Xonar D-KARA - Soundcard ASUS - Free user manual and instructions

Product type	Internal PCI sound card
Brand	ASUS
Model	Xonar D-KARA
Interface	PCI 2.2 or higher
Audio channels	5.1 (with Karaoke function)
Input connectors	1x microphone input (3.5 mm), 1x audio input (3.5 mm)
Output connectors	1x headphone/front output (3.5 mm), 1x side surround output (3.5 mm), 1x center/subwoofer output (3.5 mm), 1x optical S/PDIF output (TOSLINK)
Internal connectors	1x front panel header (9-pin), 1x auxiliary input header (4-pin), 1x S/PDIF output header
Signal-to-noise ratio (DAC)	118 dB
Supported operating systems	Windows 7 (32/64-bit), Vista (32/64-bit), XP (32/64-bit), MCE2005
Minimum system requirements	Intel Pentium 1.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 1400, 256 MB RAM, 60 MB hard disk space, CD/DVD-ROM drive
Features	High-quality microphone preamp, 118 dB DAC converter, Karaoke support, 5.1 surround sound, optical digital output
Included accessories	Support CD (driver and manual), quick start guide, low-profile bracket
Power	Powered by PCI slot
Care and cleaning	Use a soft, dry cloth to clean the casing. Avoid liquids. See manual for details.
Safety	Turn off the computer and unplug the power cable before installing or removing the sound card.

Frequently Asked Questions - Xonar D-KARA ASUS

How to install the ASUS Xonar D-KARA sound card?

Turn off the computer, unplug the power cable, discharge static electricity, remove the PCI slot cover, insert the card, secure it with a screw, then reconnect and power on. Install the driver from the provided CD.

Which operating systems are compatible?

Windows 7 (32/64-bit), Vista (32/64-bit), XP (32/64-bit), and MCE2005 are supported.

How to connect 5.1 speakers?

Use the front (green), surround (black), and center/subwoofer (orange) outputs with 3.5 mm cables to the corresponding inputs on your speakers.

Can I use headphones with this card?

Yes, plug your headphones into the headphone/front output (green). The port has a dedicated amplifier.

How to use the Karaoke function?

The Xonar D-KARA model is specially designed for karaoke. Connect a microphone to the microphone input and use the provided software to apply vocal effects.

How to connect the card to a home theater?

Use the optical S/PDIF output (TOSLINK) with an optical cable to connect the card to a home theater amplifier or decoder.

What to do if the driver does not install?

Ensure the card is properly inserted. Disable the onboard audio chipset in BIOS or uninstall other sound cards. Retry installation from the CD.

How to connect a microphone?

Connect a microphone to the microphone input port (pink) on the card. Use the Audio Center utility to adjust volume and effects.

What is the audio quality of the card?

The card offers a signal-to-noise ratio of 118 dB thanks to a high-quality DAC converter, ensuring clear and precise sound.

Can I connect an MP3 player to the card?

Yes, connect the headphone output of your MP3 player to the audio input port (blue) on the card using a 3.5 mm cable.

USER MANUAL Xonar D-KARA ASUS

• One PCI v2.2 compatible slot for the audio card
- Microsoft * Windows* 7 (32/64bit) / Vista (32/64bit) / XP (32/64bit) / MCE2005
- Intel "Pentium" 4 1.4 GHz or AMD" Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU
• 256 MB (or above) DRAM system memory
- 60 MB available HDD space for driver installation package
- CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive) for software installation
- High-quality headphones or powered analog speakers to enjoy the ultra-high fidelity sound of the card

Xonar D-KARA card layout
English

Audio ports

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No Item Description
1 Microphone In port		Connect your external PC microphone to this 3.5mm port for voice input. Built-in high-quality Microphone pre-amplifier.
2 Line In port		Connect analog devices like MP3 players, CD players, music synthesizers and other line-level sound sources to this 3.5mm port for audio recording or processing.
3	Headphone/Front Out port	Connect your headphones or 2 channel speakers to this 3.5mm port. For multi-channel speaker systems, connects to the front left/right input on the powered speakers.
4 Side Surround Out port		Connects to the surround channel input on 4/5.1 powered analog speakers.
5	Center/Subwoofer Out port	Connects to the center/subwoofer input on 5.1 powered analog speakers.
6 S/PDIF Out port		Optical TOSLINK digital output port. Connects to external digital decoder or digital speaker systems, Home Theater systems, AV receivers for outputting digital audio including PCM, DTS Digital, DTS, WMA-Pro, etc.
7	Front panel audio header	9-pin Intel AC'97 / HDA front-panel which supports audio jack-detection and audio FP Headphone selection for Analog Out on the Audio Center.
8 Aux Input Header		4-pin header. Usually connects to the Analog Audio output of TV tuner card or other sound source inside your PC system. (To monitor your TV tuner card's audio from this Aux-In, you must enable the "monitor" function for Aux-In in the Xonar D-KARA Audio Center's recording mixer.)
9 S/PDIF Out header		Connects to the supported graphics card with HDMI.

