Replacing Xonar Essence STX

That's corrosion, look at the other pin next to the one with the green goop on it - the joint is eaten away. Possible corrosion on one pin of the aux-in connector and also, front side of the card the cap and 8 pin chip just above and to the left of the pci-e slot - looks like damage to me.

6ggJyNK.png

EDIT: R45801 - you've got a dead dual op-amp.

The card can probably be saved, but it would need a good look over. You should probably also check the rest of your PC out for any sources of that corrosion as im pretty certain some kind of liquid has made its way on to that soundcard at some point. It must have come from somewhere.
 
Last edited:
V F said:
Do tell your findings...
Click to expand...

Well I like the EVGA Nu Audio, already noticed a difference in the crispness of the sound. The software needs a bit of work and but the latest update added a compressor, surround sound effects and now allows you to mute the headset or speaker which is good. Could still do with a lot of work but from reading the EVGA forums they are working hard on updating it and adding features.

I thought I wouldn't miss the Dolby Virtual Speaker but it does add some depth to sound but in stereo mode the sound is very clean and quite vibrant. I have found if I set the mode above 24bit 192Khz i do get static on audio or sometimes it does sound a little fuzzy but I need to test this more.

I still need to give my headphones a longer test. I think I need to get used to not using Dolby Headphone but everything does sound more vibrant but so far I don't know how i feel about the positional audio compared to the STX.

As for trying to fix the Xonar I have had no luck.
 
james.miller said:
That's corrosion, look at the other pin next to the one with the green goop on it - the joint is eaten away. Possible corrosion on one pin of the aux-in connector and also, front side of the card the cap and 8 pin chip just above and to the left of the pci-e slot - looks like damage to me.
Click to expand...

Nice spot I didn't see that!

I think I know what has caused the issue and it is most likely a result of vapor from my ecig.

I'm going to give my H100 a once over also as its 6 years old. I am starting to worry about it failing so it may be time to replace.
 
Assuming that is possible.. If vapour from an ecig can do that, what else would be effected? Can't see vapour being selective of only the sound card...
 
Marsman said:
Assuming that is possible.. If vapour from an ecig can do that, what else would be effected? Can't see vapour being selective of only the sound card...
Click to expand...
Sometime's I have noticed it condense inside the case but i have never has any issues till now.

The Xonar was in the first slot on the mobo so anything dripping from the top of the case would possibly contact that first.

Like i said previously I'm going to give the machine a full service on the weekend to see what I can find.
 
Last edited:
Good spot. That looks like a cap failure to me. It's failed, leaked and caused a short. I hate to say it, but a repair doesn't look likely. If you still want to try, I would clean the card fully with some isopropyl alcohol and a microfibre cloth. You could then look for dry joints and de-solder that cap to see if it's really damaged, but it now looks terminal to me.

On the other hand you can get to buy a shiny new gadget!

I have the STX and STX II, both very good cards. But then I moved on to the Audeze Mobius, which are all round awesome and for music I went with a high end USB Dac/headphone amp.

Both of the above are USB and have great DAC's, which is the key to good sound.
 
How much do you vape lol? You must if done it another way how did you see or get condensation inside a pc case?!



Also why when i use usb for sound i get large 1ms latency spikes in latencymon? People use and reccomend USB yet where does the mic go? When i talk over usb on Discord or Teamspeak i can see red 1ms spikes and the conclusion i came too is usb is junk for sound. I highly reccomend you all run latencymon and do some tests like i did. I found the only solution to be internal 6.3mm soundcard innputs. I go from 1000us to 2us when i swap.


This is why i will never buy a DAC, I did the tests on windows 10 and for me USB was clearly unusable for games. Music maybe but gaming with 1000us latency? Unusable! This is why i will be buying a Xonar STX 2 it works better than a USB DAC.
 
Last edited:
Razargh said:
Well I like the EVGA Nu Audio, already noticed a difference in the crispness of the sound. The software needs a bit of work and but the latest update added a compressor, surround sound effects and now allows you to mute the headset or speaker which is good. Could still do with a lot of work but from reading the EVGA forums they are working hard on updating it and adding features.

I thought I wouldn't miss the Dolby Virtual Speaker but it does add some depth to sound but in stereo mode the sound is very clean and quite vibrant. I have found if I set the mode above 24bit 192Khz i do get static on audio or sometimes it does sound a little fuzzy but I need to test this more.

I still need to give my headphones a longer test. I think I need to get used to not using Dolby Headphone but everything does sound more vibrant but so far I don't know how i feel about the positional audio compared to the STX.

As for trying to fix the Xonar I have had no luck.
Click to expand...

Recently got this sound card for a little try, compared to an x ae 5 it sounds a bit dull to me, like a flattened sound. what settings do you use for gaming and what do you set the gain on?
 
Rofflay said:
Also why when i use usb for sound i get large 1ms latency spikes in latencymon? People use and reccomend USB yet where does the mic go? When i talk over usb on Discord or Teamspeak i can see red 1ms spikes and the conclusion i came too is usb is junk for sound. I highly reccomend you all run latencymon and do some tests like i did. I found the only solution to be internal 6.3mm soundcard innputs. I go from 1000us to 2us when i swap.


