ADATA SOLOX F30 Amplifier

The SOLOX F30 is what ADATA calls an "amplifier", but don't let that confuse you as it's an external USB sound card. It takes up two USB ports on the motherboard mainly because it also functions as a 3-port USB 2.0 hub. A USB 3.0 hub would make much more sense, and it is my opinion what we have every right to expect for $200. The SOLOX F30 supports 7.1 surround sound (XPG Xear) and comes with four equalizer presets, a large volume dial, a microphone mute button, and a headphone/speaker switch. The latter also means that it's equipped with a 3.5-mm line-out port that can be used for active PC speakers. The built-in DAC supports 24-bit/96 kHz audio reproduction.

Closer Examination and Performance

On the left side of the SOLOX F30, we have a Mini-USB port that's used to connect it to the PC, a pair of USB 2.0 ports you can use for any peripheral, and a 3.5-mm line-out port, which isn't amplified, so it can be used for active PC speakers.


On the right side are two 3.5-mm audio connectors and an additional USB 2.0 port. These are your standard microphone input and audio output ports. Here, you can plug in the EMIX H30 or any other analogue gaming headset.


There is a lot of stuff happening on the main, upper part of the SOLOX F30. Most of it is taken up by a large volume knob that controls the volume digitally. The current volume level will be indicated inside Windows but also via the red LEDs that surround the knob.


Beneath the volume knob are four clicky buttons. The first is used to switch the output between connected headphones or speakers, the second button mutes the microphone, and the third activates the 7.1 surround sound. The final button switches between factory-tuned equalizer profiles.


On top, we can see which equalizer profile is currently active. There are four to choose from: Gaming, Cinema, Voice, and Music. Unfortunately, that brings me to the biggest issue of the SOLOX F30 and this bundle as a whole: ADATA forgot to create a neutral sound profile, one that would simply leave the sound of a connected device intact. What that means is that you'll never be able to get anything connected to the SOLOX F30 to sound quite like it should, and there's not much you can do about it.

To make matters worse, none of the sound presets come even close to being neutral or sounding particularly good. The "Gaming" preset is annoyingly bass-heavy and muddy in the mid-range, the "Voice" preset has next to no bass as it puts a strong emphasis on higher frequencies, and the "Music" preset sounds like someone stuffed your ears full of cotton. What kind of music is supposed to be enjoyed with the equalizer curve set like that I can't even begin to assume. The only somewhat usable factory preset would be the "Cinema" one, although every single pair of headphones I connected to the SOLOX F30 still sounded worse than when connected to a sound card that wasn't burdened by an inherent, non-avoidable equalizer profile. That includes ADATA's own EMIX H30 headset.

Software

The only thing you can do to help yourself to some extent is to dive into XPG Audio Center in an attempt to manually adjust the equalizer to get something cohesive out of the SOLOX F30. Do keep in mind, though, that activating the software equalizer doesn't override the sound card's own equalizer presets, which means you won't be working with a blank canvas, but are merely fiddling with one of the four aforementioned factory equalizer presets. I did my best to find a setting that would result in a neutral sound but ultimately failed. Whatever I did, my headphones and headsets sounded better when they weren't connected to the SOLOX F30.


There are plenty of other options in XPG Audio Center, all of which are accessed by moving your cursor above the speaker or microphone icon, which opens up their respective settings. For example, one of the more interesting menus allows us to activate Xear Surround, pick its mode (Music or Movie), and select our room's size. Do resist the urge to activate options such as "Xear Dynamic Bass", "Xear Smart Volume", "Xear Voice Clarity" and "Xear Audio Brilliant" as they won't magically make the sound better.


In the microphone section, make sure to adjust the volume to around 80 (14.70 dB). Anything higher than that simply makes the microphone output too loud. If you always wanted to sound like a monster, a cartoon character, or a person of the opposite gender, you could potentially find some fun in the "Xear Magic Voice" section of the microphone's options.