[OneSec]

If you plug your headphone to the card directly on the headphone jack you need to roll only the I/V sessions - 2 will be sufficient
 
If you use a headphone amp connecting to the 2 RCA jack, then you need to roll the buffer as well - 3 in that case.
 
Normally people will pair the i/v on identical opamp, and the buffer follow the same or use a different one.
 
First page have a lot of information on opamp impression and will be a good start. Better to loo there because some sound signature information is included, you can pick those that suite your taste best.
 
I have bought 4 pairs to roll, and after 1 month, I'm still trying on the second pair which is recommended by purple angle - I'm a burn in believer so it will take a good 50 hours for me to confirm if the sound is what I'm looking for .

 
Quote:

 
thx purpleangel i will buy, but can u just give me maybe one or two other op amps i can try bcuz i allready pay for shipping so why not throw a few in already thank u very much

 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hello, I have a problem with opamps as well, I put 3 X LME49720NA and there's way too much highs !!! I have to put -4db on 8Khz and -8db on 16Khz and even with that, highs are still VERY agressive !
It's so agressive that I feel very disturbed with my ears, I tried to reduce it further but it still kind of "hurts". I'll try to go backwards with opamps but I have to ask my parents to go get the soundcard box, and I don't believe it's going to change the sound THAT much.
It does not come from the speakers, I have soundsticks II and they're already harsh but JBL duet are very soft and with the soundcard they become harsh as well and have far more highs. And it's the same for the big Ellipson's speakers :_(...
If you have any please tell me I'm having a hard time enjoying this soundcard whatever the use of it : headphones, speakers, in ears (too much power for IE8 : 16 ohms and high sensitivity...)
I almost regret it, I should have bought a costly external amp with digital input
Thank you
EDIT : I'm doing tests to really listen to the difference and there are many songs where the vocals actually have more treble I'm taking my J3 and the duet before my ears explode....

I'm just taking a shot in the dark.
Get three LME49860NAs, they are the cherry picks of the LME49720NA that have been labeled LME49860NA (better voltage range).
$15 on eBay for all three.
 
AD797ANZ have great reviews, might also be a little more "finicky" on which board they will work well in.
But I believe the Essence is ok with them.
 
AD797ARZ (and AD797BRZ) are the SOIC, which need a SOIC to DIP-8 mount to work on the Essence.
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

thx purpleangel i will buy, but can u just give me maybe one or two other op amps i can try bcuz i allready pay for shipping so why not throw a few in already thank u very much

I'm not an experienced op-amp user, check the first page of this thread.
 
 

 

[raiser roofer]

Is the RCA output unshielded?? I have a Schiit Asgard amp plugged into my STX, and I can hear either processor or disk noise, similar when plugging headphones directly into an unshielded laptop output.
 
I know it's not the amp, because the noise only happens when I make an action on the computer, and adjusting the volume even to 0 on both the amp and the computer still produces the noise at the same volume.
 
It's probably too quiet to hear if you're using full sized headphones, but on IEMs it's incredibly noticeable, and very distracting when playing some games.

 

[ale14]

hmm so LME49860NA are better than LME49720NA im so confused because there are really a LOT of options for these op amps so i think ill just order these
2 X LME49860NA
2 X LM6172
2 X LT1057
 try all combinations and keep the best one

 

[OneSec]

Quote:

hmm so LME49860NA are better than LME49720NA im so confused because there are really a LOT of options for these op amps so i think ill just order these
2 X LME49860NA
2 X LM6172
2 X LT1057
 try all combinations and keep the best one

Great! Remember to give them some good hours.
 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Is the RCA output unshielded?? I have a Schiit Asgard amp plugged into my STX, and I can hear either processor or disk noise, similar when plugging headphones directly into an unshielded laptop output.
I know it's not the amp, because the noise only happens when I make an action on the computer, and adjusting the volume even to 0 on both the amp and the computer still produces the noise at the same volume.
It's probably too quiet to hear if you're using full sized headphones, but on IEMs it's incredibly noticeable, and very distracting when playing some games.

Wow, is the Schiit Asgard that much better sounding then the STX's headphone amplifier?
 
