Asus Xonar Essence STX ... I'm unimpressed

M

Mach22

n00b
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
4
I am using this card primarily for gaming (BO2/BF3). I have to say I am underwhelmed by how poorly this card performs. The onboard sound on my GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3 LGA2011 is waaaaaay better. It uses Realtek ALC898 and sounded great. I was getting rich bass and decent mids/highs. When a grenade would go off I would sometimes jump out of my chair. With the Asus STX, a grenade sounds like a balloon pop and gunfire is very weak. With Realtek ALC898, I felt like I could barely hold onto my gun when shooting, it is very immersive. And, this is all conneted to a pair of cheap Senn 280pro 64ohm headphones.

Before I installed the STX, I disabled the onboard sound in BIOS and removed the drivers. I am using most current Drivers for the STX, downloaded from Asus. I have tired every setting I can think of: Dolby on/off, HiFi on/off, Game Mode on/off, 7.1 Virtual on/off, DH 1-3. I have changed EQ settings and always go back to default. The only change I liked was setting the amp to 65 - 300 ohms and turing on the SVN.

What am I missing? I feel like a total idiot. Can someone please help. Thanks.
 
Maybe you just prefer the sound of your on board audio? Nothing wrong with that. The on board stuff is getting to be pretty darn good these days.

Why not pull your STX, re-enable your on board sound and see if it's as good as your remember?
 
That's weird. Not to say you're lying I'm sure your being honest, but it's hard to believe that a dedicated sound card such as that could underperform as much as you say.

Maybe some setting is off or something isn't right?
 
some of those realtek drivers have like an enhancer mode that boosts lows and highs making the sound more ''exciting''. he's probably not used to a neutral response.

also, SVN is kind of like dynamic range compression but not really. so the fact that that makes things sound better to him should be an indicator.

sorry i dont want to make assumptions but these could be a possibility
 
Asus Xonar Essence shines with music on a high end set if cans. There are cards out there made especially for gaming, but this card isn't one of them. And even if it did sound better than an onboard card for games, it's probably not worth dropping $200 to improve sound effects.
 
You've got to be trolling.

Can you show us a proof that you actually have the soundcard (pic with your username next to it).

It is virtually impossible to be it sound WORSE than an onboard sound unless you got a dud unit or something is wrong with your pc
 
I love mine for gaming....

set windows to 5.1

set asus xonar audio center to 6 channels, select dolby headphone, thats all I do and dont EQ anything and I use a lot of different cans. I use high gain mostly (middle setting)

There's no way that onboard can hold a candle to that STX in anything...
 
that fact that you hear such a dramatic difference for the worse suggests that something is borked with your STX setup. i could understand a 'hardly any difference' experience, but not a 'these sound way worse' expereince. it could also be what Procyon12 said about some behind-the-scene EQ being applied by the Realtek. this sounds likely since i also own the HD280's and without EQ adjustment they have never sounded like what you described on your Realtek. they're pretty sterile sounding headphones without EQ adjustment.
 
Are you using the headphone amplifier output to connect your headphones and did you properly set the headphone impedance to 64ohm in the control panel? Just a thought.
 
Rattle said:
I love mine for gaming....

set windows to 5.1

set asus xonar audio center to 6 channels, select dolby headphone, thats all I do and dont EQ anything and I use a lot of different cans. I use high gain mostly (middle setting)

There's no way that onboard can hold a candle to that STX in anything...
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I needed. I did notice my speaker config was set at 2 in windows and I changed it to 6. I'm using your setup exactly. It seems to have helped some on the mid/high, but I am still missing the hard bass.

I'm comparing the sounds specifically to Black Ops II. The main menu music still seems a tad flat. It may just take some time for me to get used to, as Procyon12 and Eman D. Rahym mentioned.

While in BO2 menu, I also noticed that when the music stops, I hear a faint slowing building hiss (background noise). The faint hiss goes away when the music starts again or I hover over the options menu. I do not hear the hiss while listening to anything else.

I do have to say I have been using headphones since 1989 and started out with Sony MDR-V6's. I switched to the Senn 280's about 2 years ago because V6's right driver stopped working. I was dissapointed with the Senn's right from the start, too. But when I upgraded my system last month, the onboard sound made the Senn's shine.

