The procedure to install the Xonar Essence One is simple. Plug in the power cable (I had some kettle plug issues here as the one provided was not from around these parts) but that didn’t take long to sort out. I have a box of cables that is like a secret treasure trove of spare parts. Then attach the USB, the coaxial/optical cables and only then turn on the Xonar Essence One.
Next up is to install the drivers. You have to restart your computer once this is done so don’t do this if you are in the middle of something big. Your PC will need to have USB 2.0 or higher, run Windows XP-7, have an Intel Pentium 4 1.4GHz or AMD Athlon 1400 CPU or faster, 256 MB DRAM memory, 60MB HDD space for the drivers and, of course, either an awesome pair of headphones or powered analog speakers to enjoy the sound.
Once you have set everything up be sure to set up USB as the sound source at the front of the Xonar Essence One. There are several ways you can use the Xonar Essence – as a stand alone DAC or as a headphone amplifier (in my next post I will be chatting about the headphone aspect first).
When all your installations are complete, the Xonar Essence One will now become the default audio playback device for the PC or notebook. You can double-check that your installation has gone smoothly and that the device is enabled by going to your Control Panel and checking the Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices properties.
If you suddenly decide that the Xonar One is not for you or you want to transfer it to another PC or notebook, your PC will automatically revert to its soundcard when you unplug and switch off the Xonar Essence One. If this doesn’t happen, try restarting your machine, and if that fails, go to your Device Manager and scroll down to its listing under Sound and click Disable.
What I am rather impressed with so far is how easy everything has been. I mentioned in my last post that I was a bit intimidated by the Xonar Essence One. Not being a massive audiophile I was worried that I would find it really difficult to use. So far it has been so simple I could have done it with one arm stapled to my forehead.
Next post? How does the Xonar Essence One sound on headphones with the various upsampling options activated….