ASUS DGX, DSX, & Xonar ROG Phoebus Sound Cards @ [H]

Wanted to add that I got a free copy of Workaholics Season One from Microsoft! It is free to anyone with Win 8, XBOX Live or a Win 7 phone. Unfortunately it uses "Protected Audio" so it's not compatible with the Asus Phoebus. All I get is another fucking error. Thank you again for pissing me off Asus drivers team!
 
This will allow the protected media to play. But it will not sound good. Asus doesn't care about releasing drivers,. they have your money and they care nothing more. Same if you ask the Asus representatives running around here. You don't even get a reply from them at all. Then you wonder why they have a "F" rating at the BBB now.

Disable protection mode for audio in windows 8

Run Regedit and change this registry key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Audio]
"DisableProtectedAudioDG"=dword:00000001

Set the value from "1" to "0",
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Official/Unofficial? Beta Tester For The Asus Pheobus ROG Xonar 2012 - 2013
 
I think it is really odd that none of the Asus people come in here and comment on the problems with the Pheobus. Or even give any information on perhaps a driver in the year 2020.
 
Creative Zx is the best sound card I have ever had. Never thought I would type that. WTF asus? Where is the disconnect? It is so strange how they just don't seem to give a shit.
 
It is time for me to upgrade. But since Asus shafted me and everyone else so bad on the no supported Pheobus. It is really hard to justify spending $400 on the Maximus IV Extreme.It you can't provide support for a $200 dollar sound card. How can you do it for another "ROG" labeled motherboard? Or is Asus trying to tell people, just because it has "ROG" don't expect anything different from us?

Right now the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC Force looks like a much better buy. I would like to see a Asus rep come in here and convince me different. I'm tired of giving Asus money for their products and they could care less.
 
KILLER_K said:
It is time for me to upgrade. But since Asus shafted me and everyone else so bad on the no supported Pheobus. It is really hard to justify spending $400 on the Maximus IV Extreme.It you can't provide support for a $200 dollar sound card. How can you do it for another "ROG" labeled motherboard? Or is Asus trying to tell people, just because it has "ROG" don't expect anything different from us?

Right now the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC Force looks like a much better buy. I would like to see a Asus rep come in here and convince me different. I'm tired of giving Asus money for their products and they could care less.
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Once bitten, twice shy!

But more on topic, is there any reason sound cards are harder to make good drivers for? I was thinking that also Creative have been bad in the past for drivers, and now Asus too. I wonder if there is some sort reason why!
 
No clue...Creative at least did everything in-house, including chip design, while Asus uses C-Media chips on various cards (including the Phoebus). Cynically, I wonder if it simply comes down to money--perhaps Creative in the past, and Asus now, isn't/wasn't willing to commit resources and personnel to a driver project unless some sort of internal tipping point is reached.
 
Sovereign said:
And I still have an X-Fi XtremeMusic.

Not gonna get a new sound card for these, though next card I DO get will probably be an Asus *cough Creative driver hell cough*
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For the love of god, DO NOT get a Xonar to avoid driver hell.

I went from an Audigy 2 Value to a Xonar DX, and the Windows 7 drivers for the old Audigy are worlds better than the crap Asus puts out. It's so bad that a disgruntled user is doing a better job of maintaining drivers for these cards than Asus themselves.

If you're already stuck with a Xonar, you can find those drivers here: http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
He also states the original Pheobus is discontinued.... I'm guessing it is because Newegg has it marked so for out of stock. Couldn't find a place to post a comment either.

The Xonar Phoebus Solo also has a C-Media CM9882 codec. It’s not a very high end chip, and I’m not quite sure what it’s for.
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I broke out in a good laugh there. I guess he tried is the whole point of the review he posted.


cageymaru said:
http://www.hardcoreware.net/asus-xonar-phoebus-solo-review/1/

This guy gushes how great the Phoebus is.

:)
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It's not a horrible review, IMO, but it is very...casual. :) And comparing the Phoebus Solo to onboard audio seems like a bit of a wash--at this point I'd be comparing it to its intended competition, the Sound Blaster ZX and ZXR. For better and worse.

