# ASUS Xonar Essence STX II 7.1 Sound Card



## Frederik S (May 6, 2014)

ASUS marked their entry into the high-end sound card market with the Xonar Essence ST some years ago. Today, we will take a good look at the new STX II. The STX II brings new op-amps and a more precise clock generator to the table; the latter should lower jitter. The STX II also bolsters 7.1 outputs through a small break-out card.

*Show full review*


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## JTristam (Aug 25, 2014)

Great card, great bundles (op-amps FTW) but hefty price. Thanks for the review, Frederik!


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## RejZoR (Aug 25, 2014)

I bet it will be great for music and movies, but just as rubbish for games as the original STX. I had it and it was the soundcard with the worst 3D sound positioning i've ever heard. Couldn't tell where's any enemy. Even ALC6xx series onboards from Realtek were better at it. Seriously. It was so bad i sold it like half a year later. Buggy drivers with rare updates were even worse than anything i've come across from SB Live! 5.1 to current SB Z combined.

I'm a total nut as far as game sound goes, but i've never seen such stagnation in this segment. Basically since Vista release and change of the audio API, it just dived straight to bottom. Even EAX support disappeared in favor to rubbish software solutions like the FMOD. Yuck. And now everyone think obsession with higher SNR will somehow improve things. I want my EAX back...


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## repman244 (Aug 25, 2014)

RejZoR said:


> I bet it will be great for music and movies, but just as rubbish for games as the original STX. I had it and it was the soundcard with the worst 3D sound positioning i've ever heard. Couldn't tell where's any enemy. Even ALC6xx series onboards from Realtek were better at it. Seriously. It was so bad i sold it like half a year later. Buggy drivers with rare updates were even worse than anything i've come across from SB Live! 5.1 to current SB Z combined.
> 
> I'm a total nut as far as game sound goes, but i've never seen such stagnation in this segment. Basically since Vista release and change of the audio API, it just dived straight to bottom. Even EAX support disappeared in favor to rubbish software solutions like the FMOD. Yuck. And now everyone think obsession with higher SNR will somehow improve things. I want my EAX back...



The ST and STX were never aimed for gaming so it's hardly surprising that you didn't like it.


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## avatar_raq (Aug 25, 2014)

I listen to instrumental music daily but with my set of speakers I doubt I will notice any difference with this card over the SB Z.


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## BorisDG (Aug 25, 2014)

With all new games STX is absolutely fine. No one is using EAX anymore. Everything is FMOD, MSS3D, WWISE For music is just .... mmm I'm with better OpAmps even to the STX 2. STX 2 is just ... blah nothing really new to the STX. I really hoped for brand new product...


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## Ferrum Master (Aug 25, 2014)

Where are the RMAA tests??


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## Frederik S (Aug 25, 2014)

Most of the sound rendering is pure software now so sound cards should not make much of a difference with regard to positional audio. The big upgrade besides the op-amps is the improved clock generator which I think has a significant contribution to the fact that it sounds better. RMAA tests even properly configured are not a good basis for comparison as the quality of the A/D part of the sound card is often causing problems. Making a good RMAA setup is something I am looking into but so far it looks quite expensive.


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## Scrizz (Aug 25, 2014)

Ferrum Master said:


> Where are the RMAA tests??



THIS^


Frederik S said:


> Making a good RMAA setup is something I am looking into but so far it looks quite expensive.



Thanks.


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## fullinfusion (Aug 25, 2014)

Hello beautiful! What!!? 4 bills!! Are they insane!


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## MadMan007 (Aug 26, 2014)

$400 is insanity. If the street price is much above $200 it's too expensive. Unless you are absolutely desparate for high-end sound from an internal card, just get an external DAC/amp or Prepro for the same or less and with the added bonus of not having to worry about drivers.


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## Mistral (Aug 26, 2014)

I'm glad to see new models of higher end sound cards being made. 

