[derbigpr]

Quote:

Hi, I wonder if the Essence one works with macbook?

 
 
Probably does, but why would one buy the Essence One if you can get the Apogee Duet?
I heard that little thing in combination with Fidelia player...and it made me seriously consider buying a macbook just as a source of music.

 

[DrakAyla]

Quote:

 
 
Probably does, but why would one buy the Essence One if you can get the Apogee Duet?
I heard that little thing in combination with Fidelia player...and it made me seriously consider buying a macbook just as a source of music.

Hi, thank you for the reply.
 
When I checked Asus web they says that the Essence is compatible with PC/Windows. They didn't mention MAC!!!!
 
Regarding Apogee Duet, I don't think (almost sure) it will be able to drive big cans.

 

[Dionysus]

Would this be an upgrade to a Essenes STX pcie card on my current comp. I mean other than the portable aspects and source selections, thanks in advance.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Would this be an upgrade to a Essenes STX pcie card on my current comp. I mean other than the portable aspects and source selections, thanks in advance.

 
 
Depends. Headphone amp on E1 is better, and it can power speakers too. In terms of a DAC, I don't think there's a difference. DAC in STX is already as good as it gets regardless of price.

 

[Fegefeuer]

The beginning of a track I click on is skipped by a few ms, it's annoying. What are the right settings for Foobar2000 and the Asus E1 ASIO panel?

 

[derbigpr]

Do you guys think Essence One would have enough power in the amp to run DT880's 600 Ohm properly?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Do you guys think Essence One would have enough power in the amp to run DT880's 600 Ohm properly?

 
According to the specifications, it can output a maximum of 7 Vrms. That is about the same as the Xonar ST/STX, the FiiO E9, and the O2, and is enough in theory.

 

[Dionysus]

Ordering Essence One today......hope to have a great experience with my HD700.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Ordering Essence One today......hope to have a great experience with my HD700.

 
 
 
Give impressions when it arrives please. I'm still waiting to pull a trigger on it for DT880's 600. Not sure whether it will have enough power. I read in a review where it was tested with LCD2's and HD800's that it clipped at higher volume levels.  Would those two be harder to run than 880's?

 

[Dionysus]

Arriving Friday I'll try and chime in over the weekend.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Arriving Friday I'll try and chime in over the weekend.

 
Ah too bad. I was hoping you'd get it earlier.   I have two more days to decide, and then I'll have to buy it, so by friday I'll have it too.  Meh...I guess DT880 600's should be powered sufficiently from it. I just don't get it why there aren't specs released about how much power the E1 amp gives out at certain impedance loads...

 

[lup31337]

Can anyone tell me how is the amp section ? I want to buy a DAC and I already have a little dot mk V , So should I sell the LD our should I keep it and uses the asus just as a DAC ?

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Can anyone tell me how is the amp section ? I want to buy a DAC and I already have a little dot mk V , So should I sell the LD our should I keep it and uses the asus just as a DAC ?

 
 
Well I can tell you that the amp section in Teac UD-H01 which I tried is better than my Mk5 in terms of sound quality, but with slightly less gain (still more than enough to make DT880 600 ohm very very loud).   And Essence One apparently has a better amp than UD-H01.

 

[derbigpr]

It has arrived!
Man its heavy, both in terms of weight of the unit and bass reproduction.  However its for now very unimpressive in terms of sound quality and basically everything apart from the build quality. Running it with Foobar and Asio trough bit-perfect mode, and I'd say its not as good as the ST, not even the head amp has more power than the ST, my DT880's get louder out the ST. The sound clarity is just not there. Everything sounds small, congested and muddy. Might be because its still new, but apart from the great build quality, I'd not pay more than 100$ for this thing. Good thing I can return within 8 days. Tomorrow I'll go to the store and compare it with Teac UD-H01, but as far as I remember, it sounded much better than Asus. It left me stunned by how good the DT880's sound, while with Asus they literally sound like...well, crap.  Honestly, DT880's plugged into 8 year old Philips FW-M567 mini stereo system sound as good if not better, and go just as loud without distortion, I'm not joking. At the moment I am HUGELY disappointed by this thing.
 
Just to add, I'm the most disappointed by the head amp section. Obviously "made for 600 Ohm headphone" is just a marketing gimmick.  It can't even run the 600 Ohm Beyers to comfortably loud level, let alone very loud.  Over 12 o'clock there's no increase in volume either.  Difference between the knob being at 12 o'clock and all the way to the end is like 4-5 decibels, virtually no increase in loudness.
 
I've had it on maxed out volumes everywhere on PC, and on the knob in the front for the last 30 minutes, and still haven't played a single song that had me wanting for more loudness.

 

[derbigpr]

God this thing is overpriced. Honestly, as a DAC alone, ST is better, it just sounds cleaner and...more solid, and true to what is on the recording. E1 only seems to have more bass....everything else is better on STX, bigger soundstage, cleaner sound, more details, etc. So, as DAC, it fails.  As a headphone amp, it actually has less juice than the ST as well, can't run my DT880's 600 as loud, in fact, as you see it on the picture, its on the full volume, and its actually not even what I'd consider normal listening volume on most music. Not loud in any sense of the word, and too silent on some recordings.
 
So whats the point of marketing it for 600 ohm headphones if it clearly hasn't got the power for them? I mean, come on Asus, I expected more from you guys.
Who makes 600 ohm headphones? Only Beyerdynamic to my knowledge. So how can they say that it can run 600 Ohm headphones? Has anyone in Asus tried the E1 with 600 ohm headphones? I highly doubt, because if I was an engineer there, and I heard how weak the headphone output is with them, I'd say something is wrong and it needs more work.
 
I know I'm saying this with less than 3 hours of listening, but this thing costs almost 3 times more than ST, and is inferior in every way apart from having XLR outputs. I can tell that clearly. Packing it up, returning tomorrow.