• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Asus Xonar U7 or onboard SoundCore3D

Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
60 (0.02/day)
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 6700K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7
Cooling Raijintek Triton 280 Push/Pull
Memory HyperX DDR4, 2x8GB, 2666 MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 970 Xtreme Gaming
Storage Samsung EVO 850 - 250 GB / 2 x Western Digital 1 TB Blue
Display(s) Sony TV w650 32"
Case Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Sirtec High Power Direct12 750W Bronze
Software Windows 10 Pro, Retail
Hey Guys,

Couldn't find anywhere any info on the Asus U7 USB solution versus the onboard solution of Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7, the SoundCore3D. Is the U7 worth it ? Will there be a difference in sound quality or any other?
In the near future the sound will be played through the Edifier R2730DB.
Thank's!
 

OneMoar

There is Always Moar
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
8,741 (1.71/day)
Location
Rochester area
System Name RPC MK2.5
Processor Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Pro V2
Cooling Enermax ETX-T50RGB
Memory CL16 BL2K16G36C16U4RL 3600 1:1 micron e-die
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC
Storage ADATA SX8200PRO NVME 512GB, Intel 545s 500GBSSD, ADATA SU800 SSD, 3TB Spinner
Display(s) LG Ultra Gear 32 1440p 165hz Dell 1440p 75hz
Case Phanteks P300 /w 300A front panel conversion
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus+ Platinum 750W
Mouse Kone burst Pro
Keyboard EVGA Z15
Software Windows 11 +startisallback
the onboard is likely better
 

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,731 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
Another vote for the onboard.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.94/day)
Core3D is a pretty capable audio chip, especially for gaming. Considering I'm on Creative solutions for years and I quite vividly hate ASUS audio solutions, Core3D is a rather obvious selection.
 
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
60 (0.02/day)
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 6700K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7
Cooling Raijintek Triton 280 Push/Pull
Memory HyperX DDR4, 2x8GB, 2666 MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 970 Xtreme Gaming
Storage Samsung EVO 850 - 250 GB / 2 x Western Digital 1 TB Blue
Display(s) Sony TV w650 32"
Case Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Sirtec High Power Direct12 750W Bronze
Software Windows 10 Pro, Retail
Not just for gaming, for listening to music, I want as much audio quality as possible.
I will be getting soon the Edifier R2730DB, and I want it to be a good combination.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
1,448 (0.31/day)
Processor Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E MPG Carbon Wifi
Cooling Custom loop, 2x360mm radiator,Lian Li UNI, EK XRes140,EK Velocity2
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill DDR5-6400 @ 6400MHz C32
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra OC Scanner core +750 mem
Storage MP600 2TB,960 EVO 1TB,XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB,Micron 1100 2TB,OCZ Vector 512GB,1.5TB Caviar Green
Display(s) Acer X34S, Acer XB270HU
Case LianLi O11 Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) Logitech G-Pro X Wireless
Power Supply EVGA P3 1200W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Logitech G512 Carbon w/ GX Brown
VR HMD HP Reverb G2 (V2)
Software Win 11
If you're a true audiophile you won't want to use onboard sound. They've gotten pretty good at isolating it from noise, but it's still present.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.94/day)
True audiophiles are fruitcakes anyway. It's their obsession that turned gaming audio into ridiculous bits this and kilohertz that and decibel ratings everywhere instead of focusing on 3D positional audio technologies and environmental effects. *cough* EAX *cough* Sure, I don't mind if circuitry is capable of outputing crystal clear sound, but to be honest, we've reached that level with introduction of onboard HD audio codecs, that are mainstream for years now.

I don't care if audio output has SNR of 300 billion dB at 512 kHz rate if input audio is all washed out plasticky sounding crap. Not a single, even the most advanced software audio engines in games produce believable reverberations and other effects when you compare them to much older games that are powered by EAX 4.0 HD or even 5.0 and actually run in HW mode.

That's why I get pissed almost every single time I see these discussions about audio.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
1,448 (0.31/day)
Processor Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E MPG Carbon Wifi
Cooling Custom loop, 2x360mm radiator,Lian Li UNI, EK XRes140,EK Velocity2
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill DDR5-6400 @ 6400MHz C32
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra OC Scanner core +750 mem
Storage MP600 2TB,960 EVO 1TB,XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB,Micron 1100 2TB,OCZ Vector 512GB,1.5TB Caviar Green
Display(s) Acer X34S, Acer XB270HU
Case LianLi O11 Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) Logitech G-Pro X Wireless
Power Supply EVGA P3 1200W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Logitech G512 Carbon w/ GX Brown
VR HMD HP Reverb G2 (V2)
Software Win 11
And yet, the OP is not talking about something just for gaming. He will be using it for music as well.

And don't like audiophiles? Well tough. I am not one, but I know there are people out there that take their sound seriously, and they are entitled to that.
 

OneMoar

There is Always Moar
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
8,741 (1.71/day)
Location
Rochester area
System Name RPC MK2.5
Processor Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Pro V2
Cooling Enermax ETX-T50RGB
Memory CL16 BL2K16G36C16U4RL 3600 1:1 micron e-die
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC
Storage ADATA SX8200PRO NVME 512GB, Intel 545s 500GBSSD, ADATA SU800 SSD, 3TB Spinner
Display(s) LG Ultra Gear 32 1440p 165hz Dell 1440p 75hz
Case Phanteks P300 /w 300A front panel conversion
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus+ Platinum 750W
Mouse Kone burst Pro
Keyboard EVGA Z15
Software Windows 11 +startisallback
the ops board has better snr(120+db) then a lot of cheap sound cards
if he wants something truly better with a difference he can hear he needs to spend some serious coin on both speakers and a card
and most audiophiles that I have met are frankly misinformed idiots with a pension for blowing money on gear ... because they have convinced themselves it matters
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.94/day)
And yet, the OP is not talking about something just for gaming. He will be using it for music as well.

And don't like audiophiles? Well tough. I am not one, but I know there are people out there that take their sound seriously, and they are entitled to that.

I've always been a bit hit on the high end soundcards and to be honest, I can't notice a difference between a well encoded MP3 and FLAC. Besides, as soon as you drop games into the mix, something from Creative, ASUS ROG or MSI with their audio enhancements falls into consideration (mostly motherboards with high end audio, not sure if ASUS soundcards come with any similar software). Because the Xonar that I had was rubbish with 3D game audio. It had really high specs even for today's standards, but it was just awful for 3D positional audio.

It's simply better to have a well rounded soundcard than one which is superb at music and absolutely rubbish at games. It's pointless.
 
Top