Regarding the Asus Essence STX II 7.1

Marine-RX179

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Marine-RX179

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I'm seriously considering upgrading from my dx to the Asus Essence STX II 7.1, but got a few questions for anyone that might own the card or might have the knowledge about it.

Looking at the bundled accessories, it seem to come with only one RCA to 3.5mm Speaker adapter cable, so does that mean if I was to use the daughter board for 5.1, I would need to get two more RCA to 3.5mm Speaker adapter cables separately?

Also, what kind of Op-amps configuration I should use if it is mainly for music and movies?

Also, comparing to the Creative Sound Blaster ZXR, which is better?
 
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I've had one of these for a while now, not a massive audiophile or much of an authority on these things but in answer to your questions....

The only splitter type lead I've used on it is to a phono to headphone lead into the mic/line-in for recording an external source. The main board has a set of phonos for L/R and the daughter board has another three pairs of phonos for the rest of the channels.

Op-amps I am yet to play about with, I'm still running it as it came. Though I do keep meaning to swap out the three you get with it in the box to see if there is much difference. There seems to be a bit of info out there for other Asus kit but not found much specifically where people have done it on this model.

I also tried a ZXR with my same set up and honestly, out of the box with not much tinkering, to my ears at least the Asus sounds a lot better with my set up.
 
it's RCA all the way so if your speakers require 3.5mm then you'll need another two for 5.1 or three for 7.1

Personally I'd just leave the opamps as standard because unless you're going to be changing them all out for MUSES 01 or 02 at £40 each (there are 12 of them) the differences are going to be very subtle.

The STX II beats out the ZxR in pretty much all areas.
 
rids57 said:
it's RCA all the way so if your speakers require 3.5mm then you'll need another two for 5.1 or three for 7.1
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Yea my speakers uses 3.5mm.

So for my 5.1 setup, I would need to get additional two 2x RCA Phono Male to 1x 3.5mm Female Jack Audio Cable separately? Also, is there any quality difference for these cables...can I get away from just getting generic cheap ones, or do I need to invest more on better quality ones, if it would not make noticable difference to the audio quality (I'm no audiophile)?

My setup look something like this:

5.1 for Movie: Microlab Solo7C+Corsair SP2500+Edifier 1600T Plus

Stereo/2.0 for Music: Microlab Solo7C when I'm moving about in my room; Creative T40 II/Philips Fidelio X1/Sony MDR-MA900 when I'm sitting in front of my monitor

So would I be right to think I should get a better 2x RCA Phono Male to 1x 3.5mm Female Jack Audio Cable of better quality for the front (since I listen to music the most from the front 2.0 channel), and no need to spend too much on the cables for the other channels?
 
as long as cables are of reasonable quality, ie. they are heavy gauge and are well built, there is no need to spend silly money on them.
 
rids57 said:
it's RCA all the way so if your speakers require 3.5mm then you'll need another two for 5.1 or three for 7.1

Personally I'd just leave the opamps as standard because unless you're going to be changing them all out for MUSES 01 or 02 at £40 each (there are 12 of them) the differences are going to be very subtle.

The STX II beats out the ZxR in pretty much all areas.
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MUSES 01 (they are on order as we speak) is what's going in my STX.

Not a cheap upgrade though!

;)
 
most?

To be honest I haven't seen enough people using premium MUSES chips to quantify any kind of assessment.
 
rids57 said:
most?

To be honest I haven't seen enough people using premium MUSES chips to quantify any kind of assessment.
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You must be reading the wrong forums then!

Most people prefer the MUSES 01's hence that's why I am going going for them plus they suit my music styles.

The MUSES 02's are more suited for classical music if that is your sort of thing.

For anything else MUSES 01's all the way.
 
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Well I just checked the 5000 post STX tweaking thread on Head-Fi and there is hardly any mention of them and a lot of those are not referring to the MUSES 01 but just MUSES in general (including the 02 and the cheapies).

Out of interest, where are you getting your information from?

I may roll some LME49990 into the buffer stages as they are cheap and help smooth the rough edges off a bit. I only use it for gaming though, I have an external DAC & Amp for music.
 
rids57 said:
Well I just checked the 5000 post STX tweaking thread on Head-Fi and there is hardly any mention of them and a lot of those are not referring to the MUSES 01 but just MUSES in general (including the 02 and the cheapies).

Out of interest, where are you getting your information from?

I may roll some LME49990 into the buffer stages as they are cheap and help smooth the rough edges off a bit. I only use it for gaming though, I have an external DAC & Amp for music.
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Yeah thats a good thread, I've read it all. I think most people tend not to go for Muses 01 or 02 as they are expensive but if they do they seem to favour the 01's.

Another good thread (same site) is this:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/432749/the-opamp-thread/4755

Funnily enough my MUSES01's turned up today and they do sound amazing!

Clarity is out of this world. Definitely an upgrade over the cheaper stock oamps.





I still might try a STXII in the future (just for kicks!), if I do I will obviously put my 01's in.

;)
 
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I think if I was fitting MUSES I'd just get the two on the right (buffer stage) because the other one isn't used for the headphone amp and the stock is good enough for my speakers.
 
rids57 said:
I think if I was fitting MUSES I'd just get the two on the right (buffer stage) because the other one isn't used for the headphone amp and the stock is good enough for my speakers.
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If you only using headphones fair enough, I use Beyerdynamic MMX 300 for when I need them.

But there would not be much point in me having a set of KRK VTX 8's and not having the best oamp for them. They'll blow any set of headphones out of the water for listening pleasure!

For me its a no-brainer.

;)
 
fair enough but I only have a pair of Edifier 1600T's, which while good, come nowhere near my Sennheiser HD650's or AKG K702's for detail resolution and sound quality - so the 01 or 02 would be overkill for me.

Oh and ...

They'll blow any set of headphones out of the water for listening pleasure!
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Really?

I'm sure a lot of high end headphone owners would disagree.
 
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Probably notice a MUCH bigger difference upgrading your headphones than spending £100's on op amps...

What is different about the STX 2? I have Xonar STX 1
 
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rids57 said:
Really?

I'm sure a lot of high end headphone owners would disagree.
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Well that's my opinion and I'm sure a lot of high end speaker owners would see my point too, that's not to say I don't appreciate a good sounding pair of headphones.

But it's a different experience overall with HQ speakers so I guess its perhaps unfair to compare speakers to headphones.

I like both myself, my speakers are used in the day personally headphones are for evening/later at night or to ignore the Mrs. :p

I can say with my Beyerdynamic MMX 300's they sound excellent as well with the 01's, I can definitely tell the difference.

Overall I'm very pleased with the Muses.

;)
 
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