[LuckerCat]

I recently purchased the v-moda m100 and the Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card. I setup the sound card and I noticed that the headphones don't sound any better or worse when plugged into the sound card compared to my android phone.
 
I am using music downloaded on Spotify with the high-quality option checked. When I plug my headphones into my sound card in the back of my computer and play a song, it sounds absolutely identical to playing the music through my Samsung Galaxy Note II. It appears that the soundcard is functional because the headphones are plugged directly into it and I can hear sounds played through it as well as adjust the volume in the card's control panel.
 
Is it possible that these headphones simply don't have anything to gain from using this sound card?
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I recently purchased the v-moda m100 and the Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card. I setup the sound card and I noticed that the headphones don't sound any better or worse when plugged into the sound card compared to my android phone.
I am using music downloaded on Spotify with the high-quality option checked. When I plug my headphones into my sound card in the back of my computer and play a song, it sounds absolutely identical to playing the music through my Samsung Galaxy Note II. It appears that the sound card is functional because the headphones are plugged directly into it and I can hear sounds played through it as well as adjust the volume in the card's control panel.
Is it possible that these headphones simply don't have anything to gain from using this sound card?
Thanks in advance!

 
Did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, when you installed the Essence STX?
 
Maybe try these third party drivers
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
Assuming your testing using music, is the Audio Channel set to 2-channel?

 

[LuckerCat]

   
Did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, when you installed the Essence STX?
 
Maybe try these third party drivers
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
Assuming your testing using music, is the Audio Channel set to 2-channel?

 
Thanks for the response! I did not disable the motherboard's on-board audio, but I will try and do that. Also, I tried installing the drivers above and while everything appears to work fine, still no noticeable difference. My audio is set to 2 channel in the sound card control panel.
 
I would also like to point out: I'm positive the sound card is functioning because the headphones can get MUCH louder when plugged in to the sound card as opposed to my phone, so it appears the amplification is working. That being said, anything above my phone's max is way too loud to even listen to and up to that point there is absolutely no difference in sound quality between my phone and sound card.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for the response! I did not disable the motherboard's on-board audio, but I will try and do that. Also, I tried installing the drivers above and while everything appears to work fine, still no noticeable difference. My audio is set to 2 channel in the sound card control panel.
I would also like to point out: I'm positive the sound card is functioning because the headphones can get MUCH louder when plugged in to the sound card as opposed to my phone, so it appears the amplification is working. That being said, anything above my phone's max is way too loud to even listen to and up to that point there is absolutely no difference in sound quality between my phone and sound card.

 
You might try reinstall drivers for the Essence STX, after disabling the on-board audio.
Just in case the STX's driver install was corrupted by the on-board.
 
Also the Unified Xonar Drivers were just updated a week ago.

 

[LuckerCat]

Once again, thank you for the reply. I just checked my BIOS and it looks like my onboard audio is already disabled. I'm not sure when/how this happened, but I confirmed by checking my devices in windows. 
 
I also just tried re-installing the drivers and nothing has changed.

 

[MrKazador]

The bios probably disabled it when your new card was detected. Same thing happens when you install a GPU (onboard video gets disabled).

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Once again, thank you for the reply. I just checked my BIOS and it looks like my on-board audio is already disabled. I'm not sure when/how this happened, but I confirmed by checking my devices in windows. 
I also just tried re-installing the drivers and nothing has changed.

 
It might be the V-Moda M100s are just the kind of headphones that sound good plugged into anything.
 
You might try getting a song in the FLAC format (24-bit/96K) from HDtracks and play it thru the Essence STX (set the STX for 24-bit/96K).
Also get the free program Foobar2000, for playing audio files on the computer
The music files from Spotify, even their HD ones, may not really take advantage of the STX's audio hardware.
 
But then again, if all your going to do is using Spotify (HD), your music will still sound the same as the Android phone, because your not going to be using FLAC files anyway.
If the sound card is only really used for music (mostly), maybe return the Essence STX and get a FiiO E10K ($75) USB-DAC-Amp.
The E10K headphone output impedance of less then 1-Ohm, would be considered technically better for driving the 32-Ohm V-Moda M100.
over the STX's headphone output impedance of 10-Ohms.

 

[LuckerCat]

   
It might be the V-Moda M100s are just the kind of headphones that sound good plugged into anything.
 
You might try getting a song in the FLAC format (24-bit/96K) from HDtracks and play it thru the Essence STX (set the STX for 24-bit/96K).
Also get the free program Foobar2000, for playing audio files on the computer
The music files from Spotify, even their HD ones, may not really take advantage of the STX's audio hardware.
 
