ASUS Xonar Essence STX II
Jun 16, 2017 at 10:14 PM Post #616 of 888
I bought my STX II from a local microcenter yesterday. It was a nightmare getting it to work but in the end I would suggest that anyone having issues has to take note of the following:

1) Disable driver signature enforcement before you install drivers. Instructions online...and you may have to repeat the process twice before the drivers will install lol.
2) If you are going to be using headphones you should know that the driver setup (from ASUSTEK) also includes the Asus Audio Center, which you will have no idea was also installed if you didnt pay attention to the download notes. search for this program in your start menu and switch the output to the headphone jack. Voila! sound

TL DR: Pain to setup, but really really great sound for the price!
 
Jun 20, 2017 at 9:21 AM Post #617 of 888
Just something I discovered today, after having some trouble with crackling on my STX II 7.1. Apparently sometimes "bigger is not better", because my card fails the 96khz intramodulation distortion test in a serious way! At 96khz I can hear all sorts of unwanted artifacts. Keeping it to 48khz across the board gave me dead silence, as expected. So Be Warned, resist the temptation to go to 96 "just because"...

Link to article:
http://productionadvice.co.uk/high-sample-rates-make-your-music-sound-worse/
Link where I got the test files from:
https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html#toc_1ch

I'd be curious to hear how other people's cards do.
 
Jun 21, 2017 at 11:58 AM Post #618 of 888
Thanks Ren. I look forward to your review.
Hi SilverDesert,

Am still breaking in the Burson V5-D's, but can tell you this much so far. The V5i's are no way close to the fully descrete V5D's.
So, I would definately stick with the V5D's if you like the Burson sound. So far I have not experienced any clicking, distortion, nor heat issues.

On the decoupling cap mod you mentioned...

It is my understanding that the STXII already has decoupling caps on the card out of the box.
So you might ask Asus what adding more may or may not do or check with users here that have done the mod.

Hope this helps,

Ren
 
Jun 22, 2017 at 4:34 PM Post #619 of 888
Hi SilverDesert,

Am still breaking in the Burson V5-D's, but can tell you this much so far. The V5i's are no way close to the fully descrete V5D's.
So, I would definately stick with the V5D's if you like the Burson sound. So far I have not experienced any clicking, distortion, nor heat issues.

On the decoupling cap mod you mentioned...

It is my understanding that the STXII already has decoupling caps on the card out of the box.
So you might ask Asus what adding more may or may not do or check with users here that have done the mod.

Hope this helps,

Ren

Thanks for your kind reply Ren.

I went for the V5s and they are on the way.

As for the decoupling caps, Burson advices on the decoupling caps for the V5s to have the ultimate experience but after they had time to break in.

I hope someone can enlighten us with this if they did this.
 
Jun 29, 2017 at 3:07 PM Post #620 of 888
Greetings. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD600 (300 Ohm apparently). I have two headphone amps (Asus GDX and an onboard one, Gigabyte Gaming 3 AB350). Both headphone amps are no where near powerful enough it feels like, I constantly fiddle with the EQ and have the volume at 100%.

My question is, the STX II specifies a headphone amp up to 600 Ohm, is that by default? Or do you need to change OAmps? What are the OAmps, and what are they for?

It's a configuration setting that you enable in the software suite.

ASUS Essence STX II configuration.png
 
Jul 2, 2017 at 9:25 PM Post #621 of 888
I am using 3x V5 coupled with 3 SLIMIC II together with the MKP mod and can tell you that they sound AWESOME.

In my point of view there is a noticeable improvement in every possible aspect, but what I like best about them is the incredible clarity. I can hear every little micro detail in the song.

Currently I am using my STX 2 with the AKG 712 Pro, which couple quiet nicely.
I will upgrade to some end game headphones soon though.

Hi, I would like to know where the 3 SLIMIC II are placed on the sound card? Asus
Please answer me, thank you
 
Jul 12, 2017 at 7:08 AM Post #624 of 888
Hi, I would like to know where the 3 SLIMIC II are placed on the sound card? Asus
Please answer me, thank you

You take a new socket, solder the capacitor unto the right +/- pin and put the op amp on top.