I was considering on buying some Beyer T1's to go with this card, but not just yet. Now I'm thinking that the 990pro 600 ohm maybe a better fit.

Thanks again for your responses! I will do some more testing tonight.
 
I use mainly samson sr850's and JVC harx700's lately both lower end of course but the sr850's are amazing for $50 comparable and maybe better than my $85 dollar AT AD700's. I also have dt770 pro 80ohm to compare. I felt right off the bat one of the most impressive things about BO2 was the slamming sound and explosions. Maybe you need a different set of cans ? Not sure really what your issue may be but I have come from creative sound cards and have not used onboard ever and I right off the bat loved my stx for both music and gaming.
 
There should not be any hiss. Flat sounding? With music too? Try listening to a song that you know well and see if you hear anything new about it. I never liked the 280s personally and would suggest trying a better headphone or even getting a decent cheap one like the Samson sr850 or jvc 700 and see what you think. I use a xonar dx1 with lightly modded sennheiser 558s and they SLAM hard in terms of dynamic sound. That means LOUD and BASSY when it is supposed to sound that way and quiet and barely audible at the right times too. Realistic sounding.Make sure headphone mode is enabled too. I think setting to speakers can be an issue. Like the soundcard is expecting to have an actual speaker system hooked up to it so it is sending the bass channel to a sub that isn't there and not sending it to your headphones. I have my xonar software set to analogue out headphones and speakers setting at 8 for games or 2 for music.
 
Last edited:
Really hard to believe. While Realtek ALC898 is their top codec with 110dB snr, if that's true then it's fairly good but still no where near STX. I don't know anything about STX settings but something is probably wrong.
 
Creative Labs Recon 3d that is $60 dollars right now offers better sound quality than STX when it comes to games.

You picked a wrong sound card for gaming.

why didnt you just buy the new line of Sound Blaster Z? it covers all 3 fields like boss, movies, music and games with top notch drivers.
 
spaceman said:
There should not be any hiss. Flat sounding? With music too? Try listening to a song that you know well and see if you hear anything new about it...
Click to expand...

I've been listening to music to try and get a better feel on all the different settings.

I noticed that I still get a hiss when music isn't playing and SVN is on. After about 5 minutes the hissing stops. I rechecked my settings and they were still the same. However, when I turned SVN ON, the volume Decreased ?!?!? Every other time I have used SVN ON, it Increases the volume.

So, tell me, is Smart Volume supposed to increase or decrease when it is on?...because, mine does both. :confused:

Don't tell me I plugged the card in backwards...
 
Last edited:
I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX as well & to be honest, I pulled it out, put it on Craigs list & intend to go the receiver & speaker route. I got a thread on B3D asking which way to go, card or receiver & the more I talk & think about it the more I think the only way to go is receiver. Either the Z5500's (currently using) totally suck ass or the Asus is over rated & the Z5500's suck slightly less ass.

For the guy that want's verification that someone could own an STX & not be happy, here's my pic.

IMG_0153_zps61096e59.jpg
 
Mach22 said:
I've been listening to music to try and get a better feel on all the different settings.

I noticed that I still get a hiss when music isn't playing and SVN is on. After about 5 minutes the hissing stops. I rechecked my settings and they were still the same. However, when I turned SVN ON, the volume Decreased ?!?!? Every other time I have used SVN ON, it Increases the volume.

So, tell me, is Smart Volume supposed to increase or decrease when it is on?...because, mine does both. :confused:

Don't tell me I plugged the card in backwards...
Click to expand...

What "Smart Volume Normalization" does is, well....it normalizes volume level, like the name says. It doesn't raise *or* lower volume it raises *and* lowers volume. Software takes audio input and samples amplitude and then normalizes the dynamic range....so if you have a loud track, it brings it down; if you have a soft track it brings it up.

IMHO, it sounds like poo when you loose all sense of dynamic range....which is what SVN aims to do, bring widely varying audio samples into the same range of amplitude.
 
PinchedNerve said:
I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX as well & to be honest, I pulled it out, put it on Craigs list & intend to go the receiver & speaker route. I got a thread on B3D asking which way to go, card or receiver & the more I talk & think about it the more I think the only way to go is receiver. Either the Z5500's (currently using) totally suck ass or the Asus is over rated & the Z5500's suck slightly less ass.

