[Blizzie]

Quote:

from what I can tell, neutral sound, nothing added or removed, and enhanced clarity. Largish soundstage (smaller then AD797 which is the largest most probably tied with LME49860) and thats about it. I wouldn't be surprised if the soundstage is actually on par

 
Sounds good. I'll give them a shot. Placing order tonight.
 
Edit: Thinking of buying a 50 piece one hahah.. I see a future of lots of opamps. It doesn't come with the pins but I have plenty.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50pcs-Dual-SOIC-to-DIP-8-Convert-PCB-Adapter-SMD-OPA627-Narrow-2012-New-Version-/230797790202?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bc9ecbfa
 
Since I'm doing that I'm looking at grabbing the following to try:
 
LME49990
OPA2137
THS4032
AD797
 
Is there any other recommended op-amps to test?

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

 
Sounds good. I'll give them a shot. Placing order tonight.
 
Edit: Thinking of buying a 50 piece one hahah.. I see a future of lots of opamps. It doesn't come with the pins but I have plenty.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50pcs-Dual-SOIC-to-DIP-8-Convert-PCB-Adapter-SMD-OPA627-Narrow-2012-New-Version-/230797790202?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bc9ecbfa
 
Since I'm doing that I'm looking at grabbing the following to try:
 
LME49990
OPA2137
THS4032
AD797
 
Is there any other recommended op-amps to test?

Pretty much got the top ones, There is a big list I have but lots of them have issues like too much input bias.
 
here are some I really want to try:
OPA1612 (A TI recommendation instead of the AD797)
AD8599 (supposedly on par with the AD797 but smoother)
HA5002 for buffer (and ****z and giggles)
 
And if your feeling risky:
LT1364 in IV and OPA2132P in buffer - quite favourable but FWIR not so safe

 

[mowglycdb]

I tried a few , but I ended up staying with LME49710HA  and LME49720HA for I/V, it has better clarity a bit more bass and amp, more analitical compared to other LME though, the only drawback is the slightly un natural sounding sometimes, dunno if other people have this impression about this combo.

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

Probably been asked before but at 263 pages I will not look.
 
Is it stupid to buy the Essence as a DAC, use the analog RCA out into an external amp, and run WASAPI through it? Or would WASAPI bypass the Essence?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Is it stupid to buy the Essence as a DAC, use the analog RCA out into an external amp, and run WASAPI through it? Or would WASAPI bypass the Essence?

 
It is not "stupid", but the card is not a very good value for the money then, especially if you do not care about recording, and since Dolby Headphone is not available on the RCA outputs. You may also consider these instead (there are of course even more options):
- ODAC: if you do not need recording or gaming support at all; the main advantage is that it is external, and can be used with laptops
- Titanium HD: if you do need gaming features; it is slightly cheaper than the Xonar STX, and is said to be comparable in terms of sound quality
- Xonar D1, DX, D2, or D2X: for Dolby Headphone on line outputs, and in practice comparable DAC quality to the STX at a lower price. The D2 and D2X tend to be overpriced recently, though (I have seen them for $300 or more)
Basically, the STX is only really worth it if you want the built-in TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier, or high quality recording (ADC) support. Other than that, the D1 and DX are a better value, but maybe the lack of EMI shielding is a problem in some PCs (not in mine, though).

 

[repman244]

Just finished soldering 2xTHS4032 to DIP-8 for my ST.....all I can say is: amazing.
 
Compared to 2xLME49860NA:
A bit better detail, much better bass (it's still punchy and detailed), I would say the soundstage is pretty much the same (to me)...one thing I noticed straight away is that electric guitars are much better sounding - more detail, power, don't know how exactly to describe it.
All in all I think they are really nicely balanced and are a nice pairing with my HD600.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Probably been asked before but at 263 pages I will not look.
 
Is it stupid to buy the Essence as a DAC, use the analog RCA out into an external amp, and run WASAPI through it? Or would WASAPI bypass the Essence?

