[AhhHoNG]

I am using a set of alteclansing mx5021 which has a volume control. So if i were to set 100% on my ST volume knob, every 5 degrees rotation on my speaker knob would add crazy volume

. yeah something like what you said. It makes my speakers very loud even at low settings of my speaker volume control knob
 
LOL btw i set volume 5 on my ST main volume. tats how sensitive it is. crappy speakers, bookshelves here i come in a month!

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

I am using a set of alteclansing mx5021 which has a volume control. So if i were to set 100% on my ST volume knob, every 5 degrees rotation on my speaker knob would add crazy volume

. yeah something like what you said. It makes my speakers very loud even at low settings of my speaker volume control knob
 
LOL btw i set volume 5 on my ST main volume. tats how sensitive it is. crappy speakers, bookshelves here i come in a month!

You do have them connected to the RCA output right?
 
You have a great source so the speakers are your weak point, as you said a nice set of bookshelf speakers and desktop amplifier will give you much better quality over those altecs.
What set are you thinking of using with your ST?

 

[AhhHoNG]

Yup the RCA output.
 
hmmm. i am looking at active bookshelves. Mayb a pair of Mackie MR5? i tried the KRK R5 gen 2 and its good but its ugly to me

. Any other recommendation? I dont want the audioengine 5 as many other think that these are overated and i can get something better around the similar price range. Btw i am a little confuse on how to connect frm my ST to a subwoofer then to the active bookshelves. What must i look out for in the subwoofer b4 i purchase 1? Thanks!

 

[ROBSCIX]

 
Quote:

Yup the RCA output.
 
hmmm. i am looking at active bookshelves. Mayb a pair of Mackie MR5? i tried the KRK R5 gen 2 and its good but its ugly to me

. Any other recommendation? I dont want the audioengine 5 as many other think that these are overated and i can get something better around the similar price range. Btw i am a little confuse on how to connect frm my ST to a subwoofer then to the active bookshelves. What must i look out for in the subwoofer b4 i purchase 1? Thanks!

Sure, you can go either active or passive. I like passives as you can use different amps if you want but actives also have their advantages also.  The ADAM A7X and other powered monitors look slick but I have yet to test them.  They have subs also but to note I have not checked their prices but they have been mentioned by a few members here as having excellent sound.
 
You cannot connect a subwoofer directly to a normal ST without the H6 board.  There are many subwoofer that take stereo inputs and filter out the bass and you connect your speakers to your subwoofer. It really depends on the subwoofer though.  You're right as there are better speakers out there then the A5's for similar price tags.  If you are into getting some speakers you might do better in a different forum where people concentrate on speaker/subwoofer systems.  You might consider the H6 though as it offers more outputs and options for speakers.
You can PM me also to discuss speakers and subwoofers, so we don't pull the thread too far off topic

 

[germanium]

I currently use a set of M-Audio BX5's with a tannoy subwoofer with my Essense STX. I use the STX to drive a preamp which then drives both the sub & the speakers through a signal plitter one wire to the sub from each channel & one wire to each of  the powered speakers. I don't let the signal go to the subs then the speakers as the lowers the quality of the signal to the speakers. My speakeres already have low frequency cutoff controls built in so no issues there for me. Most active proffessional speakers have active high pass filtering built in already so why double up if the signal comes out worse for the wear.
 
 The same can be done with the ST or STX without a preamp & without the need for the H6 board as my preamp has only 2 channels as well.
 
If you plan on using the new drivers & ASIO output you will need an external volume control of some type, passive or active preamp as there is no volume control action with this driver in ASIO mode. I use an active one of quite exceptional performance as it is quite neutral & transperant to the signal quality. Most actives are not that good unless you pay big bucks. The best bet for most people is a passive unit for reason of transperancy but care must be taken to get very low capacitance cabling & use the shortest possible runs that still meet your requirements for speaker placement. Cable runs in this case should be kept less than 6 feet at the very outside even with low capcitance cabling.

