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ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus - Dolby Headphone replaced with Dolby Home Theater V4

post #1 of 65
4/23/12 at 11:59pm
Thread Starter 

So according to the product website http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/ROG_Xonar_Phoebus/

 

there won't be any Dolby Headphone but something newish.

 

"Dolby® Home Theater V4"

 

Does anybody have experience with this? It seems DHT offers virtualization as well. Marketing blabla: Surround virtualizer ― delivers stunning virtual surround playback for standard stereo headphones or speakers

 

P_500.jpgc4rMFm7zt74vdNg4_500.jpgKuINsyfiVOPf8ZUN_500.jpgdtNLgGTPgWGY5ngU_500.jpg

 

Specifications

Audio Performance Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted) (Front-out) :
118 dB
Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted) (Headphone-out) : 
110 dB
Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted) :
118 dB
Output THD+N at 1kHz (Front-out) :
0.00039 %(-108 dB)
Output THD+N at 1kHz (Headphone-out) :
0.001 %(300 dB)
Input THD+N at 1kHz :
0.0003 %(-110 dB)
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24bit/96KHz input) :
10 Hz to 48 KHz
Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage :
Unbalanced Output : 2.2 Vrms (3 Vp-p)
Headphone : 7 Vrms (9.9 Vp-p)
Bus Compatibility PCI Express
Chipset Audio Processor :C-Media CMI8888DHT High-Definition Sound Processor (Max. 96KHz/24bit)
Sample Rate and Resolution Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution :
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit
Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution :
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit
S/PDIF Digital Output :
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit
S/PDIF Digital Input :
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit
ASIO 2.2 Driver Support :
44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit with very low latency
I/O Ports Analog Output Jack : 
5 x 3.5mm RCA jack
Analog Input Jack : 
2 x 3.5mm RCA jack
1 x Digital S/PDIF Output : 1 x Toslink
1 x Box link
Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner) : 4-pin header on the card
Special Features Dolby® Technologies : Dolby® Home Theater v4
Smart Volume Normalizer™
Xear Surround™
Magic Voice™
FlexBass™
GX 3.0 Game Audio Engine
Accessories Control box x 1
Driver CD x 1
Quick Start Guide x 1
S/PDIF adaptor x 1
ATX 4P-to-6P power cable x 1

 

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post #2 of 65
4/24/12 at 3:12am

The new Dolby looks interesting.

 

But 1796... I thought it'll be a 1792a...

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post #3 of 65
4/24/12 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kn19h7 View Post
But 1796... I thought it'll be a 1792a...

 

The PCM1796 is not bad either. But apparently the headphone amplifier is still the same as on the ST/STX, and with worse SNR (110 dB is not great if it is referenced to the full scale 7 Vrms output, and the volume control is digital, although these details are not included in the specifications).

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post #4 of 65
4/24/12 at 1:30pm

Looks like the new Dolby Theater V4 is a little more like Creative's control panel, Movies, Music, Game settings.

And the 3 gain settings are now geared toward low Ohm headphones (<32, 32-150 & >150).

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post #5 of 65
4/24/12 at 1:47pm

The next mobo I'll buy also will have Dolby Home Theater on it (Realtek ALC898 chip), wonder how good it works, checked the Dolby homepage to check the features, seems quite gimmicky stuff with for example dynamic EQ possibilities. How great that works or why that would even be wanted is questionable though.

 

Wonder what pricing will be like on this particular card though.


Edited by RPGWiZaRD - 4/24/12 at 1:51pm
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post #6 of 65
4/24/12 at 3:31pm

Dolby Home Theater, like most audio enhancement software packages, changes the original sound through processing, and not in the best way. Still, it's better than current iterations of SRS packages.

 

I wasn't particularly impressed with the implementation found on both Dolby Home Theater v2 and v3.

 

Still, I'm curious to see if Asus managed to fix most of their GX 2.0/2.5 issues.

 

And you have to love the last 3 cards they made with the "x times better than competition" claim, when it's about a few dBs of difference lol.

