[sw98]

Ah, ok. I recently moved my STX over to the farthest x16 slot, it sounds a bit better. I recently upgraded to Win 7, do I need to reinstall ASIO4ALL? I thought those drivers came standard with 7?

 

[phusg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kandiru /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would say this card comes close to the Auzentech X-Meridian, if not better.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. With which opamps are you comparing the X-Meridian to the ST? Also could you comment on how they compare with respect to listening fatigue?

 

[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sw98 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, ok. I recently moved my STX over to the farthest x16 slot, it sounds a bit better. I recently upgraded to Win 7, do I need to reinstall ASIO4ALL? I thought those drivers came standard with 7?

WASAPI is easier. You only can't use it in XP. For Vista or W7 wasapi works the same AFAIK.

 

[JackeShan]

Ordered Xonar Essence ST and a $120 Supra RCA cable that I will be using to X-Can V8 amp (6H32n tubes) and Denon D5000...
coming from Xonar D2X and a cheap $10 rca cable what improvements should I expect?

Also, anyone tried these cans with the amp in the card and compared it with a seperate amp? Is it good enough? I might get the card tomorrow so I will compare the amp in the card and with the seperate amp.
If I ever going to upgrade the opamps and while I use a seperate amp.. does it matter if I upgrade all opamps or just the I/V or buffer opamp?

 

[ROBSCIX]

The ST sounds better and measures better then a D2X, especially if you have the other gear to hear the differences in quality.
For opamps you can replace them all if you want.
If you use the cards onboard heapdheons amplifier the buffer opamps is not used so it is useless to change it in this configuration.

 

[JackeShan]

Thanks for reply!

I'm very new with opamps.. hopefully I am satisfyed with the sound (which I already am with the D2X) so a change will probably not be necessary.

 

[ROBSCIX]

After you spends some time listening to the card you will be in a better position to decide if it can use some tweaking for your gear and ears. People have different opinions on what sounds good so....your opinion is all that matters for your gear

 

[krisno]

You will not hear any difference with D2X and Essence ST when pairing with X-can V8.. you wont actually hear any difference with any tube amp, as the tubes itself is the weak link. You can use quite cheap source and get the 'same' out via a tube amp. If you use solidstate you will probably hear the difference...

 

[audionewbieyao]

I love this quote from -- John Atkinson, chief editor of Stereophile...
I mean, should we say "thank you" to Asus for selling the card so cheap?

Stereophile: Now on Newsstands: <i>Stereophile</i>, Vol.33 No.1

“Xonar Essence STX/ST are by far the least expensive way of turning a PC into a genuine high-resolution audio source I have yet encountered.”

 

[Kandiru]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phusg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for sharing your experiences. With which opamps are you comparing the X-Meridian to the ST? Also could you comment on how they compare with respect to listening fatigue?

Stock opamps both, fatigue wise i would say the the ST is the challenging one, because on quality stations like Avro Klassiek it brings out polyphony and a detailed sound stage at levels that after a while cause fatigue. It is not you MUZAK card, although that is exactly what i use it for. Several customers sat in my office waiting over past week and 4 out of 5 commented on how they got immersed into the classical music, lauding my speakers of course, never one comment on the card or Parasound Zamp in plain view, victims of the infommercial Bose(B&O in EU) culture i guess

 

[krisno]

Is the Essence ST fatiguing using AKG K 701(which can be fatiguing headphones in its own right) or not? Is it more fatiguing than the STX?

What about the other Xonar cards like the D1 regarding long term fatigue?

Kris

 

[dwk]

I haven't been following this thread all that closely, but am I correct in thinking that there still isn't any indication anywhere on the availability of either the H6 card as an add-on or a 'Deluxe' version including the H6? This is an interesting card due to it's Linux support, but I really need multi-channel capability. If this doesn't pan out I'm probably going to have to go Firewire since there really don't seem to be many other decent Linux options, unfortunately.

 

[ROBSCIX]

IIRC,they are released in Australia and other members have posted confirmation from their distributors they are on order.

 

[carickw]

How does this card work with the front panel audio. Does it sound as good as the main connector? I am trying to decide between the essence st and claro halo, any opinions?

 

[Kandiru]

Darn, that stock X-Meridian in my wife's office next door paired with another Parasound Zamp and Energy Veritas bookshelves still sounds better than my system with same amp and Xonar ST with 3-way Cantons (superior to Energy in all tests). On top of it her system is not even line conditioned.

So, guess what i found on my ebay rounds tonight? An $80 X-Meridian, got cheap and made a best offer, then realized that likely it will be gone in a few more minutes and just got it.

I do A-B comparisons on my system (have 2 PCI slots) and keep the winner. Now i need another mini-stereo to RCA gold plated L-R splitter to do my Canare interconnects justice.