ASUS Unveils Three High-end STRIX Series 7.1-ch Sound Cards

btarunr · Jun 1, 2015

ASUS unveiled two new high-end 7.1-channel sound cards under its premium STRIX brand, the STRIX RAID DLX, the STRIX RAID Pro, and the STRIX Soar. The three are based on a common base card design, and differ with features and DSPs. The DAC component of the card consists of a native-PCIe multi-CODEC HD audio controller, wired to an ESS SABRE 9006a DAC, dedicated to the front audio output, with 116 dBA SNR; and a separate 110 dBA SNR DAC wired to the main headphones amplifier. On the RAID DLX, the front-out DAC is a higher quality SABRE 9016a.

The main amp can handle 600Ω impedance headphones. On the software side of things, is a Raid mode (positional audio), Sonic Radar (lets you pinpoint enemies based on audio, and a new Sonic Studio control panel interface. The RAID DLX and RAID Pro come with an external module with audio jacks, and physical switches to audio feature controls, besides volume control.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

116dB? CS4398 crap...

It looks like crap, and reeks of 10 years old tech... and dafuq that RAID name? Are they seriously retarded messing up proper industry standard names... even with all capital letters...

cuneytcam · Jun 1, 2015

No thanks, im not going to buy anything sound related from asus. Not with that support

sifu · Jun 1, 2015

sabre chips, ooo pulling out the big guns, theres alot of top quality DAC's on the market that use em.
still. i dont think i'd ever purchase a PCIe soundcard ever again

Breit · Jun 1, 2015

Does it have Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect?
Most cards from ASUS do have only one of these enabled. Maybe except for headphones, its probably better to send multi-channel sound to your playback device (e.g. a proper AV receiver) in digital form, let alone most AV receivers don't even have multi-channel analog inputs.

An even cooler feature would be the output of uncompressed 7.1 channel sound (PCM) via HDMI, but I guess this is too much to ask for a gamer sound card...

thevoiceofreason · Jun 1, 2015

Ferrum Master said:
116dB? CS4398 crap...

It's not CS4398 but SABRE9006A/9016A, it says so right there in the press release... Sure, it's still a one-bit sigma-delta, but you could do worse than that.

Still, I would not buy an audio card drawing power from the pci bus...

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

thevoiceofreason said:
CS4398 but SABRE9006A/9016A

My rage blinded me. Still I missfired due to the fact of 116dB, how they managed to screw it?

I have no problems with PCI-E cards as long they replicate manufacturer schematics and do not cripple something, they are tweakable more than enough... even the power supply part. My X-Fi HD grandfather still works past 120dB... I can't measure more, do not have any better capture device with good ADC...

And I agree, all sound drivers are utter crap... And actually it is been a tradition since 90ties to be like that.

Oh lol, I only now saw the Soar card lololo I can see my self pranking any mate seeing this thing and telling - I see you have a sore problem in your case...

bogami · Jun 1, 2015

How well it performs one element is by no means an indicator of the real quality of a whole audio signal. Yet this is the IHF standerd and in the best conditions! 50 db while the worse conditions of the input signal. Typically, throwing sand in the eyes of the bidders.
I miss the card with a tube preamp signal and the higher for HD tone ,32 bit or more converters. Well, when the matter will be listend will be anything to said , because the sound does not for look, but to listen .

NC37 · Jun 1, 2015

Ferrum Master said:
And I agree, all sound drivers are utter crap... And actually it is been a tradition since 90ties to be like that.

And no one can ever agree on them. Honestly hope I never have to shop for one again. Actually is worse than GPU shopping IMO just because both Creative and Asus have similar problems to go with their different strengths, and the problems never really change. Course not much they can do when most folks find onboard audio to be sufficient for their needs.

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

bogami said:
sound does not for look, but to listen .

I agree... but mostly it can be explained and measured with a scope, I don't believe in mojo things... and if a manufacturer cannot realize claimed specs on manufacturer DAC data sheet... they screwed something up, and I don't even expect to see something audiable...

I can support the tube thing... the best I've heard is a Sylvania 6SN7GTA (1954) driving an OTL end. But that's another story... each equipment if made correctly, shines on their own... This simply can't do that...

NC37 said:
onboard audio to be sufficient for their needs.

