Stereo phase differences with Asus Xonar DX, help?

2011-12-23 08:37:23

So I figured it was about damn time (a whole year!) to stop procrastinating and actually ask about this issue I've been having with my soundcard, and more importantly, how to work around or fix it.

I'm using an Asus Xonar DX, and although the sound quality is great, the phases of specific frequencies on the left and right channels do not match. This is noticable with the bottom (60-200 Hz), as if I play a sine-wave at the right frequency, I can hear its phase in one channel is 180 degrees different than the other. The phase issues are even more noticeable with speakers than headphones, as you could imagine.

So what do I do? Where is the issue coming from specifically? If it's the amp built onto the soundcard, then I suppose I could use the S/PDIF out on it to bypass that. In that case though, I'd need an external DAC, so what would I get then?

Thanks in advance.

Stereo phase differences with Asus Xonar DX, help?

Reply #1 – 2011-12-23 09:30:10

Sure your speakers are wired up correctly?

Stereo phase differences with Asus Xonar DX, help?

Reply #2 – 2011-12-23 09:40:29

Yeah, it's not like it's completely reversed. I can still hear the poor phase with headphones plugged directly into the card that I don't get with my iPod or most anything else. Things don't sound panned as hard as they should, mono songs sound slightly stereo, stuff like that.

Stereo phase differences with Asus Xonar DX, help?

Reply #3 – 2011-12-23 23:53:39

To elimate as much of the PC sound processing as possible, have you tried foobar2000 with ASIO or WASAPI plugins? A bit of a long-shot but easy enough to try.

Stereo phase differences with Asus Xonar DX, help?

Reply #4 – 2011-12-24 14:44:50

I have a Xonar DX as well, but there is no difference between the channel phases on my card.

No idea what what could cause your problem, could be anything, bad drivers, faulty card or something else.