[wje]

Quote:

 
I have the ST (basically the same thing) and in the past people who have purchased an O2 or an Asgard have been very disappointed in their purchase. To them there was no difference between the STX and the Schiit Asgard or the O2, and they felt like they had just wasted money. If you'd like you can change the sound of the amp with a few OPAMPs. You can read about it in the thread below. 
 
 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/421890/the-xonar-essence-stx-q-a-tweaking-impressions-thread

 
Yes, but the ugly truth about computer sound cards is their horrible isolation from noise.  I spent endless hours to get my DG by Asus to get somewhat silenced, but failed.  A purchase of the DSX didn't prove any better, nor the U3 by Asus.  In the end, I just kept the DG in place and use it to power the speakers built into my monitor.  While the Schiit Magni and Modi are being used to provide audio bliss.  But, best of all, I don't have anymore headaches trying to sort out the noise issues, memory conflicts as well as ensuring I have the latest drivers to keep the computer audio up and running.  Moving everything out to the Schiit and just keeping the USB "umbilical" cord connected to my computer has made me a very happy man.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

 
Yes, but the ugly truth about computer sound cards is their horrible isolation from noise.  I spent endless hours to get my DG by Asus to get somewhat silenced, but failed.  A purchase of the DSX didn't prove any better, nor the U3 by Asus.  In the end, I just kept the DG in place and use it to power the speakers built into my monitor.  While the Schiit Magni and Modi are being used to provide audio bliss.  But, best of all, I don't have anymore headaches trying to sort out the noise issues, memory conflicts as well as ensuring I have the latest drivers to keep the computer audio up and running.  Moving everything out to the Schiit and just keeping the USB "umbilical" cord connected to my computer has made me a very happy man.

 
Although I agree with sound cards in general, the Asus ST and STX are different. I literally get 0 noise from this amplifier unless I plug in Denon D7000. The Asus ST now has a third party writing drivers and keep advancing them. 
 
Many new members have been told to get a separate amplifier after having the ST and STX. Nearly every one of them is disappointed because they really don't hear a difference with the entry level amplifiers, namely the Schiit Asgard and O2. They don't provide enough of a jump in performance for a new listening to go "whoah! There's so much more going on here!" Ultimately the new listener is very disappointed. If someone really wants an upgrade from the Asus ST and STX they need to put a lot more money into the next tier of headphone amplifier. 

 

[MrTie84]

Quote:

 
Although I agree with sound cards in general, the Asus ST and STX are different. I literally get 0 noise from this amplifier unless I plug in Denon D7000. The Asus ST now has a third party writing drivers and keep advancing them. 
 
Many new members have been told to get a separate amplifier after having the ST and STX. Nearly every one of them is disappointed because they really don't hear a difference with the entry level amplifiers, namely the Schiit Asgard and O2. They don't provide enough of a jump in performance for a new listening to go "whoah! There's so much more going on here!" Ultimately the new listener is very disappointed. If someone really wants an upgrade from the Asus ST and STX they need to put a lot more money into the next tier of headphone amplifier. 

 
I also have the ST and I have never had issues with noise, though my HE500 would work on it, it would require high gain settings which while it made the sound loud it also made it grainy, now I use the ST as a DAC and power the cans with an emotiva mini-X, and I have more clean power then I could ever use. I have tried my fathers HE400 on the Mini-x and they really sounded great as well, though I didn't try them on the ST itself, but I'd imagine being more efficient then my HE500s would sound very good on the ST's amp. That said he did just buy a Magni so maybe I'll get change to compare the schiit and my ST in the near future.

 

[chewy4]

The STX has more than enough power for the HE-400, it's a really good amp. Only thing I didn't like is no analog volume control, it can make it seem a bit harsher when raising the volume.
 
As far as noise issues go, that's really not a normal problem. Even with unshielded cards.
 
I did get an Asgard after getting an STX myself. I thought I heard a difference at first but after some more testing and better volume matching I'm pretty sure it was in my head.
 
There's also some misconceptions about the gain settings. They don't change anything other than add some volume, period. Nothing happens on the hardware side, just adds some more volume on the software end. Medium gain gives a good amount of volume play for HE-400 so it's a good setting to try if you end up getting it.