Asus Xonar U7 MK2 Performance Improvements.

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Asus Xonar U7 MK2 Performance Improvements.

Рет қаралды 16,483

TheStuffMade

Күн бұрын

Investigation into improving the performance of the Asus Xonar U7 MK2 USB soundcard.

Пікірлер: 54

@osmanguler7597 3 жыл бұрын

I admire to see engineers like you. thx man!

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

My best guess is that it was designed this way because the input performance wasn't a priority for the marketing people. However it's a shame they didn't do it slightly differently to achieve a much better performance.

@rajmangalpandey3910 2 жыл бұрын

According to u, which is best sound card, and is realtek sound card good as every nearly motherboard is using it, im currently using synaptics smartaudio, please tell asap.

@TheStuffMade 2 жыл бұрын

@@rajmangalpandey3910 The onboard Realtek will be just fine in most cases. If you want the absolutely best sound quality you'll need an external DAC, probably the Topping D90SE is one of the best, but it will cost you around $1,000. Slightly more affordable are the high end cards from Asus, EVGA and Sound Blaster at around $200-300. But a good budget card is the Asus Xonar SE at around $40, or if you need an external one, this Asus Xonar U7 MK2 is good.

@octavioperes Жыл бұрын

excellent video, congratulations for the explanations, I was impressed with the final result, it really corrected the performance of this sound card

@TheStuffMade Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@hugoribeiro8281 4 жыл бұрын

Very good work. I was thinking in purchase this card. In a review I saw that the problem are the drivers… Many thanks ;)

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks

@sebastianwatzinger7962 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot :) Great work & I really like your detailed explanations! Keep up the good work :)

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@DeathbyKillerBong 2 жыл бұрын

now thats a product review right there

@ttakotube 2 жыл бұрын

Would be really nice to see the Audio Analyzer suite with ASIO Soundcard support :-)

@PileOfEmptyTapes 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting - the main culprit in terms of excessive THD in the original input stage have to be the smaller ceramic caps in the lowpass filter then. (Behringer 2496 series disease.) You can see the rise towards the low end contributed by the coupling caps but that seems almost negligible in comparison. The LME49726 also has a dirty secret though - while it may have high maximum output current, it also is a low-power part (very low idle current, modest GBW) so load immunity actually is not particularly good. Why then they would be using this part on the headphone output of the U7 is anyone's guess. The cheaper Xonar U5 is using a more conventional TPA6130A2 instead, which is a dedicated headphone driver IC.

@arnas3412 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the very informative video :)

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks

@toxsickshaun 2 жыл бұрын

I've come across your video and impressed with your knowledge of sound cards and the improvement you made. I currently have a sound blaster X Pro USB sound card. It works alright but I don't have analysis equipment . A long while ago I ran a Asus xonar avhd 7.1 full analog board and really truely enjoyed the quality it had. Do you know of any very decent upgrade USB sound card to my current sound blaster X surround Pro?

@Jimitek Жыл бұрын

3:40 - Be careful! CM6632A and CM6632AX are not the same chip! The chip shown in the picture is the CM6632AX, which fails after 2-3 years of use and can only be made to work by warming it up. (known as the blinking led issue) I know because I have it too, but the Echelon Edititon has the CM6632A, which no longer fails!

@shazam6274 4 жыл бұрын

Try the TI LME49860, which can operate at +/- 22 V (44 V Total). Add another higher voltage supply for the OpAmp, and increase the gain to get the output voltage you want (up to ~ +/- 20 V pp ~ 14 Vrms). If using a single supply instead of a split +/-, there will be an issue with the reference voltage from the A/D or D/A ICs, which will only be 1/2 of 3.3 V or 5 V. I can send you a schematic of a simple good, high output 1/2 B+ artificial ground circuit with great slew rate and high output current, and is cheap to make.

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I'll need to decide what to do about the output, 1 Vrms is not enough also might as well make it a balanced output now the input is balanced. I was thinking about adding a dc-dc switcher to generate a -5V, giving me +/- 5V available while still being only USB powered, that should allow up to ~2.5Vrms output, that is still a bit marginal though. I might have to follow your suggestion and add a mains powered transformer for larger output, I believe I have some small 2x18Vac transformers somewhere together with some LM317/337 for regulation. The LME49860 is indeed a magnificent opamp, the noise specs are so low that probably the resistors used will generate more noise.

@alexanderkravchenko7001 4 жыл бұрын

Hello! Can you please send me the schematic? I own a Car Audio DSP and upgraded it with LME49860's. I would like to upgrade my XONAR U7 mkii. Thank you!

