Xonar Essence STX: Sneak Peek! - Page 73

Alydon, 10x very much for your detailed comments. It's always great to see members experimenting with OPAMPs configurations and moreover, sharing their findings.

ROBSCIX, many 10x for the sneak preview. I'm already thinking about building another HTPC and using the ST...to bad that it's only in PCI version, I really hope that it will be also a PCx version as hi-end miniITX motherboards have only PCIx connection.

I also wanted to ask you what do you think about using a STX in a carPC? I know that there are many folks here on the forum using stereo setup/HP so my question may be rather exotic (compared to the general use of the STX) but why not a car PC soundcard? I really think (after reading the whole topic) that it will be a really competitive setup...

Although initially I was looking for a 5.1 setup for my car I will stick to stereo and that's why STX will match as a glove in the system...I will come back with feddback after finishing the setup but I estimate mid summer as target end of set-up (in this time of year until May I am/will be really really busy).

Hi all,
I recently switched from onboard sound to a Xonar Essence STX. I'm using a Sennheiser HD595.
Unfortunately I can't really say that I'm blown away. If I enable SVN (Smart Volume Something) I really hear a lot of background noise. Does anyone have this same problem? If I disable SVN the noise more or less disappears, but there still seems to be some noise in silent moments in music. Doesn't matter if it's MP3 or lossless.
Anyone have a clue what the problem could be?

Not blown away meaning you dont notice a difference in sound quality or what?

I noticed a good difference between my xfi elite pro and the STX.

Great, detailed impressions. I'm glad you share my opinion of the LME49720s. I actually tried the LM6172 in the buffer spot and found it added slightly to the bass but also had a characteristic lower midrange hump that I did not enjoy with my cans. I also tried the OPA2107 in the buffer spot and was surprised to find a dramatic increase in transient response and overall energy. It added some lower treble and some midbass (all in a pleasing way) and it made the HD650's sound FAST and detailed. Between the OPA2107 and the LME49720, I personally prefer the slightly deeper soundstage and softer sound of the LME, but I would not say that they are superior to the OPA's. In fact, I prefer the OPA with some genres and the LME with others.

I've noticed that the 49720 have a bit less bass than what I like. So, I'm planning to try to the OPA2137 and maybe the OPA627/637 in the buffer spot.

Hi everyone,

I have now had my new Essence STX for 10 days now. It replaced my Xonar D2 PCI card. I'm not going to go into detail, since so many have already done that. What I will say is that if you are hesitating to upgrade to the Essence from the previous Xonar and sound quality is what matters, there is no need to hesitate. The improvements are obvious fom the very first bar of music - this card is in a whole different class to the Xonar. It's as much better than the old Xonar as the old Xonar is better than a standard Creative card. And that is really saying something, since every Creative card I have ever heard really does sound abysmal.

For me, the main purpose in upgrading was twofold. One was I wanted a better quality analogue to digital conversion and secondly I felt that the demands I was placing on the old Xonar were saturating my PCI bus. I seem to have had success on both counts.

The analogue to digital conversion on this soundcard is absolutely top notch - noticeably better than the old Xonar. Tonally it is subjectively much more accurate, it's smoother with less grain, and no hardness anywhere, timbres are more accurately reproduced and the phase, channel balance and imaging seem much better. With my old Xonar, I always felt like the sound left to right was a bit unbalanced, but in such a way that simply changing the balance did not seem to make it right. And the imaging was always vague, particularly on the right hand side of the orchestra. I don't have any such problems at all with the Essence.

The other good news is that even though the digital output still does not seem to resolve higher than 16 bits (according to my standalone Sony PCM recorders), the improved processing quality of the analogue outputs carries through to the digital outputs too. The digital output really does sound great. I can make DAT quality synced recordings from the coaxial output from an original analogue source and it is extremely difficult indeed to tell the difference. With the old Xonar, the differences were quite obvious to the trained ear.

Infact my only "gripe" with the Essence is that when using a sensitive IEM, the volume level of the headphone output is often too high even when the master volume is set at 0 and the output is set for the lowest sensitivity (shown as < 64 ohms).

This requires that I will often need to adjust other volume sliders. For example, I am listening to analogue radio at the moment via the Essence using it's Dolby Headphone function. I have the master volume at zero but have also had to turn down the seperate channel playback sliders too! So unfortunately, just having the simple master volume is sometimes not enough. Volume 0 is plenty loud with a typical IEM with high sensitivity and often just too loud without adjusting the other sliders too!

So my only criticism is that perhaps they could have offered a 4th headphone setting - "IEM" - that simply attenuates the output another 15 dB or so. That would let me use the master volume as per normal and save extra mouse clicking and adjusting other volume controls (and having to reset them back too don't forget).

Apart from that, this is a wonderful card that is really amazing value. I'm not going to pretend it is in the same class as my Musical Fidelity XCans with their NOS Amperex tubes. It isn't in the same class. But it is very listenable with no fatigue. Certainly the best sound I've ever heard out of a computer at any rate. Seems a bargain at less than $300 given that it is a half decent headphone amp that has a brilliant ADC circuit onboard and a host of quality DSP options too.

