What does this mean?Pros & Cons
Pros
If one is colored/warm/bright etc, of course there will be a difference. But according to measurements and science, stx is flat and transparent. Slightly more ss.
Cons
Xonar essence stx is not compatible with gigabyte 45c mb. The card needs a power supply over and above being plugged in to the pci slot. Even if you get the card powered up and recognised by your pc, trying to get it to produce sound via your speakers... Read More
Highlights
Quality
I am thrilled with the sound quality of this card.
The audio quality is fantastic, on everything from flacs to the usual mp3s.
This primarily due to i) poor reliability (sound cuts off regularly and i have to reboot to get it working again) and, ii) head... Read More
The electrical noise does not become apparent until the card is connected to an amplifier, with the resulting mains hum all but... Read More
Price
Really worth every penny for any audiophile.
Not much to say, this is the ultimate soundcard for this kinda budget.
The price is high for this card, but the rewards are great.
Better buy a good pair of speakers / headphones to get some value from this premium card.
Packaging/appearance
Yes, the driver cd in the box is ancient.
Competitiveness
All problems seem to be resolved after the latest version of mobo and asus drivers.
Also the volume output was very low compared to one when you connect directly the heaphones to xonar dx.
I compared it with the same download, converted to wav, burned to cd-r and played on my naim cd player, which is priced in four figures.
Now with essence is much more simpler but the card is at leaset 50% more expensive than xonar dx.
Overview
- How are reviewers describing this item?
quality, good, better, excellent and bass. - Our engine has profiled the reviewer patterns and has determined that there is minimal deception involved.
- Our engine has detected that Amazon has altered, modified or removed reviews from this listing. We approximate total reviews altered up to 313.
- Our engine has discovered that over 80% high quality reviews are present.
- This product had a total of 296 reviews as of our last analysis date on Jul 23 2024.
Helpful InsightsBETA
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
I did not use the asus drives i instead downloaded a thridparty set
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
Im not sure if this is stated on the page but this does require a molex connector to run wiring it into my case proved to be a challenge
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
In case your wondering if you should take the plunge on one you should
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
Get a decent set of headphones chances are you do or will if your dropping the coin for this card and melt your ears because if you have been suffering through itunes and on board audio you are in for some next level for install and faq dont bother with the driver disc download them from asus
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
As a side note some reviewers have mentioned a soft background hiss or white noise in between tracks
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
It is there more noticeable at higher volume levels with low impedance headphones and lower sampling rates
Posted by a reviewer on Amazon
I dont notice it at lower volumes and did not notice it with a pair of 150 ohm headphones and changing to 24192 helped
Review Count History
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