@brus54per 3 жыл бұрын

Nice investigation and modification! Do you know the bandwidth (or upper cutoff) of the original input circuit that you replaced? It seems to me that it is very low, like 25kHz? If you have a schematic of the input stage it would be very interesting information.

@ocoro174 4 жыл бұрын

mine died a while ago, heating usb port with blowdryer fixes it for a day or two. any ideas? apparently it's a common issue

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a cracked solder joint on the USB socket. You'd probably need to find someone with the skills and equipment the replace the socket for a permanent fix.

@DKLGalactus5 4 жыл бұрын

ok I wanted to hear the before and after sound

@RaviKumar-qh5pe 2 жыл бұрын

I have this card ...This card coaxial out only 2 channel audio ...I have tired with cyberlink power dvd player to out 5.1 Dolby digital .But it sent and show 2 channel option in xonar sonic studio control ....How to fix it

@mariusbaicus8948 4 жыл бұрын

Hello, great work. It's the software available to download? I want to test my focusrite Scarlett. Thanks.

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, the version with support for windows sound cards is still in development/testing. I'll announce on this channel when it's available.

@mariusbaicus8948 4 жыл бұрын

@@TheStuffMade thank you! Regards.

@scottmcclements7566 2 жыл бұрын

Do you remember how this thing comes apart? There are 4 screws under the rubber feet on the bottom. is there any more? Maybe under the serial number label? I see clips on the inside too, how did you release those? I snapped the RCA jacks off the board, trying to get inside to solder them back on.

@TheStuffMade 2 жыл бұрын

Hi, mine is packed somewhere right now as I'm in the middle of moving, but from what I remember after removing the screws you just need to pull off the volume knob, then you should be able to remove the lid. Cheers, Jake

@X7007 2 ай бұрын

Hey, if I use this device with external DAC/AMP for example Eversolo Z8 SPDIF Input from U7 SPDIF output, would I still be able to use all the VSS (Virtual Surround) options for Headphones? DD and such?

@fsouzajr 4 жыл бұрын

I see you modded the input, how did the output perform? any idea on how this would compare to the xonar u5?

@cheta586 4 жыл бұрын

xonar u7 first generation is 150ohm output,how much mk2 can provide !?

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

The maximum output is 1.3 Vrms, so it really depends on the headphone's sensitivity (dB/mW) to know if a 150 ohm headphone will play loud enough using this sound card.

@MunciSezaiYAVUZ 2 жыл бұрын

Hi, how is the stereo performance of this card? If I connect rca to denon avr-x3100w can i get better results than hdmi?

@TheCrispyChip 4 жыл бұрын

hey i purchased this on recommendation (Still haven't received it yet) but im being told the Amp doesn't actually Amplify anything its just controlling windows audio? Is this true?

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

Hi, it works like a sound card, as in it converts the audio from digital to analog output. The built in headphone amplifier does a decent job, but the output is limited to around 1.3V, meaning it works best with smaller headphones and might not have enough output to drive large open style headphones. But overall I think it's good value for money when you need a higher quality USB soundcard for a laptop. Cheers, Jake

@lucasgulild 4 жыл бұрын

i paid sometting like 45$ for this board, any good ?

@kevinfabianbong8052 4 жыл бұрын

hey do you think i could use this with the sen hd600

@TheStuffMade 4 жыл бұрын

It should work, but keep in mind since the HD600s are 300 ohm impedance, 94dB sensitivity and the max output on the Xonar U7 is 1.3Vrms you will be limited to a max SPL of something like ~106dB. So it depends a bit on how loud you like to listen to music.

@Tesseract9630 4 жыл бұрын

I tried this with Senn hd650 . Definitely get s loud enough for most people but it sound flat and bass response is low. Not good enough for audiophile standard.

@gafster9377 2 жыл бұрын

Hello, want to use it wity logitech gpro x, will it work fine? My main goal is making game sounds better (footsteps) and as foe regular user i want to listen music and watch films in better quality

@TheStuffMade 2 жыл бұрын

Hello, it should work just fine with your Logitech headset, it's 35 ohm impedance and 92dB/mW so it should work fine. Cheers, Jake

@gafster9377 2 жыл бұрын

@@TheStuffMade thanks

@truongvuonghuy6760 3 жыл бұрын

i have sennheiser game zero can this u7 mkii be compatible with it

@TheStuffMade 3 жыл бұрын

Yes, it will work fine with the Sennheiser Game Zero, it's 150 ohm and 108dB/V. You just need to use the split cable for headphone and microphone. Cheers, Jake