Realtek also isn't the best player in driver department too... They all SIN... :respect:

But nevertheless... if we pay money... a get crippled driver performace, like broken ASIO, WASAPI stuttering, sampling modes do not stick, they change on their own... While creative is just lazy... a new driver from them is like xmas, their 4GB problem, SSD no sound issue...

PLAfiller · Jun 1, 2015

They sure look pretty, but I am an USB sound card person these days. It's happens to be more convenient at the moment.

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

lZKoce said:
They sure looks pretty, but I am an USB sound card person these days. It's happens to be more convenient at the moment.

Not for all peps... I use a lot of USB devices, flashing, debugging, service type of things... software resets and hangs up the bus so often, it leads to immediate BSOD. USB also unfortunately adds overhead and latency... blame M$.

jabbadap · Jun 1, 2015

Ferrum Master said:
116dB? CS4398 crap...

It looks like crap, and reeks of 10 years old tech... and dafuq that RAID name? Are they seriously retarded messing up proper industry standard names... even with all capital letters...

Maybe asus is co-operating with Johnson, and using squeeling coils that kills bugs... :laugh:

btarunr · Jun 1, 2015

thevoiceofreason said:
Still, I would not buy an audio card drawing power from the pci bus...

These cards draw power from 6-pin PCIe power inputs. A tiny amount of slot power is used in an isolated circuit (for the HDA controller), just to tell the system that the device isn't dead. This controller doesn't do any DA conversion. It wires out audio to external DACs over I2S.

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

btarunr said:
DACs over I2S.

I2S is not designed to be used over long cables... The idea is flawed in its roots then. Jitter and crosstalk, here we come... especially from nearby breathing PC...

BorisDG · Jun 1, 2015

This card is like cheap-o Xonar gaming.

Haytch · Jun 1, 2015

Next please . . .

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

I wonder why don't make such things for sound... An UAA capable I/O interface.

Ultra small, so the air could travel freely.

Because it would be reasonable... LoL.

ZoneDymo · Jun 1, 2015

that extra module in the first picture looks straight stolen from Creative

The Terrible Puddle · Jun 1, 2015

Probably has +10 output impedance.

SammyHayabuza · Jun 1, 2015

So..with these sound cards I guess we can expect a Strix 7.1 "analog" headset any time soon?
I've saved up for the USB version but would opt for this combination. Also thinking about the Phoebus+Tiamat.

RejZoR · Jun 1, 2015

Pointless cards. Who really gives a shit about SNR and 3 billion Ohms if the audio processing is total joke and we are in year 2015. We had better sound back in freaking 1998 with Sound Blaster Live! just because it was running in proper hardware mode and not this pile of emulated junk through 50 software layers of dung we have today. The largest part of the blame goes to Microsoft for sacking the hardware audio layer and the rest basically just had to follow that, because there was no point in investing any further into features like EAX 5.0 or proper hardware accelerated game engines. 10 more years and you'll be hearing MIDI samples again. A disgrace for the computing history...

I hate it how Creative was basically forced to take the route of SB Z cards (at least they have it good for old games with ALchemy where they still shine) and I bet you these ASUS cards use the same 15 years old audio processors... It's idiotic.

Tannhäuser · Jun 1, 2015

The orange thing is a tiny fortune wheel, a random indicator for what we can expect from ASUS regarding the support?

(Petting my Xonar Essence here. With 3rd-party-drivers ...)

ZeDestructor · Jun 1, 2015

Ferrum Master said:
I2S is not designed to be used over long cables... The idea is flawed in its roots then. Jitter and crosstalk, here we come... especially from nearby breathing PC...

.... You realize I²S is digital, right?

And for the length argument, you're talking PCB traces dammit. It's bloody short is what it is!

Ferrum Master · Jun 1, 2015

ZeDestructor said:
.... You realize I²S is digital, right?

And for the length argument, you're talking PCB traces dammit. It's bloody short is what it is!

The outer extension is connected via it?

You mean digital isn't immune to data loss? LoL wut?

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	HELLSTAR
Processor	AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling	2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory	4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX + under waterblock.
Storage	Optane 900P[W11] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO[FEDORA]
Display(s)	Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software	FEDORA 39 / Windows 11 insider

System Name	Blackbird
Processor	AMD Threadripper 3960X 24-core
Motherboard	Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master
Cooling	Full custom-loop water cooling, mostly Aqua Computer and EKWB stuff!
Memory	4x 16GB G.Skill Trident-Z RGB @3733-CL14
Video Card(s)	Nvidia RTX 3090 FE
Storage	Samsung 950PRO 512GB, Crusial P5 2TB, Samsung 850PRO 1TB
Display(s)	LG 38GN950-B 38" IPS TFT, Dell U3011 30" IPS TFT
Case	CaseLabs TH10A
Audio Device(s)	Edifier S1000DB
Power Supply	ASUS ROG Thor 1200W (SeaSonic)
Mouse	Logitech MX Master
Keyboard	SteelSeries Apex M800
Software	MS Windows 10 Pro for Workstation
Benchmark Scores	A lot.