Does the Essence have the ALT loopback functionality? I don't see it among the recording devices...

Oh, my!

Good post, ADD. I've just plugged in my Sennheiser HD555 phones for the first time, and -- my goodness, is it a revelation ever! I'm hearing notes and details that were never there before!
Using foobar2000 0.9.6.4 beta 1, ASIO out, PPHS resampler @ 192000 Hz, volume at -20dB.

Very impressed with the STX, and I can see it gaining a significant following in no time.

I agree ADD with the normal gain setting being too high for some cans. I have sensitive ears, and use 701's through WMP with the volume at max in WMP. With these settings I only have to listen at volume level 1 through the Xonar software (or system volume) to achieve a comfortable listening level. Even going up to 3 can be too loud sometimes with all other volume sliders at max.

The 3 x LME49720 sounds horrible when you play classical music. The clarinet sounds so sharp and brittle. But when playing pop and rock, it sounds wonderful

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that since the OPA637 is not unity gain stable it wouldn't be a good choice for the buffer spot, so you might want to stick w/ the 627 instead. I already have a pair of 637's here so I can certainly Browndog 'em and try 'em out for ya. Regardless though, I look forward to hearing your impressions of any you try out.

I think I'm going to keep the LME49720's in the I/V spots. I'm having a hard time deciding what to keep in the buffer spot, though. Both the LM4562 and LM6172 share the same deep soundstage and holographic imaging. The LM4562 does have a more open sound and more forward treble than the 6172's though, so low-level details in the music are a touch more prominent. But the high treble has a hint of brittleness which can come through on occasion, and I'm not completely satisfied w/ the bass either since some sounds seem to be missing the lowest bass harmonics so some instruments don't have quite the weight that I'd like.

OTOH the 6172's have a beautifully natural bass that is unmatched by all the other opamps I've tried and does something truly magical for brass, strings, woodwinds, and percussion in particular. It also gives me a more intimate presentation since I'm sitting closer to the performers than the 4562's. But I'm not surprised that you didn't like the 6172's yourself if you listened to them through your HD650's since I believe those cans are reported to already have a lower-mid/upper bass hump. And the 6172's can sound a little muffled/closed-in when compared to the LM4562's. Tough choice...

As a side note, one thing that has surprised me is that the LM4562's sound different to me than the LME49720's, even though they are supposed to be the same chip! They both have the same, soundstage, tonality, and overal sound signature, but the brittle/sharp treble on the 4562's are not present on the 49720's, and the 49720's have slightly better detail and more focused/holographic imaging. The 49720's seem like a more-refined version on the 4562's. So to that end I've decided to buy another 49720 to see how it sounds in all three spots.


I'm surprised that you're experiencing sharpness from the 49720's. Are you listening through the headphone-out or RCA-out? And what other components are in your listening chain (headphones, cables, external amp, etc)? Please let us know what kind of setup you have and maybe we can help you figure out what is causing the sharpness..

I personally love classical music through my LM4562 + 2x49720 combo (the closest I can come to 3x49720 atm). Clarinets specifically have a tiny bit too much presence in the upper-mid region and are missing the lowest bass harmonics, but I hear no sharpness/brittleness from them and they otherwise sound quite close to the real thing for me, as do many other orchestral instruments.

Got a few questions for ya that'll maybe help us narrow down the problem... Do you hear this noise when there is no music playing? Does it get worse when your music is playing in the background and you're using your keyboard/mouse to do other things on the computer? Are you using the card's front panel connectors/headers on the card itself or one of the back ones (RCA or headphone-out)? Did you hear that same noise when using onboard sound? Does it only show up on certain recordings, or is it on everything?

IIRC, two other people have reported in this thread they have had lots of noise on their STX. I believe they both RMA'd their card and the replacement they each got back was noise-free. So it's possible you got a defective card. So if the above questions don't help narrow it down I would think about sending it back and exchanging it for another one, since all the rest of us have reported no noise whatsoever coming from the card. For me (and others) the background is dead-black silent.

Are LME49720 the same as LM4562,cos I am using 3 x LM4562 (My bad)

My Setup - Vista 32 Business Ed (Max Vol) -> PlayWASPI Player (No Vol Control) -> Asus Essence (3 LM4562 RCA out) -> EAM Preamp -> AudioEngine A5 + AudioEngine S8

Maybe the Audioengine is bass heavy, but I feel that the bass output is just nice in this setup, but the treble is more brittle on some occasions

PlayWASPI: Minimalist Audio Player
EAM Preamp: EAM ----- EA Electronics : Passive Pre-Amp

Don't tell me the problem lies with the PlayWASPI player. It is miles ahead of any audio player i have used including XMPlay with WASAPI out, foobar with WASAPI out, KS out, ASIO out,winamp with ASIO,OPENAL out.

Still dont know how to use CPlay successfully yet and dont wish to pay for xxxhighend