ASUS Xonar Essence STX, SNR up to 124dB

[ToTTenTranz]

anyone??? 90kHz?

4.5times human hearing???

<10Hz? uh? headphone driver going that low accurately? very few.

The frequencies you cannot hear actually make a big difference in the final listening experience, because of sympathy and other phenomenons related to wave propagations.
That's why you could have a 44Khz mp3 with a bitrate of 1000Mbit/s and 32bit precision of a music and it would never sound as good as a 196Khz DVD-Audio, for example. (given you would be using proper means of reproduction (which excludes any kind of pc audio available)).

[astrallite]

How much is this gonna cost?

1. It still baffles me why the M-Audio Revolution is the only sound card with linear stereo upsampling (88.2KHz, 176.4KHz). Why put all this massive amount of money in hardware and not have the software function to limit resampling errors? (Or maybe its just for bragging rights and not function?)


2. I'm not sure why they used the PCM 1792A DAC. For $.65 more they could get the vanilla 1792, which measures at 132DB SNR. The 1792A is sort of the "beta" DAC that nobody uses anymore, or maybe that's why they used it (old DACs in storage somewhere?). The 1796 costs half as much, and daisy chaining a pair of 1796s will be cleaner than a single 1792A.

But I guess, marketing over function, as usual...

anyone??? 90kHz?

4.5times human hearing???

<10Hz? uh? headphone driver going that low accurately? very few.

You notice it only says "10 to 90KHz?" without any frame of reference? I bet you could rate your onboard sound card as 10 too 90KHz to, the tolerance range would just be wider/worse. Again, marketing numbers. It would be impressive if it measured flat to 18KHz, most pre-amps will start dipping at 16KHz.

Then again, it wouldn't matter if you used crap speakers anyway, and multimedia speakers are more less, crap. It's like those guys that drop $1000 to $1500 on SLI then play on a $200 22" TN LCD monitor.

[p8ntslinger676]

Then again, it wouldn't matter if you used crap speakers anyway, and multimedia speakers are more less, crap. It's like those guys that drop $1000 to $1500 on SLI then play on a $200 22" TN LCD monitor.

lol, this is why im using m-audio bx8a studio monitors with my D2x :P it is in fact quite pointless to even have a dedicated sound card with anything lesser cus the minute you try and turn it up to a decent hearing level you will always get distortion from the cheap paper cones and all in one satellite speakers.

[CoolZone]

can I get a free upgrade from D2 PCI?

[lilohtpc]

I'm not sure why they used the PCM 1792A DAC. For $.65 more they could get the vanilla 1792, which measures at 132DB SNR. The 1792A is sort of the "beta" DAC that nobody uses anymore, or maybe that's why they used it (old DACs in storage somewhere?). The 1796 costs half as much, and daisy chaining a pair of 1796s will be cleaner than a single 1792A.

Hi, I think you've got it all the way around, it is 1792 the beta and stopped production, not 1792A, and your comment on 1796 is also not entirely correct, every system performance still rely on the over design, not by signle component...

[saaya]

it has a ... power plug? 0_o
and a special chip for... headphones? huh?

[largon]

Guess the 4pin molex is there just to avoid routing power through the motherboard.

[exhausted mule]

lol, this is why im using m-audio bx8a studio monitors with my D2x :P it is in fact quite pointless to even have a dedicated sound card with anything lesser cus the minute you try and turn it up to a decent hearing level you will always get distortion from the cheap paper cones and all in one satellite speakers.

funny cause.


i can tell the difference between my xfi and onboard on my 15$ dollar beat up future shop specials.

if the signal going to the speakers is bad quality any speaker will reproduce it.


but then again. everything is subjective.

[HawaiianSupermn]

The card has mono output only, s you'd need to SLI them for stereo.
Too bad it needs an external power connector.

[tiro_uspsss]

where does it say this card only puts out in mono??

[ROBSCIX]

This is a stereo card with a high grade -High Impedance headphone amplifier, all those high end headphones that need external amplifiers can plug right into this card. I think the Molex connector in this case is a good idea, providing a more direct route for the PSU. I would think the amplifiers circuitry would swing from +12 to -12 which is very good for overall sound quality. The pictures also show high quality power filtering caps. This card definately has some very impressive specifications. Would be nice to audition one...

[Rock&Roll]

must.....have.......optical.....S/PDIF

[ROBSCIX]

No different then other Xonars in that respect as the card will have both S/Pdif Coaxial and most likely a adpater for optical and also has a Dolby Digital Live Encoder. Atleast I know that Chipset can support a DDL encoder.

[Stumbo]

Anybody know when this bad boy is coming out? I want to make a good choice, its a toss up between this and the Claro Halo.

[ROBSCIX]

Based on the Specifications of both the Halo is no match for the Xonar Essence for straight sound quality.
There is some information and Sneak Peak regarding this card HERE.
Impressive specifications and over all build and component choices.

[motopen1s]

The frequencies you cannot hear actually make a big difference in the final listening experience, because of sympathy and other phenomenons related to wave propagations.
That's why you could have a 44Khz mp3 with a bitrate of 1000Mbit/s and 32bit precision of a music and it would never sound as good as a 196Khz DVD-Audio, for example. (given you would be using proper means of reproduction (which excludes any kind of pc audio available)).

You cant have 1000Mbit/s mp3. Good audio gear will really be able to show its potential only with lossless recordings anyway.

I think you are confusing sample rate and range of human hearing/ sound frequency. They both are measured in Hz, but it is two different things. Sample rate and bit depth are also two different parameters. Saying that one thing is more important then the other is not correct too.

