[Gandah]

I was reading on DIYaudio forum about different volume pots and the DACT potentiometer could be a better option for the E1, because of 2 reasons, first its a step pot with total accuracy for both channels, and second it looks like it would be easier to fit in the E1
 
I know the Taiwan Alpha feels like a step potentiometer but unfortunately its not

 

[xxicrimsonixx]

Wonder how this compares to the amps in their sound cards.

 

[cssarrow]

Finally fixed my RCA Output on the Essence One.
It's so ugly now with all the hot glue, that i just want to ditch it and use XLR.
 
it's a sad enough life...
 
Edit:
Never mind! it broke again.
Time to use XLR.

 

[xneakers]

I think this gonna be an interesting mod...
 
Neat surgery...
 

 
 
Thanks.

 

[cssarrow]

Quote:

I think this gonna be an interesting mod...
 
Neat surgery...
 
Thanks.

Wow.

I'm very curious to what he's going to be doing.
Doesn't look like he would be doing anything with the XLR, as he didn't even bother to remove their capacitors.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Wonder how this compares to the amps in their sound cards.

 
 
Well, it has less power than ST or STX, but overall the sound quality is slightly better, a bit warmer and the high end sharpness of the ST/STX is gone. Thats the main issue of ST/STX, they're not exactly musical sound cards.

 

[ClieOS]

Well, this is kind of an insider news but there will be a new addition to the Xonar Essence series in about a month. You won't find much info about it for now but the new model is called STU and it will be an USB DAC / amp. I might have a chance to listen to it in the next few weeks before market release and I will keep you guys updated.

 

[Gandah]

Nice one ClieOS, thanks for the heads up

 

[cssarrow]

Thanks for the head's up!
 
USB DAC/AMP is exactly what we need.
 
Hopefully it's more high end and is not USB POWERED.
 
Tim

 

[dynamics]

Quote:

Well, this is kind of an insider news but there will be a new addition to the Xonar Essence series in about a month. You won't find much info about it for now but the new model is called STU and it will be an USB DAC / amp. I might have a chance to listen to it in the next few weeks before market release and I will keep you guys updated.

Awesome.  I'm curious to see more info on it now.  I'm looking forward to see what it has to offer.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Well, this is kind of an insider news but there will be a new addition to the Xonar Essence series in about a month. You won't find much info about it for now but the new model is called STU and it will be an USB DAC / amp. I might have a chance to listen to it in the next few weeks before market release and I will keep you guys updated.

 
 
Do you know whether it will be higher up the chain compared to the Essence One?

 

[xneakers]

I dont think it's gonna be USB powered. Most likely it's gonna be either Gainclone or TDA. It could be D-Class amp if Asus wants something different, but I have doubt as such amp will be a bit difficult to design with such USB/DAC combo.

From my point of view, I dont really look for such combo between DAC and Amp. Especially if the approach is high end audio. Too many things inside one box surely will create more interferences. Means more pain than the gain.

There are a lot of room for improvement for Essence One if Asus want to go into higher end audio. Combining Amp inside only make it into more hi-fi than high-end... The good thing is, the E1 will have a longer life, as this DAC/Amp combo would become an additional model instead of replacement...

My 0.02$

Thanks.

 

[Gandah]

I'm absolutely gobsmacked!!
 
When I initially had my E1 "standard edition" I had the chance to go to a local meet and tryout other peeps setups. What I remember of the dac/amp combos I used with my HPs was the Burson Conductor and the Fostex HP-A8C. Which at the time I was thinking both had better SQ, the Burson more so.
 
Well today I revisited the HP-A8C, and to my amazement with just SQ alone, E1 "rolled" Muses edition, totally SlayeRd it!! by a rather large margin. Both E1 and Hp-a8c have a very similar sound sig believe it or not, which I think makes it easier to compare SQ differences when doing an A-B test. The biggest difference was overall smoothness.
 
The Fostex HP-A8C is a great DAC no question, and has many more features than the E1 like DSD, Remote, and SDcard slot just to name a few, and to be fair it was a demo version so I have no idea how much burn in time it has had, so you have to add that in to consideration.
 
Want to point out, that I'm not bias ether way as my HPs are Fostex and I absolutely love'em
 
So for what the E1 is, Muses Edition or not, makes it a awesome buy for it's price point, still today

 

[Kenion]

Quote:

I'm absolutely gobsmacked!!
 
When I initially had my E1 "standard edition" I had the chance to go to a local meet and tryout other peeps setups. What I remember of the dac/amp combos I used with my HPs was the Burson Conductor and the Fostex HP-A8C. Which at the time I was thinking both had better SQ, the Burson more so.
 
Well today I revisited the HP-A8C, and to my amazement with just SQ alone, E1 "rolled" Muses edition, totally SlayeRd it!! by a rather large margin. Both E1 and Hp-a8c have a very similar sound sig believe it or not, which I think makes it easier to compare SQ differences when doing an A-B test. The biggest difference was overall smoothness.
 
The Fostex HP-A8C is a great DAC no question, and has many more features than the E1 like DSD, Remote, and SDcard slot just to name a few, and to be fair it was a demo version so I have no idea how much burn in time it has had, so you have to add that in to consideration.
 
Want to point out, that I'm not bias ether way as my HPs are Fostex and I absolutely love'em
 
So for what the E1 is, Muses Edition or not, makes it a awesome buy for it's price point, still today

Thank you for sharing your own impression about the two headphone amps/dacs Gandah!
Glad you like em both!
Gives me that warm fuzzy feeling to know that I did the right thing buying the E1 hehe...

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Do you know whether it will be higher up the chain compared to the Essence One?

 
I don't know. The info I have is very limited, and I won't be able to give you any comparison even if I have the STU since I have never listened to any other Xonar before.