Tips on installing an Asus Xonar Essence STX Sound Card

Barlick · 8 Aug 2009 at 21:49

Have recently ordered an Xonar Essence STX to replace on-board sound from an Asus P5Q mobo. Should go well with my wireless Sennheiser HD 130 headphones. For smooth transition is it:

1. Bios first and disable on-board sound.
2. Download from the Asus web site latest drivers
3. Install card
4. Install drivers

Don't want to ****-up a steady Vista 64 ship . . . .

Is this about right?

AbsenceJam · 8 Aug 2009 at 22:39

Hate to break this to you but you're going to see zero improvement over onboard because your headphones are wireless and not very good anyway.

Barlick · 8 Aug 2009 at 23:30

Ooops, I know I have had them a while now. What would you recommend then?

theforce · 9 Aug 2009 at 00:06

Sennheiser HD 650

Turambar · 9 Aug 2009 at 01:41

AbsenceJam said:
Hate to break this to you but you're going to see zero improvement over onboard because your headphones are wireless and not very good anyway.

You base this assertion on?

Barlick · 9 Aug 2009 at 09:18

Sennheiser HD650's cost an "arm and a leg" - anyhting from £230 to £350. Surely there is something out there that goes well with this card and is not too expensive!

Molemanmus · 9 Aug 2009 at 09:43

Goldring DR150s or Sennheiser HD555s?

AbsenceJam · 9 Aug 2009 at 10:44

Turambar said:
You base this assertion on?

The fact that they're "wireless and not very good anyway."

Barlick said:
Sennheiser HD650's cost an "arm and a leg" - anyhting from £230 to £350. Surely there is something out there that goes well with this card and is not too expensive!

It's a high quality card with a headphone amp built in and it can drive even some of the best headphones quite well. So the more you're able to spend the better.

james.miller · 9 Aug 2009 at 10:48

hd 650's are better value for money than a xonar stx, thats for sure and i have NEVER seen them @ £350 from a reputable source :rolleyes:

they are £229 delivered right now one of the big players. at the end of the day, you can buy whatever card and headphones you want. the hd600's are also good, better VFM arguably. but if you dont have top of the range headphones now, and dont intend to buy them in the future, then why did you buy a top of the range headphone-amp including sound card?

Why did you actually buy it?

Barlick · 9 Aug 2009 at 12:11

Bought for movies and music really and the odd game. Take your point though. Will definatley upgrade. Molemanmus suggests Goldring DR150s or Sennheiser HD555s - I'm guessing still under specd.

markop2003 · 9 Aug 2009 at 16:59

5. Install Foobar2000
6. Setup ASIO
7. Setup some cable management at the back of your desk (you'ld be surprised how much cabling a hifi system needs)
8. Buy some good wired headphones
9. Buy a good hifi system (old parts are fine if you're on a tight budget)

nicnac1 · 12 Aug 2009 at 10:53

i've got a pair of HD595s running off the essence and they are awesome!
best setup i've ever heard!
plus the 595s don't absolutely require an amplifier so can be used with ipods etc (not that you'd ever want to after using the essence

)

Uriel · 12 Aug 2009 at 13:26

Goldring DR150s for being better than HD595s, cheaper, having better synergy with Dolby Headphone and scaling well with good amplification, despite being easy to drive. They will go very well with the Essence STX.

Step 1. Uninstall onboard sound drivers prior to disabling in BIOS.

Barlick · 12 Aug 2009 at 23:24

Disabled the on-board sound in the BIOS but didn't remove the onboard drivers. Still, the Essence installed OK - even upgraded the drivers over the top of the ones that came on the CD. No problems at all. Agree with fellow members that the Asus drivers do work well on Vista 64.

As for headphones thanks for the recommendations. I'll probably lift my budget to £150 £175 to do the Essence justice. May be look at the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 at around £140 or perhaps Beyerdynamic DT770 Headphones at about £160'ish . . . .

Cheers.

Uriel · 12 Aug 2009 at 23:30

If you're goingup to £175 get some 2nd hand Sennheiser HD600s or HD580s.

ATH-AD700 is overpriced at £140.

Barlick · 13 Aug 2009 at 10:57

Anyone got AKG cans?

Seem popular on German sites (AKG K-601 at £127 and AKG K-701 at £175)

Uriel · 13 Aug 2009 at 12:18

I suggest a bit of reading over at Head-Fi. I'd personally say stay clear of anything with angled drivers (HD555, HD595, ATH-AD700, K-601, K-701 etc) for use with Dolby Headphone. It produces a physical effect that DH models virtually.

Other than that, go for something really detailed and well controlled. Plenty of good headphones to choose from.

markop2003 · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:28

Barlick said:
As for headphones thanks for the recommendations. I'll probably lift my budget to £150 £175 to do the Essence justice. May be look at the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 at around £140 or perhaps Beyerdynamic DT770 Headphones at about £160'ish . . . .

Cheers.

You can pick up the AD700s for £110, it's the closed back A700s which are closer to £140

markop2003 · 13 Aug 2009 at 13:30

Barlick said:
Anyone got AKG cans?

Seem popular on German sites (AKG K-601 at £127 and AKG K-701 at £175)

I read a reveiw on the essence and the writer was using AKG701s and the internal amp powered them perfectly, the only thing they didn't match up to was his custom made amp specifically tuned for the K701