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Realtek ALC898 vs Xonar Essence STX II vs External Solution

norritt
By norritt
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Go to solution Solved by KaminKevCrew,

Awesome I guess I'm gonna get that baby then, just to make sure were talking about this, right? I'm asking because there is also this one, which seems to be exactly the same thing just at triple the costs, I assume it's just another market place vendor trying to rip people off...

Important: First link leads to an offer where Amazon apparently mistakenly has linked another product, you have to click the middle picture below the price tag to get the SD-793II (for 65€) instead of the TARION TRD80.

Yeah, both of those are literally the same thing. (even the tarion one, it's just a different brand name.)
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Hey everyone,

 

I'm about to recieve a new pair of headphones (Beyerdynamics DT 770-Pro/250 Ohm). Just wanted to hear your opinion and experiences - is upgrading to a Xonar Essence STX II, from my Realtek ALC 898 (MSI Z77 MPOWER) worth the 200 bucks? What would you go for, or just stay with the On Board solution?

 

I definitly need Linux support so anything from Creative is pretty much out of question.

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It would be easiest to get an external solution since almost all of them are platform agnostic.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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@KaminKevCrew: I'm open to any sugggestions when it comes to external solutions I wouldn't even know where to start looking. The Essence STX II is on the official ALSA driver support list - so Linux support won't be an issue. But if someone knows an external solution of comparable or higher quality at the same price point I'll gladly take advice.

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@KaminKevCrew: I'm open to any sugggestions when it comes to external solutions I wouldn't even know where to start looking. The Essence STX II is on the official ALSA driver support list - so Linux support won't be an issue. But if someone knows an external solution of comparable or higher quality at the same price point I'll gladly take advice.

$260 is a lot of cashola to be able to spend - that's a good thing! The best thing you can get for the money right now would be an objective 2 amp/dac combo, or (if you were planning to get the stx2 w/the 7.1 sound card thingy) you could get a jds labs element, which is based on the o2, but far better looking.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Also, if you have optical, you can get the SMSL SD 793-II. It's about the best optical based dac amp you can get, and it's only $65.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Also, if you have optical, you can get the SMSL SD 793-II. It's about the best optical based dac amp you can get, and it's only $65.

Yes the MSI Z77 MPOWER has an S/PDIF port on board - so this seems to be an option.

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Yes the MSI Z77 MPOWER has an S/PDIF port on board - so this seems to be an option.

Well, I can tell you it has no noise floor to speak of, and it pumps out plenty of power. Be aware that it doesn't come with an optical cable though.

I use it with everything from my ultra sensitive in ears, all the way up to my hifiman he-500.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Sounds convincing, thanks for the hint I'll definitly take the SMSL SD 793-II into consideration then =)

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@KaminKevCrew: One maore Question concerning the SMSL SD 793-II, I've seen it has two RCA jacks on the backside. Will it be a good audio source for my active speaker system (Logitech Z3) too?  I've also read a recommendation to combine the SD 793 with an SMSL SA 50 AMP to power speakers, but since the Z3 speaker system is active I guess it's not necessary...

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@KaminKevCrew: One maore Question concerning the SMSL SD 793-II, I've seen it has two RCA jacks on the backside. Will it be a good audio source for my active speaker system (Logitech Z3) too? I've also read a recommendation to combine the SD 793 with an SMSL SA 50 AMP to power speakers, but since the Z3 speaker system is active I guess it's not necessary...

Yeah, I use the rca out (the manual says they are rca in, which is incorrect) to my receiver, and it sound great. Since your speakers are active, it would be a bad thing to pair it with a power amplifier. You don't want to be double amping. :)

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Awesome I guess I'm gonna get that baby then, just to make sure were talking about this, right? I'm asking because there is also this one, which seems to be exactly the same thing just at triple the costs, I assume it's just another market place vendor trying to rip people off...

 

Important: First link leads to an offer where Amazon apparently mistakenly has linked another product, you have to click the middle picture below the price tag to get the SD-793II (for 65€) instead of the TARION TRD80.

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Awesome I guess I'm gonna get that baby then, just to make sure were talking about this, right? I'm asking because there is also this one, which seems to be exactly the same thing just at triple the costs, I assume it's just another market place vendor trying to rip people off...

Important: First link leads to an offer where Amazon apparently mistakenly has linked another product, you have to click the middle picture below the price tag to get the SD-793II (for 65€) instead of the TARION TRD80.

Yeah, both of those are literally the same thing. (even the tarion one, it's just a different brand name.)

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Okay shall I take the TRD80 instead the SD-793II then since its 15 bucks cheaper? If the SD-793II is better in any way I'll gladly pay 15€ for it but if its really the same thing spending more money seems kinda pointless.

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Okay shall I take the TRD80 instead the SD-793II then since its 15 bucks cheaper? If the SD-793II is better in any way I'll gladly pay 15€ for it but if its really the same thing spending more money seems kinda pointless.

From what I could see, they are literally the same. I don't think there's much money in those to begin with, so faking one would be pretty pointless. Besides, it's not like SMSL is some super well known name brand :)

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Awesome TRD80 it is then the order just went out, thanks for your Advice KaminKevCrew - would be awesome to get a solution which is at par with the Essence STX at quarter the price.

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Awesome TRD80 it is then the order just went out, thanks for your Advice KaminKevCrew - would be awesome to get a solution which is at par with the Essence STX at quarter the price.

It's better than the essence :)

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Holy shit the stuff arrived today I just got two words eargasmic awesomeness.

 

It's funny to find out how music is actually supposed to sound like. I'm hearing things that totally weren't there before, and the rest I know from before just sounds so very diffrent. There's a bad side effect tho the clipping in some youtube videos is so brutally audible now that I just can't watch them any more.

 

Thanks again, for your advice Kamin I'm really glad I got the TRD80 together with the DT770 Pro.

 

Oh and BTW funfact: The 250 Ohm DT770 don't work with the on-board audio on my MSI Z77 MPower at all if I hook them up using the 3,5mm directly - there's just dead silence.

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