XonarSwitch is a new application that allows you to control various Xonar’s audio settings, define them as switchable profiles, and apply them on-the-fly without having to stop the audio playback.
The beta testing of XonarSwitch is taking place on the MaxedTech website, allowing the author of the application to gather user feedback from the UNi Xonar community and give its members the opportunity to try out the application and contribute to its growth and polishing.
Currently Supported Hardware:
|
ASUS |
Xonar D1, DX, D2, D2X, DS, DSX, DG, DGX, Essence ST, Essence STX, Xense, Xonar H6 |
|
AuzenTech |
X-Meridian 7.1, X-Meridian 7.1 2G |
Currently Supported Operating Systems:
Windows XP and later, both x86 and x64.
Main features:
- Ability to change the Sound Card settings on the fly by directly interfacing with the driver.
- No DPC latency increase: although it sends commands directly to the Xonar driver, it does so only when a profile is activated and only for the settings that actually change. It doesn’t continuously poll the driver.
- Ability to configure itself depending on the hardware it runs on, showing only the relevant options.
- Fully customizable global keyboard shortcuts usable to switch profile even when in a full-screen applications like a game.
- Supports Headphones Gain where applicable.
- Easily clone a profile by editing the source profile and then changing its name.
- Live mode allows to hear the effects of your settings in real time.
- Very compact and portable: only one small EXE, currently just over 800K of size; no dependencies, no need for external DLLs, no need for a setup, drop it and launch it. It enables autostart by default on first run, which can be manually disabled by the user.
- Built-in self-update code: it periodically checks for new versions and updates itself automatically.
Current Profile Settings:
- Master volume: apply last used for the same combination of output panel and speaker type, or set a specific volume and balance.
- SVN (Smart Volume Normalization): leave unchanged, enable or disable.
- System Speakers: leave unchanged or set a new layout.
- Sample rate: set a value among 44.1, 48, 96 or 192 KHz
- Set an analog output option: same as Asus Control Panel, including switching between front and rear panel where applicable.
- Exchange headphones left / right channels: leave unchanged, enable or disable.
- Exchange center / bass channels: leave unchanged, enable or disable.
- Exchange side / rear surround channels: leave unchanged, enable or disable.
- Headphones Gain: set gain mode where applicable. On the Xense, Sennheiser mode is supported.
- SPDIF Output: deactivate or activate, choice between PCM and relevant options (Dolby Digital and/or DTS Interactive depending on the card model).
- Analog or Digital out enhancements: support for Dolby Headphones, Dolby Virtual Speaker, 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter, Dolby ProLogic IIx, DTS NEO:PC depending on the card model.
- Each output channel volume (depending on the card capabilities and the analog output layout selected): don’t change or set a specific value.
- Each input source (they differ based on the card model): Leave unchanged or set volume, balance, line-specific options, monitoring (where available)
- Select the recording source.
- Equalizer: don’t change, deactivate and activate, defining a 10 band profile. The sliders give precise feedback from -20dB to +20dB allowing for 1dB-accurate calibration.
- FlexBass: deactivate and activate, setting the LTE crossover frequency as well as the speakers’ size.
- AEC: enable or disable where applicable. AEC requires a particular voice DSP that some models don’t have and thus it’s not always present.
Screenshots:
Planned features
- Adding support for the DG / DGX jack autosensing feature.
- Suggestions by the community where feasible and when cost/benefit positive, after the application is stable on various hardware and software platforms.
Version History
|
0.9.33 |
Initial beta release |
|
0.9.49 |
-Now the profile editor immediately reflects external changes when in Live Mode. |
|
0.9.52 |
-Windows 8 compatibility hotfix. Thanks to lann094 for being really helpful in the troubleshooting process. |
|
0.9.83 |
-New: added support for Xonar D2 and D2X hardware. Many thanks to Nico H. for providing the required data and testing the experimental build. Note: for the new features and the Virtual Speaker Shifter bug fix to work correctly with existing profiles, each of them has to be re-saved. |
|
0.9.87 |
-Hotfix for Headphones Amp Gain not working in the Real Time Settings window. |
|
0.9.104 |
-Added support for Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 and 7.1 2G. Thanks to David for helping out with the tests. |
|
0.9.107 |
-Hotfix for the erroneous “Successfully updated to version…” message on startup. The first time you launch this revision you’ll still get the message but things will work normally afterwards. |
|
0.9.109 |
-Hotfix for crash under Windows XP pre-SP3. Thanks to whood for reporting the issue and testing the hotfix. |
|
0.9.110 |
-Hotfix for XonarSwitch crashing when switching analog outputs from the Real Time Settings window on those cards that don’t have a Headphones Amp. Thanks to Jose for reporting the issue. |
|
0.9.113 |
-Hotfix for a crash occurring when opening the profiles window while the saved height and width are corrupt. Thanks to Jackalope for his help in pinpointing the cause and testing the solution. |
|
0.9.192 |
-Added mixer support both in Profiles and Real Time Settings. It’s now possible, among other things, to tune every single output channel separately, select an input source, activate or deactivate monitoring, activate or deactivate line-specific options like microphone boost or alternate mic, etc. -Added balance support both for master volume and input sources. -On Windows Vista and onwards, all volumes are now expressed both in linear percentage and dB. On Windows XP, dB values are supported only for the individual output channels. -Completely rewritten the autostart code. It should finally work reliably on all Windows versions. A big thank you to Chris, who provided essential information about the D2X input mixer when I was at the prototype stage, and helped me big time with testing the working build on Windows 8.1 and the Xonar D2X. All existing profiles need to be re-saved in order to work properly on this new revision. The first time you edit a profile created with previous builds, the option to explicitly set a master volume will be active regardless of how it was on the previous revision and will have to be manually set to “Use Last” if needed. That won’t happen on new profiles and profiles that have been saved with this build at least once. |
