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Xonar Essence STX: Sneak Peek!
Jan 19, 2009 at 5:27 AM Post #421 of 2,066
I've decided I prefer my Gilmore lite to the built in amp but it's not bad at all. Just not as good as the Glite. Might be the low impedence but I'm not sure. Thought I read somewhere AT phones need amps with certain characteristics not necessarily related to quality. High current I think?
 
Jan 19, 2009 at 6:05 AM Post #422 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Anyway, I'm in the middle of writing a massive review of this card as I have been sent the Essence STX to review by the only store in New Zealand to stock them, ComputerLounge, and it will cover many aspects so stay tuned!


I agree with you.. Computerlounge was the only store in NZ who have these cards in stock. Many stores in NZ have listed them on their website but they wont have them till next month. Anyways I am looking forward to your reveiw...
 
Jan 19, 2009 at 2:49 PM Post #424 of 2,066
Jan 19, 2009 at 5:22 PM Post #425 of 2,066
Finaxe ... try your PC with VD Power3 instead Verastarr. Your Verastarr is in the bright side, very detailled and stiff with the highs.

Maybe try a stock powercord too .. with and without power conditionner.

I am convinced will be a better match.

When we was using the external supply, remember, was plugged with a stock powercord on powerconditionner.
 
Jan 19, 2009 at 10:35 PM Post #427 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBSCIX /img/forum/go_quote.gif
@Pompon, You guys just connected a Bench supply to the Molex Connector on the STX?



What improvments did you notice?


i just finished up my linear psu for the stx, feeding it +12 and +5 via the molex connector. i ended up building two supplies, which share only the iec socket and the wall cord. compared to the stock configuration ( molex from internal psu) the sounded opened up, bass is much better defined and deeper, there is more resolution because there is a much blacker background, dynamics improved dramatically (which struck me as a weak point of the card in its stock config). the highs also opened up a bit. with the computer psu, the stx was highly listenable, but a bit too warmish and syrupy-- now it is close to perfect (wondering what the opamp swaps will acheive...)

i highly recommend using a quiet, regulated linear psu for this card-- it deserves it!
 
Jan 20, 2009 at 2:30 AM Post #430 of 2,066
Just got mine and it sounded........OMG, what can I say. I even used it to monitor some mixes I've done (I play in an indie band) and found all the details previously unnoticed. That's a great combinition with Xonar's ASIO drivers.

I hope them make an Essence for notebooks, I'm thinking of swithing completely to laptops these days and would like the same goodies on it (X-Fi sucks!). Something like an express card would be nice, I believe those guys at ASUS have no problem getting the same quality on it. Anybody got the same thoughts?
 
Jan 20, 2009 at 4:20 AM Post #432 of 2,066
guys -- i built the psu from a design posted by john swenson in the pc audio forum of audio asylum. there's a thread regarding a linear supply for a fit-pc. that's what i built. he spec-ed adjustable regulators, and i ended up using fixed voltage regulators (2940s) for both the 12 and 5 v supplies. the original spec for power consumption that robscix got for us was 20 watts, but that must be with the headphone amp on the card running. i am just using tha analog outs in an audio-only pc that is in my main system for speaker listening. because of the original power consumption figure, i ended up with a transformer which is bigger than need be, and it ends up supplying about 25v of raw dc. this was too much voltage for the 5v regulator to drop, so i ended up using a second transfomer (same kind, smaller model) for just the 5v section.

it's ugly in its current state, and eventually i'll build it into a 2u size chassis which i already have, once i get ambitious.

all of the parts came from digikey except the chokes, which can be found via a web search.

the audio-only pc is built in an antec fusion case, using the supplied power supply, which is good, but not great. it is a very simple machine, with only a single wd green 1tB hard drive, and a pioneer dvd drive. video is onboard, and it is running xp sp2. i play music on it in the cics cmp2 environment, using winamp, with a recompiled otachan asio plug in, also sourced from audio asylum.

hope that helps.

mark
 
Jan 20, 2009 at 4:23 AM Post #433 of 2,066
ah, forgot to mention the on-off switching. right now, the pc stays on 24-7 (it's really stable since it is dedicated, and running almost nothing beside xp and the player software. if i get going, and build the psu into a nicer case, i may use a relay, triggered by a molex from the internal psu, to switch the ugly beast external on and off in synch with the pc itself.
 
Jan 20, 2009 at 10:24 AM Post #434 of 2,066
Quote:

Originally Posted by pompon /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I tried with 2 other friends a linear powersupply on the STX and that gave a positive influence on the soundquality.

BTW, for my tastes, I tend to prefer X-Meridian (with lm4562) over the STX because the STX give a little bit too much details for my tastes.


I wonder if the result would be the same for me against my Prelude 7.1.
 
Jan 20, 2009 at 10:58 AM Post #435 of 2,066
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