I do ask myself one thing, as the cost it pretty much the same. How does the sound quality of this compare to instead running sound from a video card through hdmi to a receiver?


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## SaltyFish (Aug 27, 2014)

RejZoR said:


> I'm a total nut as far as game sound goes, but i've never seen such stagnation in this segment. Basically since Vista release and change of the audio API, it just dived straight to bottom. Even EAX support disappeared in favor to rubbish software solutions like the FMOD. Yuck. And now everyone think obsession with higher SNR will somehow improve things. I want my EAX back...


Blame Creative for that. Creative had a virtual monopoly on the gaming and consumer PC audio market (especially after driving Aureal into bankruptcy), got arrogant and complacent, and then let it all rot away. Creative's Sound Blaster glory days are long over and I'm not sure what they're aiming for now with their current SoundCore line (certainly not trying to replicate X-Fi, that's for sure). I'm surprised that ASUS is still pushing out a new sound card since it's a pretty small market now. It's pretty much for the people who care enough for nice audio but prefer an internal solution.


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## Frederik S (Aug 27, 2014)

Mistral said:


> I'm glad to see new models of higher end sound cards being made.
> I do ask myself one thing, as the cost it pretty much the same. How does the sound quality of this compare to instead running sound from a video card through hdmi to a receiver?


With such a setup you will be bypassing the sound card so the answer is no difference at all.


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## mab1376 (Aug 27, 2014)

does it support 24/88 and 24/176?


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## Frederik S (Aug 28, 2014)

44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit supported via ASIO.


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## Coldzero (Aug 28, 2014)

is the price right? price in Europe is arround 190€ for the 7.1 version and 30€ less for the version without the daughter card


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## Mescalamba (Aug 28, 2014)

One MUSES OP-AMP is 50 USD. And bit of other stuff is expensive, plus its flagship of ASUS sound production, at least those "inside PC". I dont count Essence One.

Otherwise its probably worth it.. even old STX I have is great. And MUSES are something very special..


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## mab1376 (Aug 28, 2014)

Frederik S said:


> 44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/176.4K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit supported via ASIO.



Can it send out those rates via SPDIF also?


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## jagd (Aug 29, 2014)

Creative has it's own share of problems but main problem is  microsoft for  current pc audio market .They removed hardware audio support starting with vista ,now everything is done with software ; while everything done  with software no reason to build x-fi like hardware audio chips. Creative tried support hardware with openAL but no fruit i guess .



SaltyFish said:


> Blame Creative for that. Creative had a virtual monopoly on the gaming and consumer PC audio market (especially after driving Aureal into bankruptcy), got arrogant and complacent, and then let it all rot away. Creative's Sound Blaster glory days are long over and I'm not sure what they're aiming for now with their current SoundCore line (certainly not trying to replicate X-Fi, that's for sure). I'm surprised that ASUS is still pushing out a new sound card since it's a pretty small market now. It's pretty much for the people who care enough for nice audio but prefer an internal solution.


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## SaltyFish (Aug 29, 2014)

jagd said:


> Creative has it's own share of problems but main problem is  microsoft for  current pc audio market .They removed hardware audio support starting with vista ,now everything is done with software ; while everything done  with software no reason to build x-fi like hardware audio chips. Creative tried support hardware with openAL but no fruit i guess .


Both Creative and Microsoft are responsible, but I think the root cause stems from Creative. Creative could've worked to keep PC gaming audio relevant to the general PC populace (or even just the gamer submarket), but they didn't. Maybe Creative never really knew how to market their stuff; their products practically sold themselves in the Sound Blaster 16 days. Creative later killed Aureal, their only real competitor, and didn't have much of a strategy when on-board audio started closing the performance gap. Sure, there was the EAX lockout at the time (most Realtek audio now come with EAX2), but I don't think enough games used it. CMSS-3D is pure awesome sauce, but how many people were aware of it? Consumer PC sound cards were slowly but surely going the way of the NIC. During the Audigy and X-Fi days, their poor reputation stemming from iffy software (needlessly 10 or so different programs lumped together when RAM was not yet abundant) and drivers (the creeping popping and crackling on 32-bit OSes with real PAE: namely, 32-bit 2K3 and pre-SP2 XP32) didn't help either. And then there was that whole Daniel K. thing. By the time Vista rolled about, dedicated PC audio was no longer on the mind of most consumers. Microsoft had simply mercy-killed it. Sure, it was unnecessary since there's always the hope that Creative or someone else could one day revive consumer PC audio in the future, but it was an understandable move even if I didn't agree with it.