8218829_thumb.jpg

*this picture is not from me*

You should know how to solder and have some basic electronic understanding before doing something like this.
Make sure, that the contacts of the capacitor does not touch other pins.
- Just my 2 Cents
 
Jul 12, 2017 at 7:58 AM Post #625 of 888
The new Bursons V6 are going to be released soon and they look promising!
They released the v6, 2 weeks after i received my v5... glad that i didn't need to buy them anymore to try after i went to full usb dac instead.

It is more cluttered, but on the positive side they sound better and my vga card is now 4-5 degrees cooler :D
 
Jul 13, 2017 at 10:48 AM Post #626 of 888
You take a new socket, solder the capacitor unto the right +/- pin and put the op amp on top.

8218829_thumb.jpg

*this picture is not from me*

You should know how to solder and have some basic electronic understanding before doing something like this.
Make sure, that the contacts of the capacitor does not touch other pins.
- Just my 2 Cents

Could you show a photo of the modifications made on your Asus card?

I have to buy an "extra dip8 sokets" and put it together as shown in the photo on the sockets of the Asus card?
 
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Jul 13, 2017 at 5:42 PM Post #627 of 888
Just something I discovered today, after having some trouble with crackling on my STX II 7.1. Apparently sometimes "bigger is not better", because my card fails the 96khz intramodulation distortion test in a serious way! At 96khz I can hear all sorts of unwanted artifacts. Keeping it to 48khz across the board gave me dead silence, as expected. So Be Warned, resist the temptation to go to 96 "just because"...

Link to article:
http://productionadvice.co.uk/high-sample-rates-make-your-music-sound-worse/
Link where I got the test files from:
https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html#toc_1ch

I'd be curious to hear how other people's cards do.

Hi blakflag,

Sorry to hear you are having issues. I run an STXII constantly set to 24 bit 192khz with no issues what so ever. That is with many diff file formats, bit depths, internet radio stations, and streaming over the internet. The only thing I have modded on my STXII is replacing the original Muses op amps.

Hope this helps,

Ren
 
Jul 28, 2017 at 8:00 AM Post #628 of 888
Hello, i have a dilema, not sure if i need to buy the H6 or not with the stx 2. I want to use 2 monitor spearks which will be connected to the rca ouput, but also i will need an ouput for my heapdphones amp. Should i go with a splitter, or i can configure on h6 to give me the same ouput as comes from the 2.0 rcas? I will not use a sub, the speakers are tannoy reveal 802, they have 8inch LF driver. But i would like to have the same sound quallity on both speakers and head amp. If i will go for burson v6 vivid do i need the double ones to replace the stock op amps that comes with stx 2? Should i buy 3 or 2 if i dont want to use the board headphones amplifier or output? Thank you!
 
Jul 29, 2017 at 12:17 AM Post #629 of 888
Hello, i have a dilema, not sure if i need to buy the H6 or not with the stx 2. I want to use 2 monitor spearks which will be connected to the rca ouput, but also i will need an ouput for my heapdphones amp. Should i go with a splitter, or i can configure on h6 to give me the same ouput as comes from the 2.0 rcas? I will not use a sub, the speakers are tannoy reveal 802, they have 8inch LF driver. But i would like to have the same sound quallity on both speakers and head amp. If i will go for burson v6 vivid do i need the double ones to replace the stock op amps that comes with stx 2? Should i buy 3 or 2 if i dont want to use the board headphones amplifier or output? Thank you!
The ASUS® XONAR® STX II is equipped to handle 2.0 from the outset, via the buffered dual-RCA analog output ("2 Speakers") and/or the Texas Instruments® power-output amplifier ("Headphone"). The H6 would be needed for line-level feeds for side, rear, and front-center speakers plus subwoofer for an up to 7.1 installation. Can't yet recommend for or against the Burson® V6 VIVID - the product itself is too new, and all of the discrete V's run into installation issues on the ST/X/II, as the RFI shield forces extension wiring or precision hole punching. (I've already taken the discrete V's under advisement for stereo components external to both my 'puters; the XONAR® One™ and STU™ may be able to fit the discrete V's with no further modification, as they don't have the severe packaging problems of the ST/X/II.)
 
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Jul 29, 2017 at 4:53 AM Post #630 of 888
Thank you for your answer! Are there any other op.amps that will not have issues with installation and they are similar as performance with burson? Someone around here was very happy with muses 01 and 02 over burson, but is hard to belive it. Maybe something that can fit inside and also use the rfi shielding from the board. In the future i will go with dual gpus so the extraspace will be nice. Thank you again.
 

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