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ASUS Xonar Essence STX Review January 12, 2009 Tom Colarusso |
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Summary: Boasting a 124dB signal-to-noise ratio, a built-in headphone amp delivering 600ohms of impendence with <0.001% distortion, swappable OPAmp socket, and Nichicon "Fine Gold" capacitors, the ASUS Xonar Essence is designed for audio purists who want the best audio quality possible. But does the card live up to its specs? See how the card performs in this review!
 Asus Xonar Essence STX Review | Page:: ( 1 / 8 ) |
Reference-Level Sound
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Asus began with their Xonar line of audio cards, each one designed for a specific market, from gaming to home theatres. Asus is also one of the only manufacturers designing cards that use x1 PCI-Express slots, which have been woefully underutilized since their inception 5 years ago. One of their newest cards is the Xonar Essence STX, which is being billed as a sound card for the audiophile. Featuring individual pre-amplifiers for each connection and an interchangeable op-amp, the Essence STX has some pretty impressive specifications that help gear it up to take on the most discerning audio user.
| Asus Xonar Essence STX | |
| Form Factor | PCI-E x1 |
| Audio Processor | Asus AV100 High Definition |
| Digital-to-Audio Converter | 24-bit Texas Instruments PC1792A |
| Analog-to-Digital Converter | Cirrus-Logic CS5381 |
| Analog Output Jack | RCA x2 (Front L/Front R) |
| Analog Input Jack | 6.3mm x1 (Line-in/Mic-in) |
| Digital Output | Coaxial/TOSLink combo x1 |
| Front-Panel Header | 9-pin ATX Standard |
| Other line-level input | 4-pin Aux-in on Card |
| Headphone Amplifier | Texas Instruments 6120A2 |
| Supported Software modes | Dolby Digital Live! Dolby Headphone Dolby Virtual Speaker Dolby Pro-Logic II Xear 3D 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter DirectSound3D GX 2.5 DirectSoundSW/HW A3D1.0 OpenAL |
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As the Essence is designed more for audio fidelity than gaming, Asus implemented 2-channel RCA connectors as well a 6.3mm stereo jacks for the headphone and microphone connectivity. The Coaxial/TOSLink combination connector supports both S/PDIF and Optical output. Internally, the Essence supports front panel audio via a standard 9-pin connection. This allows you to connect your cases’ front panel audio ports to the Essence without the need for any extra equipment. Due to the hi-powered amplifiers utilized on the board, the Essence requires extra power in the form of a 4-pin molex connector from the power supply.
| Under the Shield | Page:: ( 2 / 8 ) |
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Here we can see the op-amp, which comes in a standard 741-type 8-pin package. There are a variety of operational amplifiers available on the market and this allows the Essence to be customized to just about any user’s particular taste. Generally speaking, the op-amp is what helps to provide the ‘color’ of the sound produced. Audio purists know that by changing out the op-amp, you can adjust the brightness and color of the sound to satisfy their particular needs. By including an op-amp that is easily changed out, Asus has demonstrated they understand what the audiophile is looking for in a sound card.
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The pre-amps for the headphone, microphone, and RCA jacks are all housed under the EMI during normal operation. This allows the very sensitive components to operate with as little electronic noise as possible.
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| Software | Page:: ( 3 / 8 ) |
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Asus also did not implement a jack detect function, so if you plug headphones into either the back or front panel, you have to manually swap the output. They did, however, include a function for increasing the headphone gain from 0 to +18dB, allowing the user to make maximum use of their high-end cans.
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The usefulness of other features in the Asus drive could be debated, like the VocalFX voice changer. The software allows the user to alter the sound of either recorded voice or for VOIP applications. While this could prove useful should you wish to make any ransom demands, in practice, we doubt the function will be used beyond the initial 10 minute period you own the card. The Essence also supports a karaoke function which automatically shifts the level of recorded music, allowing everyone to become a drunken businessman should their hearts desire it. If the Essence ends up in a HTPC, then we imagine this function could make for some unintentionally hilarious parties.
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One of the more interesting features is the inclusion of Dolby Digital Live!, a real-time encoding scheme that takes any audio signal and turns it into 5.1 surround that is output through the optical connector. This makes the Essence perfect for both gaming and home theatre PC’s, given that it can easily connect to any standard receiver and output Dolby Digital surround. Asus is hardly the first card to include DDL as a feature as both Realtek and Creative offer it on certain boards. However, being that on-board audio is notorious for high noise levels and Creative requires you to purchase the DDL package separate from their cards, it goes to Asus’ credit that they would include it inherently. By utilizing DDL, the Essence STX stands to be a fairly complete audio solution, whether it‘s application is music, movies, games or a mix of all three.
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| System Setup | Page:: ( 4 / 8 ) |
AMD Athlon 5000+ Black Edition
Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5
HIS Radeon 4870X2
4GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066Mhz
Western Digital 300GB SATAII
Lite-On LH201AS DVDRW
Realtek HD Audio ALC889A
Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty
Asus Xonar Essence STX
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Surround System
Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista 64-bit SP1
We also ran a series of benchmarks in some of the latest game releases to test the processing capabilities of the Essence in comparison to other popular audio solutions, namely integrated on-board audio and the X-Fi Fatal1ty from Creative. Our goal with these tests was to see if the Essence was up to par with current offerings and what, if any, effect on frame rate it could have.
Our RMAA tests were only run in Windows XP due to a compatibility issue between the program and Vista. Our gaming results were tested in both operating systems to see what difference we could see.
| RightMark Audio Analyzer | Page:: ( 5 / 8 ) |
In fact, the Essence boasts better numbers than both our other solutions tested. The Essence saw lower crosstalk and noise levels, as well a greater dynamic range. The low total harmonic distortion guarantees accurate audio reproduction whether it is in music or movies. When you have a high THD level, the signal can be altered by harmonics added from surrounding electronic components.
