ASUS is working on a new soundcard as it seems, the ASUS's new ROG Xonar Pheobus sound card, which is a PCIe 118db SNR standalone offering. Also on display was the ROG 'ThunderFX' USB powered audio breakout box (sequel to the R3E-Black Edition's Thunderbolt), to be bundled with a planned special edition of the ROG Rampage IV Formula.

The primary DAC for headphone/front-out channel of the ROG Phoebus is TI-BB PCM1792A. The ROG Xonar Pheobus (god of music and light) is a standalone product rated at 118db SNR at its regular outputs and has a dedicated amplifier for driving up to 300ohm headphones. Also included in the package is a volume control/wire extender for gaming headsets

High quality gold plated jacks are used at the I/O panel - Over at the bottom right, you can see the C-Media DSP which is normally used on the other high end boards like Xonar STX. On the board a Realtek ALC889 codec is used though, which we guess handles the headphone output and microphone input.

Also spot a 6-pin PCIe power connector. The card is covered up with a EMI shield. This card won't be cheap alright.