ASUS - SOUNDCARDS - **DO NOT PURCHASE**

[magician2905]

So I purchased an ROG Phoebus Soundcard in 2012.

 

It was problematic from the "get go" with poor mic reception from the built in mic and also using any mic plugged into the combined volume control/mic (pretty well documented - I solved this by using a seperate mic and disabling the built in mic). Not ideal.

 

August 2015 rolls along and after having done a clean install of Windows 10 64bit I discovered that there were no drivers for the Soundcard and none of the ealier versions would install under any circumstances (yes i tried the troubleshooting installation process, it didn't work).

 

I live in the United Kingdom, your specific warranty process may differ from region to region, and attempted to return the product as it is covered by a 3 year warranty by Asus. Sadly in the UK Asus warranty means that you have to contact the original seller of the product.

 

Asus have NO customer facing warranty department(s) meaning that you cannot contact them via the usual channels - email, website portal, telephone - NOTHING AT ALL.

 

Sadly it turns out my retailer had gone out of business.....

In a last ditch effort to get some resolution I decided to contact Asus "Tech Support" - a bit further down the page is the response i recieved!

 

Currently the Driver Situation is this (September 14th 2015):

ROG Xonar Phoebus - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

 

Essence STX II - Windows 10 - 32/64 Bit Beta driver (ver. 8.1.11.5)

Essence STX II 7.1 - Windows 10 - 32/64 Bit Beta driver (ver. 8.1.11.5)

 

Xonar Essence STX - Windows 10 - 32/64 Bit Beta driver (ver.8.1.8.1823)

Xonar Essence ST - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

 

Xonar Xense - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS (Latest Drivers Windows 8)

 

Xonar DGX - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

Xonar DSX - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

 

Xonar H6 - N/A

Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS (Latest Drivers Windows 8)

 

Xonar DG - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

Xonar D1 - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

Xonar DS - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

Xonar DX - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

Xonar D2/PM - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

Xonar D2X - Windows 10 - NO DRIVERS

 

Out of 16 products there are Win 10 Drivers for 3.

 

This excludes the premium, ROG branded products, and some of the other "top of range" products.

 

 

---------- Original Message ----------
From : *********@********
Sent : 9/10/2015 9:51:28 AM
To : "techsupport@Asus.com"
Subject : ＜TSD＞ Audio Cards ROG Xonar Phoebus

[CASEID=WTM*****************]

Apply date : 2015/09/10 09:51:28(UTC Time)

[Contact Information]
Name : ******
Email Address : *********@********
Country : United Kingdom[united Kingdom]

[Product Information]
Product Type : Audio Cards
Product Model : ROG Xonar Phoebus
Product S/N : C5Y**********
Place of Purchase : Amazon
Date of Purchase : 2012/11/29
Operating System : Windows 10 64bit

[Problem Description]
1) No drivers for Windows 10, sound card wont function correctly. (Older drivers won't install at all).
2) I would like to return my ROG Phoebus for a full refund

 

RESPONSE 1:

Dear Paul,

My name is Andy and I will try my best to assist you with your issue.
Please feel free to rate our service according to the solution provided in the
questionnaire that will be sent to you shortly after our reply to your inquiry.

Concerning your message about the ROG Xonar Phoebus.

We are not yet able to specify if the product will fully support Window 10 as we are
waiting to see what Chipsets are supported by Microsoft within their new operating
system.

As stated by themselves some legacy Chipsets will either be non compatible or
compatible to a certain point regarding functionality.

If we receive a definite answer on what chipsets will still function with the new
Operating System, we will update our driver pages accordingly.

ASUS does not handle the warranty process for your product directly and we advise
that you contact your retailer who will support you during the full warranty period of your
product and will be able to arrange a repair or replacement via their distribution
channels if the product is still within its warranty period.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get back in touch with
us.

Best Regards,

Andy

ASUS Technical Support

http://support.asus.com/

We kindly invite you to provide us your positive feedback.

For this investigation to be as relevant as possible please reply to this
email within 5 days.

 

---------- Original Message ----------
From : *********@********
Sent : 9/11/2015 9:27:00 AM
To : "techsupport@Asus.com"
Subject : Re:Re:<TSD> Audio Cards ROG Xonar Phoebus [iD=RWT*****************]

[CASEID=WTM*****************]

Andy,

Thanks for your response.

I have two questions regarding that;

1) Why are you still offering for sale both the ROG Phoebus and the ROG Phoebus
Solo after already having 13months to verify supported chipsets under Windows 10
(basicially upto a year before launch).

2) My Asus ROG Phoebus is still under Warranty but my retailer has gone out of
business. How does Asus' Warranty cover me under that specific circumstance?
Where do i now go/What are my options to receive service under the ASUS Warranty of
3 years on Soundcards?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks

 

RESPONSE 2

Dear Paul,

My name is Adrian and I will try my best to assist you issue.