|
0.9.207 |
-Hotfix for two distinct crashes happening on some Windows 7 systems. Thanks a lot to Arindel for being amazingly patient during a particularly tedious troubleshooting process. Thanks to parhans for testing the solution on his system as well. Thanks to Chris for making sure the new code didn’t break D2(X) compatibility. |
|
0.9.212 |
-Hotfix for a crash happening on some systems when setting audio channels to a value and then to “Don’t Change” while Live Mode was active. -Fixed a bug that would cause Live Mode activation to be extremely slow on some systems. Arindel earned another thank you by trying out several builds to check if they solved the reported issue. |
|
0.9.214 |
-Fixed a bug that caused the headphones gain setting to be reset when any output option was changed while the selected analog output was “Rear Panel Headphones”. -Greatly improved memory footprint management. Now any unused memory resource will be released to the system within one minute from its obsolescence. |
|
0.9.257 |
-Fixed a crash that would occur on some systems (Vista and onwards) while enumerating input devices. Thanks to Propheticus for helping out with troubleshooting and being very patient in testing out different builds. -Fixed a bug that would cause XonarSwitch to prompt the user that the Speakers were disabled while in fact they were not. A thank you both to Bill and Amurtigress for helping out with troubleshooting and tests. -Redesigned the Profile Editor and Real Time Settings interface to better accommodate a growing amount of options without continuously increase the size of the interface itself. -Added a “Don’t change” option both for equalizer activation and gain profile. This revision is compatible with profiles created with previous versions, even though they will all explicitly set an Equalizer activation condition and Gain Profile. To use the new features and leave equalizer parameters unchanged, a profile needs to be modified accordingly and saved. -Added support for Xonar H6 daughterboard. XonarSwitch will now detect the presence of the board and unlock the extra analog output options on supported cards (currently only the Essence ST). -Added support for running XonarSwitch under normal user accounts. The app will now request elevated privileges only if the logged on user is an administrator, and run unelevated otherwise. -Modified the autoupdate feature to make it compatible with normal user accounts. When an update is available and XonarSwitch detects it’s running unelevated, it will prompt the user to manually launch the update procedure and only the Updater module will request administrative privileges to overwrite the existing executable. The new and updated XonarSwitch will then run unelevated again. Please note that upon updating XonarSwitch from a revision older than 257, the new executable will inherit elevated privileges from the old revision that launched the update chain, and run with administrative rights until stopped and restarted. This will happen just once. |
|
0.9.299 |
-Slightly changed color combination on the Profile Editor and Real Time settings tabs to achieve better visibility under some visual themes. -Increased control width on some labels of the Profile Editor / Real Time Settings window to avoid truncation on unthemed Windows XP. -Added support, both in profiles and Real Time Settings, for the following options: Smart Volume Normalization (SVN), Exchange Headphones Left / Right Channels, Exchange Central / Bass Channels, Exchange Side / Rear Surround Channels. -In the tray icon tooltip, replaced the card model with the current master volume level. -Now left clicking once on the tray icon will display a volume popup with controls for master volume level, balance, SVN and mute. -To avoid volume spikes when swtiching to a profile with a higher volume lavel, master volume is now muted before applying the new profile settings. Master mute is then restored to its previous state after profile switching is complete. |
Credits
The words “ASUS”, “ASUSTek”, “Xonar”, the Xonar logo and the original Xonar icon are © ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Virus is the author of the Standalone Apps scripts source that got me started with this project.
One of the 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter layouts used by XonarSwitch is by Luis U and guarantees an optimal perception of 3D positioning in games.
The Xonar Icon with a transparent background is by bullseye.
Disclaimer
Although the code has been written with care, it’s still a beta application, and like all software in general and beta software in particular is by definition prone to defects. The author can’t exclude that some malfunctioning in the application could cause sensible settings like the system master volume or headphones gain to be misapplied and thus cause damage to your hearing or the audio equipment.
The software is provided as-is and free of charge, and by downloading the application and executing it, you explicitly declare the author is not responsible for whatever damage may be caused by the use of XonarSwitch.
Currently supported features might be dropped if the beta testing phase feedback reveals technical problems unforeseen by the author during the development process.
No malicious software guarantee
XonarSwitch is guaranteed free of malicious code. It has been tested and whitelisted by WebRoot.
Beta feedback guidelines
Beta feedback is essential to get XonarSwitch to run smoothly on all software and hardware platforms.
When reporting a bug, please follow these guidelines:
- Always include your system info. Right click on the XonarSwitch tray icon, click on “About XonarSwitch…” and then on “Copy System Info” and then paste the data in your message.
- Provide step-by-step instructions to reproduce the error / wrong behavior.
- Be ready to test a private release that attempts to address the problem you reported.
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Please note that during beta, feature requests will have very low priority, since the development focus will be on getting rid of bugs. If the general feedback by the community is positive and the application reaches a state of reasonable reliability, they will be taken into consideration later on.
How to contact the author
Right-click on XonarSwitch’s tray icon and then on the “About XonarSwitch…” menu.
In the about window, clicking on the developer’s name will open your e-mail client with his mail address in the recipient field.
Download
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