OTOH, it does serve as a reminder that the Phoebus in both variants is a case of good-to-great hardware (although to this day I'm puzzled by why it needs a full-blown PCIe power cable for a headphone amp--don't use 'em, so I'm clueless there) hampered if not kneecapped by drivers that are fair-to-middling for a lot of people. Kind of like my old X-Fi Elite Pro once Windows 7 hit--I never had a problem with that card until W7 rolled around, I could never get it to work after that, and Creative was just as bad if not worse about driver updates...
 
I believe the sole reason for the 6 pin power is because it is native pci-express. As if you remember all Asus sound cards use that pci-e bridge on the sound cards. The first one using the floppy power connector, then it went to the 6 pin molex power connector. And now to a 6 pin pci-express power cable. While Creative doesn't need any power for their sound cards.


Redshirt #24 said:
(although to this day I'm puzzled by why it needs a full-blown PCIe power cable for a headphone amp--don't use 'em, so I'm clueless there)
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Unknown-One said:
For the love of god, DO NOT get a Xonar to avoid driver hell.

I went from an Audigy 2 Value to a Xonar DX, and the Windows 7 drivers for the old Audigy are worlds better than the crap Asus puts out. It's so bad that a disgruntled user is doing a better job of maintaining drivers for these cards than Asus themselves.

If you're already stuck with a Xonar, you can find those drivers here: http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
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All I can really speak to is that I've had a Xonar D2X for a loooong time now, and before that a Xonar DG (still have it in my other machine), and I've never had any driver-related problems with either.

That said, I do recognize that actual driver support is almost non-existent and these user-made sets are the only things keeping them alive.
 
I have a Xonar DSX and it won't work in the only available PCI-E slot I have after installing my 2 3-slot graphics cards. The computer won't boot at all with the card installed, I think it's the PCI-E to PCI bridge chip. Gigabyte ga-z68x-ud3h-b3, that is unless I update to the UEFI beta bios which kills overclocking entirely. So naturally the Xonar is not in system. It doesn't seem like ASUS did enough QA on these cards. I'm not too sure why I bought it, the onboard sound is quite good.
 
I fixing to just order a Creative Labs ZxR or just a plain Zx. No need to try and wait for this card to be sorted out now. Someone may still want it though. Just not me at this point and time.

Edit: How did Asus go from a "F" rating at the BBB on the 10-2013. Now they have a perfect "A" rating in under a month? Someone on paid off on that deal to change the rating. Look it still has a red warning under the name there. Something is very fishy about this.

! There is an alert for this business !

We have identified a pattern of complaints concerning service issues. Complaints processed by BBB claim that 1) products sent to the company for repairs are still not working properly when returned to the consumer.

On June 29, 2012 ASUS responded to the issue by stating: We continuously enhance our repair service levels across the board, but in specific response to the repair quality concerns addressed in this letter we have strengthened core processes which may have been at the root of the matter and ASUS valued customers, with non-component systems products will benefit from the enhanced RMA process and instructions.

BBB again reviewed this company's file for complaints. As of January 14, 2013 the issue of products sent to the company for repairs still not working properly when returned to the consumer still remains.
- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-fran...onal-in-fremont-ca-16870#sthash.dOP80oIG.dpuf

Customer Complaints SummaryRead complaint details
1276 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years | 431 closed in last 12 months
Complaint Type Total Closed Complaints
Advertising / Sales Issues 32
Billing / Collection Issues 1
Delivery Issues 33
Guarantee / Warranty Issues 303
Problems with Product / Service 907
Total Closed Complaints 1276
- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-fran...onal-in-fremont-ca-16870#sthash.dOP80oIG.dpuf

ASUS Computer International BBB rating
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Well as I'm shortly moving onto Windows 8.1, and there's still no official ASUS drivers for the Phoebus, I'm 'upgrading' to a SB Z.
 
They released WHQL drivers for Win 8.1 yesterday. XBOX Music still blocks the sound card though. :(
 
I seen it posted at the "ROG Forums" and seen stuff was still broken even with this driver release. The driver was suppose to be released in October and here it is December and it is still broken. But it is a "WHQL" driven even though it is still broken. It is just hard to get me to take mine out the closet to test. As this is a ongoing rinse and repeat thing with the drivers.
 
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I went ahead and installed these drivers on my W7 rig (come to think of it, am I wrong or is this actually the first WHQL driverset period for this card?) and it forced a firmware update on me before I could install them, but apart from that--so far--it seems to be about the same as it was with the older drivers. That said I did see that one report about the W8/8.1 protected-audio issue persisting with these, and if that's indeed the case...sigh.
 
