O2/ODAC vs STX
Dec 16, 2015 at 7:34 PM Post #2 of 19
milosingh said:
Is the STX the same as O2/ODAC as far as measurements and the audible threshold is concerned? For HD 650.
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I would think so, as the only factor that might cause audible differences from the specifications posted and a few review tests I read would be with the headphone output impedance, which was measured at 10.7 ohms for the STX compared to the O2's .54 ohms.   With a 300 ohm nominal impedance of the HD-650, this should not be a concern.  The higher headphone output impedance of the STX might be a factor with some of the low impedance/high sensitivity IEMs.  Ask castleofargh about hiss, he loves it. 
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The STX certainly has more features, but for just headphone listening, you should not hear any audible difference with a pair of HD-650 headphones up to 24/96.  I don't believe the ODAC can do 24/192, so if that is your preference, the STX would be the only solution.
 
Dec 16, 2015 at 10:38 PM Post #3 of 19
They should sound the same I think. If you want to nitpick, the o2 has the advantage of an analog volume control, which has greater snr than digital volume control. The xonar has 3 levels of gain vs the two in the o2, so finer control of the gain should allow you to rely less on digital volume control. I think the xonar has less jitter than the odac because it is pci express instead of usb. The xonar supports ASIO and dolby headphone. The 10 ohm output impedance of the stx is gonna color some headphones, notably the sennheiser hd558 and hd598 by a little (~1db) although that might be hard to abx. The xonar takes up less physical space since it is all internal, but the o2 has the great tactile feel of volume changes with a volume knob. I don't know the numbers off hand, but I suspect the O2+odac measures better, but I imagine both have really low distortion and noise. iirc, they have similar amounts of power too.
 
Dec 16, 2015 at 11:30 PM Post #5 of 19
What about HE 6?
 
And all that Headfi speak about how hard HE6 are to drive? That you can make them loud but the bass remains wholly unless you drive them well?

Is all that non sense?
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 12:53 AM Post #7 of 19
In society of audiophiles people can say anything they want and that's OK
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And you should believe them. Coz... you know. Gentlemans always believe each other
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Never had ODAC, but I have STX and Schiit Modi2U+Magni2U. I can't hear any differences with HD650.
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 2:09 AM Post #8 of 19
Were you using the STX headphone out against the Schiit? I assume that it want you meant. Sounds good to hear.

How do people hear a difference between Modi and Bifrost and call it night and day!!! :)
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 2:22 AM Post #9 of 19
milosingh said:
Were you using the STX headphone out against the Schiit? I assume that it want you meant. Sounds good to hear.

How do people hear a difference between Modi and Bifrost and call it night and day!!!
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Yes, I've listened to STX and Schiit stack via line5 a985 with HD650 - they both sound well and I really can't say they have any differences...
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 3:00 AM Post #10 of 19
milosingh said:
Were you using the STX headphone out against the Schiit? I assume that it want you meant. Sounds good to hear.

How do people hear a difference between Modi and Bifrost and call it night and day!!!
smily_headphones1.gif
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I'm an Xonar fan (used an Essence STX for a few years), but unless you need some of the features of the STX card and I'm assuming your big on music, might as well get the ODAC/O2.
An external DAC (or DAC/amp) will not be effected by any electrical noise that might be generated inside the computer case.
 
This ODAC/O2 combo, sold on Massdrop, for $200, seems to be the best deal.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-o2-odac
 
Personally I like to use Foobar2000 (w/WASAPI) for playing music files
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 3:05 AM Post #11 of 19
I already have the STX. Importing the O2/ODAC is close to a USD 500 expense for me including customs and shipping.

Has anybody AB tested/compared and found a difference? I don't want subjective non sense please. What do the measurements say? :)
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 3:30 AM Post #12 of 19
milosingh said:
I already have the STX. Importing the O2/ODAC is close to a USD 500 expense for me including customs and shipping.

Has anybody AB tested/compared and found a difference? I don't want subjective non sense please. What do the measurements say?
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Hopefully you disabled the motherboard's on-board audio, in the BIOS, before installing the STX and Asus software.
 
Have you tried using the third party drivers for the STX?
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
If you already have the Essence STX, why are you asking about the ODAC/O2?
Where you considering to swap out the STX for the ODAC/O2?
If your looking to improve the audio quality of the HD650, then maybe consider getting a tube (or hybrid) headphone amplifier and connect it to the STX's RCA jacks.
The STX can not send it's Dolby Headphone thru it's line-output (RCA), but that does not matter for music.
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 3:51 AM Post #13 of 19
milosingh said:
I already have the STX. Importing the O2/ODAC is close to a USD 500 expense for me including customs and shipping.

Has anybody AB tested/compared and found a difference? I don't want subjective non sense please. What do the measurements say?
smily_headphones1.gif
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The best way to improve quality of your system - is to change headphones. In that case you will hear differences and they will be obvious.
STX is a great stuff, at least for high impedance headphones (you shouldn't use any HP with impedance less than 80 with it), and HD650 is 300 Ohm HP, so no problems here.
 
If you like HD650, I think you will like Audeze LCD-2/3. Yes, they are much more expensive than 500$ but it's definitely an improvement over HD650.
 
Dec 17, 2015 at 3:55 AM Post #14 of 19
I don't want to change HD 650. I want something that is 100% transparent. No color. If the STX already does that I won't buy anything else. If the O2/ODAC is inaudible from an STX such that both are audibly transparent, I'm sorted. That is what I'm asking. :)

I don't want tubes or warm/colored. Just want something transparent that doesn't clip. I think STX is perfect. I'm just confirming that. And I'm interested in measurable differences through science. Not subjective opinion. :)
 
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