Conclusion

The sound quality of the Xonar 7.1 is hard to deny. The Xonar sounds very good and is on par with its peers released as of late. Some may frown at the lower EAX support and software processing used for gaming but many gamers do not use EAX at all or care about EAX/OpenAL gaming effects in the least. Games I played while testing the card sounded great even without higher levels of EAX. The superb sound quality produced by this card can be heard in any and all audio tasks. The design considerations and components used on this card indicate that ASUS is indeed a formidable audio card designer and is here to stay in the PC audio arena. This audio offering is indeed well thought out and includes a lot of extras that give the user great value for his/her money. This reviewer thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this unit and looks forward to seeing what will be next from this manufacturer. I do not recommend this card for a hardcore gamer. It does not have the support needed for modern gaming audio. I will thoroughly recommend this card for HTPC and music considerations both playback and recording. I give this audio card 4 out of 5.


PROS
Solid Drivers
Great software bundle
Great sound quality and
Recording ability


CONS
4580 opamps
Low level game support
No hardware support










COMMENTS