Asus Xonar Essence ST soundcard - experience

[abhi_jollyguy]

I too didn't like the noise sharpening DSP plugin as it tends to colored the sound a lot on high frequencies. I just removed this DSP after using twice or thrice. That's it.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I just liked the music played with these settings . That's all matters . Right ?

It matters more than anything else

You may also be applying corrections for your room and your own ears, and getting a sound that is just right for you. Added to which, even if you do like a bright sound, yes, you're entitled hyeah: and I'd probably rather listen to your system than one which is set up to deliver thumps to the chest.

Thad, Doors, Yes he is refered to as 'the one who should not be named'

In spite of all that, it is still worth checking out head fi just to get an awareness of the sheer variety of head fi related stuff. As with everything, just take it with a 'pinch' or rather 'a handful' of salt.

Oh yes! In fact surfing about such things often involves a visit. Probably why they are very keen to keep their sponsors happy!

 

[stryik3r]

It matters more than anything else

You may also be applying corrections for your room and your own ears, and getting a sound that is just right for you. Added to which, even if you do like a bright sound, yes, you're entitled hyeah: and I'd probably rather listen to your system than one which is set up to deliver thumps to the chest.



Oh yes! In fact surfing about such things often involves a visit. Probably why they are very keen to keep their sponsors happy!

Yes, Room corrections sure makes a huge difference whilst listening to music . Unfortunately, i can't make any major adjustment to my present room.

 

[alpha1]

Stryker:
"I just liked the music played with these settings . That's all matters . Right ?"


I hope it remains that way instead of getting degenerated to a maze of "audiophoolery".

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes, Room corrections sure makes a huge difference whilst listening to music . Unfortunately, i can't make any major adjustment to my present room.

Correcting the room to facilitate the sound is the ideal, otherwise we can do the best we can by changing the sound to fit the room ... which is what I meant.

 

[stryik3r]

Here is the layout plan of my room . Am i using them in correct placement ? What do you reckon ?

 

[tirthankar]

Soundstage will be skewed to left, ie it will be wider at left. To compensate, you can try toeing in the left speaker, but if the difference is as large as the photo suggests, it will need heavy toe in.

Can you move the table more to the left? Also, what are your speakers and amp, how far are the speakers from rear wall and how much furniture is there in the room?

 

[stryik3r]

Here you go , A detailed sketch

 

[tirthankar]

@stryik3r: I get it.. its tough

So do you always do nearfield listening? Are the speakers toed in?
What speakers are you using?

Note: Are we digressing from the thread? I think we are. Possibly you should create a new thread in the Room Acoustics subforum for this discussion.

 

[stryik3r]

oops! i get this .Sorry for hijacking this thread .

 

[spirovious]

There is another player said to be better than foobar,StealthAudioPlayer/Minimalist wasapi memory player-
Minimalist Audio Player
http://andy-audioplayer.blogspot.in/2008/12/minimalist-wasapi-memory-player_23.html

Its w/o GUI & so not easy to use,anyone tried?

 

[stryik3r]

There is another player said to be better than foobar,StealthAudioPlayer/Minimalist wasapi memory player-
Minimalist Audio Player
Minimalist Audio Player: Minimalist wasapi memory player

Its w/o GUI & so not easy to use,anyone tried?

Tried that, but it's very hard to configure. Maybe someone post a tutorial how to configure this player properly.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Command-line audio player? Very quirky!

There are a few. Once upon a time (the first years of my computing life were spent in front of a Unix terminal), I might have said, "GUIs? Who needs 'em! Useless waste of resource, and they only limit what you can do and how you do it." Not any longer.

I still believe in minimalist graphic interfaces for a player, but it is a matter of personal taste only. The music player is a music player, not a magazine or a browser, or even something to display psychedelic patterns as you listen. For me. Not because it is a waste of processing power: the PC has been more than powerful enough to do this and much, much more without having any effect on music playing, for the past several years (decade almost). Where it isn't, or there is something wrong with the PC, the OS setup, or the media player, the effect is not subtle: it is turn-that-noise-off obvious! And yes, that happens; in fact, in my various experiments, I think I've had more than my fair share of it! (Another incident yesterday, where in a new Ubuntu release, on my system, VLC stutters!)