Please note that ASUS warranty is for hardware issues only.

By using the component under an operating system which is currently not supported doesn't make the product eligible for in-warranty assistance.

Best Regards,

Adrian

ASUS Technical Support

http://ro.asus.com/
http://support.asus.com/

We kindly invite you to provide us your positive feedback.

For this investigation to be as relevant as possible please reply to this
email within 5 days.

Please keep the history of your e-mails sent to you by our Support Staff. Otherwise, we won't be able to analyse your case properly.

 

 

[Venomz1337]

I don't get it.

You're blaming Asus because a business is now out of business.

As for drivers, these things take time to make and as far as I can see, the demand is low.

Don't bash a company for silly shit like this.

[App4that]

Cool story Bro.

[itachipirate]

Uni Xonar makes Asus sound cards so much better. Also support for Windows 10. They don't support the Phoebus though... You should really read reviews before you buy though, the Phoebus is apparently absolute shit according to tons of reviews online

[Textosterone]

Dont buy sound cards at all.

[Mikjul]

Use windows 8.1 then...

[iHardware Shelden]

My Soundblaster Live Value lost support after Windows XP but my Audigy 2 ZS is still supported under Windows 10 and I am glad it is. Support/life cycle of sound cards are weird because tbh they never get outdated. 

[theKumba]

Hoooold on a sec...

I'm using Windows 10 and the Xonar DGX drivers don't make any problems on my system.

Here's the proof: http://prntscr.com/8g9qwd

and sorry for the German text.

[EliasNM]

-

You know there is a solution for drivers from Asus to install on Windows 10 right, customer support rarely gives real help anyways.

[magician2905]

I don't get it.

You're blaming Asus because a business is now out of business.

As for drivers, these things take time to make and as far as I can see, the demand is low.

Don't bash a company for silly shit like this.

I think your missing the point......

Whilst I AM bashing ASUS's crappy support, in the UK, the fact that my retailer went out of business is incidental - ALTHOUGH it does raise the specific issue of:

 

HOW THE HELL DO I GET MY WARRANTY FULFILLED NOW..............................??

 

The fact remains that ASUS have HAD 13 MONTHS to provide drivers for ALL the soundcards (yes thats right 1 year BEFORE Win 10 release).

 

AND they ARE STILL SELLING ASUS ROG Phoebus / Phoebus Solo and the all the rest of the cards yet DO NOT HAVE DRIVERS for them!!!!!

 

You know there is a solution for drivers from Asus to install on Windows 10 right, customer support rarely gives real help anyways.

 

EliasNM, yes you have to modify the install .exe file - done that, I still get sound issues for example youtube regularly doesn't play sound or I get mis-match speaker outputs (left to right and vice versa).

So it's not really a "solution" cos it doesnt work 100% probably around 50% of the time........

 

Hoooold on a sec...

I'm using Windows 10 and the Xonar DGX drivers don't make any problems on my system.

Here's the proof: http://prntscr.com/8g9qwd

and sorry for the German text.

thekumba, did you do an upgrade or a clean install?

 

The Phoebus drivers for win 8.1 or any earlier version just pop up "not compatible, closing installation" or some such message.

The "Troubleshoot Installation" option, where you right click on the drivers and select "troubleshoot compatability" simply fails too - doesnt even give the option of progressing to "this program worked in an earlier version of windows" - just doesn't work.

So with the recent announcement a "new range" of soundcards (pretty much sounding the death knoll for the current generation of soundcards)

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/hardware/86405-asus-launches-strix-range-discrete-soundcards/

 

[EliasNM]

EliasNM, yes you have to modify the install .exe file - done that, I still get sound issues for example youtube regularly doesn't play sound or I get mis-match speaker outputs (left to right and vice versa).

So it's not really a "solution" cos it doesnt work 100% probably around 50% of the time........

The one I know does not involve the .exe file.

[TheMcSame]

Came here expecting someone basing everything on one purchase and one faulty product...  0/10, thread did not meet expectations.

 

Seriously though, I see nothing wrong with this tbh... YOU upgrade your OS while using INCOMPATIBLE HARDWARE... Asus has done nothing wrong other than being slouches with their drivers, and even then, it's not their fault that you didn't make sure your system was compatible with Windows 10 in the first place...

 

Should Asus have drivers out by now? Yes, they should. I completely agree with you on that part, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't check whether your hardware is compatible before hand...

 

 

As for Asus still selling the cards... I don't understand what you're getting at. Just because they don't currently have any W10 drivers doesn't mean they can't stay on sale... Not everyone is using Windows 10 you know.

[Patrick3D]

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?74462-Install-The-2013-Driver-On-Windows-10-D

 

An official driver is apparently in the works, but there are plenty of instructions on how to install the Win8.1 driver on Win10. Even more threads on their forums for getting specific bundled apps the card came with to work.

