Shortly before Christmas, Asus announced the Xonar U3 external DAC. The U3 is the new little brother to the bigger U5 and the gaming-oriented U7 DACs and is desgned as a portable and compact solution.
The compact design brings some limitations along, most likely due to the limited amount of power that can a single USB port can deliver. The frequency response ranges from 20Hz to 20KHz at a sample rate of 48KHz and 16bit, a somewhat low setup for those who prefer high-quality uncompressed music. Looking from the other side, a portable solution like this will be a huge upgrade to almost any laptop or other portable computers.
The headphone amplifier has adjustable gain levels that can drive up to 150ohm headphones and headsets, which indeed is nice. The included DJ Mix tool and five pre-set audio modes all point towards the use of this DAC that must be creating podcasts while on the go.
While the specification might not impress everyone, the price of just £19.99 via Amazon might change those opinions. It’s a cheap and portable soundcard for people on the go that aren’t satisfied with their built-in solution.
Specifications
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 100dB
- Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise : 0.005% (-110dB)
- Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz
- Headphone impedance: Optimized for 32~150Ω
- Interface: USB 1.1 or above bus compatible
- Sample Rate and Resolution: Up to 48KHz @ 16bit
- Connectivity: 1 x 3.5 mm jack analog out; 1 x 3.5 mm jack (Line-In/Mic-In combo); 1 x S/PDIF out (combo with analog out)
- Operation system: Windows 10, 8, 7, XP (32/64bit)
- Karaoke functions: Music pitch-shifting, vocal cancellation, and microphone echo effects with stereo mix recording (Wave and Mic-in) for online Karaoke or online DJ applications
Thanks to ROG for providing us with this information
Images courtesy of ROG
At that price the specs are starting to look not too bad.