[Jd007]

You can control the volume by turning the virtual volume knob in Xonar Audio Center.

 

[wasp131]

the virtual volume knob in Xonar Audio Center will not work with  the beta driver,its not supposed to.
if not outputting to a separate amp ,foobar's volume control is all you will have.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Yes, if you are using the Beta drivers with an ASIO output plugin then the drivers will bypass any processing done by the card.  If you don't want this just change output plugins..

 

[raisedbywolves]

ah ... well, i was under the impression that the bitperfect asio was the best way to go, but it's ear-splittingly loud unless i turn down the volume in foobar. but i'm not sure if i wanna do that since so many people seem to say that worsens the sound quality.

 

[walsh]

I don't see why turning down the volume in foobar should worsen the sound quality.

 

[Nebby]

Digital attenuation technically loses bits as you lower the volume, but I believe the general consensus is that the changes shouldn't be audible unless you're listening at excessive volume levels.

 

[walsh]

So technically it's best to leave the player volume at full and alter the volume on your amplifier?

 

[kinonotabi]

I've tried some players with ASIO bit-perfect auto sampling with result :
 

1. Foobar2000 during playback with ASIO output device will halted some Windows XP commands (control panel, some programs via windows explorer, printer & faxes, etc) until I stop playback then command continued again.
2. Winamp not compatible with this new driver. ASIO plugin from Otachan didn't work, it detect but no sound came out, with Christian Budde's plugin it had stuttering sound.
3. Last uLilith, best for 44100Hz it but had problem when ASIO change frequency automatically. It acted as speed was slowed every auto sampling active either up or down sampling. So I must choose wisely my song collection with 44100Hz only to be played.

 
Is there any way to use this beta STX driver without problems under Windows XP? at least Asus released bit-perfect auto sampling I had wait so long ... unfortunately not perfect yet

 

[darekxan]

Check this thread:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20100708193729359&SLanguage=en-us&page=1&board_id=21&model=Xonar%20Essence%20STX
 
New build from Xense modified to support STX. 
 
Tested on win7.64 with fb2k and ASIO
So far so good. No clicks/shuttering.
 
Finally some better ASIO-supporting build.

 

[raisedbywolves]

just a few questions i'm hoping one of you guys can answer ...
 
1. would rca cables from speakers to the rca inputs in the st be the best way to go as far as hooking up speakers to the soundcard?
2. what makes more of a difference in sound ... to upgrade speaker cable or the rca cables? or is it more or less the same?

 

[ROBSCIX]

1. You need an amplifier in between unless you are taking about powered monitors..etc.  Since the card has RCA output, if your speakers have RCA inputs then use RCA patch cables.
2.  There is a big debate all the time regarding cables,  just make sure you are using  quality cables and you will be fine.  No garbage and no high price snake oil cables and you will be fine.

 

[raisedbywolves]

they are powered monitors.
and i meant more as in ... the speakers i have come with speaker wire to connect them and then i'd go rca cables into the st. so i'm just wondering which, if i had to choose, would make more of a difference in sound quality to start with. i'll eventually get around to replacing both, but i was wondering whre to start.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Provided they are reasonable quality, I doubt you will notice a difference.

 

[germanium]

Output impedance on the Essense cards is sufficiently low that there should be no audible loss no matter the cable. The greatest loss in the case of the Essense cards is the output coupling caps. I run mine through modified M-Audio BX5's ( semi pro monitors which whem modded are about the most open sounding speaker I have heard in a long time especially when you consider price). If there was a problem with different cables because of output impedance being high interacting with high capacitance cables you would hear it with this setup but such is not the case here. The output impedance is low enough that there is no interaction in the audio band even with high capacitance cables. I still avoid them though in all my other equipment because they have higher output impedance than the essense card does.

 

[raisedbywolves]

 
ah, alright ... 'cause i was looking at getting these: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablintr&1283691608&/Soundsilver-Dual-Silver-Fantas
and this: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablspkr&1284320308&/Supra-Ply-3.4--$13/-meter--ult
 
for my audioengine a2's, thinking maybe i could squeeze a little extra out of them coupled with the st, but if not, i'll probably just buy some cheapo cables from monoprice or something.