It is indeed the first WHQL driver for the sound card since it came out in April 2012. Plus the other two for Windows 8 was actually just beta drivers. I wonder if the firmware actually did anything this go around? As the first firmware release was later noted it did nothing but change some numbers.

Look forward to hearing what you find out on the driver. The protection audio has been there since the beginning. That is pretty bad for them not to fix one of the main issues with the drivers. But who knows what is going on in the Audio department there.

Redshirt #24 said:
I went ahead and installed these drivers on my W7 rig (come to think of it, am I wrong or is this actually the first WHQL driverset period for this card?) and it forced a firmware update on me before I could install them, but apart from that--so far--it seems to be about the same as it was with the older drivers. That said I did see that one report about the W8/8.1 protected-audio issue persisting with these, and if that's indeed the case...sigh.
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As per Raja:

Win 8.1 has changes over win 8 protected mode audio for some reason. This will be addressed in an upcoming build. Protected mode audio currently works in win 8 only (netflix etc) with this current driver by default as far as I am aware.
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Raja also noted the next driver was in "early development," but by now we all know Asus' driver team will do whatever the hell they're going to do whenever the hell they're going to do it and to hell with the rest of it. OTOH, 8.1 is recent enough that they might actually earn some goodwill if they can get a fixed driver in place soonish...not will, but might...
 
All that should have been fixed for this driver that is still broken. I mean honestly how long does it take to make a properly working driver? Creative had no issues doing it and they released theirs after Asus did. No problems in Windows 8.1 with their drivers. But Asus's driver always has multiple issues and stuff not working. It could have been a great card. In 4 more months it will be a 2 year old sound card with no drivers that work properly.
 
...and with no warning whatsoever Asus snuck out a second WHQL driverset, this one only for Windows 8.1. The one and only note:

Code: 
1.	Fix: Netflix issue
2.	WHQL driver

Since the issue with Netflix is Protected Audio, this may indeed be the fix for that--which should also include Xbox Music or whatever the heck it's called. Assuming no new issues pop up with this one (I'm not a Netflix subscriber, so someone else will need to confirm that it's fixed) I may have to give Asus a small attaboy for this...
 
I don't know if this is something that I'm doing wrong, game issue, or driver. When I play Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition, I have a nasty bug during the video storytelling before a fight. All of the voices are in my right headphone and all of the music is in the left. I have all the DSP modes off; just straight stereo in Win 8.1 and the Asus Phoebus software. When the actual battles begin everything is fine. Not going to blame Asus yet. :) What would you check first to fix the problem? Remember the sound is set to Stereo in the Control panel and all sound enhancements are off in the Asus software. I haven't tried to see if the game has a .ini file to edit yet.
 
Asus' third WHQL driverset for the Phoebus (W7 only, it appears) popped up last week. The gag is that there's no obvious clue as to what it may or may not fix...
 
I have a DGX running to a receiver using toslink. How should I set the speaker config in Windows and the driver to make sure I get the best directional audio when listening on headphones?
 
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Bankie said:
I have a DGX running to a receiver using toslink. How should I set the speaker config in Windows and the driver to make sure I get the best directional audio when listening on headphones?
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6 channels, 48khz, headphone with spdif out checked and set to pcm in xonar control panel. Dolby headphone checked with your choice of dh 1 2 or 3. Make sure windows is set for 24 bit default format. Configure all your applications as if you had 5.1 surround sound.

Though have you considered that this is a unnecessarily complicated setup? You can just plug headphones into the xonar directly, and there is a good chance it will sound as good or better than a receiver. For this, you just have to uncheck the spdif out option.

If you're using both a surround sound speaker setup and headphones, my suggestion would be different and involve dolby digital live. Actually, even better would be hdmi audio from the graphics card.
 
I think it would be nice to see a Asus Pheobus -vs- Creative Labs ZxR review now. Now since Asus has dropped another sound card out now. So let's get this one down straight.
1) Asus Pheobus
1) Asus Pheobus Solo
1) Asus Essence STX II

I'm guessing the driver support has now gone for the Pheobus users now. And now they will try to focus on the STX II model. Hopefully they will not do the 1 ¾ year driver release on this one.

