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Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIe Audio Card

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News Posted: Tue, Mar 24 2009 10:30 AM

Placing a product in the "audiophile" category automatically opens it up for scrutiny of the highest order. The new Asus Xonar Essence STX "headphone amp card for audiophiles" is Asus' latest in a line of audio card offerings that pretty much cover the spectrum of PC audio applications. Asus now offers audio cards designed for gaming to Home Theater PC applications. Today we're looking at the latest iteration of the product, targeted at those of us with a more discerning ear--The Xonar Essence STX.

The Xonar Essence STX audio card boasts a host of features that are clearly aimed at end users wanting the best possible listening experience their PC can offer. In this HotHardware evaluation, we are going to explore this card's features and performance with particular emphasis paid to sound quality...

Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIe Audio Card




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mentaldisorder replied on Tue, Mar 24 2009 6:29 PM

Asus has some pretty awesome audio cards.  I would love to hear this card in person.

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kid007 replied on Wed, Mar 25 2009 6:43 AM

Asus doing Sound card I'm adding it to my summerlist!

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peti1212 replied on Sat, Mar 28 2009 10:55 AM

So I've been interested in getting a soundcard, but will I be able to hear the difference? People say that you do, but then again, does this allow you to have a lower CPU level due to the fact the sound card offloads the information to an onboard processing unit? I am not sure whether the XONAR has one.

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replied on Mon, Mar 30 2009 3:53 PM

peti1212:

So I've been interested in getting a soundcard, but will I be able to hear the difference? People say that you do, but then again, does this allow you to have a lower CPU level due to the fact the sound card offloads the information to an onboard processing unit? I am not sure whether the XONAR has one.

The XONAR Essence STX has an ASUS AV100 High-Definition Sound Processor on the card. And yes you can really hear the difference.

 

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bob_on_the_cob replied on Mon, Mar 30 2009 7:45 PM

One of these days I need to get a decent sound card if not just once so I can hear the difference. I have tin ears though so idk if I would hear it.

Also its about time we start getting some stuff to take up those x1 slots.

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Riks replied on Tue, Mar 31 2009 1:28 PM

are these the only cards that support dolby PL II?

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RyuGTX replied on Wed, Apr 1 2009 1:39 PM

bob_on_the_cob:

One of these days I need to get a decent sound card if not just once so I can hear the difference. I have tin ears though so idk if I would hear it.

Also its about time we start getting some stuff to take up those x1 slots.

 

Same here. I consider my ears to be bad at differentiating sound quality. If/When I do get one, I'll probably go for another Xonar. One not geared towards headphone usage.

 

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