[jehugo]

I picked up a couple ADs and another OPA. Gonna try each in a CMOY and decide if i want to try them in the STX (such a pain to rip out there card to audition )

 

[jehugo]

Quote:

The factory buffer op-amp is the LM4562NA, which renamed the LME49720NA, the cherry picks (better voltage range) of the LME49720NA are renamed LME49860NA.
The better upgrade op-amps are the AD797, they are considered finicky op-amps, but I believe they work well with the Xonar Essence.
 
 

I thought the stock amps in all slots were  JRC211?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I thought the stock amps in all slots were  JRC211?

The JRC2114 are what comes in the two I/V slots.
The buffer is one LM4562NA.
 
 

 

[loftystew]

Recently bought an essence stx and started to swap op amps too. I'm very new to this.
 
One question though - Do the two op amp used in I/V have to be the identical? Can I put different ones in it?
 
If yes, should I do it?

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Recently bought an essence stx and started to swap op amps too. I'm very new to this.
 
One question though - Do the two op amp used in I/V have to be the identical? Can I put different ones in it?
 
If yes, should I do it?

The I/V opamps have the be identical because you have 1 amp for the left channel and 1 amp for the right channel.
 

 

[Armotekma]

A quick question, I've looked at the impedance chart for the 558s;
 

 
I get good volume with normal gain, but should it be set to High Gain because of their spiked impedance?

 

[germanium]

Quote:

A quick question, I've looked at the impedance chart for the 558s;
 

 
I get good volume with normal gain, but should it be set to High Gain because of their spiked impedance?

If you are getting more than adaquate volume at the normal gain setting I would leave it there. The impedance peak is due to the resonance of the drivers back side port (small hole in the damping pad at the back of the driver). The driver is likely most efficient at the frequency due to this resonance.Changing the "GAIN SETTING" on the ST/STX card does nothing more than digitally increase the volume potential. There is no change in output impedance or actual gain of the amp itself. Output impedance remains at 10ohms.
 

 

[jehugo]

OK! opa 637AP in the buffer.
 
Super punchy, tight bass. Bass hits never seem to get lost. 
 
I like the balance between it and the 2 LME49860NAs. Nice detail.
 
I like this combo a lot with my Grado 325is. Undecided on my 595s
 
 

 

[Phero]

Although this sound card supports impedance up to 600Ohms would it be a good DAC to pair with a higher end headphone amplifier? I was thinking of getting a Schiit Valhalla with an STX.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Although this sound cards supports impedance up to 600Ohms would it be a good DAC to pair with a higher end headphone amplifier? I was thinking of getting a Schiit Valhalla with an STX.

I would "guess" yes.
Someone else used the Schiit Asguard with the STX and liked the combo.
 
 

 

[PelPix]

Woah.  Weird!
I adapted the RCA outs DIRECTLY to a TRS and plugged my 880/600's into it and it drives it to like 120dB.  Why does this card even have a HPA?!

 

[Psyside]

Ok guys few questions for a future owner of STX, this thread is too long to find the exact answers for all of this questions, i know there is guide in the first page, but the original post is kinda old, so i will just make sure and ask again, to chek if the settings are still good to go.
 
1. What settings should i chose in the Asus Audio centar? Hi-Fi mode? should i ever bother with 44/96/192khz if i have songs in that resoloution? If thats the case, what setting should i use in Windows playback device options, do they have to be same?
 
2. I heard that with soundcard better drivers offer better sound quallity, is this true? and what drivers are least glitchy? what version should i use, Uni vs Asus?
 
3. The gain for the HD595 should be 0- 64 right?
 
4. Aimp3 - Wasapi, better then ASIO regarding sound quallity?
 
5. Any other suggestions of good setup?
 
6. Max volume trough windows, and audio/video players, and control the sound trough audio centar, right? or maybe 90% volume is good enough? 
 
7. I got high end pc, and i game from time to time, i also have AMD 6970 video card (most of the time overclocked quite a bit) and fan @ like 60% during games, and 35% during idle, so i got this idea to install the sound card as far as it possible (last slot on the mobo) from the video card in order to avoid noise interference from the video card fan.... ( and get better/cleaner sound quallity) is this prefered or i should not worry at all? 
 
Thanks!
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

Ok guys few questions for a future owner of STX, this thread is too long to find the exact answers for all of this questions, i know there is guide in the first page, but the original post is kinda old, so i will just make sure and ask again, to chek if the settings are still good to go.
 