Installing the hardware

Installing the audio card

Before you proceed with the following installation steps, it's recommended that you disable your onboard audio device in your BIOS settings, or uninstall any other audio cards on your PC. (For BIOS setting or uninstallation of other sound cards, refer to the user manuals of your motherboard and audio card.)

Installing the Xonar D-KARA card

1. Power OFF the computer, the monitor, and all other peripheral devices connected to your computer.
2. Unplug the computer power cord from your computer and power outlet.
3. Touch the metal back or side panel of the computer to avoid static electricity.
4. Remove the chassis cover.
5. Remove the metal bracket from an available PCI slot for the Xonar D-KARA audio card.
6. Carefully insert the audio card into the PCI slot. Ensure the audio card sits properly in place.
7. Secure the audio card with screws and the metal bracket.
8. Put back the chassis cover.
9. Reconnect all cables.
10. Plug the power cord to the computer and to a power outlet.
11. Power ON the computer.

Technical line drawing of a computer motherboard with connectors and components (no text or symbols)

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Connecting to a TV tuner card

1. If you have a traditional PCI TV tuner card on your PC, you may need to connect it to the Xonar D-KARA card to send the tuner card's sound to your PC speakers.
2. Secure the PCI TV tuner card and screw it into the back-panel.
3. Connect the audio output header from the TV tuner card to the Aux-In header of the Xonar D-KARA card.

For optimum TV audio quality, Xonar D-KARA uses ADC recording to digitize the signal and loops it back to DAC playback. Select Aux-In as the recording source in the Xonar D-KARA Center's recording mixer and enable the monitoring button to pass this signal to the audio output. Using this setup, you can even turn on sound effects such as Dolby Headphone to expand the stereo TV audio to 5.1 channel surround sound in any set of headphones. TV audio on your PC will become even better than on your TV set.

Installing software

Installing the card driver

Ensure that you have installed the audio card before installing the Xonar D-KARA driver. Otherwise, driver installation error may occur.

1. After you have installed the Xonar D-KARA card, turn on your computer. Windows automatically detects the audio card and searches for device drivers. When prompted for the drivers, click Cancel.
2. Insert the support CD into the optical drive. If Autorun is enabled in your system, the setup starts automatically. If not, run setup.exe from your support CD.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions to finish the installation.

The version and content of the support CD are subject to change without notice.

Connecting speakers and peripherals

Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater)

The Xonar D-KARA makes playback through your home theater system possible, creating an impressive surround sound experience. A single digital cable connection can carry high-quality digital audio from any of your PC audio sources to any digital speakers or AV Receivers.

No Item Description

1 Optical cable

Plug your decoder's TOSLINK optical cable into the S/PDIF-Out connector.

Connecting stereo headphones

Connecting Stereo Headphones

No Item Description

1 Front Out/Headphone Jack

The Front Out/Headphone jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.

Connecting 5.1 channel Headphones

No Item Description
1 Front Out	Connect the front-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.1 headphone into this jack.
2 Side Surround Out	Connect the surround-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.1 headphone into this jack.
3 Center/Subwoofer Out	Connect the Center/Bass-channel 3.5mm plug of your 5.1 headphone into this jack.

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Connecting Analog Speaker Systems

Connecting Analog Power Amplifier

No Item Description
1 Front Out	Connects to the “left front” and “right front” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable.
2 Side Surround Out	Connects to the “left surround” and “right surround” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable.
3 Center/Subwoofer	Connects to the “Center” and “subwoofer” input ports of the analog amplifier with the mini-jack to RCA cable.

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Connecting 2 channel speakers

2 Speakers

No Item Description
1 Front Out/Headphone Jack	Connect the 2 channel speaker set's 3.5mm plug into this Front Out jack.

