Bought four of these from the linked seller and will report back after soldering. Was originally going to wait for Essence III to start selling stateside, but I have a feeling that may not happen very soon (if at all). There's a guy on eBay selling some from Germany, but the fact that he's...

Sheesh, well thanks for the headsup. I have the E1 MUSES, so guess I'll continue going DACless while I wait for the Essence III to sell stateside then use my MUSES opamps in that. If you have luck with those A10s please post back letting us know; I can probably manage it but am not a soldering...

Also interested in purchasing one of these, but no sellers found within US. For its price, I would prefer to have a warranty instead of purchasing overseas without warranty :P

Does anyone know how to remove the front panel from the Xonar One? I've removed all visible screws but cannot get it off of the volume knobs. The main reason I need to remove it is to see if I can reseat the volume knobs after turning them too much. They now just turn over and over without...

Have you considered the ASUS XONAR Essence One? I have the MUSES Edition and love it, but that's closer to $1000 than $500. The Base edition can be had for around $500 though.   E1 Base Edition: http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_Essence_One/ E1 Plus Edition...

Not sure if you're still active, but I sent you a PM since I found out my E1 MUSES is missing the gain jumper and has the wrong pots (B10 instead of A10)

Thank you for posting that video, Sniper. I subscribe to NCIX Tech Tips but not Linus' and keep forgetting to look at his channel. Fixed (subscribed to both now)

lol hellenic, everytime you post I have absolutely nothing to say. Unlike video panels and high end displays, this audio stuff just seems like learning Chinese to me. Video? More like Spanish (see: a helluva lot easier, and makes a helluva lot more sense)...

dzonylan, Just in case your friend's laptop doesn't yield any different results, I would try removing all components one by one until the problem is isolated. Example:   Still cracking on laptop? Change headphones. Still cracking with different headphones? Take E1 out of the loop...

10 different types? Ugh, and here I was hoping to understand all of this sometime this century...

Oh okay, well fair enough; I do not understand enough about jitter to comment on that, nor is my audio setup high quality enough to be concerned with timing differences (at least not yet). I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but I'd love to see an ABX test done with those $100+ USB cables...

I'm not disputing whether they're great quality cables, but whether or not they actually improve the quality of the data sent through them. This is not analog cabling we're talking about; all that passes through USB cables is data, which can be either degraded or not degraded. Are you then...

Uh What @ that extremely expensive audioquest carbon USB cable. You're one of those people who buy $70+ Monster brand HDMI cables too, aren't you? For that money, you could've upgraded your headphones to the AH-D5000s and not been reemed up the financial ass...   I'm an IT, not an audio...

Thank you so much for your review, Riker! As I explained in my personal response to your post, I feel the same when it comes to needing bass but not at the cost of anything else in a song. The term "bass head" to me usually puts a picture in my head of someone who cares about bass before...

Thank you very much, hellenic.   While I admit I'm much more well versed in video than audio at this point, I will continue to research this until I understand the graphs fully. If what I'm reading is true, though, I suppose all I need for my upcoming Denon AH-D7000s is the ST I already...

Quote: Can someone translate this into English for those of us still learning how to read graphs? Or link me to a Reading Sound Graphs for Dumbies? This could be good news for me, since I already have an Essence ST, but I'm a bit skeptical since I've read before that graphs can't show...

Haha, the headphones I mentioned are MSRP $1000 (but can be had for around $650 street), so I guess I was right in trying to save money with them. I'll have my nice speakers someday, when I'm able to afford a 1080p DLP projector and the rest of my home theater dream. Until then, D7000s it is 

Is the difference between entry-level active speakers and great headphones like the AH-D7000s huge, though? I ask because my main reason for wanting the AH-D7000s is that I understand they are the closest thing to a proper speaker setup in headphones currently available (without going...

  Quote: Thank you for posting this, Mauricio.    I was just thinking to myself "well what if I used my money on a proper speaker setup instead of splurging on Denon AH-D7000s"... and then your post and my small wallet woke me up.  

I left him feedback, but I just wanted to thank Rob for featuring the Asus one on a more computer-oriented website, most of which do not feature proper audiophile articles or reviews. Even [H] only did a Beats review recently, and should've slammed them with a "WORST OF" award instead of just...

      You're more right than you know.   See thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/486598/testing-audiophile-claims-and-myths (or more specifically, cases like #29).

Short Version:   The Essence STX will sound the same, based on my research of the two cards before buying the ST.   Also, Essence STX has exactly the same specs as Essence ST, minus jitter control improvement and 7.1 analog option.   Long Version: Through my extensive research on...

+rep Thank you very much.

  Quote: This.   Unlike compressed video, which can be distinguished much more easily (and without hurting your wallet very much at all), compressed vs uncompressed audio really requires an expensive ($2500+) setup to discern differences in. Either that or a sound engineer who's...

You don't need a headphone amp for the D2000s, and in fact you'd be throwing your money away to consider anything more than a basic DAC for them. The Essence ST/STX will improve its sound quality marginally and should be considered only if you eventually plan on upgrading your headphones to...