We now have a situation where cable and high-end DAC manufacturers write "guides" to PC audio --- straight out of the marketing department, and probably written by guys who call the IT department to ask how to add two numbers together in Excel. We have contradictory fads like demanding "low latency" (as if that mattered at all; it doesn't) while insisting that tracks have to be read into and played from memory. Soon we'll have crystal feet to stand the machine on!

If any media player sounds substantially different from any other, it is either broken, or they are doing some sort of DSP. The one that claims to sound like you bought new speakers? OK, no, I haven't tried it, because I only boot Windows when I really have to --- but I am very sceptical.

Oh, hey! what's this all about? A mostly off-topic Sunday-afternoon rant is all :lol:

Don't mind me ... but keep PC audio down to earth and realistic!

 

[gryph0n]

I remember using 'mpg123' to play some MP3s on Linux in my college hostel, and my friend walking in and going "Wow, this linux commandline stuff is really powerful. How on earth can someone play music from the commandline !!"

mpg123, Fast MP3 Player for Linux and UNIX systems

My anecdote is from more than a decade ago. This might still have a 'novelty' factor you could use to impress your friends. Practically, unless you're scripting the playing of music, it isn't really useful. But then Windows has never been script-friendly, and on Linux/Unix, MPD is probably a better solution for purpose of automating playback.

@Thad, that was a needed rant, to keep everything in perspective hyeah:

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's true that when one is used to a command line, one can a fluency which is really impressive. I used to be more than a bit good at regular-expression searches, and could write at least half a dozen lines of script at the prompt. Not quite like a real programmer ("real programmers use cat) I suppose. it takes mind, memory, fingers... these days I can't even type a line of English without spelling mistakes.

@Thad, that was a needed rant, to keep everything in perspective

I'm glad you liked it: you can rely on regular repeats! :lol:

 

[akhil7j]

Thanks for the review "sonosphere". I was also confused since a long time to buy this PCI-e Card or to go for external DAC for my HTPC. Got the right answer here.

Hope this card will make my Epos M22i even more happier.

 

[sonosphere]

Thanks for the review "sonosphere". I was also confused since a long time to buy this PCI-e Card or to go for external DAC for my HTPC. Got the right answer here.

Hope this card will make my Epos M22i even more happier.

Hi Akhil,
I foresee very interesting times ahead for you if you try changing opamps. Well of course stick to stock opamps if you like it as it is... but as they say in audiophilia, the itch will strike you sooner or later, and that's when you'll notice how cheap it is to upgrade SQ with just different combinations of opamps.

best wishes,
Sonosphere

 

[corElement]

Well vlc certainly doesnt sound good with music.I have used vlc,MPCHC with xonar.
MPCHC with direct sound opt sounds better.Drivers with xonar D2X are not the best & so I use UNIXONAR drivers.V1.41 is the best & they make my D2X more musical than stalk drivers.You can try them with ST.

Another player is Lilith which sounds tube like is Lilith

This is a reply for a very old post and it may be because of new asus drivers but I've been trying to compare vlc with lilith and they sound exactly the same to me. I spent almost 1 hour trying to compare the two step by step listening to the same songs on and off back to back, over and over but have failed to find any difference.

I'm guessing the present day AISO Asus drivers are the reason why.

HOWEVER using Media Player Classic after using vlc and lilith Im finding mpc has NOTICEABLY more DETAIL in tracks however the bass is not as as open as vlc or lilith.

 

[spirovious]

I spent almost 1 hour trying to compare the two step by step listening to the same songs on and off back to back, over and over but have failed to find any difference.
.

How to you install new drivers?Sometimes backup file do cause problem.
I installed latest Unixonar(1.61) on Sunday only after cleaning old 1.41 driver.

I used Driversweeper 3.2.Initially it didnt clean all files.I could make out as my custom settings were visible even after restart.So I checked other options in Driverweeper & found the backup/Log files were not cleaned.So I uninstalled the driver again & then cleaned backup files manually.This worked & there was a bit difference in sound Q.

Now you can certainly hear the difference with Headphones.

 

[corElement]

By new drivers I meant drivers a few months old but much newer than the ones from the time the original post was from. I got the xonar only last oct and the post is from earlier that years, I understand asus has done considerable work on their AISO drivers between that period.