ASUS Xonar Essence STU DAC/Amp

Frederik S · Sep 19, 2013

ASUS's most recent DAC/amp gets put to the test. This time, the Xonar Essence One gets a new little brother in the Essence STU. The new STU is a sleek-looking, small foot-print DAC/amp with excellent specs. We put it to the test to see how it measures up to other similar solutions!

Show full review

jagd · Sep 19, 2013

250 Euro ? price seems a bit high for pc use i think , it would be nice if it had been compared against p/p king Fiio devices btw

fullinfusion · Sep 20, 2013

Sure love my TPA6120A2 chip capable of driving loads of up to 600 Ohm impedance

Nordic · Sep 20, 2013

I wonder how this compares to those lower end receivers. It is a heck of a lot smaller than them though.

Frederik S · Sep 20, 2013

Lower end receivers typically have very bad headphone outs. Most of the ones I have seen feature ancient headphone amplifier designs.

Some older integrated amplifiers and receivers have a step down circuit for the headphone out which sound alright. To be completely frank it is a waist of space and money getting a small receiver for headphone amplification you are simply much better off buying a cheap headphone DAC/Amp or just amp and running a mini-jack to RCA to it.

Shou Miko · Sep 20, 2013

maybe i found my audio card for a ITX build, since i can't have my GTX 670 4gb and Asus Xonar Essence STX in a ITX board at the same time ^^

Processor	C2duo e6750@ 2800mhz
Motherboard	GA-P43T-ES3G
Cooling	Xigmatek S1283
Memory	2x2Gb Kingstone HyperX DDR3 1600 (KHX1600C9D3K2/4GX )
Video Card(s)	HIS HD 6870
Storage	samsung HD103SJ
Case	Xigmatek Utgard
Audio Device(s)	X-FI Titanium Pci-e
Power Supply	Xigmatek NRP-PC702 700W
Software	win7 ultimate -64bit

Processor	7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage	Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s)	HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case	ThermalTake P3
Power Supply	SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software	Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687

System Name	Lynni PS \ Lenowo TwinkPad L14 G2
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Raphael (Waiting on 9800X3D) \ i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake-U
Motherboard	ASRock B650M PG Riptide Bios v. 3.10 AMD AGESA 1.2.0.2a \ Lenowo BDPLANAR Bios 1.68
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black (Only middle fan) \ Lenowo C-267C-2
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHZ CL36-36-36-96 AMD EXPO \ Willk Elektronik 2x16GB 2666MHZ CL17
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX™ 4070 Dual OC (Waiting on RX 8800 XT) \| Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Storage	Gigabyte M30 1TB\|Sabrent Rocket 2TB\| HDD: 10TB\|1TB \ WD RED SN700 1TB
Display(s)	KTC M27T20S 1440p@165Hz \| LG 48CX OLED 4K HDR \| Innolux 14" 1080p
Case	Asus Prime AP201 White Mesh \| Lenowo L14 G2 chassis
Audio Device(s)	Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply	Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W Goldie \| 65W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeedy Wireless \| Lenowo TouchPad & Logitech G305
Keyboard	Ducky One 3 Daybreak Fullsize \| L14 G2 UK Lumi
Software	Win11 IoT Enterprise 24H2 UK \| Win11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 24H2 UK / Arch (Fan)
Benchmark Scores	3DMARK: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89434432? GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v3zbr

ASUS Xonar Essence STU DAC/Amp

Frederik S

jagd

fullinfusion

Vanguard Beta Tester

Nordic

Frederik S

Shou Miko