But hopefully someone will do a full review against the Pheobus and ZxR. would be very nice to see some high end sound cards go head to head now.
 
mindbomb said:
6 channels, 48khz, headphone with spdif out checked and set to pcm in xonar control panel. Dolby headphone checked with your choice of dh 1 2 or 3. Make sure windows is set for 24 bit default format. Configure all your applications as if you had 5.1 surround sound.

Though have you considered that this is a unnecessarily complicated setup? You can just plug headphones into the xonar directly, and there is a good chance it will sound as good or better than a receiver. For this, you just have to uncheck the spdif out option.

If you're using both a surround sound speaker setup and headphones, my suggestion would be different and involve dolby digital live. Actually, even better would be hdmi audio from the graphics card.
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Thanks for the info. I ended up pulling the Xonar out of the system and went back to using the on-board Realtek. The DGX doesn't support 5.1 audio/DDL/DTSI through toslink while the Realtek does and since it's through toslink the sound quality is exactly the same. As far as headphones go the receiver headphone output had much better sound quality (to my ears) than the onboard amp that the DGX uses.
 
I wonder when Asus will release the xonar phoebus new drivers, it's pretty much long time, too long.

Does any of you have issue with Razer Surround headphones ? I have like a little 20-30 ms cut out randomly on any type of sound, it could be in games,movies,blueray.

I'm guessing it's something cause of xonar phoebus, cause others doesn't seem to have that.
 
x7007 said:
I wonder when Asus will release the xonar phoebus new drivers, it's pretty much long time, too long.

Does any of you have issue with Razer Surround headphones ? I have like a little 20-30 ms cut out randomly on any type of sound, it could be in games,movies,blueray.

I'm guessing it's something cause of xonar phoebus, cause others doesn't seem to have that.
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I am so sick of trying out settings to try and get games to work with the Asus Phoebus. It's damn annoying. Many times you fire up a game and all you hear is a digital squeal. So you have to keep trying settings until you get rid of it. Fire up another game and it's complete silence. In another game all of the videos have sound, but the game doesn't. Yet another game will have silent video sequences, but the game will squeal. Another game will have all the sound coming out of one speaker.

I feel as if I have a full time IT job figuring out how to get sound in my games. I spend on average 4 - 5 hours trying to figure out how to get the damn sound to work per game. Who in the hell wants to play a game after all of that? Asus should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such a terrible product with no support.

The Asus Phoebus is a complete lemon. This is by far the worst PC device I have ever owned.
 
lol, I yanked the phoebus out of my system a year ago.No more BSOD, no more glitchy audio in games, no more apps just failing to play audio, etc. I don't know about the other Asus cards, but the phoebus was a joke. Next to no driver support, little feedback on their own forum(it was primarily one asus employee in the first few months after launch who eventually just began telling people off who were complaining about issues with the card). Even when they did release a driver(they're up to what, 3 now after 2.5 years?), there was next to no information about actual changes in the driver(if they even bothered to type out something resembling a change log).

If I ever find that card(I tossed it in a bin and stuff it in a closet), it's going straight into the trash. That's probably the worst purchase I've made in a decade considering the time spent fiddling with it, nevermind the cost of it.
 
Merc1138 said:
lol, I yanked the phoebus out of my system a year ago.No more BSOD, no more glitchy audio in games, no more apps just failing to play audio, etc. I don't know about the other Asus cards, but the phoebus was a joke. Next to no driver support, little feedback on their own forum(it was primarily one asus employee in the first few months after launch who eventually just began telling people off who were complaining about issues with the card). Even when they did release a driver(they're up to what, 3 now after 2.5 years?), there was next to no information about actual changes in the driver(if they even bothered to type out something resembling a change log).

If I ever find that card(I tossed it in a bin and stuff it in a closet), it's going straight into the trash. That's probably the worst purchase I've made in a decade considering the time spent fiddling with it, nevermind the cost of it.
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I'm sure there are plenty of people in your country willing to buy it off your hands. ;)
 
kache said:
I'm sure there are plenty of people in your country willing to buy it off your hands. ;)
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Aside from the cliche "I'd never want to subject anyone to that", if it is in the storage bin that I think it is, it's had stuff dumped on top of it as a bare card. With no way to verify it as "working"(and no way would I plug it into my PC again to try and test), I wouldn't feel right actually trying to sell it.
 
Any problems with Phoebus and ibernations or cold boots ?
Sound card is everytimes detect after ibernation or during cold boot ? any forced to restard because dont run ?
 
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