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Asus Xonar STX/ST and headphones: A basic guide - Page 2

post #16 of 47
3/27/10 at 2:39pm
I wouldn't say it is as simple as that, this is where many are getting into trouble. Setting the gain too high and the card becomes bright/agressive.
Use the proper setting for your cans impedance. You also have a volume control...Use it instead of boosting the gain too much.g
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface 124 dB SNR /...
post #17 of 47
3/27/10 at 11:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBSCIX View Post
I wouldn't say it is as simple as that, this is where many are getting into trouble. Setting the gain too high and the card becomes bright/agressive.
Use the proper setting for your cans impedance. You also have a volume control...Use it instead of boosting the gain too much.g
I agree, paired with some HD650 at 300-600ohms and it was too bright, set to 64-300 feels better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wali View Post
The highest gain setting of 300-600ohms provides the best sound quality, and it’s a perfect match for example with HD580/HD600/HD650, all these headphones have an impedance range of 300ohms to 600ohms.
I never did like this statement, i wouldn't say higher ohms = best sound quality.
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post #18 of 47
3/28/10 at 12:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuze View Post
I never did like this statement, i wouldn't say higher ohms = best sound quality.
you know what, stop trolling and cut the noobish bs. you have been bumping similar thread in other section as well.

check the xbitlab review and its charts, just because you "believe" in something, it does not mean crap, alright?
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post #19 of 47
3/28/10 at 2:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wali View Post
you know what, stop trolling and cut the noobish bs. you have been bumping similar thread in other section as well.

check the xbitlab review and its charts, just because you "believe" in something, it does not mean crap, alright?
Hey dou*he bag, i didn't say i believe in anything or imply everyone they should do the same, I'll leave that up to your godly know it all to run around and tell everyone to set to high gain, prick!
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post #20 of 47
3/28/10 at 2:17am
Hate to say it Wali, but he's right (and wrong) and so are you.

What the different settings do is just boost the gain. More gain = more current. To be driven properly, your headphone need to have the right amount of current going through it to move the drivers properly. Tbh, the IC used in the STX/ST built-in amp is quite bad for these phones. Even the one in the X-fi Forte is better in terms of the IC used.
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post #21 of 47
3/28/10 at 10:48am
Thread Starter 
These are the numbers when it comes to power output of STX... Anyone should be able to calculate the power output at whatever impedance there phone is rated for.

Stereophile: ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX soundcards

Quote:
The maximum output level from the line outputs was 2.16V; from the headphone jack, it depended on the setting chosen: 885mV (0dB, for headphones with impedances below 64 ohms), 3.52V (+12dB for headphones with impedances of 64–300 ohms), and 7.03V (+18dB for headphones with impedances of >300 ohms). Peculiarly, this maximum level remained the same if the Playback Level was increased to its maximum (12dB) in the Mixer panel of the Xonar Control Center. All that happened was that signals below the selected gain were amplified, but signals at or above it were unaffected; ie, with 12dB of gain selected, signals at or below –12dB were boosted by 12dB to 0dB; signals above –12dB were hard-limited to the same 0dB. The line output impedance was a moderately low 99 ohms at all frequencies; the headphone output impedance was 10.7 ohms at all frequencies and settings. All the outputs preserved absolute polarity; ie, were non-inverting.
Please people, either talk numbers and facts substantiated with links or don't waste my time by obligating me to respond.

If you have a genuine question then that's different.
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post #22 of 47
3/28/10 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Volume Control: Use the volume in Xonar, set the volume at your music player (foobar, winamp etc) at 100%.
Would it really make a difference?
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post #23 of 47
3/28/10 at 2:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanusk View Post
Would it really make a difference?
That idea, is meant to keep your output signal as high as possible for the LINE-OUT Not the headphone output. This would also be for the player volume and the master volume. The idea is it keeps the SNR as high as possible -the signal has the highest signal with the lowest noise before hitting the nest stage.
Hope that Helps.
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post #24 of 47
6/22/10 at 11:31pm

guys, i just purchased the Xonar STX card and i am facing a wierd problem, not enough volume for my K601s. Here is a snapshot of my settings

xonaressence.jpg

Even at this volume level, the sound is just adequate. My headphone impedance is put at High (64~300). I have also tried the highest gain (300-600); that increases the volume a bit but it is not enough.

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post #25 of 47
6/23/10 at 1:44am

nevermind guys, solved it, problem was in the mixer section.

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post #26 of 47
11/29/10 at 3:45pm

Hey guys, just picked up my Essence ST and I have one question really.

 

Does anyone else hear a click from the back of their card when they change a setting from 44.1KHz to 48 for example?

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post #27 of 47
11/30/10 at 11:28pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by wali View Post
Sample Rate: The default setting is 96khz, I don’t know the reason for that, it could be lack of auto sample rate but all my music is 44.1 and I set the sample rate at 44.1 to avoid any resampling. I have the windows sound option for Xonar also set to 24/44.1.

 


Why 24/44.1? Shouldn't it be 16/44.1 for most CD quality music?

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post #28 of 47
12/1/10 at 12:34am

I mod my STX last month. The burson dual opamp and elina cap can increase the sound more than you think. I was very happy to the result, but I decide to move forward as the headphone change to T1. For the STX, I think K702 is good enough for it.

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post #29 of 47
12/4/10 at 4:37am

I am getting some grado 325is cans....will I use the normal gain setting for these?

 

I believe the phones are 32 ohm....am I correct?

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post #30 of 47
12/4/10 at 10:23am

I just got this card! Late to the party, I know :'(

 

Anyways, is there a way for me to output the same audio stream on multiple outputs? I am trying to use two sets of headphones.

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface 124 dB SNR /...
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