[Dreamaurora]

Quote:

I think the mark on the PCB is V shaped, not U shaped, but I'm not about ready to pull my STX to check.
 
 

I am quite positive its U shaped. Maybe to you it looks like a V. In any case only one side of the socket has this shape. You should try OPA627, its pricey (I think I spent approximately $93 USD for 4 OPA627AU and 2 adapters) and a little bit more hassle, but you should be able to find an electronics shop willing to do the soldering for you. The sound improvement is very noticeable, especially the bass and the soundstage.

 

[mowglycdb]

Okay I bought 3 x LME49860NA, Thank you.
 
 
Quote:

I'm in no way a op-amp expert.
 
I just went with the LME49860NAs because they are DIP-8 and easy to install.
The LME49710HAs might sound the best, but there is more work involved.
 
 

 

 

[Halk]

Maybe I'm missing something here... I have the card (Xonar Essence STX) connected by an optical cable to my AVR (Onkyo 609) in my living room.
 
I'd very much like it to output the PCM audio stream from mp3 audio books, as I believe the Audyssey built into the AVR will have the best effect on this. However I only seem to be able to output Dolby Digital. If I enable SPDIF output and Dolby Digital Live then the sound goes to the AVR, if I switch to PCM then it doesn't send it SPDIF but instead sends it to headphones.
 
Is this a limitation of the card?

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Maybe I'm missing something here... I have the card (Xonar Essence STX) connected by an optical cable to my AVR (Onkyo 609) in my living room.
 
I'd very much like it to output the PCM audio stream from mp3 audio books, as I believe the Audyssey built into the AVR will have the best effect on this. However I only seem to be able to output Dolby Digital. If I enable SPDIF output and Dolby Digital Live then the sound goes to the AVR, if I switch to PCM then it doesn't send it SPDIF but instead sends it to headphones.
 
Is this a limitation of the card?

Set S/Pdif output in the windows control panel instead of the card and see if that does the trick.
on a side note, Have you tried connecting your receiver to the card through analog?
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Maybe I'm missing something here... I have the card (Xonar Essence STX) connected by an optical cable to my AVR (Onkyo 609) in my living room.
I'd very much like it to output the PCM audio stream from mp3 audio books, as I believe the Audyssey built into the AVR will have the best effect on this. However I only seem to be able to output Dolby Digital. If I enable SPDIF output and Dolby Digital Live then the sound goes to the AVR, if I switch to PCM then it doesn't send it SPDIF but instead sends it to headphones.
Is this a limitation of the card?

 
 

 

[Halk]

Quote:

Set S/Pdif output in the windows control panel instead of the card and see if that does the trick.
on a side note, Have you tried connecting your receiver to the card through analog?
 

Edit : The only option in control panel is the S/PDIF passthrough, which is a header on the card. I have no way to connect it to either my motherboard or graphics card as neither have an input.
 
I have not tried analogue. I have it connected by HDMI to my graphics card, which has a very simple soundcard - it's fine for sending DTS/DD which is encoded into files, or simple stereo from files, but not so good for games.
 
What kind of analog connection would I use? I'm limited in that the receiver is in another room, and I only have put USB, HDMI, cat6 and optical through the wall and under the carpet.
 
I suspect the easiest thing to do here would be to retire the Essence STX and replace it with a gaming soundcard with an optical output - assuming one would output sound properly, and would passthrough DTS, DD and PCM while still doing EAX etc. The STX was great when I used earphones or headphones, however now I have my own place I don't need to worry about noise so I can use the speakers and AVR. 

 

[ROBSCIX]

I am referring to the Windows audio control panels within the main system control panel.
is that where you are looking?  The STX can output both normal digital or encoded DDL so you have to find the settings.  It's been a long time since I used that card, so I am working from memory.

 

[Halk]

Quote:

I am referring to the Windows audio control panels within the main system control panel.
is that where you are looking?  The STX can output both normal digital or encoded DDL so you have to find the settings.  It's been a long time since I used that card, so I am working from memory.

That's where I'm looking. The option is only for speakers, HDMI on the graphics card or S/PDIF passthrough. Essentially I have to pick the Xonar Essence as a device and then from the Xonar Essence control panel I select where the sound is to go from 2 speakers, headphones, FP headphones, optical. When I select optical it only sends if I select DD.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

That's where I'm looking. The option is only for speakers, HDMI on the graphics card or S/PDIF passthrough. Essentially I have to pick the Xonar Essence as a device and then from the Xonar Essence control panel I select where the sound is to go from 2 speakers, headphones, FP headphones, optical. When I select optical it only sends if I select DD.