Processor	Ryzen 3600
Motherboard	MSI B450i
Cooling	CM MasterLiquid Lite 120
Memory	16GB Crucial Ballistix
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3060 Ti
Storage	Kingston A2000 NVMe
Display(s)	LG 29UM69G
Case	SilverStone SG13
Audio Device(s)	O2+ODAC
Power Supply	Corsair RMx 550W
Mouse	Mionix Castor
Keyboard	Keychron K7
Software	W10

System Name	HELLSTAR
Processor	AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling	2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory	4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX + under waterblock.
Storage	Optane 900P[W11] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO[FEDORA]
Display(s)	Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software	FEDORA 39 / Windows 11 insider

ASUS Unveils Three High-end STRIX Series 7.1-ch Sound Cards

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

Ferrum Master

cuneytcam

sifu

Breit

thevoiceofreason

Ferrum Master

bogami

NC37

Ferrum Master

PLAfiller

Ferrum Master

jabbadap

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

Ferrum Master

BorisDG

Haytch

Ferrum Master

Attachments

ZoneDymo

The Terrible Puddle

SammyHayabuza

RejZoR

Tannhäuser

ZeDestructor

Ferrum Master

System Name	PC.
Processor	i7 2600K 5.0Gh,i7 3770K 5.00Gh. EK, Liqed Coooleng
Motherboard	P67A-UD7-B3 Gigabyte T.,ASUS,P8Z77-V PREMIUM,MAXIMUS V EXTRIME..
Cooling	Liqed Cooleng ,EK Suprime LTX Nickel,EK for Motherboard,Aqua computer (WGA), Thermaltake .... 0i,
Memory	G.SKILL F3-17600CL7-2GBPISG. 16GBSkill Sniper F3-17000CL94GBSR on 2400Hz 10-12-11-29 1
Video Card(s)	GTX590 ,SLI ,POV TGT best 691Hz ,LiqedCoold,GTX480.....GTX1080MSI SeaHawkEK SLI
Storage	OCZ-REVODRIVE 3-240GB,2xCrucialMX100.512.R-0,1x LMT-32L3m,3x 1TB-WD,1x;1x2TbSEAGATE1x2Tb Seagate
Display(s)	DELL-U2412Mb,Samsung Synkmaster245B,HP ENVY 34c
Case	Thermaltake, NZXT SWITCH 810SE
Audio Device(s)	CREATIVE BLASTER X-Fi Titanium HD , AUNE T1MK2 TUBE USB
Power Supply	ENERMAX Platimax 1500W,Thermaltake 1500W
Mouse	VIPER V560,FUNC MS-3, Prestigio, R.A.T.E.7 and 5,LogitechG502,RAZER,Inperator.,dead...a.s.o.
Keyboard	Trust ....LogotechG410
Software	Windows7 64....
Benchmark Scores	3DMark Fire Strike 21.385 (37.234,11.828,7.176)

System Name	Lailalo
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X Boosts to 4.95Ghz
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WIFI
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	XFX 7900XT 20GB
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro Plus 1TB, Crucial 1TB MX500 SSD, Segate 3TB
Display(s)	LG Ultrawide 29in @ 2560x1080
Case	Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply	XPG 1000W
Mouse	G602
Keyboard	G510s
Software	Windows 10 Pro / Windows 10 Home

System Name	Sandfiller
Processor	I5-10400
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
Cooling	Noctua NH-L9i (92x25mm fan)
Memory	32GB Corsair LPX 2400 Mhz DDR4 CL14
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 5700 XT GAMING X
Storage	Intel 670P 512GB
Display(s)	2560x1080 LG 29" + 22" LG
Case	SS RV02
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse	Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard	REDRAGON MITRA
Software	Windows 11 Home x 64

