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Borgodoc

Don't buy the xonar essence stx if you are going to do the following:

  • Going to use a headset
  • Going to be listening on <200$ headphones or <200$ speakers
  • Using any virtual surround sound

Ok, reasoning;

1) If you are using a headset with this soundcard, you are just wasting your money. Get the lowest end xonar and you will hear 0 difference with a headset compared to the essence stx.

2) Don't buy it unless you're going to be using >200$ audio gear you say? Well that's ridiculous! The reason for this is that you won't hear the difference again, from the lowest end xonar from the stx, untill you go above this price point. Also, if you are spending 120-150$ on a soundcard, you had better have some beautiful gear to use it on, you will find the difference from one sound card to another to be small (the price to performance ratio degrades like crazy with audio), but the difference from a 50$ headset/speakers to a 200$ headphone/speakers is a HUGE difference.

3) Don't use a headset with this card :) 2 good drivers in stereo will always be better than any virtual surround sound due to the fact that to get that virtual surround sound they have to change how the music sounds. You have 2 ears, so don't have the sound manipulated, get an open set of headphones if you like to have lots of accurate spacial awareness, it will benefit you as much if not more than 7.1 or whatever virtual because the sound is unchanged.

Oh boy, do not buy a xonar essence one. If you have sennheiser hd700's, he-500's or similar, then sure, go ahead, but with your current gear, don't waste your money.

Basically, for your current gear, or anything up to 150$, get the xonar DG or DGX, both support dolby 5.1 virtual if you really want to, and both will do fine for pretty much everything up to 150$. Of course you can't use this as an amp for your speakers (if you upgraded) but you just use out the signal from the soundcard to the amp.

If you are going to buy some really nice audio gear, then that's another story.

 

 

Cheers,

Current rig: i5 2500k & Gtx 560ti With Filco MJ1 TKL & Neutron Gtx 120gb SSD

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Borgodoc, on 04 May 2013 - 10:32 AM, said:

Thanks for your reply :) The thing is, the Logitech Z2300 WAS a >$200 speakerset (back in the day, it's not available anymore). I will probably be upgrading to a Corsair SP2500 ($249,99 MSRP) sometime next year, unless something new and better comes out (which is unlikely, it's not like the audio business is constantly innovating itself, right?). So, since you have said that I shouldn't bother getting the STX unless I've got a $200+ speakerset (which I do), this actually means that the STX is indeed a good solution for me?

No. I should have mentioned this also. 250$ for that set of speakers is a bad idea. I love corsairs products, I love logitech products, but for 250$ those speakers are in no way worth the money. Save up another 1-200$ and get some proper bookshelf/floorstanding speakers with an amp, then an stx would be worth it. The fidelity of the SP2500 will be so low compared to a proper set because of the way gaming is marketed these days.

Just looked at the SP2500 from corsair website, they have 3" drivers, some cute little control that would be cool and all, but it's just no where near worth it compared to a proper stereo system.

However, if you are set on the SP2500's, then get the xonar DG. You will hear no discernible difference between that and the stx.

EDIT: I should have been clear in my first post, but I was relating 200$ speakers that are not overpriced, marketed, etc, as 'pc speakers' often are for some reason. For example, Beats by dr dre are not 300$ headphones. :)

Current rig: i5 2500k & Gtx 560ti With Filco MJ1 TKL & Neutron Gtx 120gb SSD

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Hmm. The thing is, I hear nothing but extremely positive reviews for the SP2500. Linus himself uses them for his system, paired with an Essence STX. I have not read a single review that said that the SP2500 is a bad value or overpriced. So basicly, it's their word against yours. Not trying to be a smartass or anything, just laying out the facts :P

 

Agreed on the Beats by Dre, btw. That sure is one overpriced product. Not sure if you could put Logitech or Corsair on the same line, given that they have always provided me with excellent quality components.

This is the problem. It's not about the fact that linus uses them, they are probably decent speakers, but I can assure you 100% linus will not hear above a 5% audio quality difference with those speakers comparing the xonar dg vs the stx. It's the way audio equipment works. Theres a phenomenon called 'scaling'. Generally better quality equipment scales better, meaning the better amp they are hooked up to, the better they sound.

 

Once you get into more 'pc' and 'gaming' oriented audio, the scaling reduces dramatically. Personally, I actually don't care if you buy the xonar essence one with some overpriced speakers, the reason people don't say the sp2500's are overpriced is because they are comparing them to other pc speakers, not a dedicated stereo system placed properly and powered properly. 

 

Cheers, 

Current rig: i5 2500k & Gtx 560ti With Filco MJ1 TKL & Neutron Gtx 120gb SSD

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I'd take a  set of bookshelf speakers and a lepai amp over anything labeled computer speakers any day. 

Will work for electronic components and parts


Reviews: Meelec CC51P - Monoprice 8323 - Koss Porta Pros  - Shure SRH-440 - Shure SRH-550DJShure SRH-840 - Hifiman He-500 - iBasso D4 - o2 Amplifier  -  SkeletonDac

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I agree with everything Rhizo says. Getting a stx for the sp2500's is completely pointless. you need a set of proper bookshelf speakers to take advantage of the STX. and also the sp2500's are overpriced compared to what you can really get for that money. its like the same thing as beats. you can spend $200 and get a pair of beats that basically have $30 drivers in them, or you can get a nice pair of beyerdynamics or audio-technica's that are far superior in sound quality. its all about the way these things are marketed.

 

And like he said, the only reason people say they're as good as they are, is because they are getting compared to other computer desk speakers. which all tend to be crap compared to getting a set of proper speakers and an amp. getting any set of computer speakers would not be nearly as good as getting a set of dedicated speakers with an amp. then I can see getting an stx. I have an STX that I use with a set of sony ss-b3000 speakers, and the difference is night and day. 

but with the sp2500's I guarantee you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. 
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Also add to Rhizo's points the impedance of any headphone used with the High end Xonar soundcards/external AMPDACS should be over 80, or else it will actually sound worse.  For instance my Hifiman He-500s, which are $700, are NOT compatible as they have an impedance of only 38 Ohms.

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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Wow, those SS-B3000 speakers are actually not that expensive, thanks for the tip :) Or maybe I could hook up a pair of SS-F6000 speakers, they're part of my hifi setup at the moment but I guess I could make them work with my computer somehow. 1 more thing: the impedance on both the SS-B3000 and the SS-F6000 is only 8 Ohms, is that because impedance on speakers differs from impedance on headphones?

Yeah, don't worry about impedance on speakers, you use a dedicated amp for them so you can use the line out to just use the dac of a soundcard or amp/dac.

Current rig: i5 2500k & Gtx 560ti With Filco MJ1 TKL & Neutron Gtx 120gb SSD

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