For the guy that want's verification that someone could own an STX & not be happy, here's my pic.

[IM G]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/Devourer/IMG_0153_zps61096e59.jpg[/IMG]
Click to expand...

They do.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Skripka said:
What "Smart Volume Normalization" does is, well....it normalizes volume level, like the name says. It doesn't raise *or* lower volume it raises *and* lowers volume. Software takes audio input and samples amplitude and then normalizes the dynamic range....so if you have a loud track, it brings it down; if you have a soft track it brings it up.

IMHO, it sounds like poo when you loose all sense of dynamic range....which is what SVN aims to do, bring widely varying audio samples into the same range of amplitude.
Click to expand...

to add to that, but if he's playing a game and there is supposed to be a low rumble of somethign in the distance, SVN will boost the volume of that, so he might think that it sounds better because he can hear it more, but thats not how it was intended to be heard.
 
Back to the main topic...

After extensive testing IN ANY GAME , this is what I have found:

1. If SVN is ON, I hear hissing (white noise) when no sounds (ie music, special effects, voice) are present. If a sound is being made, the white noise goes away.

2. SVN OFF, I can hear the white noise with volume cranked up.

3. Changing Game Volume settings from 0-100% do NOT help, either way. This hissing stays at the same volume.

When I'm listing to music files, my own or web based, its fine. You can hear a pin drop.
 
im pretty shocked as the PCM1792A is one of the best DAC chips around.

however STX is designed for music / stereo setups and not so much for gaming / movies.

but still this doesnt explain why. try using purely in stereo mode as this card is designed for.

even my phoebus sound much better than the onboard ALC realtek chip.
 
TroyX said:
Creative Labs Recon 3d that is $60 dollars right now offers better sound quality than STX when it comes to games.

You picked a wrong sound card for gaming.

why didnt you just buy the new line of Sound Blaster Z? it covers all 3 fields like boss, movies, music and games with top notch drivers.
Click to expand...
I disagree with this totally. I currently have both an Essence stx and a sound blaster z. The stx has just as good of directional sound and even sounds slightly better in games using Dolby Headphone. Explosions are also just as loud on both. Although I don't play BF3.

Both cards are good for gaming. The STX is better for music, to my ears anyways.

I've been spending a lot of time trying to decide which card to keep. Mostly playing Guild Wars 2. But positional audio is just as good on the stx despite what some claim. I like the audio control module that comes with the sound blaster ZX card though.
 
Regarding the Hiss.
Right click on the speaker in the taskbar. Click Playback Devices.
It should show Speakers and under that say ASUS Xonar Essence STX Audio Device. Right click on that and click Properties.
Go to the Advanced Tab and make sure the Default format is set to "24 bit, 192000 Hz (Studio Quality)"

I dont know what cans or speakers you have but i have Audio Technica A700s and If i can get it to almost blow out my eardrums.
 
I know this is old but I couldn't help myself but to reply.. The Asus Essence STX is surely the best soundcard I've used in a PC by miles. That is gaming included. I use two different setups in my two computers, one is an HTPC and is set up in a very unique way. I have TV Audio to input of my soundcard, so when I play PS4 or Xbox my PC is controlling the sound output still, and so is the STX. I use the L/R analog out directly to a Carver M200T amplifier, which splits to a subwoofer (JBL 350Watt Active) and two Event 20/20 monitors.
The sound quality is nothing short of absolutely breathtaking. Every time I play a game, watch a movie, or listen to music.. Theres no other setup I've used in person that has come close to this combo in sound quality, take that as good or bad but I've been doing audio for quite some time. On the other hand I also tried a modern amplifier, a Sony one which clocked in at about $800 dollars at best buy. Sounded TERRIBLE.. It all comes down to the quality of components you're using. If you're using a Z5500, you're using a low quality system.
My primary PC also uses an Essence STX - and that card has upgraded OPamps and pushes a set of Ultrasone Pro 900's, which is also an incredible amount of ear candy. Unlike the 2 channel setting I use for my home theatre I use the virtualized 8 channels, and wow what a difference that makes in gaming, I can hear everything and the crisp sounds (even in BO2) are stellar. Even footsteps in SWTOR sound amazing!
In summary, you need to use quality equipment with a quality card, if you're using a set of Logitech headphones and think they sound great..by all means continue to use them.. Once I started doing a true audio upgrade it turned out to be the best tech investment I've ever made.
 