DVD audio today is usually recorder at 192/24 top (sample rate/bit depth). There is no such standart as 196 kHz.

You should really do some reading about digital audio, analog/digital conversion etc. not to make some people confused.



p8ntslinger676, nice speakers :P. I might switch to this new Asus card when the reviews will pop up. Thinking of getting large cans later on, so interested how the integrated amp will turn out.

This card should be great for stereo & headphones loving audiophiles/gamers.

[zanzabar]

i have a question on the powering up to 600 ohms, i thought that lower ohms need amps more since its quieter due to less resistance at the speaker assembly. most monitors have less than 100 from what ive seen except for bad version of the dt770pro with 240ohms

[Revv23]

Im sure the onboard power amp is crap... but otherwise could be a nice medium between a real headphone amp and just straight sound out of the card..

Which reminds me.. i need a headphone amp.

[Cybercat]

Im sure the onboard power amp is crap... but otherwise could be a nice medium between a real headphone amp and just straight sound out of the card..

Which reminds me.. i need a headphone amp.

Crap compared to what? There's a good chance it has something that can stomp on most ~$150 headphone amps out there, most of which are battery-operated portable ones.

[Revv23]

There's just as good of a chance that this will suck. considering ASUS makes PC equipment not amplifiers I bet that this will - like i said - be a nice middle ground between no power and a real headphone amp. And you can't even count the battery op ones and this thing probably will cost about $150 anyway.

[Donnie27]

You cant have 1000Mbit/s mp3. Good audio gear will really be able to show its potential only with lossless recordings anyway.

I think you are confusing sample rate and range of human hearing/ sound frequency. They both are measured in Hz, but it is two different things. Sample rate and bit depth are also two different parameters. Saying that one thing is more important then the other is not correct too.

DVD audio today is usually recorder at 192/24 top (sample rate/bit depth). There is no such standart as 196 kHz.

You should really do some reading about digital audio, analog/digital conversion etc. not to make some people confused.



p8ntslinger676, nice speakers :P. I might switch to this new Asus card when the reviews will pop up. Thinking of getting large cans later on, so interested how the integrated amp will turn out.

This card should be great for stereo & headphones loving audiophiles/gamers.

I 98% agree with you. The 2%? I say NO WAY on the Gamers comment! Games need sound effects and nothing Asus sells can process-reproduce the sound effects in many games out there. Ask *most Prelude owners? The problem is sound processing of these effects before they are outputted. It's not the same as playing back Music NO fake EAX doesn't work well enough So says 10 out 10 we demoed it for

MOST Real Audiophiles don't mess with computers very much. They use dedicated Players, yes -some use speakers and not just cans. They use Hi-Fi source Material Like Remastered Super Audio CD, 196KHz-24bit DVD or other Lossless Audio Formats. Many have dedicated Rooms, listening chairs and tons of other neat stuff. Note, many will tell you 20 to 30K spent on the hardware and then popping in a regular Audio CD is Nutty LOL! It's more like Crossfire-ing two X2 cards in to a low quality 17" CRT.

5500's Multi-media speakers are CRAP!

[Cybercat]

There's just as good of a chance that this will suck. considering ASUS makes PC equipment not amplifiers I bet that this will - like i said - be a nice middle ground between no power and a real headphone amp. And you can't even count the battery op ones and this thing probably will cost about $150 anyway.

Did you read the Hardware Canucks article posted above? I wonder how informed about this particular part you actually are.

Also I'm guessing this will probably cost in the neighborhood of $250, which doesn't help my point, but I'm trying to be truthful.

[motopen1s]

... It's not the same as playing back Music NO fake EAX doesn't work well enough

Oh, alright, so that DS3D GX2.5 3D that Asus offers has not much to do with harware processing of game effects (like EAX support etc.)? I've never really looked into Asus cards since I figured the Prelude is the best of both wordls (at that point and at least for me)...


A good friend of my who has a little home studio and produces some music just tells me to get firewire audio interface. The thing with them is that I either have to spend a fortune to get a noticeably better perfomance (at least the way I see it) or end up with a product that offers on par sound quality, if not worst, have all the feautures I am not planning to use in the near future (like multiple inputs and outputs, midi support etc.) and just lack that nice interface of X-Fi cards (I just love it heh), crippling gaming feautures in general. So thats my argument towards keeping what I have for now (since I haven't find any audio interface in the range of up to $500 that I think is a worthy upgrade in my case). As I said, headphone amp is one of the things I am likely to get next and... most of those cheaper firewire cards offer a ty one anyway.

I think Z-5500 are good for what they are though - movies and games (especially taking into account their price). I am having my sitting in the corner, looking new with 25m or so of copper wire, that I bought but havent tried using. I dont know if I should sell them or keep, because I think its just a great value for what they are... Well, music wise... its only if you had some cheap 5.1 system before that you can really like it. When speakers are set currectly (especially the sub), then they can produce quite a nice result (for the money) playing some FLAC stuff and having a proper bass level in the control panel. Well, its no stereo of course...

I think somebody should really build a card with feautures similar to this new Asus card, delievering great stereo perfomance and fitting a nice headphone amp into it. Well, as many have already pointed out, for like $250 it might be hard to deliever whats promised (but I keep fingers crossed anyway ). Would be nice if it would have 1/4" outs instead of RCA's too...

[Katanai]

Drives up to 600ohms headphones with less than 100dB distortion, the built-in headphone amp supports every available headphone in the market with unbelievable audio quality. "

That is an untruthful statement. There are tons of USB headphones out there. What does it do for them? Nada. Other than that the card is looking good.

[joshd]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...neak-peak.html