10: ...he onboard audio device in the BIOS settings or uninstall any other audio cards on your PC For BIOS setting or uninstallation of other sound cards refer to the user manuals of your motherboard and audio card 1 Power off your computer and disconnect the power cord 2 Open the computer chassis 3 Remove the metal bracket from one unused PCI slot for the Xonar HDAV Slim card ...

Page 11: ...efully insert the Xonar HDAV Slim card into the PCI slot Ensure the Xonar HDAV Slim card sits properly in place 7 Secure the Xonar HDAV Slim card with screws Connecting to a discrete graphics card and an HDMI display device 1 Install a discrete graphics card on your motherboard 2 Using the bundled DVI to HDMI cable connect the DVI Out port of the graphics card to the HDMI In port of the Xonar HDAV...

Page 12: ...the Xonar HDAV Slim card to send the tuner card s sound to your PC speakers 2 Secure the PCI PCI Express TV tuner card and screw it into the back panel 3 Connect the audio output header from the TV tuner card to the Aux In header of the Xonar HDAV Slim card For optimum TV audio quality Xonar HDAV Slim uses ADC recording to digitize the signal and loops it back to DAC playback Select Aux In as the ...

Page 13: ...setup exe from your support CD 3 Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation Read the END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT in the process and make sure you understand and accept it before you continue the installation When the installation finishes you may be prompted to restart your computer You can choose to restart the computer later if desired 4 2 Installing the TotalMedia Theatre...

Page 14: ...tal cable connection can carry high quality Dolby Digital or DTS 5 1 digital audio from any of your PC audio sources to any digital speakers or AV Receivers with Dolby Digital or DTS 5 1 decoding capabilities You can also use a coaxial cable for a S PDIF connection Just plug the coaxial RCA male connector to the S PDIF Out combo port and connect the other end into the coaxial S PDIF input on your ...

Page 15: ...ot be found in the system tray launch the Xonar HDAV Center from the Windows desktop by clicking Start All Programs ASUS Xonar HDAV Xonar HDAV Center 2 The Xonar HDAV Center is the Graphic User Interface GUI for the Xonar HDAV Slim driver You can control the functions and features of the Xonar HDAV Slim driver on the Xonar HDAV Center The following picture shows a basic overview of the Xonar HDAV ...

Page 16: ...g Main Settings Mixer volume Effects Karaoke MagicVoice and FlexBass see the following details 6 Information icon Clicking this icon will pop up driver s Information window 7 Audio Video configuration switch Click the corresponding switch to configure the related settings while using the audio video features 8 Master Volume This rotary knob controls the master playback volume Drag the small circle...

Page 17: ...s and does the proper 3D Dolby sound processing accordingly Please select the correct speaker type for your connected speakers HDMI Out also allows you to select one of the following two formats Dolby Digital Live real time 5 1ch encoding DTS Interactive real time 5 1ch encoding 2 Speaker Test Click this button to show the speaker test window in the right pane Click the play button to test each sp...

Page 18: ...r connected speakers 2 Speaker Test Click this button to show the speaker test window in the right pane Click the play button to test each speaker one by one or click each speaker manually to test Note the Speaker Test function is not available on Windows Vista due to a limitation in its audio stack 1 2 Analog Out Speaker Test Speaker Swap Click the Analog mode button and configure the related set...

Page 19: ...ayback sources to get the best audio fidelity Even if your setting differs from the audio source s sample rate the Xonar HDAV Slim engine will do super high fidelity sample rate conversion with a double floating point filter which can reduce total harmonic distortion THD N by 140dB No Item Description 1 Sample Rate Select the sample rate that corresponds to or exceeds that of your playback sources...

Page 20: ...ound audio from your PC to digital speakers and AV Receivers No Item Description 1 S PDIF Out enable disable Click this check box to enable S PDIF output 2 S PDIF Output Formats Functions This pull down menu allows you to select one of the following four formats PCM Pulse Code Modulation which is a typical raw audio data format Dolby Digital Live real time 5 1ch encoding DTS Interactive real time ...

Page 21: ...lay it Please note that this setting is synchronized with Vista s system speaker configuration and changing the setting during playback will cease the audio playback program You may have to restart the program after the change It s recommended that you close all playing programs before you change the setting No Item Description 1 Audio Channels Here are some typical suggestions MP3 WMA AAC CD VCD ...

Page 22: ...ag each speaker or listener to a different relative position virtually using only your mouse The Xonar HDAV Slim card will process it and virtualize each speaker position in real time The Subwoofer has no directional sounds and hence can be moved only closer or further away 3 Reset Reset all Speaker Shifter settings to the defaults 4 Increase decrease volume Click to increase volume move speakers ...

Page 23: ...nable disable Click this check box to enable Dolby Pro Logic IIx Clicking the text bar will switch the right window to the Pro Logic IIx page for manual adjustments 2 Center Width This parameter is used to set the spread of the center mainly for the vocal signals of songs and music Drag the scroll bar to the left to centralize the vocal signal Drag to the right side to widen the vocal sound range ...

