DAC upgrade for Xonar STX

[matbhuvi]

I would like to hear from Xonar ST/STX who have coupled it with external DAC and heard significant benefits. I feel that the Xonar DAC is good if not exceptional. Also, i don't have much exposure for high end DACs. Some folks in head-fi say that unless we invest $500+ for the DAC, we won't see significant benefits over Xonar DAC. Please share your experience around this.

 

[hydra]

I'd agree with the people on Head-Fi. I've mentioned mostly the same in may posts here. You'll need to go north of INR 25K or so, to feel a significant enough improvement in the sound. You should also figure in what you'll be spending on the digital cable also, as part of the upgrade cost.

I first used the STX's analog outs, then the digital coaxial out with a Beresford Caiman, and finally digital coaxial out with the Rega DAC (that I use currently, and which will most likely stay for long).

The improvement made by the Caiman was too subtle - I had trouble IDing the Caiman from the STX's analog outs blind. The Rega brought in a significant enough improvement that is obvious to everybody (in terms of tonality, pace, timing and presentation) right from the time music begins to play.

Maybe you could also try some OPAMP rolling on the STX before you try an upgrade?

 

[matbhuvi]

Thanks Hydra. I don't have any immediate plans to upgrade. I just want to understand what i can expect out of a better DAC in the chain. Also, how different it is from OP-amp rolling.

Maybe you could also try some OPAMP rolling on the STX before you try an upgrade?

I have done opamp rolling 2-3 times and i think now it is running on LME49720HA using DIP8 adapter along with light EQ.

 

[thevortex]

When you say that the sound out of the Xonar is not exceptional, what standards are you comparing it against? For the money, I believe the Xonars are exceptional value. Perhaps even close to unbeatable. The drivers are their downside. For such an audiophile focused product, inability to offer 32 bit ASIO drivers is nothing short of criminal. Having to rely on ASIO4ALL is just second best to say the least.

 

[reignofchaos]

Lack of proper ASIO drivers doesn't matter anymore with Vista/7/8 since now you have the WASAPI plugin for foobar. WASAPI sounds cleaner than ASIO anyway.

The best possible upgrade for a xonar stx is a linear power supply feeding its molex input. Makes the biggest difference to my ears.

 

[oyster]

The Xonar DAC section is not very good to start with. Had Xonar STX & Xonar DG at the same time & their headphone output quality was very comparable. Although the stx had much powerful output.
I havent paried stx with external DAC but used an O2 with STX Line out to drive a pair of vintage yamaha orthos. The output was very shrill & thin.
Have recently upgraded to another DAC, Firestone Spitfire MK1. The difference can be very easily observed.
When people say 10/20/...% improvement, that does not make any sense. Because in sonics even that 10% improvement can be huge.

 

[matbhuvi]

When you say that the sound out of the Xonar is not exceptional, what standards are you comparing it against? For the money, I believe the Xonars are exceptional value. Perhaps even close to unbeatable. The drivers are their downside. For such an audiophile focused product, inability to offer 32 bit ASIO drivers is nothing short of criminal. Having to rely on ASIO4ALL is just second best to say the least.

Xonar's are not exceptional with stock opamp IMO. Bit too airy overtaking the mids. Yes, with right opamp, it is not hard to overcome that deficiency. And it is very easy as well. But, the sound stage also changes a bit with opamp. Can be fun and frustrating at the same time. And about the value, yes..it is my best investment in Hi-Fi sound so far.

Lack of proper ASIO drivers doesn't matter anymore with Vista/7/8 since now you have the WASAPI plugin for foobar. WASAPI sounds cleaner than ASIO anyway.

The best possible upgrade for a xonar stx is a linear power supply feeding its molex input. Makes the biggest difference to my ears.

I was using WASAPI with foobar for the past 4 years. I recently switched to cPlay with ASIO. I find foobar + WASAPI bass as bloated now when compared to cPlay. Only con is it can bring out lot more airiness and make the setup sound little bright.

Can you explain bit more about linear power supply. I haven't heard about it before.

I havent paried stx with external DAC but used an O2 with STX Line out to drive a pair of vintage yamaha orthos. The output was very shrill & thin.
Have recently upgraded to another DAC, Firestone Spitfire MK1. The difference can be very easily observed.

Thanks for the inputs. About MK1, can you be little bit specific about what was better in that DAC?

 

[oyster]

When i was into portable audio i read everywhere on headfi that x dap is more detailed than the y dap. Having owned numerous portable sources i didnt really notice any significant difference. Mostly it was just a sound signature change.
The xonar STX did not sound better than any general dap such as touch3g.

With my new external DAC i can confidently say that the notes have a much defined edge & do not sound blurry thereby giving a sense of better micro details. I think this is the most significant thing that a DAC improves in general.