This is coming from someone still rocking an X-Fi card. I wanted Creative to succeed. But they didn't do anything towards that end in the face of progress. The last true X-Fi card, the Titanium HD, was too little too late. Looking at all that they had and then lost because of dumb decisions makes me sad.


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## The Von Matrices (Sep 3, 2014)

mab1376 said:


> Can it send out those rates via SPDIF also?



If you care about S/PDIF, why would you buy this card?  Integrated audio codecs can output equivalent data and you don't have to spend $400 to get them.


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## Inuyasha5689 (Sep 6, 2014)

Where can I actually buy one of these?  I see all these reviews out there but when I google the cards name I don't actually find it anywhere.  I see the 1st STX


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## SmokingCrop (Sep 11, 2014)

Inuyasha5689 said:


> Where can I actually buy one of these?  I see all these reviews out there but when I google the cards name I don't actually find it anywhere.  I see the 1st STX


Doesn't seem to be very available in USA, it's easy to find one here in Netherlands/Belgium though with prices ranging from 200 euros to 226 euros with first pricetag already back in May. (http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/384258/asus-xonar-essence-stx-ii.html)

Amazon has it but it's at a ridiculous price atm through a 3rd party vendor: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JF6RN6E/?tag=tec06d-20


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## Locksmith (Sep 12, 2014)

i have the dx 7.1 xonar and when i plugged it in years ago(was using the onboard x58a-gd65)

i thought wow wtf !

im using optic into yamaha cinema amp and 6 speakers, center, sub.. quality ones.. (linn,spendor,B&W,yam sub)

sounded way way way better.. playing music wavs

question for you audio buffs...

is the sound on-board the asus Z97 Maximus VII Hero better than my asus dx card ?
and also the Asus Z97 Deluxe (suppose it same as hero)

ta


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## The Von Matrices (Sep 12, 2014)

Locksmith said:


> i have the dx 7.1 xonar and when i plugged it in years ago(was using the onboard x58a-gd65)
> 
> i thought wow wtf !
> 
> ...



Are you still using S/PDIF or analog outputs?  If you're using S/PDIF then the sound card versus integrated audio makes no difference because all the DAC is being performed at the receiver.  About the only thing the Xonar can do that the integrated sound cannot is expand a stereo audio file into Dolby Digital or DTS, but that is unnecessary because the receiver can apply those algorithms too.

That's why I don't quite understand the purpose of these high end PC audio cards.  People who truly care about sound quality will not buy an expensive sound card but instead output a digital signal from their PC through USB, HDMI, or S/PDIF to an external DAC and avoid all the interference present in a PC case.


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## Locksmith (Sep 12, 2014)

The Von Matrices said:


> Are you still using S/PDIF or analog outputs?  If you're using S/PDIF then the sound card versus integrated audio makes no difference because all the DAC is being performed at the receiver.  About the only thing the Xonar can do that the integrated sound cannot is expand a stereo audio file into Dolby Digital or DTS, but that is unnecessary because the receiver can apply those algorithms too.
> 
> That's why I don't quite understand the purpose of these high end PC audio cards.  People who truly care about sound quality will not buy an expensive sound card but instead output a digital signal from their PC through USB, HDMI, or S/PDIF to an external DAC and avoid all the interference present in a PC case.



yea i knew that about the DAC being done in the amp, which causes me to think then how did it sound so good when i upgraded, it defo did pal..

another thing, with onboard i only got stereo into amp which converted it "neo 6 cinema" which i beleave is simulated surround.

with the xonar, i get dolby digital out and it comes up on amp display not neo but dolby digital 7.1, all 7.1 channels display on amp as separate channels.
with neo 2 channels as stereo.

hope that makes sense been awake all night its 7:45am here..