Page 24: ...TS Neo PC page for manual adjustments 2 Center Width This parameter is used to set the spread of the center mainly for the vocal signals of songs and music Drag the scroll bar to the left to centralize the vocal signal Drag to the right side to widen the vocal sound range 3 Reset Reset all settings to the defaults 4 Dimension The dimension parameter fades sounds to the front or rear of the listene...

Page 25: ...t and reduce listener fatigue from long listening over headphones No Item Description 1 Dolby Headphone enable disable Click this check box to enable Dolby Headphone Clicking the text bar will switch the right window to Dolby Headphone page for manual adjusting 2 DH1 Dolby Headphone DH provides three room filters that may be used with any type of audio They differ in the sense of the spatial dimen...

Page 26: ...ound listening experience from any high quality stereo source No Item Description 1 Dolby Virtual Speaker enable disable Click this check box to enable Dolby Virtual Speaker Clicking the text bar will switch the right window to a Dolby Virtual Speaker page for manual adjusting 2 Reference Mode Dolby Virtual Speaker provides two modes of virtualization The first is Reference mode which virtualizes ...

Page 27: ...left and right channels 3 Volume slider Drag this slider down to decrease the volume drag it up to increase the volume The tool tip reveals the percentage number from 1 to 100 in terms of the full scale level 4 Mute button Click this button to mute the audio channel click this button again to restore the audio output 5 Source path name This shows the source name for each volume control slider incl...

Page 28: ...a time You may have to restart the recorder program if you switch to a different source Note On Vista some application programs may allow you to select the recording device path in the recording programs themselves 5 Monitoring button Click this button to monitor and loopback recording audio to outputs PC speakers Therefore the recording volume will influence the monitoring signals from speaker ou...

Page 29: ...x In for typically TV tuner card audio or other sound sources WAVE recording from digital wave audio you are playing on PC Note Windows Vista doesn t support WAVE recording 7 Microphone In advanced setting Click this button to open the advanced settings for the Microphone In Enabling Microphone Boost will increase a volume gain to boost microphone input signals 8 Reset Click to reset all volume co...

Page 30: ...l 2D sound sources like music No Item Description 1 Default environments These four buttons activate Bathroom Concert hall Underwater and Music Pub environments respectively 2 More options Clicking this button will apply the environment effect that you select from the pull down menu on the right side There are another 23 options in this menu 3 Environment size There are three size settings for eac...

Page 31: ...ault equalizer options There are 12 available equalizer patterns Click one to apply it 2 Equalier slider Adjust the gain for each band 30 16KHz 3 User Defined You can click this button to apply your own defined parameters saved in the pull down menu 4 Save name Key in a name for your own User Defined equalizer setting 5 Add save Click this button to save the parameters into User Defined list 6 Del...

Page 32: ...n 1 On Off Click the switch to turn on or off the functions on this page 2 Key Shifting Check the box to enable or disable the key shifting feature for music playback from 4 semitones below to 4 semitones above 3 Vocal Cancellation Checkbox to enable or disable the vocal cancellation function and adjust the voice cancellation level from 0 to 100 100 will eliminate most original vocals default valu...

Page 33: ...ass page 2 Small Large speaker option Select the speaker type that you connected If your speaker type cannot perform low frequency signals bass select Small speaker type and Xonar HDAV Slim will filter out the bass signals and send them to the subwoofer channel If those speakers are full range you can select the Large speaker type Note Usually low cost PC s 2 channel speakers are small type speake...

Page 34: ...requency 50 250Hz for LFE low frequency effects signals Xonar HDAV Slim will filter out the bass signals below the crossover frequency from small speaker channels and forward them to the subwoofer The higher the crossover frequency the more bass signals will be subtracted ...

Page 35: ...hassles inherent with sound sources of different loudness It allows you to listen to various content like MP3 TV program DVD video and even games with consistent sound level The following graph shows how different signals 1 2 will become the same level for example 10dB below full scale after you turn on SVN Please note that for lower volume music 2 it will become louder when you turn on SVN and fo...

Page 36: ...outlined blue when active 2 SVN blue light When SVN is enabled the master volume knob will be illuminated by a blue light It will be lit red if the volume is muted 3 SVN display When SVN is enabled Smart Volume will be lit up at the bottom of the volume meter and the volume meter will show the level 2 1 3 ...

Page 37: ...5 0 games on both XP and Vista It provides the best compatibility with existing DirectX games GX2 0 also adds innovative VocalFX voice effects for existing EAX games or VOIP applications Besides the abundant sound effects described above the Xonar HDAV Slim also provides quick Digital Sound Processing modes which are configured for typical applications including Music Movies and Games over differe...

