ASUS? Xonar U7 has been created in order to capitalize upon the lack of quality audio solutions in many of today's, small form factor PCs, notebooks, convertible tablets and other mobile devices. With the standard desktop and high end gaming notebook segments already saturated with excellent sound solutions, it was time to once again look at an ?outside the box? approach by offering something for those who want better sound quality from the devices they use every day. The Xonar U7 fits that bill by foregoing the add-in card format and using a USB interface to provide a high-end external soundcard.

Most consumers have a love/hate relationship with USB-based external soundcards and DACs. On the one hand there is absolutely no faster, easier way to upgrade the sound playback abilities than to simply plug in an external USB device. On the other side of the coin, by using USB for both data and power the abilities, these devices usually leave a lot to be desired on the audio fidelity front. Mix in a host of problems ranging from poor shielding causing interference to poor drivers leading to compatibility headaches with various applications and the end result has been USB being the black sheep of any soundcard lineup. This is why the $90 Xonar U7 is so interesting; it promises to sidestep most of these issues.