Asus to Release Xonar Essence One Audiophile Headphone Amp and USB DAC

Asus' Xonar line of audio accessories has grown quite considerably since its introduction, and the company plans to expand it even more with the soon-to-be-released Xonar Essence One which packs an audiophile grade headphone amplifier and a USB DAC inside the same external unit.

The amp used for the Essence One is based on the NS LME49600TS chip and is able to deliver up to 600ohms to any 1/4-inch headphone or headset.

Furthermore, according to the specifications provided by Asus, the Essence One can upsample the sound to 32 bit 352.8Khz (44.1/88.2/176.4Khz) or 384Khz (48/96/192Khz) thanks to a Texas Instruments PCM1795 digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

The audio upsampling can be turned on or off via switch that is placed in the front of the unit.

This is flanked by a power switch, input selector button, a headphone amp gain knob, a volume knob as well as by the 1/4-inch headphone jack and by a wide array of LED indicator lights.

Asus decided to use two distinct volume knobs for the headphone out and for the line out since each of these outputs are run by separate DACs.

This design decision also enabled the company to install two unbalanced outputs (RCA and XLR) on the Essence One.

These are placed on the back of the unit together with the S/PDIF and USB inputs and the AC in plug (as the Xonar Essence One uses a dedicated power adapter to deliver a cleaner sound).

Other features include a so-called “invisible” driver, that comes with its own UI and DSP settings while also offering 192K and bit-perfect ASIO support, as well as a specially designed mute button that fades the sound out instead of cutting it back immediately, to protect your audio gear.

No details regarding pricing or availability have been disclosed thus far, but early estimates place it between $250 and $300 US. (via XtremeSystems)