It’s easy to watch as people’s tastes evolve. Many of us use products consistently without changing for the simple reason that what we are currently using completes the task we ask of it. We often hear about another product but dismiss it simply due to the fact that we feel improvement is unnecessary. Then, one day, for one reason or another, we wind up trying a superior product. At that point, there is no going back. The product we originally used now seems inferior and unacceptable….but strangely, it seemed fine the last time we used it. Sometimes you just don’t realize how inferior something is until you have used something else.

This tends to be very prevalent in audio. You will find many who are “just fine” using the speakers built into their LCD TV and see no need for a change. I guarantee that if you give them even a basic 2.1 setup with midrange speakers and receiver, they will no longer be fine with the audio from their TV when you take it away. It will suddenly sound as bad to them as it always has to you. The same effect happens with computers, especially notebooks. I am sure you are thinking that the output from your notebook is “just fine”. Well, once you use a quality outboard sound solution like an ASUS Xonar U3, your opinion will change quickly and drastically.