Yet despite the fact that if may not be the first thing we look at when designing our next “dream system”, we really should pay more attention to the sound we are getting as well.  Think about it, when you are in the middle of an FPS game at a LAN party, do you use sight alone to determine where your next victim is?  No, we listen to figure out where our victim’s gun fire is coming from.  Or, when watching a movie, do you want the sound to be drab and boring, or to put you in the middle of the action?  The sound coming from our computers is taken for granted all too often, and a good quality sound card can give us a much more immersive experience during gaming, watching a movie, or listening to music.

Although typically known for their motherboards and graphics cards, ASUS also has produced a line of sound cards as well.  Today, we will be looking at one of their high end offerings, the ASUS Xonar D2X to find out whether ASUS has been able bring the quality their name is known for to the sound card market as well.

Thanks go to our friends at ASUS for supplying the review sample.

"ASUS, a technology-oriented company blessed with one of the world's top R&D teams, is well known for high-quality and innovative technology. As a leading company in the new digital era, ASUS offers a complete product portfolio to compete in the new millennium. The philosophy of ASUS product development is to do the fundamentals well first before moving forward. Started with computer components such as motherboards, graphic cards, and optical storage devices, ASUS now has now over 16 product lines, including desktop barebone systems, servers, notebooks, handhelds, network devices, broadband communications, LCD monitors, TVs, wireless applications, and CPT (chassis, power supply and thermal) products."