Page 38: ...ectX DirectSound3D games on Windows Vista 2 Hi Fi Mode This mode is set for Hi Fidelity playback where all effects will be cleared to keep the original digital data and analog output quality as high as possible 3 Music Mode This mode is set for Music playback 4 Movie Mode This mode is set for DVD Movie playback 5 Game Mode This mode is set for Games 3 2 1 4 5 ...

Page 39: ...Item Description 1 VoiceEX It produces realistic and dynamic environmental reverberation for your voice in 3D gaming communication 2 Local VoiceEX It produces realistic and dynamic environmental reverberation for your voice in 3D gaming communication You can hear your voice form speakers 3 ChatEX It emulates different background environment effects when you chat online 4 Magic Voice Changes your v...

Page 40: ...ceEX 2 Make sure you and your team member can talk to each other in the game For VOIP 1 Press App List 2 If you don t see the VOIP application of yours in the list press Add Make sure the Skype and MSN Messenger are the latest version 3 Look for the application s location and Open it ...

Page 41: ...Voice when you chat online Click the checkbox to enable VocalFX function then a prompt message will pop up This message implies the record device will be set to microphone Make sure the GX function is enabled Click OK to accept it or Cancel if you want to enable it later Check Don t remind me again if you don t want to see this message pop up next time ...

Page 42: ...alog Speakers 6 10 1 Under Windows XP DVD Blu ray playback by SPDIF HDMI Dolby Digital DTS digital audio pass through 1 Open TotalMedia Theatre Setup Audio 2 Select S PDIF in Audio Output Mode 3 Press Apply first and then press OK 4 Open the Xonar HDAV Center 5 Enable SPDIF Out ...

Page 43: ...en the Xonar HDAV Center 5 Enable SPDIF Out 6 Select Dolby Digital Live in SPDIF Out 7 In this mode you are able to adjust the DVD sound volume your multi speaker placement and surround soundfield virtually by 7 1 Virtual Speaker Shifter You can also add environmental reverbs or EQ effect into the movie surround sounds In a word you can optimize the movies sounds even over Dolby Digital output to ...

Page 44: ... surround sounds over stereo headphone 1 Open TotalMedia Theatre Setup Audio 2 Select 5 1 Channels in Audio Output Mode 3 Press Apply first and then press OK 4 Open the Xonar HDAV Center 5 Select 6 Channels in Audio Channel 6 Select FP Headphone in Analog Out 7 Check Dolby Headphone ...

Page 45: ...nds over stereo speakers 1 Open TotalMedia Theatre Setup Audio 2 Select 5 1 Channels in Audio Output Mode 3 Press Apply first and then press OK 4 Open the Xonar HDAV Center 5 Select 6 Channels in Audio Channel 6 Select FP 2 Speakers in Analog Out 7 Check Dolby Virtual Speaker ...

Page 46: ... ray playback by SPDIF HDMI Dolby Digital DTS digital audio pass through 1 Open TotalMedia Theatre Setup Audio 2 Select S PDIF in Audio Output Mode 3 Press Apply first and then press OK 4 Open the Xonar HDAV Center 5 Enable SPDIF Out ...

Page 47: ...ter 5 Select 6 Channels in Audio Channel 6 Enable SPDIF Out 7 Select Dolby Digital Live in SPDIF Out 8 In this mode you are able to adjust the DVD sound volume your multi speaker placement and surround soundfield virtually by 7 1 Virtual Speaker Shifter You can also add environmental reverbs or EQ effect into the movie surround sounds In a word you can optimize the movies sounds even over Dolby Di...

Page 48: ...r HDAV Center utility 3 If the icon could not be found in the system tray go to the Windows Control Panel and double click the Xonar HDAV 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 try installing the driver package again I cannot hear any so...

Page 49: ...urrent default recording input device is right 2 Remember to turn on the digital monitoring button for that recording source I cannot hear the TV tuner audio from my speakers Instructions 1 If you are using a traditional TV tuner card which has analog audio output please connect it to the Aux In header on the audio card 2 Select Aux In as the recording source and remember to turn on the digital mo...

Page 50: ... make your PC a powerful media and entertainment center Q3 Why is Xonar HDAV Slim the best audio card for HTPC and multi channel speakers Answer The Xonar HDAV Slim supports Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect which allow a single digital connection to your AV receiver to carry Dolby Digtial and DTS 5 1 audio In addition Xonar HDAV Slim also provides Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo PC to upmix TV a...

Page 51: ...for the cleanest sound production 2 Duplex HD Supports audio sampling rates up to 24bit 192KHz for all inputs and outputs 3 ASIO 2 0 Xonar HDAV Slim includes an ASIO 2 0 driver for low latency low distortion music creation application Q7 Will PCM sound output through S PDIF be just 2 channels even with different analog output channels Answer The S PDIF protocol specification IEC 60958 can only car...

Page 52: ...52 ASUS Xonar HDAV Slim ...