Question 1

will this sound card work with an older Dell Laptop running Vista?  thanks for any help

Accepted Answer

I don't see why it wouldn't work.
 Req: -USB 1.1 port
          -Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2005
          -CPU at least 1.4GHz
          -256MBs RAM at least
          -60MBs of disk space available
          -CD-ROM Drive

Overall it's a great card! 
Cheers!!

Question 2

is this compatible with win 7 64 bit?

Accepted Answer

Definitely. I have used it on my gaming PC since I ordered the PC and it's great. You don't even need to install anything -- just plug it in and Windows does the rest!

Question 3

I have a lot of distortion and crackling in my audio from a GPU. Will this fix that? Also, can I use a gaming headset through this?

Accepted Answer

I think this would solve your problems, but I can't guarantee it.  This acts as its own sound card and is independent from the onboard audio that is on your motherboard.  The software for this is very useful as you can adjust lots of different settings.

You can use a gaming headset on this as long as it uses a standard 3.5mm headphone and microphone jack and not USB.  There is a single 3.5mm output for headphones and a 3.5mm input for a microphone.

I have a pair of Turtle Beach Ear Force X12's that came with an Ear Force DSS2 surround sound processor (also from Turtle Beach).  The DSS2 gives my X12's virtual surround sound even though they are only stereo headphones.  However, the DSS2 needs a Dolby Digital signal from the computer that must come in via an optical audio cable in order to do this.  The whole reason why I bought this sound card was because it has Dolby Digital Live which converts my regular audio into a Dolby Digital signal.  It also came with an adapter that plugs into the 3.5mm jack to connect an optical audio cable that goes to my DSS2.  The result was pretty good.  It wasn't the same as getting a legitimate 7.1 surround sound headset, but it was a lot cheaper and I don't really notice a difference.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any more questions.

Question 4

i have a crummy hp pavillion desktop without a sound card. will this work so i can use rosetta stone and dragon software?

Accepted Answer

I purposely purchased this item so that I could use a headset on a notebook. While my notebook has an installed sound card, this unit acts independently once you have plugged it in to the USB port and installed the driver. Note that if you have Windows 8 you will need to get the updated driver from Asus as the CD that came with the  unit only goes up to Windows 7.Also, depending on the space surrounding your USB port, you may or may not need the short extension cord that comes with the device. The unit is a bit large so some laptops might find the fit too tight without the extension.
However, with this installed, you now have both a mic input and a stereo output to headphones, or an ability to connect a headset to both outlets. It is a lot better in sound than many of the USB sound cards I have researched. It will never be as good as a great internal sound card, but it sounds as if this is not an issue for you. You do not need an internal sound card to use this.

Question 5

Would this (Or any USB sound card) be able to output sound through my GPU's HDMI port? The motherboard I am using does not have any integrated sound and I don't have enough available PCIe slots to use an internal sound card without either sacrificing all but two of my USB ports or my SSD.

Accepted Answer

Hmm, I don't know this answer 100%, but I believe it will, yes. These USB sound cards are really meant for headsets. If you cable in a TV to the GPU, I thought it automatically uses the secondary device's outputs(screen and sound), if applicable, rather than what components are on the tower. If that's not the case, you would get sound from the sound card(which this is), and visual from the monitor(or TV, if you chose it as the screen output)..This is a full sound card, with a management interface and everything, so you should be able to select this as an output device for anything related to the comp it's plugged in to.

Brand	ASUS
Model	Xonar U3

Audio Chipset	ASUS UA100
Sample Rate	48KHz
Digital Audio	16-bit
SNR	100dB

Line In	1 x 3.5mm RCA jack
Line Out	1 x 3.5mm RCA jack
SPDIF Out	1 x Digital S/PDIF Output

Dimensions	3.13" x 1.2"
Weight	0.8

ASUS Xonar U3 16-bit 48KHz USB Interface Sound Card

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Item#: N82E16829132022