ASUS Xonar Essence STX

[mr moose]

I love my Xonar Essence STX, matched with my DT770 pros HD595s or DT990s they as good as my bang & olufsen beomaster 5500 hi fi. Anyone who says a Fiio Olympus E10 or whatever sounds better than a sound card is talking bull poop

 

of course true audiophiles use reel to reel, like my Philips 4520

I had a 1/2" tape once, it was nice but difficult to get music for it.  I still love my Vinyl but it ain't no match for digital.  With regard to the e10 v stx,  that is a use case dependent debate, keeping in mind the SQ is virtually identical and the price difference significant.

[s0nrise]

I am a regular gamer / music listener and I can tell you that onboard sound is shit, big time.

I agree with you, I dont really know what people are thinking about when this say onboard is good, (might have never experienced anything else). The DAC on onboard soundcards is crap, and they are also around lots of electrical noise and interference (for being inside a computer case).

Your best bet is to go with a USB dac / amp, something like a essence one, or objective2 dac/amp.

[Lauen]

I agree with you, I dont really know what people are thinking about when this say onboard is good, (might have never experienced anything else). The DAC on onboard soundcards is crap, and they are also around lots of electrical noise and interference (for being inside a computer case).

Your best bet is to go with a USB dac / amp, something like a essence one, or objective2 dac/amp.

You're right about the "best" thing being going with a USB solution, but not on the Essence One part, an o2 would be a lot better, and even a FiiO E10. 

 

but as I said earlier in this thread, I have experience with soundcards AND onboard audio. just go read that. 

[ShearMe]

You're right about the "best" thing being going with a USB solution, but not on the Essence One part, an o2 would be a lot better, and even a FiiO E10. 

 

but as I said earlier in this thread, I have experience with soundcards AND onboard audio. just go read that. 

 

Well, I wouldn't say the E10 is better than an Essence One. It's got upsampling man!

 

In more seriousness, it does at least have balanced outputs, though that's not really something that makes it better as a headphone amp.

[madman1876]

Well, I wouldn't say the E10 is better than an Essence One. It's got upsampling man!

 

In more seriousness, it does at least have balanced outputs, though that's not really something that makes it better as a headphone amp.

 

Well I would gladly buy one at $80 but am not sure asus likes me that much

[mr moose]

I agree with you, I dont really know what people are thinking about when this say onboard is good, (might have never experienced anything else). The DAC on onboard soundcards is crap, and they are also around lots of electrical noise and interference (for being inside a computer case).

Your best bet is to go with a USB dac / amp, something like a essence one, or objective2 dac/amp.

 

It's not the dac that determines if a solution is good or not, most (if not all) dacs nowadays are so closely spec'd you need high resolution test equipment to tell them apart. The specs on a dac also pale into insignificance against the over all implementation, as you mentioned interference (or susceptibility to interference) is a big one.  When onboard suffers interference that is when people usually recommend a usb dac, If it doesn't though you'd really need some top notch headphones before the onboard becomes the weak link.  Having said that the dacs that get recommended are the ones with low output impedance, which is why the asus and creative stuff hardly ever get recommended. 

 

Well, I wouldn't say the E10 is better than an Essence One. It's got upsampling man!

 

 

In more seriousness, it does at least have balanced outputs, though that's not really something that makes it better as a headphone amp.

 

I have noticed over the years that the more expensive and high end boutique type stuff gets the less controls dials and functions they seem to have.

 

 

 

Well I would gladly buy one at $80 but am not sure asus likes me that much

 

 

TBH unless your spending more than $300 on headphones I really don't see why anyone would consider spending more than $80 on a dac/amp.

[ShearMe]

I have noticed over the years that the more expensive and high end boutique type stuff gets the less controls dials and functions they seem to have.

 

Reduces feedback/distortion and improve square wave response.