 

 

[ohaider]

Quote:

Hello, I have a problem with opamps as well, I put 3 X LME49720NA and there's way too much highs !!! I have to put -4db on 8Khz and -8db on 16Khz and even with that, highs are still VERY agressive !
It's so agressive that I feel very disturbed with my ears, I tried to reduce it further but it still kind of "hurts". I'll try to go backwards with opamps but I have to ask my parents to go get the soundcard box, and I don't believe it's going to change the sound THAT much.
It does not come from the speakers, I have soundsticks II and they're already harsh but JBL duet are very soft and with the soundcard they become harsh as well and have far more highs. And it's the same for the big Ellipson's speakers :_(...

If you have any please tell me I'm having a hard time enjoying this soundcard whatever the use of it : headphones, speakers, in ears (too much power for IE8 : 16 ohms and high sensitivity...)
I almost regret it, I should have bought a costly external amp with digital input
 
Thank you
 
EDIT : I'm doing tests to really listen to the difference and there are many songs where the vocals actually have more treble I'm taking my J3 and the duet before my ears explode....

I had this exact issue with the 720s - the highs got really harsh and started to bother my ears.
 

 

[raiser roofer]

Quote:

Wow, is the Schiit Asgard that much better sounding then the STX's headphone amplifier?

Yes.
 
Anyone know how to get rid of computer noise from the RCA outputs?

 

[ThibWay]

Thank you very much for your reply. I should have known you'll recommand me other opamps and you're perfectly right to do it but I can't buy things like this just by listening to one person, maybe we don't have the same meaning of "big difference", what would be interesting however is if someone had Frequency graphs to show that a particular opamp reduces the highs etc - it may exist but I didn't see one .
 
What I was waiting to read was something like "Opamps won't change much if you think Xonars have aggressive highs, you should probably buy an amplifier with integrated DAC etc...".
 
 
But actually I discovered something meanwhile, I was very stupid not to think about it : So ok my computer makes much noise, alone it's ok but I think it's when I add the speakers the mix of the two is just unbearable for the ears xD.
What I can try is deplacing my speakers to my central desk, sitting on the bed and control foobar with my laptop ^^, that way I'll be less disturbed by the noise and it'll be like listening to the MP3 player. Or maybe not... I have to copy my collection first then I can try it ^^.
BUT I believe there are two problems that combine : the noise of the computer and the soundcard.
 
 
However I know that the JBL duet have a special sound, the only other speakers I fell in love with are old HECO in an second-hand CD store (they were not as high as columns half highs I'd say but larger and higher than Soundsticks already). When I'll have my own appartment I'll definitely check this brand as well as big JBLs ^^. It's absurd to prefer 10cm speakers to 20cm speakers with subwoofer or big ones like the ellipson...
 
EDIT : I read somewhere and that seemed pretty logical that agressive highs are due to a peak somewhere in the highs and you can actually see that in the frequency graph. 
Shall I try 3 basics opamps again or still put only 1 or 2 LME49720NA and where  (I/V section, headphone out etc...) ?

 

[ThibWay]

(HALF OFF TOPIC POST)
 
By the way as I'm thinking about it, I'd like to see what fanless or even mecanicless (without things turning I mean ) configuration you can obtain with ivy bridge and for what price.
I love graphics as well, extremely well detailed games, but when you don't play it would be cool to have optimus technology to shut down those monstruous graphic cards... I read an article saying it might be implemented in the future on desktops PC.
 
 

 

[vyyye]

Quick question, got the Essence ST with Foobar2000 and changed to WASAPI output. Should I use "WASAPI: SPeakers (ASUS Xonar...)" in the Device options? Using headphones but that one seemed most applicable.

 

[fufula]

That's just what the default analog output for whatever sound card you use is called in Windows 7.
 
You can right click the speaker icon in the tray, go into playback devices, double click Speakers (or right click and choose properties) and rename it to whatever you like.

 

[vyyye]

Ah I see, thank you.

 

[ale14]

hey guys as u know im using 2 channel setup using foobar and stx as source
and today i was listening some music and i played with foobar dsp and just out of fun i acivated (convert stereo to 4 channels)
in drivers i have default 2 channels hi-fi mode etc.
And when i selected that "thing" i was like What... so much "bigger sound" coming from speakers bass is much more present
and sound is a bit louder too so i thought thats the reason for "bigger sound" but then i deactivated (back to 2 channel i quess)
and put more volume on my amp but still didnt hear that "big sound" i mean bass is just amazing usind convert to 4 channels
so any 1 with similar setup with 2 channels ( i dont have subwofer) can try this and report what u think .
i really dont know how that works but sound is better i think and i really hate all other dps things tho