[Bmac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GWorlDofSPACE /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have gamma 2 and TDA1541A NOS DAS for experimeting. Why?

Just curious what you switched to and how it compares to your hot-rodded STX.

 

[Surfaced]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macrog /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes definately worth the extra for the ST. I have the st and stx both upgraded with 3 x lme49720nz opamps. The ST is in a totally different league to the stx. The stx is soundly trounced by the musiland 02us usb dac where the ST is probably actually a bit better. macrog

Wow! Trounced? I didn't think it was possible considering how similar they are supposed to be.

Thanks for the info, I had no idea...

 

[leeperry]

once you've heard the ST, the STX sounds like a mushy stereo mess(I've owned both simultaneously and A/B'ed them several times).

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfaced /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well it looks like I can find the STX for $160 shipped. But this ST, which apparently has some improvements, is no less than $210 anywhere. Anyone know if the extra $50 is worth it? I have no reason to get the H6, by the way.

Newly released cards are always the most money.
If your interested in the card wait for a bit and the price will drop, the same with any other product.

 

[giedrys]

Essence ST requires separate connector directly from power supply, right? What kind of connector is that? 6 pin, like on most video cards?

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by giedrys /img/forum/go_quote.gif Essence ST requires separate connector directly from power supply, right? What kind of connector is that? 6 pin, like on most video cards?

Just a normal 4 pin molex connector, used on some optical drive, some hard drives etc.

 

[Kandiru]

Hi, i am am new here, but have a long history of PC and Mac hardware abuse.

Apart from the CMI 8788 PCM 192 KHz via optical to the different systems around my tiny abode i also run analog setups for my office, and the wife's of course.

Wife's: Auzentech X-Meridian > Parasound Zamp v.2> Energy bookshelves

Mine: Xonar DX (CMI 8788 clone i have generic Oxygen HD drivers loaded) > Zamp > Canton D3 3-way bookshelves

All connections on the high current end gold plated silver-soldered of course, low current interconnects have shielding which drains into the ground plug on the Panamax Max 5100 conditioners. Overkill? No, it's called
upgraditis on AVS Forum.

After installing the X-Meridian in my wife's office i saw the light, not that the Xonar DX is impotent, quite on the contrary, based on my remote experience with the plebeian brand called Creative

So, after i won an X-Meridian for $70 on ebay i wanted a second one, tough luck! HT Omega was next but then i kept reading about the STX, and Leepery's eloquent 2 line sentence comparing the ST and STX. I keep bumping into his posts and i know he knows what he is doing so ordered the ST with a big discount from Overstock, coupons are all over the web for that site, beware of malware when you reference from Google though.

I am so happy i found this site, so glad to hear that my affliction is not unique. The Opamp swap saga is just plain fascinating, watching those capacitor swapped boards reminds me of the days i belonged to a radio club 20 plus years ago.

I will report with my layman newb findings on the ST as soon as i rig it up in my 64 bit Precision T7500, without IT taking notice hopefully

 

[jalyst]

good to have you on board, everyone's a newb and one point or another!

 

[Kandiru]

Got the card, installed it, uses the large 4 pin auxiliary power cable as opposed to the DX, has front audio connectors.

When i installed the driver Windows 7 asked me if i wanted to allow "C-Media device drivers" to be installed, so we may have ourselves another ASUS CMI8788 rebadge, i did not go as far as to try the "C-Media Oxygen HD" generic drivers provided by Razer Barracuda AC-1 which worked well with the Xonar DX.

In Win 7 64 bit i tried tweaking some audio settings through the sound devices menu. Big mistake, as soon as i changed the sample rate i lost all functionality of the Asus interface, regained it after i reset all Windows settings to default.

I like the HF button on the panel, kills all additional processing.

I listened to Avro Klassiek 256kbps (this comes as close to redbook CD as an internet radio station could get) and Bartok Radio 320kbps and i was impressed. Then some Octoshape Plugin stations 192kbps like Radio Swiss Jazz and Pop with very nice results. Spacialization is good, polyphony great, in Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo the guitar and violins really came to life, and were clearly localized in the soundstage, something the DX could not pull. Now i see what people mean by listening fatigue, it is because the experience is involving, your brain needs to process all that new information that was not audible before with compressed sound. SACD via DSD on a balanced (not fully, have the PR-SC885P) system is my reference.

I would say this card comes close to the Auzentech X-Meridian, if not better.

I am keeping mine for a long time.

 

[sw98]

I currently own the STX and am upgrading motherboards soon. Is anyone running their STX in a PCI-E x16 slot? I'm running mine in a 4X slot right now, I tried putting it in a X1 slot and it doesn't sound the same. Just curious.

 

[Tristate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sw98 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I currently own the STX and am upgrading motherboards soon. Is anyone running their STX in a PCI-E x16 slot? I'm running mine in a 4X slot right now, I tried putting it in a X1 slot and it doesn't sound the same. Just curious.

Yepp, I'm running mine on a x16 slot, no problem.

 

[jalyst]

x1 is more than enough bandwidth no matter the audio source/format.
something else may explain why you hear a difference...

Quote:

Originally Posted by sw98 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I currently own the STX and am upgrading motherboards soon. Is anyone running their STX in a PCI-E x16 slot? I'm running mine in a 4X slot right now, I tried putting it in a X1 slot and it doesn't sound the same. Just curious.

 

[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jalyst /img/forum/go_quote.gif x1 is more than enough bandwidth no matter the audio source/format. something else may explain why you hear a difference...

Probably the positioning of the card in the case. Maybe there is more interference (whatever the correct term is) wherever the x1 slot is.

 

[sw98]

Ok cool, got mine running in an X16 slot now. Is anyone running their STX in Windows 7? There shouldn't be any SQ differences in going from XP to 7, right?

 

[drewfus420]

my stx ran and sounded the same on XP and Win7, once I loaded the same players, ASIO, etc.

I did notice a slight change in sound between my 1x 4 x and 16x slots, settling in the 1x slot, and I do believe it had everything to do with proximity to my graphics card, and power supply.