1. What settings should i chose in the Asus Audio centar? Hi-Fi mode? should i ever bother with 44/96/192khz if i have songs in that resoloution? If thats the case, what setting should i use in Windows playback device options, do they have to be same?
 
2. I heard that with soundcard better drivers offer better sound quallity, is this true? and what drivers are least glitchy? what version should i use, Uni vs Asus?
 
3. The gain for the HD595 should be 0- 64 right?
 
4. Aimp3 - Wasapi, better then ASIO regarding sound quallity?
 
5. Any other suggestions of good setup?
 
6. Max volume trough windows, and audio/video players, and control the sound trough audio centar, right? or maybe 90% volume is good enough? 
 
7. I got high end pc, and i game from time to time, i also have AMD 6970 video card (most of the time overclocked quite a bit) and fan @ like 60% during games, and 35% during idle, so i got this idea to install the sound card as far as it possible (last slot on the mobo) from the video card in order to avoid noise interference from the video card fan.... ( and get better/cleaner sound quallity) is this prefered or i should not worry at all? 
 
Thanks!

1. HF mode is best for music. Set the sampling rate to whatever your music files are in (usually 44100 kHz), set it higher only if you're listening to stuff that's higher.
 
2. Not always, should be never but there might be issues. I use ASUS official drivers, use something else if you have problems.
 
3. The gain should be the lowest gain you can use and still get enough volume. That applies to all headphones. The ohm ratings are just recommended and mean absolutely nothing.
 
4. I use WASAPI. Technically they should both sound exactly the same because they're both supposed to be bit-perfect, but WASAPI is easier to set up.
 
5. No.
 
6. That's usually how to do it, max in all volumes except the last one (in this case the ASUS volume). You should have no problem with that.
 
7. The Essence STX is shielded against interference. That doesn't mean some won't get through, so if you can it probably won't hurt to keep it away from your graphics card and other components.
 

Woah.  Weird!
I adapted the RCA outs DIRECTLY to a TRS and plugged my 880/600's into it and it drives it to like 120dB.  Why does this card even have a HPA?!

The RCA out is 2.1 Vrms. However, because it's designed to be used connected to an amp, and amp line ins have high impedances of 10 kohms, it's probably not going to have a lot of current. That doesn't matter too much with 600 ohm headphones, which need more voltage than they do current. Line outs also have high output impedance, also no big deal for high impedance headphones. With low impedance headphones, you might have problems.
 
Not likely it actually drives them to 120 dB by the way, that would require around 12 Vrms! But you're getting up to 105 dB which is plenty for most people.
 
This applies to all DAC line outs, by the way.
 
The STX amp, by the way, can manage 7 Vrms, and probably a lot more current.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Ok guys few questions for a future owner of STX, this thread is too long to find the exact answers for all of this questions, i know there is guide in the first page, but the original post is kinda old, so i will just make sure and ask again, to chek if the settings are still good to go.
1. What settings should i chose in the Asus Audio centar? Hi-Fi mode? should i ever bother with 44/96/192khz if i have songs in that resoloution? If thats the case, what setting should i use in Windows playback device options, do they have to be same?
2. I heard that with soundcard better drivers offer better sound quallity, is this true? and what drivers are least glitchy? what version should i use, Uni vs Asus?
3. The gain for the HD595 should be 0- 64 right?
4. Aimp3 - Wasapi, better then ASIO regarding sound quallity?
5. Any other suggestions of good setup?
6. Max volume trough windows, and audio/video players, and control the sound trough audio centar, right? or maybe 90% volume is good enough? 
7. I got high end pc, and i game from time to time, i also have AMD 6970 video card (most of the time overclocked quite a bit) and fan @ like 60% during games, and 35% during idle, so i got this idea to install the sound card as far as it possible (last slot on the mobo) from the video card in order to avoid noise interference from the video card fan.... ( and get better/cleaner sound quallity) is this prefered or i should not worry at all? 
Thanks!

1, I just leave it in 96, would need to switch to 192 for full blu-ray audio.
2. I use the Unified, does not cause any problems.
3. yes, 0-64, the HD-595 is 50-Ohms.
4. do not know
5. nope
6. that works for me
7.keep the cards as far apart as possible.
 
 
 

 

[Psyside]

WOW, thanks alot guys! rep+ to both, this forum is great!