The frequency response graphs continue to show how well designed the Essence is. When looking at a frequency response graph, you want to see as flat a line as possible. This represents the ability of the amplifier to produce certain frequency tones within a specific decibel level. You want a constant volume throughout all the audible frequencies. Otherwise, it creates a jarring listening experience depending on the sounds being played.
As you can see above, both the Essence and Realtek cards gave a good showing at 16-bit, maintaining a fairly constant level throughout the test. At 24-bit, the Essence pulled ahead as neither the Fatali1ty or Realtek solutions were able to play frequencies above 20kHz, as shown by the drop-off. However, as you can see in the graph, the accuracy of the Essence seemed to drop off itself once it got above the 20kHz range, which is not something you want to see when the card is being billed as ‘reference quality.’ The Essence had a hard time keeping the volume levels within 1dB as the frequency increased.
The X-Fi’s results were all over the place throughout all our frequency response tests. We tried tweaking the driver options, but we always saw the same result. Even following Creative’s guidelines for testing with RMAA did not give us different results. We are left to conclude that something must be happening either at the driver or hardware level that is altering the test results, but we were unable to find any answers as to what that was.
| Games and Subjective Analysis | Page:: ( 6 / 8 ) |
Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Call of Duty: World at War
Subjective Analysis
We ran a plethora of movies and music in an attempt to hear the difference between our sound boards. We watched the chase sequence from Batman Begins, as well as listening to different styles of music, both in MP3 and CD format in an effort to hear what the differences might be between our cards. We also used Windows Media Center to watch some regular broadcast TV, in the event the Essence seems appealing to the HTPC crowd.
The Essence provided a nice, warm sound throughout our listening tests, as music was wonderfully rendered through our Z-5500 speaker system. Whether we were using DDL or RCA, harmonies and little melodic bits we did not hear with the on-board were embellished and brought to the forefront when played through the Essence. When watching broadcast cable, we even heard some nice positional as flies buzzed across the screen.
The Realtek provided adequate sound for our Logitech Z-5500 speaker system, although we did find ourselves having to turn the volume up more often than not as dialogue just did not seem to come through very well. The Batman sequence provided some nice results, although it sounded somewhat ‘thin’ and lacking in the mid-range, something that is fairly common with on-board audio. The Essence, however boomed in comparison to the Realtek, thanks in part to the optical connection which can output Dolby Digital 5.1 as opposed to the analog direct 6-channel. Once again, we found ourselves hearing little nuances we might have missed otherwise when using on-board, thanks to highly accurate reproduction values of the card. When using the optical connection from the on-board, however, we do start to get some sounds that are more like what we heard from the Essence, although it was still not quite as clear, accurate, or loud.
Even the headphone jack impressed us quite a bit, as music played through our generic ear buds with amazing clarity. It’s interesting to find how well the Essence can make even a cheap set of headphones sound, thanks to its high powered amplifier.
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 7 / 8 ) |
Pros
PCI-Express: It’s always nice to see someone take advantage of all those little ports that seem to go waste on current motherboards, so Asus get’s some points for making use of the x1 PCI-Express slots.
Powerful Sound Clarity and Accuracy: At a recorded 115dB SNR, the Essence should be enough card to power any piece of high-end audio equipment, whether it’s a standalone speaker system or receiver set. Also, the low level of THD, between 0.0005% and 0.0009%, virtually guarantees accurate sound reproduction whether it’s in music, movies, or games. The Essence also boasted impressive low levels of crosstalk, which should certainly gain the attention of any audiophiles who do home recording.
Dolby Digital Live!: The inclusion of DDL helps keep the Essence as a relevant choice even when its comes to gaming, as it can easily upmix any sound to 5.1 surround, as well as output Dolby Digital 5.1 signals via it’s TOSLink/optical connection. This allows your receiver to properly decode the signal and give you more accurate positional audio. When combined with the accuracy of the Essence’s sound reproduction, this makes the Asus card a great choice for media PC’s, as well as gaming rigs.
Pre-Amps and Op-Amps: The individual pre-amplifiers on the Essence power each output with startling clarity and accuracy, while the swappable op-amp allows users to specifically configure the Essence to their particular tastes.
Powerful Driver Options: Asus included pretty much everything they could think of that allows users to tweak the sound coming out of the Essence, from pre-defined equalizer settings to virtual 7.1 speaker shifting. The different DSP settings all seemed to work to enhance the audio of their respective modes, while the karaoke function could prove to be quite entertaining if you don’t mind making a bit of a fool of yourself.
Cons
Poor Frequency Response Above 20kHz: Everyday users might not notice this, but to an audiophile, poor frequency response can kill a sound recording. While the Essence did better than either the X-Fi or Realtek offerings, it still had a hard time keeping volume levels constant in this high frequency range. For a card to be true reference quality, you have to keep audio levels as constant as possible through the entire audio spectrum.
Manual DSP Modes: It’s a shame Asus did not include an application profiler in their software as they would go a long way to ease the use of the Essence, especially for those people who have a tendency to use their PC’s for all kinds of audio work. Having to manually change between the modes gets annoying after awhile and it wouldn’t have been difficult to implement in the software. Creative is also guilty of this, as their drivers have always required the user to change audio modes to allow for specific enhancements based on what the card will be processing. If graphics card drivers can do it, there really is no reason for other manufacturers to follow suit.
| Verdict | Page:: ( 8 / 8 ) |