Asus Xonar Essence STX? | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

Morph91 · Dec 2, 2013 at 8:11 AM

Hi everyone, i'm not brilliant with all the technical stuff so please help me out haha..

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V700 and the Essence STX that i mentioned. While this set up seems not bad i am looking for something that will make my listening experience extremely pleasurable. I am thinking of making a purchase of the Sennheiser HD650 cans but i have read that they are not a good mix with the sound card. Do you need a DAC/Amp with this card to power the HD650? If so is it possible to link a DAC or AMP with the card? I would spend around £200 maybe more on a DAC but would have to either get the cans or DAC or AMP to start with, thanks in advance for any help!

PurpleAngel · Dec 2, 2013 at 10:15 AM

morph91 said:
Hi everyone, i'm not brilliant with all the technical stuff so please help me out haha..

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V700 and the Essence STX that I mentioned. While this set up seems not bad I am looking for something that will make my listening experience extremely pleasurable. I am thinking of making a purchase of the Sennheiser HD650 cans but I have read that they are not a good mix with the sound card. Do you need a DAC/Amp with this card to power the HD650? If so is it possible to link a DAC or AMP with the card? I would spend around £200 maybe more on a DAC but would have to either get the cans or DAC or AMP to start with, thanks in advance for any help!

The STX can drive headphones up to 600-Ohms and the HD650 are 300-Ohms, so the STX can drive the HD650.
Are there headphone amplifiers that can drive the HD650s better then the STX, I would think so.
Is the HD650 going to be used for just music audio? or movies? or gaming?

I've been using an Audio-GD NFB-15.32 for the past five weeks, better DAC and headphone amplifier, then my STX. Comes with dual WM8741 DAC chips
Costs 155 GBP + shipping.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm

Morph91 · Dec 3, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Thanks for the reply. It is for music purposes only, no gaming or movies. I am new to all this stuff so i am a bit in the dark. I like your recommendation i will read up on it. Have you heard the HD650 PurpleAngel? I am trying to also find out if they have decent bass but not so much that it turns out to being over the top. I have heard the DAC on the STX is good so was just thinking of connecting an external AMP within the STX setup. I am wondering if this would be much of an upgrade though

Morph

PurpleAngel · Dec 3, 2013 at 6:13 PM

morph91 said:
Thanks for the reply. It is for music purposes only, no gaming or movies. I am new to all this stuff so i am a bit in the dark. I like your recommendation i will read up on it. Have you heard the HD650 PurpleAngel? I am trying to also find out if they have decent bass but not so much that it turns out to being over the top. I have heard the DAC on the STX is good so was just thinking of connecting an external AMP within the STX setup. I am wondering if this would be much of an upgrade though

I've never listened to the HD650, but they do seem to be liked for music, try asking on this thread about anything to do with the HD650.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/197776/sennheiser-hd650-appreciation-thread

Buy the Audio-GD NFB-15.32, with the TCXO upgrade, sell off the Essence STX.
As the Audio-GD is external, it will not be affected by any electrical noise inside the computer, if you had any.
The 15.32 has a better DAC (dual DAC chips) and a more powerful head amp, then the STX.

Morph91

100+ Head-Fier

PurpleAngel

Headphoneus Supremus

Morph91

100+ Head-Fier

PurpleAngel

Headphoneus Supremus

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