ASUS Xonar D2 Issue: Require assistance!

[SquidMonkey]

Hi everyone,
Firstly I'd like to say Hi So... Hi! ^^
To the point...

I have recently purchased an ASUS Xonar D2, to replace my 8-year-old Creative X-Fi that died.
Ever since I installed the card however, I've had a very annoying issue with it. That is, almost every game I've tested so far (nearly all my steam games, NFS SHIFT 2, UT3, etc) that I know have very good sound engines, have ended up now being "broken" in a sense.

The only way to describe it, is if it's almost as if the sounds are very inconsistent? Or, the sound channels are totally incorrect? Certain sounds would be far too loud, compared to other sounds. (Example, in Path of Exile, the music is stupidly loud, but everything else is extremely soft, almost inaudible. In UT3, Many sounds would not play at all, but a certain few are over emphasized. In NFSS2, The volumes in the menu are very inconsistent. not to mention in game, it sounds horrible. My car is extremely loud, other cars are far too soft but when I pass them, the volume changes suddenly.)

No matter what combination of settings in the ASUS control panel I've tried so far, it still does not seem to work. (SVN, default settings. etc)

I'm using the 7.12.8.1794 drivers. I am aware that 3rd party drivers exist, but I am not using them.
The settings I'm currently using on the sound card are as follows:
- 6 Audio Channels, 192KHz, 5.1 Speakers, PCM Enabled, 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter enabled. (I have not adjusted the positions of any of the "virtual speakers". Creates distortion immediately.)
- All Mixer volume levels are default. (I cannot adjust these, because if I do, the sound breaks entirely. Imagine the overall volume going "loud-soft loud-soft loud-soft" very fast.)
- Large room, Generic environment. (not enabled) Custom set EQ.
- Everything else disabled.

I also have a Logitech Z5500 5.1 speaker setup.
- With games, I always run the speakers via the "Direct" input, and "6 Ch Direct" effect"
- With music/movies/anime, I always run the speakers via the "Direct" input, and "Pro Logic 2 Music" effect (most bass option )(I can use "6 Ch Direct" with music, but even though it's clearer, I cannot pump the volume because it distorts a lot. (Even at about 1/3rd volume. Whereas with PL2 Music, I can set the volume to 2/3rds with no distortion.)

If anyone had a similar issue with this card, please let me know how you fixed it?

 

[P1000]

Try the unified drivers (3rd party) - I have only used them with my D1, and never had a single issue.

 

[Bakerman]

I've never had a issue like this so I can only give you some tips that might help:

-Turn off any special sound effects on your soundcard and speakers. Especially check for GX and SVN.

-Check that the number of input channels matches the number of output channels. It should be 6.

-Get that output frequency down to 48khz or even better 44.1khz. The problem is that most sounds from your PC are in that range (unless you work in a recording studio?), so almost everything needs to be unscaled to 192khz which can cause some issues and lag.

-Try running your speakers with only 2 active channels from your D2.

-The D2 is pretty old so Asus doesn't really bother with the drivers for it anymore. Try the unified drivers if none of the above fixed anything. ASUS XONAR Unified Drivers 1.64 (post periodically updated) | brainbit

 

[SquidMonkey]

After more fiddling with "official" ASUS drivers, I could not get the problem sorted out. :/

I then downloaded the UNI Driver 1.64 beta (as posted above) and after a slight hiccup (after installation I had no sound at all, and the application would not start - so I had to reinstall it) (also chose the C-Media Audio Panel installation option) it appears that, so far, the problem is fixed!! (I don't particularly "like" using beta drivers, but if it sorts out my issue then I'm all for using them!)

Ok, well, I must say that I only tested two games thus far - PoE and NFSS2. Both of them work, that is, the problems that I mentioned in my original post are no longer there. The volumes are normalized, and to an extent, clearer as well.

The layout of the control panel is far better than the original driver as well. Even though all the options are the same, the layout is better and clearer. (I seriously hate the layout of the original.)

So. Beta drivers "fixed" my problem. I will continue to fiddle and test anyway...

On a side note though, what sort of EQ setup are you guys using for music/games/etc?

Attached is a general EQ I use for everything. (Winamp as well. Also, metal music only.)
Obviously, it's all a matter of personal preference but I would like to know what others use as the EQ is still something I can tweak further.

 

[Lupus]

That's what peeved me off about Asus, even when the card was only a year old they pretty much stopped with the drivers. I got mine in 2009 and the last update was 2011, they still sell this card, otherwise it would've moved over to legacy as far as I can see.

 

[Bakerman]

I'm glad that your problem is no more.

If you don't like beta you can try 1.63, which is what I am currently using and so far it is 100% stable.

I can't really advise you on your EQ settings as it's all down to your specific setup and personal preference.

 

[SquidMonkey]

So far so good. Still no issues with these drivers. Only one thing, Quake 3 sounds a lot "thicker". (Yes, I still play Quake 3 ) Oh well. It's nowhere near as bad as the problem was.