This is why i will never buy a DAC, I did the tests on windows 10 and for me USB was clearly unusable for games. Music maybe but gaming with 1000us latency? Unusable! This is why i will be buying a Xonar STX 2 it works better than a USB DAC.
Click to expand...
DPC latency problem could be also one of the "improvements" of Wintoys10 introduced by May update.
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10-may-2019-update-messed-with-your-pcs-audio-heres-the-fix
Nothing is safe from Microsoft and their Wintoys10 "change for the sake of change" screwing around without proper testing.

As for Xonar STX II its Win10 drivers are almost four years old and any support likely worser than Creative's.
Also it has problems with AMD motherboards:
System will reboot when switching sound output of STXII/STXII 7.1 on X370/B350/X470/B450/X399 series MB?
STXII/STXII 7.1 is not compatible with X370/B350/X470/B450/X399 series MB.
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1036071?_ga=2.92572701.1048640317.1526260340-329128221.1511925089​
Maybe from bubblegum and duct tape use of USB sound chip through PCI-e bridge chip, instead of just honestly sticking it into USB port...

Anyway for headphone gaming would wait Creative's "Project Accent" with head shape customizable HRTF tech.
 
EsaT said:
DPC latency problem could be also one of the "improvements" of Wintoys10 introduced by May update.
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10-may-2019-update-messed-with-your-pcs-audio-heres-the-fix
Nothing is safe from Microsoft and their Wintoys10 "change for the sake of change" screwing around without proper testing.

As for Xonar STX II its Win10 drivers are almost four years old and any support likely worser than Creative's.
Also it has problems with AMD motherboards:
System will reboot when switching sound output of STXII/STXII 7.1 on X370/B350/X470/B450/X399 series MB?
STXII/STXII 7.1 is not compatible with X370/B350/X470/B450/X399 series MB.
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1036071?_ga=2.92572701.1048640317.1526260340-329128221.1511925089​
Maybe from bubblegum and duct tape use of USB sound chip through PCI-e bridge chip, instead of just honestly sticking it into USB port...

Anyway for headphone gaming would wait Creative's "Project Accent" with head shape customizable HRTF tech.
Click to expand...

Not for me this was ages ago it was before any major update. I could sit on voice comms and reliably watch anytime i talk i hit 1000us. And i used Intel ports im very careful and specific and usb for me ruined my system latency.

Now i use 1 mouse 1 keyboard in the intel ports and use the Xonars 6.3mm analogue and i get 2-7us compared to the 1000us.
 
a66as said:
Recently got this sound card for a little try, compared to an x ae 5 it sounds a bit dull to me, like a flattened sound. what settings do you use for gaming and what do you set the gain on?
Click to expand...

The card is very neutral I have found. I've noticed I have had to turn up the sound on my speakers when listening but I also use the EQ on SP2500 to give it a bit more warmth and dynamics when listening to music. For my music production it actually performs a lot better as nothing seems to be tainted.

For gaming I have resorted to using Dolby Atmos for Headphones over the 3D sound in the Nu Audio App just because it seems to work better for me.

Overall I am happy with the card but it does seem to take more tinkering to find the right settings compared to the STX which was great out of the box.

Personally I think for gaming you would be better off with an STX 2 or Soundblaster just for ease of use.

I still haven't made up my mind about the card fully but I have been listening to a lot of music and it does feel a lot cleaner and neutral.

You can pretty much crank it up to full and there is little distortion. Although i found running it any higher that 24bit 192k really messes up the sound.
 
EsaT said:
DPC latency problem could be also one of the "improvements" of Wintoys10 introduced by May update.
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10-may-2019-update-messed-with-your-pcs-audio-heres-the-fix
Nothing is safe from Microsoft and their Wintoys10 "change for the sake of change" screwing around without proper testing.

As for Xonar STX II its Win10 drivers are almost four years old and any support likely worser than Creative's.
Also it has problems with AMD motherboards:
System will reboot when switching sound output of STXII/STXII 7.1 on X370/B350/X470/B450/X399 series MB?
STXII/STXII 7.1 is not compatible with X370/B350/X470/B450/X399 series MB.
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1036071?_ga=2.92572701.1048640317.1526260340-329128221.1511925089​
Maybe from bubblegum and duct tape use of USB sound chip through PCI-e bridge chip, instead of just honestly sticking it into USB port...

Anyway for headphone gaming would wait Creative's "Project Accent" with head shape customizable HRTF tech.
Click to expand...

That was the main issue I never went for the card and believe me, I was so ready to purchase the STX II. With drivers not getting updated in 4 years it simply isn't worth it and looks like it may never see a new driver.

Which is funny because my Creative Audigy 2 ZS from 2003 has drivers from 2018. That's the sad part.
 
Just my 2p here.

I'm still running 2 Asus ST (the PCI versions), one of them is in a Gigabyte Z370 running a i7 8700, probably the last motherboard that will support PCI. I've been running the Win10 beta drivers and have had zero issues I've always been really happy with the sound quality from the ST, it was better then a Creative Titanium HD I once owned. What i'm getting at, is if your STX, or STXII is anything like my ST, then just keep running it
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom