[d8n0g]

amps like schiitl asgard, maverick tube magic.  what sounds better or is it even worth the upgrade.  I have my card selling right now-should I even bother?

 

[ROBSCIX]

The STX does have a high end DAC but many suggest the onboard amp does leave something to be desired.  If anything, I would use the lineout of the STX and go with a desktop amplifier.
Your choice though.
 

 

[Willakan]

Whether the onboard amp is good is largely dependent on the headphones you use with it. It uses the TPA6120 integrated headphone amplifier chip, which is excellent in every regard save the annoyingly high output impedance of 10 ohms. If you are driving higher impedance headphones, this isn't a problem. Anything under 80ohms and it's not so clear cut.

 

[bbindon]

+1 to above, as long as you are using headphones that are suitable, you should be set.

that being said, there is nothing wrong with picking up a decent amp, and fiddling around with some settings and different headphones to get the sound you want; thats the head-fi way, after all

 

[laxsar]

Do you like the pleasant distortion of tube amps? I If yes, the cheapest one is probably the Tubemagic A1, but it's more of a speaker + headphone amp, a dedicated headphone tube amp will definitely sound much more pleasant.
If you like the sound signature of solid state amps, then there are many you can choose from in the range of less than 300$ which is covered here in the forums.
To me that kind of explains why I don't really like the sound coming from my Essence ST's headphone out, it is a bit harsh in the highs, and bass seems a bit of uncontrolled. Most amps that I know of, have output impedance of 2-4 ohms not that many that have near 0 ohm like the E7/E9.
 
Using the k701 and hd650 on the essence STXto me sounds pretty good, better for HD650 to my ears than the K701. I didn't like the sound of Asgard, it is in all regards better than the amp in ST but I like the tube sound of my A1 more. And as a DAC the only other cards that I might consider is the Creative SB X-Fi Titanium HD, or Onkyo PCI-SE200 or smth.

 

[rrahman]

 

I have the asus essence ST, 2 desktop amps, and 2 portable amps.  I used to think that the amp was good enough for my efficient headphones, ultrasone edition 8, sennheiser HD595, DT770/32 etc.  The amp really only struggled w/ my freinds dt880/250 and sennheisder hd650... at least thats what I thought.  When I got the lcd2, I figured I would need a decent amp for once and I am glad I did.
 
Upgrading the amp had the biggest wow factor I have had since my early days upgrading from ibuds.  I would highly recommend getting a separate amp.  Even w/ efficient headphones the effect was stunning (esp. w/ hd595).  The Asus Essence ST amp certainly gets loud enough, but I'd say it sounds "sluggish."  A proper amp opened up the soundstage, improved decay, added kick to the bass, detail and extension across the spectrum.  Also, it certainly cannot properly power a 300ohm+ headphone to cost effective levels.
 
Both my desktop amps blow it out of the water(and cost twice as much), its not a fair comparison.  My Xm6 is also a substantial improvement.  My iBassoT2 (maybe) I'd say is about on par w/ it.
 
You might want to look into modifying it w/ op amps if cost is an issue.  I have no experience w/ it but have heard good things.  There are a couple of cheap concerto's in the for sale section.  Alternatively you could wait till the next Schiit amp comes out, I am sure a few will put up their lyr's for sale.
 
On the other hand, the DAC is quite good.  I demo'ed a PS Audio digital link III dac in my system and a Burson HD160.  I didn't notice substantial differences at least in my set up w/ spotify and pandora as my sources.
 
 
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amps like schiitl asgard, maverick tube magic.  what sounds better or is it even worth the upgrade.  I have my card selling right now-should I even bother?