Xonar Essence One vs Xonar Essence STX ?
Nov 14, 2011 at 4:59 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16
RasPaBas

RasPaBas

New Head-Fier
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Posts
3
Likes
0
Hi forum,
I'm planning to upgrade my current PC to a new and more silent one. Currently I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX installed to power my Sennheiser HD650 phones. But I'm thinking about selling the STX and buy the Essence One, as it would make it easier to find space in the chassis of the new pc when two (passive) gpu's are installed.
How is the sound-quality of the One vs STX? Does it sound much different, and would it be able to amp the HD650?
 
Nov 14, 2011 at 4:57 PM Post #2 of 16
I've never used the Essence One and have not done much reading on it.
But I do not think there would be any real improvement in sound with the Essence One.
The Essence STX can be improved with $15-$50 worth of op-amps anyway.
I would say to sell off the Essence STX (PCI-Express) and get the Essence ST (PCI)
You can plug the Essence ST into the PCI slot farthest way from the PCI-Express slots
and there should be enough room for your dual GPUs.
 
P.S. stop gaming so much and get a life.
 
Nov 14, 2011 at 7:18 PM Post #3 of 16
in this review http://soundnews.ro/2011/09/09/asus-xonar-essence-one-review-english-version/ says that one is superior to the stx.
 
 
If you want to keep the STX just search for a mother board with the PCIE 1x placed somewhere where it will not interfere with the video cards cooling radiators.
 
Keep in mind that in some motherboards the second PCIe 16x shares the same bandwidth with the PCIe 1x.
 
good luck
 
 
 
 
 
Sep 11, 2012 at 3:18 AM Post #6 of 16
I would like to know - is it a good idea to connect Essence STX to Essence One by S/PDIF and then headphones to Essence One ? Will it give me better sound or it will be the same as Essence STX without Essence One ?
 
I can't use Essence One without Essence STX cause I need Dolby Headphone or Dolby Digital or some surround sound system to playing games.
 
So is that improve sound quality if I connect Essence One's coaxial to Essence STX ? It will be better than only Essence STX ?
 
By S/PDIF I can use Dolby Digital Live! - is that better than Dolby Headphone ? or maybe I can use Dolby Headphone by S/PDIF  in combo Essence STX + Essence One ?
 
Sep 11, 2012 at 5:53 AM Post #7 of 16
Quote:
bachnaify said:
I would like to know - is it a good idea to connect Essence STX to Essence One by S/PDIF and then headphones to Essence One ? Will it give me better sound or it will be the same as Essence STX without Essence One ?
Click to expand...

 
It depends on what headphones you have, and whether the STX has any problems (interference) specific to your PC.
 
Sep 17, 2012 at 6:11 PM Post #10 of 16
Quote:
bachnaify said:
I would like to know - is it a good idea to connect Essence STX to Essence One by S/PDIF and then headphones to Essence One ? Will it give me better sound or it will be the same as Essence STX without Essence One ?
 
I can't use Essence One without Essence STX cause I need Dolby Headphone or Dolby Digital or some surround sound system to playing games.
 
So is that improve sound quality if I connect Essence One's coaxial to Essence STX ? It will be better than only Essence STX ?
 
By S/PDIF I can use Dolby Digital Live! - is that better than Dolby Headphone ? or maybe I can use Dolby Headphone by S/PDIF  in combo Essence STX + Essence One ?
Click to expand...

 
The E1 will sound better in any case. I don't see the problem. If you listen to music, you just listen to the Essence One over the USB input. Music Player -> USB -> Essence One
 
If you want to game with Dolby Headphone then just switch the input on the E1 to the input the STX is connected to and have Dolby Headphone over SPDIF checked. DDLive will not work as the E1 can't decode it.  Game -> SPDIF with DHP -> Essence One 
 
I'd rather recommend to sell the STX and get the cheapest X-Fi Titanium possible and use this for gaming with the better CMSS-3D/OpenAL/Alchemy functionality. 
 
