[Oubadah]

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[IA-64]

I have the same card, and i noticed that there were differences seeing pictures reviews, no thorough investigation, the only thing I noticed is that they have changed the PCIe bridge PLX8112 to Asmedia 1083 and Sanyo power capacitors, but seems there no quality loss.
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I purchased an STX at release and was very happy with it. I want to buy another one, but I was wondering if there have been any changes made to the card (seeing as it's had a pretty long run).
 
Have there been any revisions since release? I'm concerned that if I buy a card now it might not be consistent with my first one due to Asus substituting cheaper componentry or something (this type of thing is common in graphics cards, where they will revise the PCB and start skimping on components to cut costs - eg. GTX 285).

I'm an Essence STX owner.
One option you might look into.
Asus Xonar DX or D1 sound card and the Schiit Magni headphone amplifier.
The Xonar DX & D1 uses the same CMI8788 audio processor as the Essence STX & ST.
The Schiit Magni comes with a lower headphone output impedance (less then 1-Ohm), then the Essence STX & ST(10-Ohm), the Magni's low impedance is a benefit for low Ohm headphones.
I assume the Magni can drive high Ohm headphones just as well (maybe better?) as the Essence STX & ST.

 

[Oubadah]

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[stv014]

  Thanks, I wonder if there's any difference in latency between the two bridge chips...

 
Probably nothing of practical significance, most of the latency under typical usage comes from the Windows drivers.