Xonar Essence STX: Sneak Peek!
Jan 3, 2009 at 5:22 PM Post #196 of 2,066
To the people that have the card is anyone running vista 64 and if so any problems with the drivers?

Also can anyone recommend a good Volume Control I hate stopping the game just to higher or lower the volume.

And for those wanted to buy one it's in stock over ncix.com for US users ncixus.com for $187! only 9 left!
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 6:03 PM Post #197 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by Auidodude34 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And for those wanted to buy one it's in stock over ncix.com for US users ncixus.com for $187! only 9 left!



Yeah and in STOCK THIS TIME, FOR REAL!...and did you guys noticed the changes that where made to their stock quotation system? you guys don't know what i went through with them but enjoy...whats the saying again? Ignorance is bliss? yeah thats right.

@Auidodude34: If you had experienced and went through what i went through with them I'm sure you wouldn't be such an advert for them.
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 6:16 PM Post #198 of 2,066
Playing around with some of the preset equalizer settings, I found that S-Rock (soft rock I guess?) makes every song sound amazing. Turning it off now everything sounds really flat. With it on it really picks up the bass which is what I like to hear in my songs.
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 6:27 PM Post #199 of 2,066
ok, can't wait for the slow NewEgg...
I just canceled it and ordered another from NCIXUS.com.

It's a lot cheaper on NCIX than NewEgg after all...
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 6:43 PM Post #200 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by audionewbieyao /img/forum/go_quote.gif
ok, can't wait for the slow NewEgg...
I just canceled it and ordered another from NCIXUS.com.

It's a lot cheaper on NCIX than NewEgg after all...



You sound like a shill dude...please stop
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 6:59 PM Post #201 of 2,066
BTW let this be clear now...I do not hate NCIX.com. I just think that they employ a few under qualified customer care representatives... Heres a few words i would use to describe some of these individuals:

Senseless: because they seem to lack purpose and need better guidance
Apathetic: because they obviously don't care
Drone: Because your just another # to them

and yes, it is indeed very S.A.D

That's it, it is said, and I wont be adding another word on the subject. My sentiments have been expressed.
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 7:10 PM Post #202 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by audionewbieyao /img/forum/go_quote.gif
ok, can't wait for the slow NewEgg...
I just canceled it and ordered another from NCIXUS.com.

It's a lot cheaper on NCIX than NewEgg after all...



I bet they have them they just haven't updated the site yet.

yeah a lot cheaper it would of came out to $226 with California tax and shipping at newegg.

ncixus.com came out total $205 with shipping and handing and insurance!

And this is my first time ordering from NCIX see how it goes.
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 5:13 AM Post #203 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by mcegan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
So I bought this card after following this thread, and I have to say the sound quality is amazing. This is my first non onboard sound and I'm loving the difference. I only have one big problem with this card.

Whenever I try to load up World of Warcraft, it gives me a blue screen complaining about cmudaxp.sys, which is the driver file the card uses. Whenever I try to run dxdiag, it also gives me the same bluescreen when it reaches the sound area of the test. After restarting and running dxdiag again, it notices that I crashed last time at the direct sound part and asks if I want to skip that portion, so I say yes and it loads fine. I then pass all the direct sound tests fine.

Later I find out that WoW and dxdiag only bluescreen whenever the DSP mode "DS3D GX" is not enabled. With it enabled, they load fine. The next problem is that when I have this enabled, I can't listen to music on winamp for some reason. It acts like it's muted. As soon as I turn it off though, it will play fine but then the blue screens are back with the other 2.

Another problem is even though WoW loads with the DSP option on, I can't get any sound to run through it no matter what options I try to set. I have tried another Blizzard game which also uses eax effects (Warcraft 3) and it had no difficulty loading with the DSP mode off or on.

I'm running Windows XP on a evga 680i LT mobo (Bios is the newest one). I just reformatted and installed windows fresh and it still blue screens in the same places without the DS3D GX on. This problem is extremely annoying and if I could get rid of it this card would be perfect. Any suggestions?



Are you sure that its when you enable GX it works? There are numerous problems with GX [which is basically software emulated EAX incase you didnt know] however all the problems i've heard and personally had have been when its been enabled. Disabled = white lettering, Enabled=black lettering. If it was an issue when you enable GX then it would be, unfortunetly, the norm. There are a whole lot of games out there that either fail to load, cause an error, have no sound etc etc... all when GX is enabled. Once its disabled the experience is problem free. So make sure that isnt the case with you.

Im suspecting you're misreading whether GX is disabled or enabled and winamp is the actual problem.

Unfortunetly ASUS seems to be taking their sweet time on fixing these issues. They've been existant for about a year now. Of course that isnt stopping them for releasing more and more products utilizing the same buggy driver foundation. All in all their cards sound really good with music, but have been complete trash when it comes to gaming compared to X-Fi.
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 5:40 AM Post #204 of 2,066
Well if this cards amp is almost as good as a corda opera that's pretty impressive. I googled the opera and it was $900. Is that right? LOL
atsmile.gif
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 10:36 AM Post #206 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by Brando /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Well if this cards amp is almost as good as a corda opera that's pretty impressive. I googled the opera and it was $900. Is that right? LOL
atsmile.gif



Yes that's right, the Opera Analog (the non-DAC version) was about that much at release. I believe the final price in Sept '08 when it was discontinued was something like $750.

Keep in mind though that the Opera is a little more sophisticated than the amp section of the STX. The Opera has multiple inputs, a gain selector, two headphone-outs each with different output impedences, and that beautiful Meier crossfeed. It can also act as a preamp.

Of course, it still is a very high-quality headphone amp.
beyersmile.png
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 2:15 PM Post #208 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And in the grand scheme of things, how much would it REALLY matter? A gunshot, a scream, a headshot is going to sound pretty similar and lets face it.. its not like the designers are encoding it in WAV anymore
smily_headphones1.gif



It's usually 128k or 64k Ogg Vorbis these days
smily_headphones1.gif

(Ogg Vorbis = free and no licensing fee unlike mp3, the main reason why more and more games use it for their gaming sounds).
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 6:21 PM Post #209 of 2,066
It's not about the quality of the game sound effects. I just don't want to unplug my phones constantly. Not only is it annoying but I don't want to wear out the plug on the phones and the inputs on the stx and the glite.
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 6:38 PM Post #210 of 2,066
i got a question regarding essence stx's external power connector

can you confirm it is a 4 pin molex with:

1 +12V Yellow +12 VDC
2 GND Black +12 V Ground (Same as +5 V Ground)
3 GNDBlack +5 V Ground
4 +5V Red +5 VDC

if i am right and it is the 4 pin molex decribed above, does anybody know what current requirement for 12V and 5V is in case of this card?
 

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