[d8n0g]

Quote:

Does not really make sense to me, but what do I know.

NO.  someone here on hifi needs to stay in the headphone department.  As for psu-a straight 750watt should do you fine.  You can go higher but it is not necessary.  I'm runing an overclocked quad, 2xssd's,, 2x1.5tb hdds, ati hd 6950, 16gb of ddr3, 6 fans, and this xonar with an 800watt psu...no problems what so ever
 
 

 

[SabreWulf69]

I am trying to get my head around OPAMP rolling from a circuit design point of view. Would I be correct in saying that the voltage conversion stage would benefit more so from OPAMP's with faster settling times and slew rates like the LT1364's for example and that the buffer / filter stage would benefit more from OPAMP's that have really low noise and distortion characteristics that are neutral, flat and detailed sounding like the OPA1612's for example ? (As far as the RCA output goes). Yay??? Nay???
 

 

[d8n0g]

has anyone tried using opa627 in the adapters 

 

[taiyoyuden]

Do you guys have any recommendations for what I should try for, Essence ST (Line-out) => Lovely Cube (BCL Clone) => K701?

 

[185717]

Quote:

600watts is overkill for most regular systems, you only need that much if your oc'ing your cpu or your gpu and have a high end system with like GTX480 and i7 960

that depends on the efficiency of the psu and what plugs you need cause if you have a rack of hard drives needing to be powered, a 600w may be a better solution. If you do have a high efficiency psu, then you ideally want your load to be at around 60-70% cause that is where most psu are most efficient
 

 

[185717]

Quote:

Someone here on HF tried to persuade me that by swapping PSU to Hi-end gold efficient 750W one will make ST(X) sing. I'm still not convinced.

Shouldnt make a difference. I have a AX850 and a cheap 400w brandless psu and they made no noticible difference with sound card performance.
 
 

 

[SabreWulf69]

It shouldn't have made any noticeable difference. There may be tiny improvements to the 'cleanliness' of the power, but this would entirely only be a placebo effect if any difference was actually heard. Switchmode PSU's are inherently 'dirty' by design no matter the quality.

 

[misha0209]

hi,
going to swap the amps on my card as soon as my order gets here.
problem is i did not put the OPA2137 on the order. understand it has heavy bass, considering myself a basshead, so, bad move... i did however order the LME49720HA and plan to solder them on browndog adapters and use in the I/V.
now, my question is, how are the LME49720HA's compared to the OPA2137 bass-wise. should i place another order just for the 2137?
 
and another thing. many have been talking about how wide the soundstage gets when using the LME49720HA, but what about soundstage depth? can anyone compare it to default 2xJRC and 4562 buffer?

 

[SabreWulf69]

Despite a lackluster response to my query above, I have just ordered 2x LT1364's, 1x OPA1612 and one SO8 to DIP8 B.D. Adapter as I think this will net me an almost discrete level of sound. Can't wait till they all come in.

 

[Tacoboy]

Just replaced my two 2114Ds with two LME49860NAs in my Essence STX.
They work fine and sound good, can't say I can hear the difference between the 2114Ds and the LME49860NAs.
The difference might be there, but it takes five minutes to change the chips.
If I had two Essence STX, I could switch between the two in a few seconds, to better compare.
It was worth it for the $12.00.

 

[disruptfam]

Anyone own a ad900 and stx combo?
 
Which opamps did you find the best combo to be? 

 

[Tacoboy]

Quote:

Anyone own a ad900 and stx combo?
 
Which opamps did you find the best combo to be? 

Experiment, try a pair of the LME49990NA, I was thinking of trying them next.
 
 

 

[SabreWulf69]

Trying to get a heads up on the OPA1612 that I have coming in. Would one describe it as sounding similar to a OPA2132 except with more airy highs, a better 'soundstage', and slightly leaner bass? (also hoping the sound is slightly more forward as the slightly velied mids of the 2132's drive me mad sometimes vs the OPA2107's I was previously using).

 

[Paul Blythe]

Had my STX & HD650's for just over a month and am enjoying listening to them, but can tell there is room for improvement. I do like to tweak things if its possible to do so and want to try the Burson HD audio opamps; though this means either ditching my gfx card or getting a new mobo with the x1 pci-e sited below the x16 ...
 
If I'm using the STX with headphones only, do I really need 3x Burson opamps? and is the clock upgrade a must-do job if i go with the Burson's?!
 
Ultimately I'd like a Burson HA-160D but the Benchmark Dac1 usb keeps grabing my attention also, and the new Xonar Essence One does look very nice ... hmmm!

 

[RiceEatin2010GT]

using the RCA outs to a dedicated amp would be your best bet in my opinion.  The DAC in the stx is the best part of the sound card.  I just ordered a matrix quattro amp my self.
 
Quote:

Had my STX & HD650's for just over a month and am enjoying listening to them, but can tell there is room for improvement. I do like to tweak things if its possible to do so and want to try the Burson HD audio opamps; though this means either ditching my gfx card or getting a new mobo with the x1 pci-e sited below the x16 ...
 
If I'm using the STX with headphones only, do I really need 3x Burson opamps? and is the clock upgrade a must-do job if i go with the Burson's?!
 
Ultimately I'd like a Burson HA-160D but the Benchmark Dac1 usb keeps grabing my attention also, and the new Xonar Essence One does look very nice ... hmmm!