ASUS Xonar HDAV 1.3 Slim Sound Card

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I’m not sure why this card comes in PCI format instead of the now common PCI-Express. With the recent popularity in mATX and mini-ITX motherboards, the number of slots is slim and I must believe a lot of you have more PCI-Express slots than PCI. That being said, I love this product from an HTPC standpoint. It allows you to use half-height chassis to accomodate and *finally* bitstream audio. And yes, I’m still upset that it takes a $100+ sound card to bitstream.

 

Benchmark Reviews

This sound card does have a coaxial output jack but it can only be used for Dolby Digital 5.1 output. You have to use the HDMI outputs in order to experience the Dolby Digital TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound formats. This sound card is basically identical in features to it’s older and bigger brother, the ASUS HDAV 1.3 with the exception of it being a slim profile thus making it more compatible with smaller HTPC cases.

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