Quote:   Yes, this is why I am contemplating the purchase.

I have owned the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 (open air) cans for a few years now and have been very satisfied. They have a wide stage with great mids and sound crisp and clear overall. Recently I cam across a good deal for the newer A900X closed headphones.   Will the A900X be a substantial...

Quote: Not yet. They received the card on Tuesday. I will give it a week or so before I contact them for a status update.

Quote:   I think it may be my old case. Anyway, I will need a dedicated headphone out... The Essence STX has this and the Xonar does not. Hopefully Auzentech will provide a reasonable level of customer support.    

Quote:   Last time I tried this there was an issue because there was a lot of static noise affecting the front panel.    

Quote: I also got my RMA # right away. Decided to take a risk and see how far it goes - sent the card off today.   Quote: Audio Technica AD700   Quote:   When you say you plug in your headphones, do you need to unplug the speakers? I need to have both the...

Quote: I was thinking about the Asus Xonar Essence STX because it has a built-in headphone amp, which is a big plus for my headphones.

Not sure that I know how to replace the capacitors, nor would I want to try.   I am also a bit hesitant about RMAing this card as I am likely out of my warranty period and I have read horror stories about Auzen support (months to get back a repaired card, if at all).     Maybe I should...

Quote: Did you ever manage to resolve the problem?

I purchased this sound card last year and everything was working perfectly fine. Last week I installed an SSD in my PC and reinstalled Windows. Now, for some reason unknown to me, the video card occassionally gives off a very loud continuous sound resembling a machine gun (similar to this).  ...

Quote: Yes, I know this. However, as I mentioned before, the card was screwed in with the same metal screw for 6 months without any static, so it's strange that it decided to act up now.

Quote: If I would have known that, I wouldn't have posted this thread to begin with. ;)

Quote: It is strange, because it was screwed in for 6 months with no static noise. Everything was fine. I decided to test all of the possibilities before submitting an RMA. It was attached all the way. I stuck a piece of paper under the card bracket so it doesn't hang down. The only...

I think I may have found the solution in the most unlikely place. I was trying to swap PCI express ports and then I decided to give the sound card a try without having the bracket screwed into the back of the case. Surely enough, static is gone. Essentially, the screw which screws the sound card...

As a last sanity check, I just plugged in my Shure earphones and same result - static from the right earphone. Therefore, I conclude that the headphones are fine and that it is a problem with the sound card. Will most likely need to replace it under warranty.