 
 
 

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

That's where I'm looking. The option is only for speakers, HDMI on the graphics card or S/PDIF passthrough. Essentially I have to pick the Xonar Essence as a device and then from the Xonar Essence control panel I select where the sound is to go from 2 speakers, headphones, FP headphones, optical. When I select optical it only sends if I select DD.

That's strange.  The card should have no issue sending normal PCM digital out through S/Pdif.
There is a setting issue somewhere.  What if you select passthrough, what does your receiver show?
 
@Purple, PCM is plain/normal digital audio, DD is encoded surround sound and not really the same thing.
If the card encodes to DDL then you are sending a 5.1 signal with only 2 channels.  Not to mention DDL is a lossy compression as it encodes a full 6 channels instead of the normal 2.0 for PCM audio.
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Halk]

The sound card can't handle DTS because it tries to decode and then encode to DD. It also outputs 5.1 DD no matter what the source unless I leave the living room and change the Xonar control panel settings each time I change media. What I have at the moment is probably the best compromise, I've since found out that optical is a dead end in comparison to HDMI and eventually as bitrates increase optical will go out. 
 
So for now everything will go HDMI and games will go optical. Eventually when I put an HTPC in the living room and stop using the main PC as an HTPC things will become simlper too. At that point I can decide if it's worth replacing the STX for a card more geared at gaming. I'm not convinced that EAX 5 is worth going for right now.
 
When I select passthrough the receiver shows no input - there isn't any input, the passthrough isn't connected to anything. I cannot get anything but DDL on optical. If I make the single change from DDL to PCM it routes audio to speakers and not optical.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

The sound card can't handle DTS because it tries to decode and then encode to DD. It also outputs 5.1 DD no matter what the source unless I leave the living room and change the Xonar control panel settings each time I change media. What I have at the moment is probably the best compromise, I've since found out that optical is a dead end in comparison to HDMI and eventually as bitrates increase optical will go out. 
 
So for now everything will go HDMI and games will go optical. Eventually when I put an HTPC in the living room and stop using the main PC as an HTPC things will become simlper too. At that point I can decide if it's worth replacing the STX for a card more geared at gaming. I'm not convinced that EAX 5 is worth going for right now.
 
When I select passthrough the receiver shows no input - there isn't any input, the passthrough isn't connected to anything. I cannot get anything but DDL on optical. If I make the single change from DDL to PCM it routes audio to speakers and not optical.

I think you have a driver issue somewhere.
 

 
 

 

[Halk]

What limitation do you suspect is being caused by a driver issue? At this point I think I understand everything about the cards limit and I don't think there is any driver issue. 

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

What limitation do you suspect is being caused by a driver issue? At this point I think I understand everything about the cards limit and I don't think there is any driver issue. 

As far as I know that card outputs normal PCM audio, so if yours doesn't then I suspect an issue with the driver.
It has been quite awhile since I tested or used that card but IIRC, it outputs normal PCM as that is not even a special feature
just a requisite feature for cards with S/Pdif output. 
 
Specs:
 
S/PDIF Digital Output:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital
 
The first part of the spec signifies normal PCM output and the second part the encoding, IIRC, it is not bit depth, frequency switchable because it is a lossy compression.
 
Hope that helps.
 
Edit, do you have the internal STX S/Pdif header connected to your video card?

 

[KalumenDNar]

OK...
 
 I replaced the JRc's with AD823 and for the RCA output I added 1 LME49860NA.
 
here are just first impresions, after about 30 min of listelning, i will reply again once they have burned-in
 
The separation between left and right is much better and I can hear better from where the sound is coming.
 
The sound is no longer sterile on my home-studio monitors.
 
THe sound on the headphones sounds also more alive.
 
I do not feel the same kick I feel on sondcards like Onboard Realtek HD( I like that kick in rock music, though detail is lost when compared to the xonar stx with these opamp)
 
It diserved to change the initial opamps, there is a clear difference(for the best in my case) but After about 100Hrs of burn In I will post again. Staisfied at this moment with the