[Aquanote]

I'm receiving quite a bit of background noise through my STX and ST. Tried them both with different power sources on different mainboards and so on to eliminate any other source of error.
 
Its when I switching from speaker to headphone out that its most noticable, Volume at low or max makes no difference.
 
This brings me to my question: is there any other audiophile stereo soundcard that is quiter?

 

[MrTechAgent]

WOW.
First time a complaint about Noise , The EMI shield does a spectacular job of being free from any interference , you must have got defective pieces.
Can I know the name of the mainboards also the PSU's ?

 

[Aquanote]

sorry, i dont want to start a discussion about the stx noise as i knew some people would feel a little "surprised". I just want advice on other similar grade soundcards that are out there.
 
It's impossible that all cards i tested are defective as well as mainboards, psu and whatnot as i tried many cards in many setups before being sure that its just normal for the essence to have background noise through headphone out. i even tried a dedicated power supply.
 
when using a sensitive headphone it becomes much more prominent, like an iem (i use the Denon Ah C710 to compare background noise) and my Sony nwz a865 dap is much quiter for example.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm receiving quite a bit of background noise through my STX and ST. Tried them both with different power sources on different main boards and so on to eliminate any other source of error.
Its when I switching from speaker to headphone out that its most noticeable, Volume at low or max makes no difference.
This brings me to my question: is there any other audiophile stereo sound card that is quieter?

Not sure if it would effect electrical noise from the computer, but do you disable on-board audio, when the STX & ST are installed?
 
I do not believe there is a sound card that would be considered quieter then the STX & ST.
Do you use the current sound cards for music? movies? gaming?
You might need to switch to an external DAC & Headphone amplifier, to remove back ground noise.

 

[Aquanote]

yes i always disable the onboard sound via bios.
 
I use it for everything that makes a sound on the computer ...music is my main concern though, I also have my stereo amplifier connected to it.
 
you're right, i probably have to look for an external solution, it's just not as convenient as having a soundcard.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Yes I always disable the on-board sound via bios.
I use it for everything that makes a sound on the computer ...music is my main concern though, I also have my stereo amplifier connected to it.
you're right, i probably have to look for an external solution, it's just not as convenient as having a sound card.

Sell off the Essence ST and STX, buy a Xonar DX or D1 internal sound card (Used $50-$60),
comes with the same surround sound features as the STX/STX.
Get an Audioengine D1, USB/optical, DAC, amp. $175
Plug the Xonar's DX/D1 optical output to the optical input on the D1.
You will have all the advantages of a sound card with the clear audio quality of an external DAC/amp.

 

[stv014]

Do you get noise that depends on system activity (moving the mouse, etc.), or just constant hiss ? In the latter case, if you are using 44.1 kHz sample rate, then resampling to 48 or 96 kHz could reduce the noise. In any case, the built-in headphone amplifier on these cards is not recommended for IEMs and some low impedance headphones. If the noise is not caused by interference, then an external amplifier that is well suited for use with low impedance headphones and IEMs could be enough to fix the problem.

 

[ab initio]

Quote:

Do you get noise that depends on system activity (moving the mouse, etc.), or just constant hiss ? In the latter case, if you are using 44.1 kHz sample rate, then resampling to 48 or 96 kHz could reduce the noise. In any case, the built-in headphone amplifier on these cards is not recommended for IEMs and some low impedance headphones. If the noise is not caused by interference, then an external amplifier that is well suited for use with low impedance headphones and IEMs could be enough to fix the problem.

Let me follow with an obvious additional point, make sure you set the sound card 24bit output---it should push kmixer's dithering noise floor down to -110dB or -120dB or so. If you leave the card to operate at 16bit output, you'll be getting noise around -96dB.
 
Cheers