New Xonar Essence "One"

[Amnesia87]

Fine... if you want something price comparable:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphon...FB5/NFB5EN.htm

Schiit cost more because it's made in USA... but if you don't mind your stuff being made in china, I promise that Audio-GD will kill Asus.

[bamtan2]

Fine... if you want something price comparable:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphon...FB5/NFB5EN.htm

Schiit cost more because it's made in USA... but if you don't mind your stuff being made in china, I promise that Audio-GD will kill Asus.

comparable. but asus essence one DOES have features that lacks.

[elzhi]

imo this will fail, unless its really cheap (rather unlikely since its made by Asus)

[EniGmA1987]

comparable. but asus essence one DOES have features that lacks.

And that NFB-5 has features the ASUS lacks, such as much better output stage and much better volume control which results in far superior sound.

[Amnesia87]

And that NFB-5 has features the ASUS lacks, such as much better output stage and much better volume control which results in far superior sound.

+1, features are all well and good, but when it comes to actual sound quality, there is no way the Asus will even come close.

[emoners]

PRICE / AVAILABILITY might be the only factor Asus could pull this off

[Metroid]

I have been very impressed with my Xonar Essence STX. Asus will have to work really hard to convince me to upgrade from it.

As a side note, early adopters are like guinea pigs. They must exist for good drivers to come out. I really don't know if I will be one of them this time

[bamtan2]

there is no way the Asus will even come close.

you are delusional IMO. there is not such a difference between sound solutions. this is not an audiophile forum, you can't pull that wool over my eyes.

[mattkosem]

+1, features are all well and good, but when it comes to actual sound quality, there is no way the Asus will even come close.

+1 on this too. It's just not feasible. It is completely possible/likely. The power supply could and likely does make or break the difference, let alone the rest of it. This is consumer grade equipment, regardless of Asus slapping "audiophile" on it. Even the SNR is worse than the ST/STX.

--Matt

[SabreWulf69]

Taken from myself in the audio section - 'Power supply would have been preferable being in a separate unit to separate the power and input sections as much as possible, with the advent of even running it off batteries being an even better possibility. I would have liked to see a discrete design rather than the use of OPAMP's. Alas I hope they will be using something like the Burr-Brown OPA161x family for this thing.'

Personally I am just gonna go for a cheap external DAC as I have never had one before to run from the optical of the STX that I currently have.

The one here --> http://members.cox.net/rossmartin1/i...es/Page318.htm
(PCM1794 With OPA1611 and OPA1612 OP AMPS
PRICE: $299.95)

Seems generic but at the same time also seems to tick all the check boxes for a DAC that I would be happy with spending that amount on.

[oohms]

I don't think there is enough information to make any guesstimations on how good it will sound just yet

The marketing on that product leads me to believe its crap, sorry to say... for example

"featuring 24bit/96kHz supported USB2.0 audio controller and Wolfson’s WM8740 (117dB), the highest quality D/A converter in the market today."

Ummm.. what? WM8741, PCM1704U, ESS Sabre9018 are all better chips then the 8740... so already they're lying

Specs don't make one dac sound 'better' than another... there are a lot of people who think that the WM8740 sounds best, and also a lot that think old nos designs like the TDA1541/1543 sound 'best' to them. Given a properly designed analogue stage (preferably without opamps), most dacs sound very good... it is often the output stage that lets them down.

[EniGmA1987]

IMO an optical input with 24/192 receiver and an ES9018 DAC, with a well regulated PSU, and a nice output stage with AD797BRZ op amps sounds best. But everyone is different.

[SabreWulf69]

I believe the OPA161x family would give the AD's a run for their money. IMO discrete is the better way than OPAMP's all together, with maybe some high-end tubes added for good measure all throughout.

[PaganII]

EMU mods - bypass PS, bypass output DAC, vacuum tube output stage. bottom of page is tube output.

http://www.audiodesignguide.com/HiRe...404/index.html

[EniGmA1987]

Now you two are just being silly, saying it would be best to bypass any op amps because they hold back the sound and color the tone, but then you want vacuum tubes which do the same thing but to an even greater extent. I like op amps because it is just like tubes. I like changing op amps in and out to modify the tone. Its basically like modern day tube rolling. But you cant say you like a true output stage with no op amps and then say you like tubes, those are opposites. If you like tubes, you like non-true sound that is heavily colored. If you like op amps, you like non-true sound the is colored. If you dont like colored sound, then you cant like tubes or op amps.

People say like like true sound, but they love tubes even more because it sounds so warm and wonderful. guess what? When you take the audio and make it sound "warm and wonderful", you are not reproducing the original audio. Tubes do make the sound "warmer" usually. Tubes add in a lot of 2nd order harmonic distortion to the audio signal. There are some op amps that can do something similar and are like tubes in that category. the OPA-MOON is one like that. And just like there are some tubes that sound better than others, there are some op amps that sound better than others. One might have a nice warmness to it but lack a really tight low end, one might have amazing high's but be lacking in the mid's. You can get some op amps with a really high slew rate (and must be accompanied by a high uf capacitor that it draws power from) that work great for electronic and techno style music because they are so fast and edgy, or you can get some that sound more laid back and work well for things like jazz. Its all about personal preference and finding the right tube or op amp to fit your style.


Also, heard those OPA's, didnt seem nearly as good as the 797B's. The A's yes most definitely, but the B is completely different and vastly superior.

[SabreWulf69]

Proper tubes are one of the best things around for audio and shouldn't sound warm, but accurate, and are a lot more linear in response. The best amps don't use them for no reason. So even with all this guy's equipment, it is clearly not a 'true sounding' system --> http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Ki...ndard/KSS.html and is something that a card with some AD797B's would beat? You could best US $6 Million worth of dedicated audio gear of which extensively uses a whole bunch of tube amps vs solid state?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_sound

[XSAlliN]

This is a "toy" for PC users, probably goes well with other toys from Logitech. So, if you want a toy for some Logitech rig, or some toys from Razer (sound related) this could be just fine, but if you want something more serious - look somewhere else.

[PaganII]

Toy? More like a tool. Different tasks require different tools. Not everyone needs a $5,000.00usd DAC to listen to CDs.

[Bojamijams]

Toy? More like a tool. Different tasks require different tools. Not everyone needs a $5,000.00usd DAC to listen to CDs.

You're completely missing the point. Nobody is saying that. What they ARE saying is that in its price range (~500USD) you can find a lot better DAC/HP AMP that doesn't use a stupidly large amount of signal degrading op-amps.

[PaganII]

I thought it was $299 suggested retail price and I agree. The EMU ($199) is better. My little MAudio ($150) has phantom power and XLR inputs.

[SabreWulf69]

Mbox's ftw :-)

[EniGmA1987]

So even with all this guy's equipment, it is clearly not a 'true sounding' system --> http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Ki...ndard/KSS.html and is something that a card with some AD797B's would beat? You could best US $6 Million worth of dedicated audio gear of which extensively uses a whole bunch of tube amps vs solid state?

lol? WHen did I ever say that at all? Now your just making stuff up

I also was never saying tubes are bad for audio. I was just commenting that tubes change the sound just as much as using an op amp does. Both will make audio sound bad if you use bad quality devices. Im sure mr. 6 million dollars has some quality tubes and circuit designs in his equipment and it sounds amazing. But you taking what I said and twisting it into something completely different is not appreciated.

[SabreWulf69]

Just responding in kind to:

If you like tubes, you like non-true sound that is heavily colored

[XSAlliN]

Some pictures with this:




















...see source for more.

[emoners]

will these really gonna be the consumer cables?