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post #7 of 65
4/24/12 at 11:28pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah, seems like Dolby Home Theater is a mix of some "advanced" dynamic eq with HRTF and speaker virt.. I don't think it'll be a step up from Dolby Headphone. Just more bling bling and fancy filters.

 

It's really time for someone to bring HRTF to the next level. Let's see what Creative has in mind for Windows 8, hopefully less disappointing solutions like Core3D. Bring back powerful hardware, develop a good to handle API and a great devkit. One can dream. :D

 

 

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post #8 of 65
4/25/12 at 7:35am

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fegefeuer View Post

Yeah, seems like Dolby Home Theater is a mix of some "advanced" dynamic eq with HRTF and speaker virt.. I don't think it'll be a step up from Dolby Headphone. Just more bling bling and fancy filters.

 

It's really time for someone to bring HRTF to the next level. Let's see what Creative has in mind for Windows 8, hopefully less disappointing solutions like Core3D. Bring back powerful hardware, develop a good to handle API and a great devkit. One can dream. :D

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, the rumours about audio HAL returning will be true. If that does happen, then a lot of people will have an easier time using their audio hardware as well as software developers being able to focus once again on improving audio, which is something I theorized in part being due to the not so widespread appeal of not every single user being able to access such features, although that could be more of an excuse for lazy developers...

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post #9 of 65
4/25/12 at 8:29am

Heard that MSRP would be 189,90€.. 

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post #10 of 65
4/25/12 at 9:11am

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Migi06 View Post

Heard that MSRP would be 189,90€.. 

 

That's crazy, doubt it'll be that high for those specs. 

 

PS, on a totally unrelated note... Mukavaa nähdä jotain suomalaisia Head-fi:ssä. :P

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post #11 of 65
4/26/12 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roller View Post

 

 

 

Hopefully, the rumours about audio HAL returning will be true. If that does happen, then a lot of people will have an easier time using their audio hardware as well as software developers being able to focus once again on improving audio, which is something I theorized in part being due to the not so widespread appeal of not every single user being able to access such features, although that could be more of an excuse for lazy developers...

 

Well,

 

they are true, I am not informed enough yet though on how exactly it turns out, which developers/manufactors are building/preparing what kind of chipsets right now and how the API is structured/built in detail. The most important thing is: Hardware sound is back soon.

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post #12 of 65
4/26/12 at 8:45am

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fegefeuer View Post

 

 

Well,

 

they are true, I am not informed enough yet though on how exactly it turns out, which developers/manufactors are building/preparing what kind of chipsets right now and how the API is structured/built in detail. The most important thing is: Hardware sound is back soon.

 

 

So far, development versions don't seem to provide hardware sound for Asus cards and both Realtek and IDT onboard audio chips. Haven't tested Creative hardware yet since I don't run unfinished timebombed OSes on my machines.

 

In any case, if HAL will indeed make a comeback, then all consumer audio hardware (except DJ and pro audio gear) will be able to process hardware audio. With that being true, good times are to be expected.

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post #13 of 65
4/26/12 at 9:02am

Yea I seriously miss those times... hopefully it'll be back.

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post #14 of 65
4/26/12 at 12:07pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roller View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fegefeuer View Post
Well,

they are true, I am not informed enough yet though on how exactly it turns out, which developers/manufactors are building/preparing what kind of chipsets right now and how the API is structured/built in detail. The most important thing is: Hardware sound is back soon.

So far, development versions don't seem to provide hardware sound for Asus cards and both Realtek and IDT onboard audio chips. Haven't tested Creative hardware yet since I don't run unfinished timebombed OSes on my machines.

In any case, if HAL will indeed make a comeback, then all consumer audio hardware (except DJ and pro audio gear) will be able to process hardware audio. With that being true, good times are to be expected.

Asus is coming out with GX 3.0 with the new Phoebus card, maybe it has something to do with Win 8.

 

 

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post #15 of 65
4/26/12 at 1:23pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by PurpleAngel View Post

 

Asus is coming out with GX 3.0 with the new Phoebus card, maybe it has something to do with Win 8.

 

 

 

It's funny that Asus keeps increasing version numbers of their GX feature, when the only thing that changes is app compatibility. Marketing gimmicks /rolleyes

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