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## The Von Matrices (Sep 12, 2014)

Locksmith said:


> another thing, with onboard i only got stereo into amp which converted it "neo 6 cinema" which i beleave is simulated surround.
> 
> with the xonar, i get dolby digital out and it comes up on amp display not neo but dolby digital 7.1, all 7.1 channels display on amp as separate channels.
> with neo 2 channels as stereo.
> ...



I actually own a Xonar DX (not in my main PC) with the 7.1 analog outputs connected to speakers, and I also have a HTPC steaming LPCM through HDMI to a home theater receiver.  With both playing the same source, both with Pro Logic IIx processing, they sound identical.

I'm assuming you are listening to a stereo source?  If so, then both scenarios are simulated surround and the difference comes down to which device is performing the expansion using what algorithm.  The receiver is just showing the number of input channels, not the number of output channels; in both cases all your speakers are being used.

When you send out stereo over S/PDIF, the receiver is apparently using DTS Neo:6 processing to upconvert the stereo to 7.1.  When you use the Xonar card, the Xonar card upconverts stereo using Dolby Pro Logic II and then encodes it using lossy Dolby Digital EX to be sent over S/PDIF to your receiver.

Theoretically, sending uncompressed stereo to the receiver and letting the receiver perform the upconversion is the better option because the entire chain is lossless.  If you could set your receiver to upconvert the stereo using Pro Logic IIx instead of Neo:6, then you would have a similar listening experience to the Xonar card.



Locksmith said:


> yea i knew that about the DAC being done in the amp, which causes me to think then how did it sound so good when i upgraded, it defo did pal..



I don't doubt it did, but I think the receiver could do just as well if you set it to Pro Logic IIx.  You should also consider whether you are using "Music" or "Cinema/Movie" mode.  The "Cinema/Movie" mode focuses audio towards the center channel to improve the clarity of dialogue and vocals at the expense of achieving room-filling sound.  The "Music" mode expands the music to fill the room with sound (including reverberation) at the expense of some clarity in vocals and dialogue.  If you're playing the same source using the "Music" mode with your Xonar DX and the "Cinema/Movie" mode of your receiver, then it's not a fair comparison.


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## YeatmingLai (Nov 27, 2014)

Hi.. I'm Noob of Sound Card. I thinking to buy this card for my AVR Pioneer VSX-922K but don't know how to connect the cables to my home Pioneer VSX-922K.
Anyone can teach me? My PC is HTPC, now i am using MSI R9 290X Lightning HDMI port output to my AVR to get "Dolby Digital, DTS Audio, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD" i thinking to get Best Sound so thinking to buy this card. But i really don't know how to connect the cable for my AVR so come here find some one help.

Here my AVR : http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/archive/VSX-922-K/page.html
My AVR Rear : http://www.areadvd.de/images/2012/Pioneer_VSX-922/Pioneer_VSX-922_RueckseiteSeitlich1.jpg
My AVR Rear2: http://postimg.org/image/gsl17dkx7/


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## Ferrum Master (Nov 27, 2014)

If you are using SPDIF and receiver... you don't need this card. Calm down.


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## Legacy-ZA (Jan 28, 2015)

I love the skin of this driver package, anyone know how I can go about getting it?


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## Ferrum Master (Jan 28, 2015)

Legacy-ZA said:


> I love the skin of this driver package, anyone know how I can go about getting it?



Download the driver and swap the skin folder? Xonar UI is ugly and dated as medieval toilet.

Use UniXonar lowDPC anyways...


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