ASUS today expanded its Xonar series of sound cards and audio devices with a new value for money yet gamer-oriented PCI sound card, the Xonar DG. This low-profile card is driven [surprisingly] by C-Media CMI8786 Oxygen HD chipset, which is a 6-channel variant of the CMI8788 Oxygen HD. Pitched as a 5.1 channel sound card, the Xonar DG supports HD (24-bit/96 kHz) output with HDCP compliance. Apart from the four 3.5 mm jacks for 5.1 channel output plus one 2-channel analog input, there’s one TOSLINK-type optical SPDIF output. The card gives out standard HDA front-panel connections, along with internal analog and SPDIF inputs.

Despite its lean feature set, the card features an on board headphone amplifier circuit that lets you tune impedance to suit your headset, it lets you select between VOIP, Gaming, and “Exciter” modes. The CMI8786 chipset is aided by a Cirrus-Logic made DAC that has a signal-noise ratio of 105 dBA, with a frequency response 10 Hz to 48 kHz, supporting 24-bit sample resolution. The software is backed by an ASUS GX 2.5 Gaming Audio engine. ASUS’ new sound card is expected to be priced under £30 in the UK, well under $50 in the US.

Source: techradar

ASUS today expanded its Xonar series of sound cards and audio devices with a new value for money yet gamer-oriented PCI sound card, the Xonar DG. This low-profile card is driven [surprisingly] by C-Media CMI8786 Oxygen HD chipset, which is a 6-channel variant of the CMI8788 Oxygen HD. Pitched as a 5.1 channel sound card, the Xonar DG supports HD (24-bit/96 kHz) output with HDCP compliance. Apart from the four 3.5 mm jacks for 5.1 channel output plus one 2-channel analog input, there’s one TOSLINK-type optical SPDIF output. The card gives out standard HDA front-panel connections, along with internal analog and SPDIF inputs.

Despite its lean feature set, the card features an on board headphone amplifier circuit that lets you tune impedance to suit your headset, it lets you select between VOIP, Gaming, and “Exciter” modes. The CMI8786 chipset is aided by a Cirrus-Logic made DAC that has a signal-noise ratio of 105 dBA, with a frequency response 10 Hz to 48 kHz, supporting 24-bit sample resolution. The software is backed by an ASUS GX 2.5 Gaming Audio engine. ASUS’ new sound card is expected to be priced under £30 in the UK, well under $50 in the US.

Source: techradar

LSI Corporation and Seagate announced the delivery of a complex integrated read channel technology for Seagate’s latest hard disk drive (HDD) products. Together, the companies have enabled the industry’s first hard disk drives with low-density parity check (LDPC) read channel in 65nm process system-on-chip (SoC) technology.

The co-development effort combines Seagate LDPC digital back-end read channel and hard drive controller IP with LSITM analog front-end read channel (RC) and physical layer (PHY) technology. The combined LDPC read channel has been incorporated into high-capacity SoC solutions that enable new levels of performance and storage capacity for leading-edge Seagate HDDs.

Sunbeamtech let loose its Smart Fan Controller 6 and Smart Fan Controller 3. These internal fan-speed controllers fit into the 5.25″ and 3.5″ drive bays, and offer manual control over 6 and 3 channels, respectively. Both controllers take power input from a Molex connector, as well as have a connection with the motherboard to let you synchronize all fan speeds using PWM signals from the motherboard. While the Smart Fan Controller 6 offers up to 30W per channel, the Smart Fan Controller 3 gives 20W per channel. The units are enclosed in aluminum that’s open on top to help ventilate the heat-producing FETs. The front-bezel is made of perforated black metal, with aluminum rotary knobs.

ASUS announced the launch of the ASUS Cine5 PC speaker which provides accurate 5-channel surround sound in personalized spaces such as study rooms. With its all-in-one design, the Cine5 delivers realistic and dynamic surround sound to satisfy consummate gamers and personal entertainment users. To deliver exceptionally full sound from a compact form factor, ASUS drew on its expertise in high-performance audio cards during the development.

The Cine5 is the first PC speaker in the world to offer leading surround sound presence with the new "Embracing Sound Theatre HD" technology. This patented technology leverages on a discrete 5-channel output to deliver full audio surround, which users can experience whenever they are directly in front of the speaker. In a First Player Shooter game, the Cine5 provides precise sound location that improves shooting accuracy and heightens gaming thrills. The Cine5 also revives 5-channel audio from any down-mixed 2-channel source-for a high-fidelity, multi-channel sound during PC gaming or movie sessions.

OEM major Foxconn made additions to its own channel brand of motherboards with two Digital Lifes series models based on the AMD 890GX chipset, supporting socket AM3 processors. The nearly identical Foxconn Digital Life A9DA-S and A9DA (pictured in the same order below), are ATX boards building on the features the chipset provides. The CPU is powered by an 8-phase VRM. The AMD 890GX embeds an ATI Radeon HD 4290 class IGP with 128 MB (+UMA) SidePort memory and connectivity which includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI.

Expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8 when both are populated), PCI-E x1, and PCI. The SB850 southbridge gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Other standard features include 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The A9DA-S is the more premium variant, it has a heatsink over the CPU VRM, and a VIA 2-port FireWire controller. The two should be available in stores soon.

Source: TechConnect Magazine