But then again, if all your going to do is using Spotify (HD), your music will still sound the same as the Android phone, because your not going to be using FLAC files anyway.
If the sound card is only really used for music (mostly), maybe return the Essence STX and get a FiiO E10K ($75) USB-DAC-Amp.
The E10K headphone output impedance of less then 1-Ohm, would be considered technically better for driving the 32-Ohm V-Moda M100.
over the STX's headphone output impedance of 10-Ohms.

 
Thanks again, I will try out some higher quality files.
 
As for the new amp you recommended, I cannot actually return the Essence STX because I have had it just long enough for it to be outside of the return date (a mistake on my end). That being said, I don't have a problem selling this on eBay and purchasing the FiiO E10K you recommend. The issue is that I personally have never heard the benefits of amplifying headphones, so I'm struggling to convince myself it's worth it. The main question in my mind is: is it more likely that this sound card setup is in some way not functioning correctly and that these headphones DO sound better with an amp, or that they really don't benefit from being driven? I always find it hard to believe that I'm "that" guy that ran into an issue or picked a "good amp" that just doesn't pair particularly well with these headphones, but I know it's possible.

 

[TripBitShooter]

I would recommend the E10k as well, for its sound quality, ultra low pricing and ease of usage.
What android phone is it? It may already have a decent sound card, but even then you should be able to hear a difference. I can hear differences in sound using my super old, extremely cheap headphones, not to mention my more expensive ones

 

[LuckerCat]

I would recommend the E10k as well, for its sound quality, ultra low pricing and ease of usage.
What android phone is it? It may already have a decent sound card, but even then you should be able to hear a difference. I can hear differences in sound using my super old, extremely cheap headphones, not to mention my more expensive ones

 
Thanks for the recommendation. The phone is a Galaxy Note II.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks again, I will try out some higher quality files.
As for the new amp you recommended, I cannot actually return the Essence STX because I have had it just long enough for it to be outside of the return date (a mistake on my end). That being said, I don't have a problem selling this on eBay and purchasing the FiiO E10K you recommend. The issue is that I personally have never heard the benefits of amplifying headphones, so I'm struggling to convince myself it's worth it. The main question in my mind is: is it more likely that this sound card setup is in some way not functioning correctly and that these headphones DO sound better with an amp, or that they really don't benefit from being driven? I always find it hard to believe that I'm "that" guy that ran into an issue or picked a "good amp" that just doesn't pair particularly well with these headphones, but I know it's possible.

 
Right now Amazon and Newegg are selling open box Essence STXs for $125.
Which means you might end up selling your STX for even less and you would cover shipping to the buyer.
So it would be like your swapping your $180 sound card for a $75 USB-DAC-Amp, so it does not make economic sense.
Technically the E10K has the better (low impedance) amplifier (for your 32-Ohm headphones), but the STX has a better DAC chip.
The STX offers better features for movies and gaming (headphone surround sound), where as the E10K is more basic stereo audio.
I was not really recommending the E10K for improving audio, more like trying to save you some cash.
 
My 40-Ohm Audio Technica headphones usually sound good plugged into anything, assuming the 32-Ohm V-Moda M100s are the same.
I'm guessing V-Moda want to sell their M100s to iPod, iPhone and Android phone users, so the headphones need to sound good using limited voltage (so the STX's amp is overkill).
Did you set the STX's gain to the lowest setting (< 64-Ohm)?
 
But I'm really wondering if play FLAC files thru the Essence STX (using Foobar2000) will show a noticeable improvement.

 

[LuckerCat]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have changed around a few settings and done some house keeping and I'm ready to test it out. Just curious - what song(s) would you guys recommend for comparison? Something where a difference in quality really stands out. I'm going to try and find a high quality version of that song and do a comparison.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for all of the advice. I have changed around a few settings and done some house keeping and I'm ready to test it out. Just curious - what song(s) would you guys recommend for comparison? Something where a difference in quality really stands out. I'm going to try and find a high quality version of that song and do a comparison.

 
I would assume you would want to get a FLAC version of a song you are familiar, maybe one you listen to a lot.
It's your ears that are going to be the finally judge.
But I would guess a modern recording of Classical music, something where they used 100 instruments during the recording, would benefit the most from from a 24-bit/96k FLAC format.

 

[TripBitShooter]

Even then, u must still choose a song u r familiar with. It must be a song that u recognise the most intimate and well hidden details, and then do a comparison with different gear.

I recommend u choose a bunch of ur favourite/most listened to songs to test out the gear. The test list should also preferably have songs from diffierent genres.