If your gong to be using an external headphone amplifier, better to save some cash and to buy the Xonar DX (PCI-E) or Xonar D1 (PCI), they have the same audio processor as the Essence STX & ST.

 

[Sylverant]

Quote:

Basically, the STX is only really worth it if you want the built-in TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier, or high quality recording (ADC) support. Other than that, the D1 and DX are a better value, but maybe the lack of EMI shielding is a problem in some PCs (not in mine, though).

 
Not to mention, to be entirely honest, the high output impedance of this amplifier (10ohms) means that more likely than not, it probably won't sound as good on most headphones as with an amp with a lower impedance. Great amp with 300/250 ohm Senn's and Beyer's, but most people would probably be better off getting the Xonar DX with a more versatile multi gain amp.

The STX doesn't like iems and low ohm full size cans like the K271, which has forced me to buy an amp for them to use out of the rca jacks.

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

Quote:

Quote:
 
 which has forced me to buy an amp for them to use out of the rca jacks.

 
That was my question earlier, and what you quoted was a response to it.

 

[Sylverant]

Quote:

Probably been asked before but at 263 pages I will not look.
 
Is it stupid to buy the Essence as a DAC, use the analog RCA out into an external amp, and run WASAPI through it? Or would WASAPI bypass the Essence?

Quote:

 
That was my question earlier, and what you quoted was a response to it.

I know, I just wanted to add my 2 cents

WASAPI is good (and I use it) but you could try ASIO for the automatic sample rate switching.

In regards to amps, the thing is that the amp in the STX still sounds great with many high impedance headphones. Although budgeting for a DX and higher end multi-gain amp would be better, as well as more convenient, I'm quite happy with using my STX with my AKG K400EP/Senn HD560 and everything else with the PA2V2 connected to the RCA's. Many portable amps won't reach the level of power necessary to drive the K400EP, so it was good for me --although the O2 will. You could consider it one of many options.

 

[Mp0wer]

Quote:

WASAPI is good (and I use it) but you could try ASIO for the automatic sample rate switching.
 
 

 
 
So if i play a 96khz/24bit file and then play a 44khz file it will switch automatically?

 

[repman244]

Quote:

 
 
So if i play a 96khz/24bit file and then play a 44khz file it will switch automatically?

Yes, however for me it makes a loud pop so I have the SoX resampler set to 96kHz in Foobar all the time.

 

[drewTT]

I have a few questions as to how to best setup up the STX with an external DAC.
 
I will be using the STX's coax out into the M-DAC.  Do I need to worry about what drivers the STX runs in this case?  Do they even make a difference?

 

[repman244]

Quote:

I have a few questions as to how to best setup up the STX with an external DAC.
 
I will be using the STX's coax out into the M-DAC.  Do I need to worry about what drivers the STX runs in this case?  Do they even make a difference?

I personally didn't notice any difference (even between official and the brainbit ones), try the latest and see if everything is working properly as it should, if not try different version or better yet, try the Uni Xonar which for me are the best there is (to keep it short I had horrible issues with official ones due to a driver conflict)

 

[bcschmerker4]

Quote:

I have a few questions as to how to best setup up the STX with an external DAC.
 
I will be using the STX's coax out into the M-DAC.  Do I need to worry about what drivers the STX runs in this case?  Do they even make a difference?

This is a perfect opportunity to A/B the analog-output sections of both devices, as the same drive will feed both the XONAR's® internal Texas Instruments® headphone-amplifier IC and the M-DAC on the digital coax output.  I'm running stably with the Unified XONAR® Driver, Release 1.53 (C-Media® CMI8000 Driver 7.12.8.1795), on an Asus® CM1630-06 under Microsoft® Windows® 7.0.8001 (Kernel 6.1.7601).  Be advised that Microsoft Corporation has not completely solved the random-shreik problem of the Windows 6.1/7.0 audio resampler, as of 17 November 2012.