System Name	Black Knight \| White Queen
Processor	Intel Core i9-10940X \| Intel Core i7-5775C
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore X299G \| ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark S (White)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black \| Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk (White)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z RGB 4x8GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 \| Corsair Vengeance LP 4x4GB DDR3L 1600MHz CL9 (White)
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC \| KFA2/Galax GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Hall of Fame Edition
Storage	Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, 980 Pro 1TB, 850 Pro 256GB, 840 Pro 256GB, WD 10TB+ (incl. VelociRaptors)
Display(s)	Dell Alienware AW2721D 240Hz, ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q 170Hz, ASUS PA246Q 60Hz\| Samsung JU7500 48'' TV
Case	Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW (Black) \| NZXT ??? w/ ASUS DRW-24B1ST
Audio Device(s)	ASUS Xonar Essence STX \| Realtek ALC1150
Power Supply	Enermax Revolution 1250W 85+ \| Super Flower Leadex Gold 650W (White)
Mouse	Razer Basilisk Ultimate, Razer Naga Trinity \| Razer Mamba 16000
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2 (Orange switch) \| Razer Ornata Chroma
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	_Speedforce_ (Successor to Strike-X, 4LI3NBR33D-H, Core-iH7 & Nemesis-H)
Processor	Intel Core i9 7980XE (Lapped) @ 5.2Ghz With XSPC Raystorm (Lapped)
Motherboard	Asus Rampage VI Extreme (XSPC Watercooled) - Custom Heatsinks (Lapped)
Cooling	XSPC Custom Water Cooling + Custom Air Cooling (From Delta 220's TFB1212GHE to Spal 30101504&5)
Memory	8x 8Gb G.Skill Trident Z RGB 4266MHz @ 4667Mhz (2x F4-4266C17Q-32GTZR)
Video Card(s)	3x Asus GTX1080 Ti (Lapped) With Customised EK Waterblock (Lapped) + Custom heatsinks (Lapped)
Storage	1x Samsung 970 EVO 2TB - 2280 (Hyper M.2 x16 Card), 7x Samsung 860 Pro 4Tb
Display(s)	6x Asus ROG Swift PG348Q
Case	Aerocool Strike X (Modified)
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 & Aurvana XFi Headphones
Power Supply	2x Corsair AX1500i With Custom Sheilding, Custom Switching Unit. Braided Cables.
Mouse	Razer Copperhead + R.A.T 9
Keyboard	Ideazon Zboard + Optimus Maximus. Logitech G13.
Software	w10 Pro x64.
Benchmark Scores	pppft, gotta see it to believe it. . .

System Name	Cyberline
Processor	Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory	Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD RX480 -> ... nope still the same :'(
Storage	Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s)	Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case	antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply	Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse	Elecom EX-G
Keyboard	Rapoo V700
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	Diablo \| Baal \| Mephisto \| Andariel
Processor	i5-3570K@4.4GHz \| 2x Xeon X5675 \| i7-4710MQ \| i7-2640M
Motherboard	Asus Sabertooth Z77 \| HP DL380 G6 \| Dell Precision M4800 \| Lenovo Thinkpad X220 Tablet
Cooling	Swiftech H220-X \| Chassis cooled (6 fans + HS) \| dual-fanned heatpipes \| small-fanned heatpipe
Memory	32GiB DDR3-1600 CL9 \| 96GiB DDR3-1333 ECC RDIMM \| 32GiB DDR3L-1866 CL11 \| 8GiB DDR3L-1600 CL11
Video Card(s)	Dual GTX 670 in SLI \| Embedded ATi ES1000 \| Quadro K2100M \| Intel HD 3000
Storage	many, many SSDs and HDDs....
Display(s)	1 Dell U3011 + 2x Dell U2410 \| HP iLO2 KVMoIP \| 3200x1800 Sharp IGZO \| 1366x768 IPS with Wacom pen
Case	Corsair Obsidian 550D \| HP DL380 G6 Chassis \| Dell Precision M4800 \| Lenovo Thinkpad X220 Tablet
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD \| None \| On-board \| On-board
Power Supply	Corsair AX850 \| Dual 750W Redundant PSU (Delta) \| Dell 330W+240W (Flextronics) \| Lenovo 65W (Delta)
Mouse	Logitech G502, Logitech G700s, Logitech G500, Dell optical mouse (emergency backup)
Keyboard	1985 IBM Model F 122-key, Ducky YOTT MX Black, Dell AT101W, 1994 IBM Model M, various integrated
Software	FAAAR too much to list