ASUS Xonar U3 Reviews & Tests

Consumer review (amazon.com)

Amazon.com review summary for ASUS Xonar U3

alaTest has collected and analyzed 77 user reviews of ASUS Xonar U3 from Amazon.com. The average user rating for this product is 4.3/5, compared to an average user rating of 4.0/5 for other Computer Speakers on Amazon.com.

94% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Jun, 2025

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Expert review by : Geoff Gasior (techreport.com)

Asus' Xonar U3 USB audio device

Of all the products I've reviewed for TR in the last year, Asus' Xonar DG has to be one of my favorites. We've long lauded the benefits of discrete sound cards for anyone with an appreciation for high-fidelity audio, and the DG is a pretty exceptional...

If your system has a free PCI or PCI Express slot, you'd do well to populate it with a Xonar sound card rather than filling one of your USB ports with the U3. The USB Xonar's signal quality simply isn't good enough, and its lack of high-definition...

Jul, 2011

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

Wow. Night and day.

It's just plug-and-play. I first installed the driver from Asus' website, and the U3 didn't work at all. Uninstalled, rebooted, and I've been giddy ever since.

Bought this solely to listen to mp3s all day on a work laptop I'm about to purchase, and to maybe get better sound out of my 3 month old "ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer" motherboard in my desktop. A lot of people say it's a waste of money for a new...

None, especially for 40 bucks (really???), and I can use it with the laptop I'm about to purchase.

Dec, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

Works well under linux

Worked immediately when I plugged it into a Dell M3800 running Mint Linux. Had to select it as the output sound card, as one would expect in a machine with multiple sound cards. No drivers required, no command line stuff. It. Just. Worked.

The volume adjustment provided by linux goes from nothing to kinda-loud without any steps in between. I don't know if that's the device or linux, so I didn't deduct any eggs.

Jun, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

Works well under linux

Worked immediately when I plugged it into a Dell M3800 running Mint Linux. Had to select it as the output sound card, as one would expect in a machine with multiple sound cards. No drivers required, no command line stuff. It. Just. Worked

The volume adjustment provided by linux goes from nothing to kinda-loud without any steps in between. I don't know if that's the device or linux, so I didn't deduct any eggs

Jun, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

Nice product

Sounds great. powers my Sennheiser HD555 to a very loud volume. I am glad I purchased this over a year ago. still working great.

sort of large

Mar, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

ASUS Xonar U3

Overall a good buy at under $40. Works well with my crossfade M-100. Can put a concert on my head and take it with my laptop.

Decent sound quality @ 46kHz. DAC is asus ua100. This uses the Texas Instruments DirectPath DRV601 for headphone amplifier. Built in charge pump for negative voltage; uses direct coupling instead of capacitive Quite loud for a 5v@500mA power supply...

DRV601 is rated at >= 100ohm output impedence. Asus is using this chip out of spec. Might not last forever ; Housing is rediculously large for the size of the board and kind of ugly. the 2 blue leds are pointless and just waste a few mA

Jan, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

Amazing USB Sound Card

Overall a good buy at under $40. Works well with my crossfade M-100. Can put a concert on my head and take it with my laptop.

Decent sound quality @ 46kHz. DAC is asus ua100. This uses the Texas Instruments DirectPath DRV601 for headphone amplifier. Built in charge pump for negative voltage; uses direct coupling instead of capacitive Quite loud for a 5v@500mA power supply...

DRV601 is rated at >= 100ohm output impedence. Asus is using this chip out of spec. Might not last forever. Housing is rediculously large for the size of the board and kind of ugly. the 2 blue leds are pointless and just waste a few mA.

Jan, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

Amazing USB Sound Card

Overall a good buy at under $40. Works well with my crossfade M-100. Can put a concert on my head and take it with my laptop.

Decent sound quality @ 46kHz. DAC is asus ua100. This uses the Texas Instruments DirectPath DRV601 for headphone amplifier. Built in charge pump for negative voltage; uses direct coupling instead of capacitive Quite loud for a 5v@500mA power supply...

DRV601 is rated at >= 100ohm output impedence. Asus is using this chip out of spec. Might not last forever ; Housing is rediculously large for the size of the board and kind of ugly. the 2 blue leds are pointless and just waste a few mA

Jan, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

ASUS Xonar U3

Windows 7 doesn't default to the Xonar U3 for sound and microphone usage after unplugging it and then plugging it back in. Not really a problem, just minor a nuisance.

Bought this to provide a working mic port for a laptop with a broken port. Not only does the mic port work great, but the sound is stellar as well. Using it with a Logitech G230 headset

n/a

Jan, 2015

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Consumer review (newegg.com)

ASUS Xonar U3

Windows 7 doesn't default to the Xonar U3 for sound and microphone usage after unplugging it and then plugging it back in. Not really a problem, just minor a nuisance.

Bought this to provide a working mic port for a laptop with a broken port. Not only does the mic port work great, but the sound is stellar as well. Using it with a Logitech G230 headset.

n/a

Jan, 2015

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