[magician2905]

The one I know does not involve the .exe file.

Sorry its the .dll file method mentioned here:

 

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?74462-Install-The-2013-Driver-On-Windows-10-D

 

An official driver is apparently in the works, but there are plenty of instructions on how to install the Win8.1 driver on Win10. Even more threads on their forums for getting specific bundled apps the card came with to work.

And if you read that thread plus the many, many others on (https://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=21&SLanguage=en-us)

you will see that it is only a partial workaround and not 100% effective.

For those people that dont find any issue with Asus not already having drivers available for Windows 10, or that "its not supported under a specific O/S" clearly there is no way to instill "common sense" in you...................trolls will be trolls and idiots will be idiots.

 

Personally I certainly have issue with a major player like ASUS not supporting their own products through a new O/S release and specifically their "flagship" ROG products. As I have already said they had a YEAR prior to Win 10 launching to get the drivers updated.

Those soundcards which are still current generation, and NOT E.O.L. (at least Phoebus/STX II), are still being sold without any warning - ASUS's own website doesn't say "NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 10" - the forums DO NOT SAY "DON'T PURCHASE THESE SOUNDCARDS IF YOU ARE USING OR INTEND TO USE WINDOWS 10" (there are no stickies). Nor are there, nor likely will be, warnings on retailers websites saying DO NOT PURCHASE FOR WIN 10 MACHINES................

 

I expected, at the least, to be able to install the drivers for earlier versions of Windows via the troubleshoot compatability method.

I posted this with the intention of Warning People about buying Asus Soundcards.

I made it perfectly clear that they, mostly, don't (and possibly never will) work with Windows 10 natively.

It also highlights the deficiencies of ASUS Warranty Policy in the UK (again I made it clear that this is subject to your local region)

 

If you want to get all technical I am more than happy to provide specific information. For example in the UK we have different rights to other regions;

1) A piece of legislation called the "Sale of Goods Act" - this ensures that anything which is sold is "fit for the purpose which it was intended" and that it "should work as intended".

a) This would cover the sale of a product which didn't work, say for example you buy an ROG Phoebus S/C to install in a Win 10 machine and then couldnt get it to work.

2) Warranty, at least in the UK, defines any product which fails to work either due to component failure and would also cover the situation where you could "reasonably" expect the product to work under a new O/S.

 

But thats going off topic

 

 

[ApolloX75]

I don't get it. I haven't used a sound card since the X-FI days and Creative was (and still is) far, far worse at driver support. Sure ten years ago a sound card was an absolute must because apart from the nForce2 chipset, all others were junk when it came to audio. Now? Pffft. Overpriced junk taking up space.

Unless you've got some really specific audio requirements (you didn't say anything about your usage so I'm just guessing) you don't need one. The last few generations of onboard audio chipsets have been more than enough, especially in the mid to high end motherboard ranges. Onboard audio is perfect for gaming or general use, but I will heartily agree that an add in card is very useful for content creation or a true audiophile.

Also strangely enough most onboard chipsets are provided by the same company, Realtek, and their drivers are largely flawless.

I remember when having a Sound Blaster Live! was amazing and caused a blue screen every other day because Creative drivers were piles of crap. I also remember Aureal A3D and the smug satisfaction of being able to select "Sound Blaster Pro, 16 Bit" in the DOS setup for Duke Nukem 3D. And I sure don't miss them at all.

TL;DR, don't be a dick to customer support, they don't dictate the priorities of the driver design teams. They also can't help what sales and marketing keep on the market. I've seen X-FI cards in new packaging at Best Buy.

[techguru]

Sorry its the .dll file method mentioned here:

 

And if you read that thread plus the many, many others on (https://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=21&SLanguage=en-us)

you will see that it is only a partial workaround and not 100% effective.

For those people that dont find any issue with Asus not already having drivers available for Windows 10, or that "its not supported under a specific O/S" clearly there is no way to instill "common sense" in you...................trolls will be trolls and idiots will be idiots.

 

Personally I certainly have issue with a major player like ASUS not supporting their own products through a new O/S release and specifically their "flagship" ROG products. As I have already said they had a YEAR prior to Win 10 launching to get the drivers updated.

Those soundcards which are still current generation, and NOT E.O.L. (at least Phoebus/STX II), are still being sold without any warning - ASUS's own website doesn't say "NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 10" - the forums DO NOT SAY "DON'T PURCHASE THESE SOUNDCARDS IF YOU ARE USING OR INTEND TO USE WINDOWS 10" (there are no stickies). Nor are there, nor likely will be, warnings on retailers websites saying DO NOT PURCHASE FOR WIN 10 MACHINES................

 

I expected, at the least, to be able to install the drivers for earlier versions of Windows via the troubleshoot compatability method.