 

[AhhHoNG]

Oh so if i use it only with ST, the signal passes through the sub to the speaker, the quality  would get lower? oh okay...

 

[Steve-o27]

Hey guys, I've just ordered two OPA2137P for the I/Vs and one LT1364 for the buffer. I'm using some M-Audio AV40s on the RCAs and a pair of HD555 on the headphone out. What do you think? How will it sound compared to the stock setup?

 

[AhhHoNG]

Anybody using 2107 opamp? i am using 1 for the Buffer and 2x 49720HA in the IV. any opinion on the 2107?

 

[cent]

soundstage is narrow, feel sharper in the high.
good in speaker for movie, not sure about headphone. I dont like headphone, feel like heavy metal hang on head.

 

[Bojamijams]

Has anyone here used WASAPI on the SPDIF and had it output sounds other then just your music?

for example, if I have a game playing and foobar playing, I can hear both music and the game sounds feeding into my DAC.

 

[germanium]

Looks like the interest in the xonar cards is dying. Broken drivers & lack of newer ones is probably to blame here. Drivers do work for most part, it is only when trying to do special things where problems arise like ASIO not working properly in several recording programs. sound quality though in normal listening though is still superb. That is what most people bought this card for anyways. The bit matched drivers seemed at first to offer better sound quality but on futher listening at matched volumes I couldn't reliably tell the difference. The sound quality was superb either way to me. Yes, I downloaded a program that supported the bit matched ASIO drivers to compare with (J River Media Center 15).

 

[recorder]

Quote:

Looks like the interest in the xonar cards is dying. Broken drivers & lack of newer ones is probably to blame here. Drivers do work for most part, it is only when trying to do special things where problems arise like ASIO not working properly in several recording programs. sound quality though in normal listening though is still superb. That is what most people bought this card for anyways. The bit matched drivers seemed at first to offer better sound quality but on futher listening at matched volumes I couldn't reliably tell the difference. The sound quality was superb either way to me. Yes, I downloaded a program that supported the bit matched ASIO drivers to compare with (J River Media Center 15).

So, what are they buying instead? There's a thread >"sound card suggestions" going with a lively debate between me and another member about his opinion of the ST being superior to the STX. I'm trying to enlighten him as to the real differences between the cards, but he's fixed on "More = Better".
I tried the beta bit-perfect drivers on my XP box w/ JRiver Media Jukebox, and ASIO was a no show, so I switched back to the stock drivers, and haven't looked back.
As you say, for regular listening, and in my case, recording from vinyl, the stock drivers with ASIO are fine. I use Adobe Audition, and ASIO works.
 
I quit JRiver, and went to MusicBee. Great ASIO support, and excellent out of the box performance, but strictly audio, only.
Thanks for all your "tips" germanium (diode?)
 

 

[leeperry]

 

 
the ST being superior to the STX.

Once you've heard the ST, the STX feels like an unbearable mushy mess. The jitter is horrid on their DSP if you play 44.1kHz as it's using a 22.476Mhz(48kHz*512) PLL masterclock, the ST tries to save the day w/ a 75ps reclocker.

 

[audiophilic]

If I were to connect the RCA outputs on the STX to my Woo audio 6 RCA inputs; Is that going to increase the amount of distortion? I tried this and I noticed that the SQ coming from the WA6 is identical to my STX. Moreover, the bass gets distorted when I increase the volume on the WA to 90-100%. Should I get a dedicated DAC like the Dacmagic?
 
I'm sure the WA6 is a much better headphone amplifier than the STX. I just don't know whats limiting the WA. The DAC on the STX is pretty good from what I've read online and on head-fi.
 
Help appreciated

 

[matthewh133]

I know this card sounds brilliant for music and such. People have mentioned it is a bit lackluster for gaming. Any hardcore gamers know from personal experience how this soundcard fairs with a good set of AD900s (or something similar) plugged in? Basically looking for an immersive gaming environment with great audio quality and sound positioning. If it does lack in the gaming sense I will probably have to get myself an Auzentech Forte and have a seperate setup for my speaker music setup.