[elwappo99]

Quote:

Good news: I'm currently haggling on a "Buy it now or Best Offer" on eBay for an Essence STX. Got him down to $130 for a refurbished model. Gonna see if I can get it to $120.

EDIT: The Verdict: Got to $125 before the seller stopped letting me make counter-offers. Close enough, and now it's mine! Did I get a good deal for a refurb? As I figure, a refurb is better than a used one, at least, which goes for $130+ on Amazon.

 
Definitely a good price. You're going to be totally thrilled when you get your HD598 plugged into it. 

 

[Royal Amethyst]

Most definitely. Now I realize this is something I probably should already know since I'm kind of an owner, if not yet a possessor, of this sound card, but which of the ports is the one where I would like to plug headphones into to take advantage of the built-in amp?
 

 
If I had to guess, I'd say the red/white ones on the left are the RCA ports for whatever desktop speakers I decide to get, the two larger ones in the middle are the 6.3mm (1/4") jacks for line-in and line-out, and THAT's where I'd want to plug my headphones into, yes? The far right is the digital coaxial out, right? No need for it at the moment, but good to have nonetheless.
 
Now I think I need to order some Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven music on DVD-Audio so that I can take advantage of my new sound card's 192kHz sample rate output. Does anyone know of any programs that'll rip DVD-Audio to 24-bit, high sample rate FLAC? I get the feeling any normal ripping software will just convert it down to standard 16-bit, 44kHz FLAC. I look forward to huge file sizes for my music.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Most definitely. Now I realize this is something I probably should already know since I'm kind of an owner, if not yet a possessor, of this sound card, but which of the ports is the one where I would like to plug headphones into to take advantage of the built-in amp?
 

 
If I had to guess, I'd say the red/white ones on the left are the RCA ports for whatever desktop speakers I decide to get, the two larger ones in the middle are the 6.3mm (1/4") jacks for line-in and line-out, and THAT's where I'd want to plug my headphones into, yes? The far right is the digital coaxial out, right? No need for it at the moment, but good to have nonetheless.
 
Now I think I need to order some Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven music on DVD-Audio so that I can take advantage of my new sound card's 192kHz sample rate output. Does anyone know of any programs that'll rip DVD-Audio to 24-bit, high sample rate FLAC? I get the feeling any normal ripping software will just convert it down to standard 16-bit, 44kHz FLAC. I look forward to huge file sizes for my music.

The very center jack is the headphone out (just to the right of the white RCA jack).
You can download the manual from Asus.

 

[Royal Amethyst]

Okay so for the moment I'm leaning toward the Swan D1080 IV speakers since someone said the M-Audio AV40's will leave me wanting. Sufficient, or should I REALLY spring for the Swan M200MkII's for $80 more?

 

[Royal Amethyst]

Well I got two things in the mail today. One is a cheap pair of Monoprice DJ headphones I got just because, and the other is my Essence STX. Everything sounds clear as a bell now on both my HD 598's and even pretty good on my not-as-high-quality Monoprice 8323's. Pretty glad I got both, actually. Though yes, now I do need some new speakers since I can't even plug my X-540's in anymore without converting, and even then it's just 2.1