ASUS Xonar U1 USB Audio Station

To put this conclusion in a nutshell, I have to say that I am extremely impressed with this little external soundcard. This approach has been tried before but with the Xonar U1, Asus has finally got the external sound card formula down to a science. Not only is this unit extremely compact and stylish, but it also comes at a very fair price of under $90 USD. For the price, it represents an amazing value for the quality of sound it can output. Yet, at the same time, this may be more than some consumers are willing to pay for this type of device. In the end, it all comes down to what suits your needs best.

The Xonar U1 can add high end Dolby Home Theater audio technologies to a laptop or desktop PC. I would recommend this unit to people who want great sound on the go from their laptops or for HTPC users that need digital output capabilities. On the other hand it has no analog outputs for surround sound systems so unless you have a digital speaker system or receiver you cannot go full 5.1 surround sound. With the U1, Asus has taken a clear aim at a certain (nearly untouched) market segment and it caters to it very well.

The Xonar U1 should not be seen as a contender against its bigger brother -the Xonar D2- but rather an addition to it for your laptop. The only thing that really bothered us is the very much lackluster performance it displayed in Vista during the gaming sessions. Sure, drivers will probably become available for it in the near future but for now I would not recommend buying this if you are planning on gaming in Vista right away.

The U1 has a very nice sonic signature and offers many features for the headphone fans. This reviewer gives the U1 USB audio station 4 out of 5. I highly suggest you check it out.


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