Satisfying demand for Vista gaming support for numerous Xonar D2 customers, ASUS, worldwide leader in motherboard, graphics cards and audio cards, has activated DirectSound3D Game Extensions 1.0 (DS3D GX 1.0) and Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) technologies in the latest Vista drivers.

Hot on the heels on the success of the Xonar D2 audio card, ASUS now offers users even more audio choices by introducing the first PCI-E interface audio card Xonar D2X; and the stylish USB interface audio device Xonar U1. Providing solutions for the gaming audio issue found in Windows Vista by utilizing DS3D GX, and Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) for best voice communication quality, the Xonar D2X will undoubtedly provide the best gaming experience ever. The Xonar U1 on the other hand will feature eye-catching industrial design, a convenient user interface and total compatibility with both PCs and notebooks.

The guys at VR-Zone spent 10 hours last Saturday pitting the new Asus Xonar against a series of other sound cards such as Auzentech X-Meridien, Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 XT, Tokyo Style Envy24 HT 7.1, Creative X-Fi Elite Pro and Creative Audigy 4. The speakers used during the test were M-Audio Studiophile BX-5 Studio Monitoring speakers and Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Multimedia speakers. Click here to read the full story.

ASUS, announced the first product of its brand new product line: the ASUS Xonar D2 7.1-channel audio card. This new audio card is based on the AV200 audio chip, which offers a SNR of 118db for both audio in and out to all 8 channels. Besides delivering impressive audio quality, the Xonar D2 is also packed with multiple sound technologies like Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx, which creates up to 7.1-channel surround from stereo or 5.1 sources as well as DTS Interactive for real time AC-3 encoding. The Xonar D2 also comes with a special application called "Portable Media Processor". This application works with the onboard ALT (Analog Loopback Transformation) circuit to provide almost lossless analog recording audio quality from digital music files. For more details regarding ASUS Xonar D2, please click here.