I posted this with the intention of Warning People about buying Asus Soundcards.

I made it perfectly clear that they, mostly, don't (and possibly never will) work with Windows 10 natively.

It also highlights the deficiencies of ASUS Warranty Policy in the UK (again I made it clear that this is subject to your local region)

you should be using the modded drivers anyway

they are much better..and have lots of support

http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/

[TheMcSame]

 

At the end of the day you should make sure that products are compatible before doing stuff like this. I'm not saying Asus is innocent, but ultimately, you're the one to blame since you were too lazy to check whether your rig was compatible in the first place...

[theKumba]

thekumba, did you do an upgrade or a clean install?

 

The Phoebus drivers for win 8.1 or any earlier version just pop up "not compatible, closing installation" or some such message.

The "Troubleshoot Installation" option, where you right click on the drivers and select "troubleshoot compatability" simply fails too - doesnt even give the option of progressing to "this program worked in an earlier version of windows" - just doesn't work.

So with the recent announcement a "new range" of soundcards (pretty much sounding the death knoll for the current generation of soundcards)

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/hardware/86405-asus-launches-strix-range-discrete-soundcards/

 

 

 

I did do a clean upgrade, deleting all the programs and files on the system, but I guess it could have moved the drivers over. The thing is that I could install their additional software thingy (which's name I forgot and can't look up currently) without any problems. 

Also isn't there a thing called "compatibility mode" in Windows? Maybe you can use it on the installation file, but don't quote me on that. It's surely worth a try, though.

[ShearMe]

#duh

[Altracomp]

The Phoebus soundcard is a current RoG "flagship product"... for them not to have Win 10 drives out yet is shameful. Reminds me of creative about 5 years ago...

[Sauron]

Unfortunately for you the asus tech is right. When you purchased the product it had a list of compatible operating systems. The warranty doesn't cover your usage of the product under different operating systems, otherwise people could try to use it on, say, linux and demand for a refund if it didn't work or worse yet, demand a specific driver for every distro and that would be nonsense. If the card has a hardware problem and does not work even under a supported os, THEN you can demand for a replacement under warranty conditions. Even then, you can't demand for a refund unless the product is not as advertised.

 

All it takes to not get burnt for a new buyer is check on the product page what operating systems are supported - if theirs is not on the list, they can look elsewhere or check directly with asus if it will work or not.

 

Either way sound cards are a pointless pain in the back, not just asus ones.

[Paranoid Kami]

Download the third party Uni drivers. They're better than Asus's official drivers and I'm using it on Windows 10 just fine with my DG.

[Altracomp]

So ASUS has promised new (Win10) driver for their sound cards…to be released in October.

This is based on customer service letters stating so and various customer service reps responding in social media. 

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?68137-Windows-10-Driver

ASUS just has very poor communication skills…

I do find it funny that my 6 year old Epson scanner had Win 10 drivers at launch and the C-Media drivers are still not out.

No one should have to use third party drivers to get your device to work right.
(Watch the latest Linus root kit video.)

As far as customer service goes… THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

​

[genkifd]

i returned my Phoebus around 2 years ago as the card started to crackle & pop (LOL) imo worst driver support for a hardware ever. but Asus is famous for bad driver support. eventually replaced it with Soundblaster Z - worked perfect from day one and still today.

[KaminKevCrew]

i returned my Phoebus around 2 years ago as the card started to crackle & pop (LOL) imo worst driver support for a hardware ever. but Asus is famous for bad driver support. eventually replaced it with Soundblaster Z - worked perfect from day one and still today.

Creative, if anything, is more famous for poor customer support with their sound cards. So that's really not a point to be made at all. 

 

So ASUS has promised new (Win10) driver for their sound cards…to be released in October.

This is based on customer service letters stating so and various customer service reps responding in social media.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?68137-Windows-10-Driver

ASUS just has very poor communication skills…

I do find it funny that my 6 year old Epson scanner had Win 10 drivers at launch and the C-Media drivers are still not out.

No one should have to use third party drivers to get your device to work right.

(Watch the latest Linus root kit video.)

As far as customer service goes… THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

​

I mean, the customer is not always right... Also, why shouldn't you use aftermarket drivers? I use them with my Xonar Essence STX (when I use it) I didn't have any issues with the original ones, but I figured hey, why not? Anyone who has really done their research should know that there aren't really any companies (I'm not talking about companies dedicated to audio, mind you) that actually support their audio products in a timely manner. As such, if you've done any research on the products you've been purchasing, you would know that you'll just need to use the community made drivers for your product. 

 

To be clear, I do think that Asus should support their sound cards better, it's just that if you do any research before you buy, you should be aware of these things, and it shouldn't be something you get so butthurt over, since it's literally a VERY common problem with just about every sound card.