[jalyst]

@knightingale
 
Read as many pages as you can from about here...
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/414322/xonar-essence-st-sneak-peek/945
 
In short... ST is slightly better than the STX.
But whether the diff. is worth it, depends on your usage scenario.
i.e. Is PCI acceptable for you build etc.
 
Re amps, not sure how it compares to other top-notch external amps.
I believe it's "okay", but as always, you'll prolly have better discrete ones.
 
IIRC there's some discussion about that in here too.
Otherwise just start a dedicated thread, someone will know.

 

[Knightingale]

thanks for the information jalyst!

i've owned a Grado SR60 for 3 years and Ety ER4-S for 2 years.
i got the mini^3 amp for portability sake. and that was when it hit me hard....i never listen to music(on headphones) other than when i'm sitting in my room in front of my computer.
i'm changing a new computer rig so was considering getting the Essence ST.
 
 

 

[jalyst]

no worries, happy reading! 

 

[Blackbird_CaD_]

When it's set to 'Normal gain', does it amplify at all?
And if i set it to 'High gain' with my MDR-XB700 which has a impedence of 24 ohm, would my XB700 burn up? 

 

[OpTicaL]

Quote:

When it's set to 'Normal gain', does it amplify at all?
And if i set it to 'High gain' with my MDR-XB700 which has a impedence of 24 ohm, would my XB700 burn up? 

I'm curious of this as well.
 
Using HD595. I noticed on any gain setting I have to tweak the equalizer to get bass response but when I'm on 2 speaker mode every sounds fine, is it because powered speakers route bass automatically?

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

I'm curious of this as well.
 
Using HD595. I noticed on any gain setting I have to tweak the equalizer to get bass response but when I'm on 2 speaker mode every sounds fine, is it because powered speakers route bass automatically?

No, I would think it is because there are different components used when running the head amp or running the line outputs which give different sonic characteristics.  Make sure you are not over driving the headphones with too much gain also as that can decrease the perceived bass making the high end more prominent.
 

 

[germanium]

Quote:

I've been wanting to get the Essence STX for sometime but then i see there's a newer Essence ST now.
was wondering how does the sound quality compare to other external amps?
i've been using an AMB mini^3 for some a few years. Is Essence ST an upgrade from it?
and anyone have tested the Essence ST with Etymotic ER4-S / Grado SR-60?

I have the Etymotic ER4P with P to S converter cable & yest it works great with the STX which uses the same headamp as the ST. I don't have the Mini-3 to compare it with but the ST is likely an improvement as the headamp is fully direct coupled & hense does not suffer any bass loss at any phone impedance. The Mini 3 is capacitor coupled & would suffer bass loss with low impedance phones (not a problem though with the ER4S though might be with ER4P). I usually find direct coupled amps more clear sounding than capacitor coupled amps unless some sort of film cap is used for coupling which is expensive & very large hense not practical for portable usage which the Mini 3 is intended for. I haven't had Grado phones in years as i found them too unreliable for me & the cheaper ones below about the SR225 now have perferated plastic backs which causes them to sound way inferior to the wire back models (more conjested).
 
You will need to use medium gain setting on the ER4S phones & normal gain on the Grado phones
 
The ER4p & ER4s both sound excellent on the STX that I have with none of the harshness at the very top that I have with the Denon AH-D1001. Truely balanced sound from the ER4's either way.

 

[germanium]

Quote:

When it's set to 'Normal gain', does it amplify at all?
And if i set it to 'High gain' with my MDR-XB700 which has a impedence of 24 ohm, would my XB700 burn up? 

24 ohms while not being optimal impedance for the ST or STX will not hurt the soundcard. However setting the gain to above normal gain with higher than normal listening volumes can damage your hearing as well as damage your phones ( not burn them up but will break the fine wire that goes to the voice coil due to excessive excursion of the driver)
 

 

[hellenic vanagon]

ST JITTER! (24 192,  ANALOGUE OUTPUT)
 

[size=12pt]http://www.soundtrackforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=325[/size]
 
10-20 ps!
 
STX JITTER for comparison:
 

 
170-180 ps.
 
 
 
ASUS ST: BEST INNER CARD DAC EVER?
 
 

 

 

[ben_r_]

Might be a dead thread, but I just got me Xonar H6 card and hooked it up for a little analog 5.1 to my Logitech Z-5500's

 

[deanorthk]

Don't know if it's dead, but I'm building a HTPC, and will get my hand on an ST card, going to read the whole STX nd ST pages for op amp recommandation, since it'll be for my hifi system (rotel RB1080, Waterfall victoria EVO). I'm looking for something not harsh sounding, quite neutral but alive