Xonar U3 PLUS Mobile Headphone Amp USB Soundcard User Guide
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”).
Contents Notices.......................................................................................................... iv Safety information........................................................................................ v Trademarks................................................................................................... v License.......................................................................................................... v 1. Package contents.............................
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.
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 fix it by yourself. Contact a qualified service technician or your retailer. • Before using the product, make sure all cables are correctly connected.
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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.
Category Item Outlook Features LED indicator Driver Features Accessories Play music. Idle: LED on Operating System Operating System Karaoke Functions FlexBass™ Audio Performance Description Mute: LED off Windows® 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / XP(32/64bit) Windows® 10 / 8.
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.
6. Hardware introduction Xonar U3 PLUS external USB audio card layout 1 2 3 1. 4 Light indicator Description Status Play music (not Mute) Play music (Mute) Idle (not Mute) Idle (Mute) LED on LED off LED on LED off 2. Headphone & S/PDIF-Out port 3.
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.
Connecting headphone / microphone Connecting Line-In audio sources 6 ASUS 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 find 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.
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 configuration settings. Clicking it again will move the display area back to its original position and hide the configuration area. 3 Master Volume This knob controls the master playback volume. Turn to change the volume level.
8.2 Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center Icon 2 3 4 5 6 1 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 find 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.
8.3 Music Main Settings 1 2 3 4 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 defines your actual speaker and headphone setting.
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 1 5 4 3 2 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.
8.4.2 Recording/Monitoring Volume 1 6 2 3 4 5 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.
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. 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Default environments There are four default environments available: Bathroom, Concert hall, Underwater, and Music Pub.
8.5.2 10-Band Equalizer The equalizer can modify the audio output for different frequencies and can be used to compensate for deficiencies in your speakers/sound system. You can create custom settings in addition to the 12 default patterns available. 1 3 2 14 4 5 6 No Item Description 1 Default equalizer options There are 12 available equalizer patterns. Click an item to apply a pattern to audio playback. 2 User Defined You can click this button to apply a selected User Defined setting.
8.6 FlexBass FlexBass is an advanced bass management and enhancement mechanism that allows you to select each satellite speaker’s type for optimal sound performance. It comes with an adjustable crossover frequency for the boundary of the bass signals. FlexBass will filter out the bass signals from small speaker channels and redirect them to the subwoofer or large speakers.
No Item Description 4 LFE Crossover Frequency Adjusts the cut-off frequency (50~250Hz) for LFE (LowFrequency Effects) signals. Xonar U3 PLUS will filter out bass signals below the crossover frequency from small speaker channels and forward them to the subwoofer. Higher crossover frequency values would result in reduced bass signals. 8.7 Karaoke Main Settings 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.
No Item Description 1 Master Preset The master preset lists multiple combinations of presets such as EQ, Compressor, Reverb, and so on. Click this dropdown box to select, save, or edit a master preset. 2 Select all/Unselect all Click this checkbox to select all or unselect all presets. 3 Preset Checkbox Click desired checkbox to apply a sound effect to playback audio. 4 Preset Click dropdown box to select presets or switch to Manual Mode.
8.7.1 Advanced Settings 1 2 18 No Item Description 1 Mix with Wave On Select check box if you intend to record music audio with your voice. 2 Software Monitoring (StereoMix) Select check box to record the vocal only and it’s possible to hear the background music.
8.7.2 Master Preset The Master Preset is a quick way to save your preset combinations. 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 Master Preset Click dropdown box to select, save, or edit a master preset. 2 Save as Select a combination of presets and click Save as to create a new master preset. You may also choose to adjust settings for the current master preset. 3 Edit Preset Click edit to delete, rename, import, or export master preset. 8.7.
No Item Description 1 Preset Click dropdown box to view current preset parameters or select Manual Mode to change parameters under the Advanced Settings Panel. 2 Center Frequency This slider determines cutoff frequency. Drag the slider or input specific values in the text box. 8.7.4 Ducking The DJ Mix effect (Ducking) conveniently gets music to duck under vocals. Create your own podcast professionally.
8.7.5 EQ 1 2 No Item Description 1 Preset Click the dropdown box to view current preset parameters or select Manual Mode to change parameters under the Advanced Settings Panel. 2 Frequency Band Drag the slider up or down to change the gain of each frequency band.
8.7.6 Reverb 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 22 No Item Description 1 Preset Click the dropdown box to view current preset parameters or select Manual Mode to change parameters under the Advanced Settings Panel.
No Item Description 12 Room HF Attenuation at high frequencies relative to intensity and low frequencies. 13 Room Rolloff Factor Intensity of room effect adjusted by distance. 8.8 Mixer 8.8.1 Playback Volume 5 1 2 3 4 No Item Description 1 Playback Volume Tab Click this button to show the playback volume page 2 Volume Slider Drag this slider down to decrease the volume; drag it up to increase the volume. The tool-tip displays percentage increments.
8.8.2 Recording/Monitoring Volume 1 5 2 3 4 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 the 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.
8.9 Intensifier The Xonar U3 PLUS provides powerful features for karaoke, including KeyShifting and Vocal Cancellation. Key-Shifting can change the pitch of the karaoke background music. Vocal Cancellation can reduce the original vocals in songs while retaining the music and symphony for karaoke. 4 1 2 3 No Item Description 1 On/Off Click this button to disable or enable all functions on this page. 2 Key-Shifting This checkbox is used to enable or disable key shifting for music playback.
9. Troubleshooting and FAQs [Troubleshooting] The audio card driver could not be installed on my PC. Instructions: 1. Make sure that you have properly plugged Xonar U3 PLUS into a USB port. 2. Check that the Windows hardware device manager has discovered a USB audio device. If no device is found, try scanning for new hardware or restart Windows. 3. Remove Xonar U3 PLUS, plug it into another USB port, and try again. I cannot find the Xonar U3 PLUS Audio Center Instructions: 1.
I cannot hear any sound from the S/PDIF output Instructions: 1. Ensure that you have enabled S/PDIF output in the Audio Center GUI (Main page). 2. Ensure that you are connecting the correct S/PDIF output jack on 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 Live, you may have to double check that the AV receiver is in that decoding mode.
Q3: 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 carry 2-channel PCM data or non-PCM AC3/DTS data. So, when a user selects PCM output for S/PDIF, the Xonar sound card will always deliver 2 channel PCM data through the S/PDIF output port.