I have the exact same card and there was a very big difference between it and the onboard audio. It also performed slightly better than my old MAudio revolution 5.1

Maybe you need better headphones, or an amp or source etc

the STX is for music, I've gamed with it but not paid attention to the sounds of explosions, which to me are unimportant.
 
I have this sound card and I absolutely LOVE it. Shits all over the on-board sound from my Asus mobo. I have a feeling you are doing something crazy wrong.

BTW this sound card was not made to be used with desktop speakers but only headphones.

EDIT: I've used this card for every game I've played recently and has sounded nothing short of amazing. Games include BF4, Ghosts, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, DayZ, Crysis 3, Counter Strike GO, Titanfall and many others. I'm using standard stereo surround sound as I prefer that to Dolby Headphone mode. Maybe this is your problem.
 
Double check your power connection to the sound card. The software is supposed to complain if the card is not getting juice (but it doesn't always), but the issues your describing sound exactly like when the power drops off of my Xonar DX (Flat, lifeless, tinny sound).

edit: if that doesn't work I'd RMA the card - sounds like it's defective.
 
Well I WAS super impressed with mine. Then last week it started shutting itself off. Heck it's open box from Newegg and Asus doesn't even care they've issued me an RMA. I was actually planning to sell the card until this issue began, and it got worse and worse until yesterday the card wouldn't work at all. It clicks like it's up and running, but it won't play sound, the volume meter just gets stuck on the initial sound.

Well I pulled the card out and I was like.. looks fine. Well... hmm. Whats this?
DSC_0006_zps222dca26.jpg~original

Guess that's why it was open box? You can see someone tried to remove it with pliers and just said screw it. Curious if they will want money to repair it. They sent me a label for shipping even and I didn't even ask. Wasn't even expecting them to honor an RMA I was just calling to check the serial number.

The lady even tried to give me a cross shipped advanced RMA but then realized she couldn't. She said you can do that for Motherboards and video cards but not audio cards... When did Asus become easy to work with? This will be my first Asus RMA to be honest.
 
Don't count your RMAs before they're returned to you in working order. Especially with Asus...
 
I just wanted an excuse to post the first decent macro shot I've ever taken.

Seriously though. I've been curious about Asus RMA for a while. So far so good. I'm expecting them to send me an email stating there is user induced damage and they want 98 dollars to fix the card :D
 
open box on newegg=refurbished. Its already been to the RMA center you send it to and thats how it came back after passing QA. Good luck! Asus products have no warranty.
 
One of my Essence STX's was a Newegg open box, and its been solid as a rock w/heavy usage on it. Hopefully it stays that way.
 
USB Dac > Internal Sound Card > On Board audio

I tried the STX (and several others), and I couldn't honestly say they sounded as good (to me, so take that with a grain of salt) as the USB dac combo.
 
Allisons Dad said:
USB Dac > Internal Sound Card > On Board audio

I tried the STX (and several others), and I couldn't honestly say they sounded as good (to me, so take that with a grain of salt) as the USB dac combo.
Click to expand...

Yeah. After a while of going through audio cards (Xonar DG, DX, Creative Titanium HD, etc) I eventually gave up on internal cards and the hassle they bring and just went external USB as well.

I'm on a Bifrost Uber/Asgard 2 combo from Schiit now and couldn't be happier. Granted, the price difference is substantial at roughly three times the cost for the Bifrost/Asgard2 combo, but I think if you don't need the versatility of the Bifrost and a bigger amp setup, the Modi/Magni combo sounds amazing and does so for $200 straight, gives you USB and keeps that card out of your case, etc. I actually have a modi paired with a different cheaper little headphone amp that travels around in my laptop bag. Makes for a great travel setup.
 
Called ASUS today because I was annoyed they'd had my STX Essence a week with no notification of receiving it. My ire turned quickly to cautious optimism as it was reported to me that the card has been repaired and is on its way back to me already. Guess we will see but the fact they haven't asked me for any money is cool. If the card works when I get it back I'll be buying more open box ASUS products in the future. If they will stand behind them, I'll buy them.
 
They gave up on that one I guess :p

Got a brand new card in the mail today. Pretty pleased, sounds fantastic. Have a custom backplate for it on the way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top