asus stx II bass management

johhnn · 23 Aug 2019 at 08:09

Hi And thanks for reading this thread.

I have an asus stx II pc soundcard. In 7.1 and 5.1 mode it chops off the bass and sends it to the bass output on the daughter card.
In stereo and 4 channel, it also chops off the bass, but i cannot find where it sends the bass to.
I have tried all the outputs but cannot find the bass anywhere. Have tried the official asus drivers and also the ones from maxed tech.
Any advice please

Marsman · 23 Aug 2019 at 09:40

What are you using with the sound card in the way of speakers? If you use headphones, does it also do the same, or just speakers?

johhnn · 24 Aug 2019 at 07:50

Hi. I am using speakers, but have just tried it with headphones to address your question and it is doing the same with both, the soundcard chops off the bass in 2 and four channel mode and i can't figure out what it does with it

Marsman · 24 Aug 2019 at 12:24

That does seem strange.

I think you have to set the analogue out to 'headphone', when using headphones, so you can't accidentally set it to 5.1 when using headphones. That could happen when using speakers, and could explain why the bass would disappear if using stereo speakers; but having to select 'headphone' in the analogue out box, means the card is outputting as stereo and all frequencies will be sent to that output, or at least should be.

Changing the number of audio channels should not make any difference. Just out of interest; does it also do the same for 6 and 8 channels?

How long has this been happening? Did it work previously, but is something that has started happening recently, or have you just bought the card?

If it isn't something to do with setting within the STXII's control panel, then it surely has to be a software issue and the likely culprit is Windows 10, assuming you are using that.

Best to check other settings in the control panel first, such as those under the 'flexibass' tab and the 'effect' tab

If it isn't anything to do with setting in the control and is driver or Windows 10 issue related; then Asus' driver support is terrible. Shocking really that they can continue to sell what is their flagship sound card for £200 and not bother to update drivers for almost 4 years. Uni Xonar drivers you have tried from Maxedtech, do help with some issues, but they are still based on whatever drivers C-Media releases.

I suppose the only thing you could do, would be to try older Uni Xonar drivers and see if anything changes, or maybe try Windows 8.1 drivers. I've seen people in the past use 8.1 drivers when there none for Windows 10, or they didn't work properly.

EsaT · 24 Aug 2019 at 12:38

Are you using stereo speakers or 5.1/7.1 set?

"Audio Channel" setting in control panel sets what it shows to Windows.
"Analog Out" sets output configuration.
https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_essence_stx_ii_7_1_sound_card_review,6.html
Those should be matched for minimizing problem chances.
Though if having 5.1/7.1 as input with stereo as output it should still downmix everything into two channels.

Yaayuh! · 25 Aug 2019 at 10:08

Is there also a setting somewhere for setting speakers to ‘full range’?

hohum · 25 Aug 2019 at 11:41

As above, check that speakers are set to full range. Right click speaker icon on the tray, open sound settings, then on the top right under related sound settings choose sound control panel. Select speakers, configure, choose appropriate speaker setup then click next, ensure full range is ticked in the following window.

johhnn · 27 Aug 2019 at 06:37

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
I am using powerdvd as a media player and it has wasapi which bypasses windows so there is no way to control the soundcard through windows.
I have small satellite-type speakers for the surround channels and a large polk audio active sub for the bass, so would like to divert all the bass away from the satellites because they cannot handle low frequencies.
For 5.1 and 7.1 sound there are sliders to control the volume for each channel, including a volume control for the bass channel.
In 2 channel and four channel mode there is no volume control for the bass so i suspect that bass management is not an option which is pretty bad becaue it ruins cds, tv and radio.
In 4 channel there are two sliders for the front left and right, and two sliders for the rear left and right.
In stereo mode there are only two sliders for front left and right channels