The Basics:

As mentioned earlier, the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim is the latest release in the HDAV1.3 line. As with the other cards in the HDAV1.3 family, it features the AV200 audio processing chip, which is a derivative of Cmedia's Oxygen HD (CMI 8788). The HDAV1.3 Slim differs from the earlier cards in some very significant ways. First, it is a PCI card where the other HDAV1.3 cards are PCI Express. Secondly, it is an HDMI only card where the other cards offer analog ports directly or through the use of a daughter card. Another significant difference is the lack of ASUS' splendid HD feature, which was supposed to enhance video, but was frequently disabled via software by users who preferred to let their receiver or display process the video. By eliminating the analog ports and their associated digital to analog conversion hardware, as well as the PCI Express bridge chip and splendid HD, ASUS was able to also dispose of the external power connector found on earlier HDAV1.3 models. All of these changes should theoretically reduce cost and hopefully allow ASUS to bring Blu-ray bit streaming to our HTPC's at a much better price point.



The Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim isn't a very large card at approximately 6.5" long and 2.5" tall (apologies to the metric world, I couldn't find my dual scale tape measure). The picture on the right also displays another view of the low profile bracket which I used to install the card in my home theater pc.



Here we see two pictures that offer a more detailed view of the components. The circuit board isn't as densely packed as the other Xonar HDAV1.3 cards. In the below right picture we can clearly see the ASUS AV200 Audio Processing Unit, as well as the two input headers on the top right edge of the card. If you look closely in the below right picture near the middle right edge of the card you can see what appears to be the only remaining analog/digital component, the Wolfson WM8776S. This DAC/ADC is for two channel digital to analog and analog to digital conversion. I'm guessing this chip is for the analog mic-in and stereo-out headers on the top edge of the card.



The pictures below show the external connectors as well as the sparsely populated back side of the card. Note that the external connectors are limited, with just one HDMI In, one HDMI out and a single digital S/PDIF connection. The S/PDIF connection can accept either a digital coaxial input or digital optical input (TOSLINK) with the included 3.5mm TOSLINK adapter.



These three pictures show the TOSLINK adapter and its use with a standard TOSLINK cable.