Installing UNi Xonar drivers


Prerequisites

  • UNi drivers (UNi Xonar W10 1825 v1.81a r2 for W10 or UNi Xonar 1816/1823 v1.80a r3 for W7, W8 & W10)
  • XonarSwitch (latest)

Step-by-step installation and configuration instructions

  1. Select "Low DPC Latency", "Run driver cleaning", "Re-enable stereo upmix" and choose your sound card from the "Default card profile" list:

    driver installation prompt

  2. [Optional, this may lower DPC latency] After you've installed the drivers, restart your computer and after that press Win+R key combination; type "msconfig" there and continue. In the programs tab disable "Windows host process (Rundll32)":

    process name

  3. Place the XonarSwitch.exe in desired location and launch it.

  4. Output tab: Select "2 Channels" from the Source channels list, and set the Bit Depth to 24bit (or 16bit, there's not that much of a difference) and Sample Rate to 44.1Khz.

  5. Output tab: Click the Amp button and select an appropriate impedance level from the list depending on your headphones (VOIP is for 0 - 32 ohm headphones, Pro-gaming for 32 - 64 ohm and Exciter for 64 - 150 ohm). I recommend using the rear 3.5mm connection because it has less interference (Rear Headphones):

    output impedance

  6. Mixer tab: Set L and R playback volume to 45% or less (this is because over 45% might cause clipping in your audio).

  7. Mixer tab: Set the microphone (record) volume to whatever value you like and click the settings button (* icon). Disable the front mic if you're using the rear port (which is recommended) and decide do you want to use mic boost:

    volume mixer

  8. Equalizer / FlexBass: Adjust the equalizer if you need to and disable FlexBass:

    equalizer

  9. AEC: Disable AEC.

  10. You can find additional options by right clicking the XonarSwitch icon which you can find in the taskbar:

    taskbar

  11. Options: You can backup and restore the settings of the UNi drivers and completely uninstall the drivers. Set the XonarSwitch launch automatically on startup:

    startup options

  12. Profiles: You can create multiple profiles. For example if you want to use surround while watching movies you can create a specific profile for that which you can activate by pressing a custom key combination (eg. CTRL+ALT+1):

    profiles


By Marko Leinikka

Word count: 383
2 min read