[Crazy*Carl]

How would the Xonar Essence paired with Sennheiser HD580 or HD600 compare to an external solution like a Compass or EF-2 in terms of sound quality?

 

[KLJTech]

I don't know if this helps but I've found that I really enjoy listening to my music with the Xonar Essence STX and both the AKG 701's and Grado 325i's. I have a nice enough stand alone headphone amp but I decided that for the first couple weeks that I was only going to use the headphone amp on the STX (to give it a chance). I found myself enjoying the music and frankly I think that we all do this at times and that's thinking too much about the gear rather than just allowing ourselves to enjoy the music.

Of course there are FAR better amps than what is built into the STX but to my ears it still allows me to tap my toes and escape the real world for a while "IF" I allow myself to enjoy my favorite music rather than trying to decide which amp gives me more space around the instruments, better vocals or deeper tighter bass.

I'm sorry if this didn't help you at all, I for one just have to remind myself every once in a while that it's really about the music and not the gear (once you get decent enough gear <grin>).

Good luck.

 

[terente0081]

I'm also interested in this matter. I want to get the Essence STX and listen to a pair of Denon AH-D5000's directly from it.
Does somebody have experience with other built in headphone amplifs? Like the amplif in the Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 or Auzen Hometheater HD? How do they compare with the HF amplif on the STX?
My current headphones setup is Xonar D2/PM -> Yarland P100 with EH NOS lamps but it seems to me like I am losing lots of sound detail somewhere. There are sounds, mids especially that I can hear in the 5.1 speaker system and not in the headphones.

 

[gurubhai]

I am using this combo & to my ears the xonar drives them quite splendidly.

Quote:

Of course there are FAR better amps than what is built into the STX but to my ears it still allows me to tap my toes and escape the real world for a while "IF" I allow myself to enjoy my favorite music rather than trying to decide which amp gives me more space around the instruments, better vocals or deeper tighter bass.

I also feel the same way.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terente0081 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does somebody have experience with other built in headphone amplifs? Like the amplif in the Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 or Auzen Hometheater HD? How do they compare with the HF amplif on the STX?

most ppl will tell you that the STX HP amp sounds pretty distorted(it's a $2.25 TI generic chip), most ppl plug their phones on the line-out(even Asus advises to do so in the manual, and provides the adapter cable w/ the card).

FWIW YMMV yada-yada, I very much prefer the HP out of the HD2 Advance Deluxe over the STX...it makes the bass much tighter and the sound is so much beefier/full(thank you mister NJM4580), yet not bloated like on the STX HP out. and the drivers are fully bit-matched(whatever KS/DS), and there's no resident apps(the Asus carry 3 of them)...and it's half cheaper too

PS: just beware of shills and fanboys before making up your mind on the STX

 

[ROBSCIX]

Considering the overall price of the entire card that headphone amplifier is decent.
It will not surpass high end external amplifiers but will do the job.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terente0081 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm also interested in this matter. I want to get the Essence STX and listen to a pair of Denon AH-D5000's directly from it. Does somebody have experience with other built in headphone amplifs? Like the amplif in the Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 or Auzen Hometheater HD? How do they compare with the HF amplif on the STX? My current headphones setup is Xonar D2/PM -> Yarland P100 with EH NOS lamps but it seems to me like I am losing lots of sound detail somewhere. There are sounds, mids especially that I can hear in the 5.1 speaker system and not in the headphones.

I have tested all three cards using all three amplifiers. The Auzentech amplifiers are pretty good also for a onboard can amp considering the price. Auzentech uses a proprietary design as opposed to a chip amplifier used on the ST(X)
You are not stuck using the onboard can amps You can connect up an external amplifier also.

 

[Crazy*Carl]

What about the Xonar compared to a Compass, EF2, or even the Zero?

 

[Crazy*Carl]

^