 
 
Quote:
minkypou said:
my st cant drive my ultrasone pro 900.. Just saying. :)
Click to expand...

 
Sorry, that's bollocks. A J3 can drive a Pro 900 or an Ipod touch. Now from where do you gather the opinion that a rather strong amp (for a soundcard) can't drive a Pro 900? 
 
Sep 17, 2012 at 9:58 PM Post #11 of 16
Quote:
fegefeuer said:
 
The E1 will sound better in any case. I don't see the problem. If you listen to music, you just listen to the Essence One over the USB input. Music Player -> USB -> Essence One
 
If you want to game with Dolby Headphone then just switch the input on the E1 to the input the STX is connected to and have Dolby Headphone over SPDIF checked. DDLive will not work as the E1 can't decode it.  Game -> SPDIF with DHP -> Essence One 
 
I'd rather recommend to sell the STX and get the cheapest X-Fi Titanium possible and use this for gaming with the better CMSS-3D/OpenAL/Alchemy functionality. 
 
 
 
 
Sorry, that's bollocks. A J3 can drive a Pro 900 or an Ipod touch. Now from where do you gather the opinion that a rather strong amp (for a soundcard) can't drive a Pro 900? 
Click to expand...

my mp3 player cant drive my pro's 900, sure, my soundcard is better , but..  just try a good amp .. st just drive 60% of these headphones. i think :) and on the st amp, bass is a little bit overpowering. to. st amp dont have energy. dont have this fuller sound you want to hear.. 
 
Sep 18, 2012 at 7:52 AM Post #12 of 16
Quote:
Sorry, that's bollocks. A J3 can drive a Pro 900 or an Ipod touch. Now from where do you gather the opinion that a rather strong amp (for a soundcard) can't drive a Pro 900? 
Click to expand...

 
Ignore "Minkypou", basically all of his/her ~50 posts since registering very recently are related to recommending the Ultrasone Pro900 in many different threads, and claiming that only $600 amplifiers can drive it properly, while the Xonar ST is not sufficient. It is off-topic here anyway, as the OP is interested specifically in a comparison of the Xonar Essence One and the ST/STX, and no one mentioned using the Pro900.
 
Sep 18, 2012 at 8:21 AM Post #13 of 16
Quote:
stv014 said:
 
Ignore "Minkypou", basically all of his/her ~50 posts since registering very recently are related to recommending the Ultrasone Pro900 in many different threads, and claiming that only $600 amplifiers can drive it properly, while the Xonar ST is not sufficient. It is off-topic here anyway, as the OP is interested specifically in a comparison of the Xonar Essence One and the ST/STX, and no one mentioned using the Pro900.
Click to expand...

i dont say , only-,-.  , and i just try to help people to understand. the essence st cant drive the pro 900. for the essence one, i dont know, i never try this thing
 
Feb 21, 2014 at 5:23 PM Post #14 of 16
Hello
 
It does not matter how many video cards that you have in your system, you can do what I do.
I have two very big ATI cards 6970s in crossfire mode, yes the bottom card blocks my PCI slot where the sound card sits.
The way around that is that I have a ribbon connector (PCI to PCIE). I use this ribbon connector to connect to the ESSENCE ST soundcard to motherboard.even though its a PCI card , I can use a PCIE slot through this cable adapter. I can even daisychain more ribbon cables to make it longer, this allows me to place the soundcard anywhere inside the case of my computer or even outside the computer if I wanted to.
I build systems and use this method a lot because video cards are big and do cover slots on most motherboards.
 
Regards
 
Feb 25, 2014 at 7:54 AM Post #15 of 16
Some cases like the CM Storm enforcer has a side ways PCI bracket that you can also use for placing a PCI to PCI-E ribbon cable as well.
 
Edit:  I just notice you zombied a old thread, I thought it was new til i realize made the thread come back from the grave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top