[terente0081]

I have a Asus Xonar D2/PM sound card right now. It's linked to my Yamaha A/V receiver through RCA cable and output DDL signal for 5.1 multichannel.
I also use the analog Front out of the sound card, going into a Yarland P100 tube amp driving a pair of Denon AH-D5000 headphones.

I want to change the sound card and get the Essence instead, mainly for the headphone amp part.
My question is: will I lose quality in the 5.1 system? Or the Essence is mainly a D2 with headphone amplif?

 

[ROBSCIX]

The Essence ST(X) surpasses the D2 for analog stereo sound quality.
If you us the digital connection to the receiver, the sound quality is dependant on the DAC quality inside the receiver. To note, the new ST w/ expansion card will support analog surround.
The headphone amplifier on the ST(X) is pretty good considering the overall price of the STX. I wouldn't say it would compete with high end external amplifiers.