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Connecting 4 Channel Speakers

4 Speakers

graph TD
    A["Audio Inputs"] --> B["Micro Device"]
    C["Audio Inputs"] --> D["Front"]
    E["Micro Device"] --> F["Micro Device"]
    G["Micro Device"] --> H["Micro Device"]
    I["Micro Device"] --> J["Micro Device"]
    K["Micro Device"] --> L["Micro Device"]
    M["Micro Device"] --> N["Micro Device"]
    O["Micro Device"] --> P["Micro Device"]
    Q["Micro Device"] --> R["Micro Device"]
    S["Micro Device"] --> T["Micro Device"]
    U["Micro Device"] --> V["Micro Device"]
    W["Micro Device"] --> X["Micro Device"]
    Y["Micro Device"] --> Z["Micro Device"]
    AA["Micro Device"] --> AB["Micro Device"]
    AC["Micro Device"] --> AD["Micro Device"]
    AE["Micro Device"] --> AF["Micro Device"]
    AG["Micro Device"] --> AH["Micro Device"]
    AI["Micro Device"] --> AJ["Micro Device"]
    AK["Micro Device"] --> AL["Micro Device"]
    AM["Micro Device"] --> AN["Micro Device"]
    AO["Micro Device"] --> AP["Micro Device"]
    AQ["Micro Device"] --> AR["Micro Device"]
    AS["Micro Device"] --> AT["Micro Device"]
    AU["Micro Device"] --> AV["Micro Device"]
    AW["Micro Device"] --> AX["Micro Device"]
    AY["Audio Inputs"] --> Z
    AZ["Audio Inputs"] --> AA
    BA["Audio Inputs"] --> AB
    BB["Audio Inputs"] --> AC
    BC["Audio Inputs"] --> AD
    BD["Audio Inputs"] --> AE
    BE["Audio Inputs"] --> AF
    BF["Audio Inputs"] --> AG
    BG["Audio Inputs"] --> AH
    BH["Audio Inputs"] --> AI
    BI["Audio Inputs"] --> AJ
    BK["Audio Inputs"] --> AL
    BL["Audio Inputs"] --> AM
    BM["Audio Inputs"] --> AN
    BN["Audio Inputs"] --> AO
    BO["Audio Inputs"] --> AP
    BP["Audio Inputs"] --> AQ
    BQ["Audio Inputs"] --> AR
    BR["Audio Inputs"] --> AS
    BS["Audio Inputs"] --> AT
    BT["Audio Inputs"] --> AU
    BU["Audio Inputs"] --> AV
    BV["Audio Inputs"] --> AW
    BW["Audio Inputs"] --> AX
    BX["Audio Inputs"] --> AZ
    BY["Audio Inputs"] --> BA
    CA["Audio Inputs"] --> BB
    CB["Audio Inputs"] --> DA
    DB["Audio Inputs"] --> AE
    BF --> AF
    BG --> AG
    BH --> AH
    BI --> AI
    BJ --> AJ
    BK --> AK
    BL --> AL
    BM --> AM
    BN --> AN
    BO --> AO
    BP --> AP
    AU --> AQ
    AV --> AR
    AW --> AS
    AX --> AT
    AU --> AU
    AV --> AV
    AW --> AV
    AX --> AV
    AU --> AV
    AV --> AW
    AX --> AW
    AU --> AW
    AV --> AW
    AW --> AX
    AX --> AX

No Item Description

1 Front Out	Connects to the Front input port of the 4 channel speakers with the mini-jack cable.
2 Side Surround Out	Connects to the Surround input port of the 4 channel speakers with the mini-jack cable.

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Connecting 5.1 Channel Speakers

5.1 Speakers

No Item Description
1 Front Out	Connects to the Front input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.
2 Side Surround Out	Connects to the Surround input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.
3 Center/Subwoofer	Connects to the Center/Subwoofer input port of the 5.1 speakers with the mini-jack cable.

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Connecting microphone

No Item Description
1 Microphone Input Jack	Connect the microphone's 3.5mm plug into this Mic-In jack for voice communication, recording, or karaoke.
2 Headphone Jack	The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.

Connecting Line-In audio sources

No Item Description

1 Line Input Jack

Connect the 3.5mm plug of the CD/MP3 Player or any other Line level analog audio sources into this Line-In jack for sound recording.

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ASUS

F7299

Xonar D-KARA

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Xonar D-KARA Kartenlayout

Audio-Anschlüsse

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Technical line drawing of a computer motherboard with connectors and components (no text or symbols)

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Italiano

Italiano

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Technical line drawing of a computer motherboard with connectors and components (no text or symbols)

Technical line drawing of a computer motherboard with connectors and ports (no text or symbols)

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