Asus Xonar Essence STX

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
Hi Vincent,

I wanted to ask what you think of this card. I tried installing my old Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music card, but Win7 won't recognize it (I did get the updated driver from Creative).

Thanks so much in advance for your opinion.

John
 

mojave

Well-Known Member
Oct 29, 2010
251
0
321
Elkhorn, NE
I have the Essence ST. It was released after the STX and claims to reduce clock jitter more than the STX. The ST uses a PCI slot and the STX is PCIe. Most at Head-Fi that have heard both cards prefer the ST. I also have the daughtercard for the ST and use mine in a 7.1 configuration. I use J. River Media Center for bass management, distance settings, level settings, and parametric EQ so I output directly to my amplifiers.

I am using my card with Windows 74 x64. When using ASIO output the card has automatic bit-matching with the current beta drivers. I use the Asus Xonar Universal drivers and like them better. They offer lower latency and fix some issues with ASIO.

I did not like the standard opamps (they were too harsh) and have changed mine out. I can't recall off the top of my head what is in there right now. The card is extremely detailed and has a great soundstage. I don't know how much you have to spend to get something better, but I've heard the Benchmark DAC (with the same music) and I prefer the Essence ST.

I agree with Amir about the computer you use. Stereophile used two different computers and different OS's for their "comparison" of the STX and ST. I don't think the ST was getting the best computer for its capabilities in the testing. I use a Gigabyte motherboard due to their PCB design and components. I also use a Corsair 850 Watt power supply due to its exceptionally low ripple on the 5 volt rail. The Essence ST and STX both use their own power input for the audio output section. This allows them to draw power directly from the power supply rather than having it go through the motherboard.
 

audiofilodigital

New Member
Jan 23, 2011
30
0
0
I have the STX PCIe, version. Maybe if a used-STX appears I will get it ('though not sure if they will be sold easily :). No problems with Asus drivers in my system: W7 64 bits (Pro version) + Corsair 850 Watt (what a casuality mojave !. I am very satisfied... its quality/price ratio is hard to beat (except, it seems so, by the STX version :).
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Mojave

Unless you have alread posted it, I am interested in your configuration. What Gigabyte motherboard are you using?
 

mojave

Well-Known Member
Oct 29, 2010
251
0
321
Elkhorn, NE
My HTPC is a little over a year old so most components aren't available anymore. Here is what is in it:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-55A-UD4P
CPU - Intel i5-750
Memory - G Skill ECO Series 4 GB DD3 1600
Hard Disks - Two Intel X-18 80GB SSD's
Blu-ray Drive - LG 8X Blu-ray Reader/DVD Burner
Video Card - XFX HD5770 (underclocked with fan at lowest setting)
Power Supply - Corsair HX850
CPU Cooler - Scythe Big Shuriken SCBSK-1000 120mm
Case - SilverstoneTek LC14M (with VFD disabled)

OS - Windows 7 x64
Media Player - J River Media Center V16
Fan Control Software - Speedfan (I only have a case intake fan & CPU Fan - no exhaust fans. Both can be shut off completely.)
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
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Calgary, AB
Thanks guys for all of your answers, and I think I will get this card. If I have an issue, I can always take it to my PC shop and have them configure it properly. I send a lot of people his way and he'll do it for me gratis.

Now onto the Video card selection......should I start another thread?
 

Theresa

New Member
Mar 7, 2011
6
0
0
Minnesota
I have the Asus Xonar Essence STX

I've had this card for a couple of years. I use it every day with my Sennheiser HD600s for hours. Its great although the "surround" emulation feature doesn't make me feel as if they are more than stereo headphones.
I'm not certain I even believe in a sound diff because of less jitter.
I don't use it for output to my a/v system, for that I use the HDMI output from my AMD 6850 video card.
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
I have just been told that because this particular salesman has never heard of the Asus Xonar Essence STX card it must not be very good. He made it clear to me (shrugs) that the M-Audio Audiophile 192 card is vastly superior. GRRR. I can get either card for approximately the same price, so that's not an issue. And quite frankly, he turned me off with his comment. I'm comfortable with the Asus card, so that's what I'm getting...still, I'm curious about what people have to say about the M-Audio card.
 

Light Harmonic

New Member
Jul 18, 2011
7
0
0
California
One information I can share with is: the Asus STX and ST card both use OEM version of Cmedia IC. The PCIe version actually uses a bridge chip to the PCI interface. So that why I think maybe people actually prefer PCI version.
The driver of this card are also provided by Cmedia software team. In 2010, there are still some major bugs report of incompatibility. But there are so many possible computer hardware configurations, it almost can not 100% make sure it will work in any platform.
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
Just scored a used STX for $80 (with all the orginal pakaging to boot)! Was on the CanuckAudioMart forums, and in conversation one of the guys mentioned he was getting an external DAC and selling his STX. Should have it today or sometime this coming week! Nice!
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
I hear lots of talk of people using WASAPI (?), however this card only supports ASIO (?). Is this a drawback?

I added the (?) as I don't know what it means to me as far as the effect it has on my usage.
 

Vincent Kars

WBF Technical Expert: Computer Audio
Jul 1, 2010
860
1
0
The Win mixer by design converts all audio to 32 float for processing and back to integer (16 or 24) depending on the word length of the DAC.
All audio is dithered.
WASAPI and ASIO both bypass the mixer.
This is the trick to get bit perfect output.
In general using these drivers improves sound quality.
Part of the bit perfect game is automatic sample rate switching.
In general soundcard + WASAPI won’t do this.
Soundcard + ASIO allows for automatic sample rate switching.

What you need is a media player like JRiver, Foobar, etc allowing you to select these drivers.
In your case ASIO is probably the best bet.

http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/ASIO.htm
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/WASAPI.htm
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
Thank you Vincent! I use MediaMonkey and will check to see of they support the option of selecting the ASIO driver. If not, I guess I'm in the market for a new media player.
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
MediaMonkey just released version 4.0 (November 16, 2011), and it looks like it will have support for both WASAPI and ASIO. I need to wait for my upgrade email (lifetime member), which should arrive within the next few days. This is good news for me as I really like MediaMonkey and their customer support is terrific as well! I'll keep you posted after the upgrade is done and my Asus Xonar is installed.

Woohoo! One more piece left and that is the KRK Rokit 6 active monitors. Hopefully by Xmas! (crosses fingers)
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB
So I've had this card for some time now, but never installed it. Don't ask why, because I don't really have an answer.

Wow! What a difference from the onboard Intel card(?). Everything opened up! Much more detail, very quiet background on low passages, wider soundstage and improved depth. My Shure SRH840's sound sooooo good! Really hoping I can get a pair of those KRK Rokit 6's I've been after. I'm very pleased with this card!
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB
This card has an S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adapter, so I was wondering if I could add a dedicated CD/SACD player to it. This would be nice as I could then playback any non-hybrid SACDs through my PC. Is this possible?
 

Vincent Kars

WBF Technical Expert: Computer Audio
Jul 1, 2010
860
1
0
If it is an input it should work.
If you open the Sound Panel in Win and select Recording devices you should see the Toslink input.
In the “Listen” tab you could choose a output device.

JRiver allows you to play it using the audio engine of JRiver: http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/JRiver/Loopback.htm
Maybe your media player offers a likewise option.
 

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