Really loving my new built in DAC on my Asus Maximus IX Hero

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SixFootDuo

Supreme [H]ardness
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Really loving my new built in DAC on my Asus Maximus IX Hero.

Specs from the Asus web site:

ROG's awesome SupremeFX audio technology has levelled up, delivering an exceptional 113dB signal-to-noise ratio on the line-in connection and 120dB on line-out — and that means our best-ever recording quality! We've also added a low-dropout regulator for cleaner power delivery to the SupremeFX S1220 codec, an ESS® Sabre Hi-Fi ES9023P digital-to-analog converter for superior front-panel output, and a Texas Instruments® RC4850 op-amp for high gain with low distortion — which all adds up to audio that envelops you as never before.

Using KRK Rokit G2 8's and Klipsch 2.1's I am getting fantastic sound.

The ESS® Sabre Hi-Fi ES9023P is one of the best DAC's out there.
 
112db SNR seems pretty average in terms of DAC specs...pretty sure the best is the ESS 9038Pro with an SNR of 140db.

,,,maybe you mean one of the best motherboard DACs.
 
pretty sure I said "one of the best" and no, I didn't mean one of the best motherboard DACs.

If you want to add your own narrative, that's fine. Just don't put words into my mouth.

At any rate, It's a very good alternative to buying an external DAC which was the point I was making.
 
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As one who recently dropped a helluva lot more $$ than I ever planned on a new external DAC, I applaud your success in finding a solution that works for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased with my choice, but would be even more pleased had I stuck closer to my original budget limit. ;)
 
SixFootDuo said:
Really loving my new built in DAC on my Asus Maximus IX Hero.

Specs from the Asus web site:

ROG's awesome SupremeFX audio technology has levelled up, delivering an exceptional 113dB signal-to-noise ratio on the line-in connection and 120dB on line-out — and that means our best-ever recording quality! We've also added a low-dropout regulator for cleaner power delivery to the SupremeFX S1220 codec, an ESS® Sabre Hi-Fi ES9023P digital-to-analog converter for superior front-panel output, and a Texas Instruments® RC4850 op-amp for high gain with low distortion — which all adds up to audio that envelops you as never before.

Using KRK Rokit G2 8's and Klipsch 2.1's I am getting fantastic sound.

The ESS® Sabre Hi-Fi ES9023P is one of the best DAC's out there.
Click to expand...

It's pretty hard to go wrong with ESS Sabre chips, and I'm guessing the implementation is pretty decent. My understanding is that the ES9023 is one of the better mobile DACs, but not quite at top-tier levels (ES9028C2M/Q2M are the top tier for mobile, and are themselves surpassed by the ES9018/9016 models, which can be found in hi-fi stereos/sound cards -- like the ASUS Strix Raid DLX, which uses the ES9016). I'm guessing they went for the mobile chip due to space constraints.
I stay away from motherboard sound implementations (as much as possible) due to electrical noise issues, but (then again) I don't have TOTL motherboards, so your experience sounds a lot better than mine.
Well done, OP :)
 
I have a few external DAC's, in fact I need to start selling some. I think the best one I have is a few years old, a Marantz HD Dac1 which I bought 2nd hand along with some trade. I have several of the cheap ones that are in $80 to $150 price range. Personally and I will be the first to admit, I may not have critically trained hearing in that maybe I don't know exactly what to listen for. I often wonder this when I cannot tell the difference between several dacs. I've tried many different headphones and professional studio monitors. They all sound pretty f'king fantastic. Some of the cheaper dac's I've had had volume issues but that was due to a bad rotatory knob maybe. I can detect a very slightly colored / warmer sound on a few of the more expensive DACs I own.

I also use iZotope Ozone Mastering software off and on.

I personally feel that anyone contemplating a cheaper solution DAC wise might be better served ( if an PC upgrade is in their future ) getting a motherboard with a built in DAC. Btw, Asus has put the DAC and audio components into a separate part of the motherboard with it's own set of traces I've read to limit electrical noise.

This could save someone $100 - $150.
 
I wouldn't exactly pin this as one of the best DACs out there but good to see motherboard DACs moving forward a bit.
 
The ROG Formula motherboards usually have higher end audio than other motherboards in the product lineup.
 
They sure do, I've had great experiences with Asus soundcards too. Still a far cry away from a decent external DAC via SPDIF though as the OP is comparing to.
 
I've always been impressed with Asus soundcards, which seem to be some of the best of breed and I'm pleased that some of that quality from their discrete cards are coming down to their motherboard lineup. While most of the higher end motherboards are starting to offer better than average sound, Asus ROG boards seem to be taking a step forward beyond many other manufacturers. For instance, I have an Asus Xonar Xense PCI-E card (Its similar to the Essence STX, but with built in support for 7.1 analog that I've been using for years (Pro tip on Xonar cards - use the UniFi driver mod when using Windows. Lots of upgraded features and bugs fixed while being lighter) , but as i picked up an Asus Rampage V Edition 10 a month or two back that will be going into my new build, it too offers upgraded sound specs including a separate bay-mounted DAC and amp for headphones/sets. I'll have to check out the specs to see how how the Xonar Xense compares to the RVE10's sound solution, but if they are reasonably close in quality / features ( and the latter works well in Linux), I'll swap over and just use the built in. I can only applaud including better quality audio chipsets in high-end motherboards, especially since sound cards have been dwindling for quite some time.
 
ROG motherboards have always offered better integrated audio than the standard ASUS models do. ASUS eventually trickles down the audio design of the ROG motherboards into the standard retail products. At one time, PCB isolation of audio subsystems was ROG only. Now all motherboards in the market use this design.
 
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