Asus Xonar Essence STX 124 dB SNR Sound Card

Product Specifications

Asus Xonar Essence STX Sound Card

Product Range Features (Actual Product Features May Differ)

124 dB SNR / Headphone Amp card for Audiophiles!

- Industry-leading 124dB SNR
- Built-in headphone amp drives every available headphone with <0.001% distortion
- Nichicon "Fine Gold" capacitors offer great dynamic performance
- Perfectly shielded EMI-free analog output path
- Customize your sound color effortlessly via swappable OPAmp socket

124 dB SNR / Headphone Amp card for Audiophiles

Story behind the Masterpiece
Thousands of years ago, our ancestors crystallized their knowledge of the materials and music into the Chime of Tiger, one of the first audio masterpiece in human history. Gold-plated on the EMI shield, the Chime of Tiger totem not only represents Xonar team’s new footnote in audio innovation, but also mankind's endless pursuit of the Essence of Sound.

Industry-leading 124dB SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio)
Choosing only the best components and finest design, Xonar Essence STX achieves unprecedented 124 dB SNR – 64 times clear than on-board solutions, bringing top-o-the shelf audio experience for audiophiles.

Built-in headphone amp
A high-quality TI TPA6120A2 headphone driver supports headphones up to 600ohms of impendence with lower than 0.001% distortion. Drive your headphones as intended without additional amplification.

Hyper-Grounding circuitry design
This exclusive ASUS technique utilizes multi-layer PCB design to separate signal and noise, ensuring only the cleanest signals are passed to sensitive components.

Perfectly sealed analog output path
EMI and shielding seals all analog output signals perfectly from noise, offering distortion-free audio enjoyment.

High quality DAC
The Burr-Brown PCM 1792A Digital-to-Analog Convertor (DAC) converts signals at 127dB signal-to-noise ratio.

Nichicon "Fine Gold" professional audio capacitors
Using state-of-the-art etching technology, Nichicon "Fine Gold" capacitors deliver rich bass and crystal-clear high frequencies.

Swappable OPA Sockets
Tune up your unique sound - OPAMP sockets allow simple, solder-less alteration for user-preferred sound color.

Package Contents
Xonar™ Essence STX 2 Channel PCI Express Audio Card
RCA to 3.5mm Y cable
6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor
S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adaptors *1
Driver CD
Quick Start Guide
Audio Precision test report

System Requirements
One PCI Express 1.0 (or higher) compatible slot for the audio card
Microsoft® Windows® Vista(32/64bit)/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005
Intel® Pentium®4 1.4GHz or AMD Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU
>256 MB DRAM system memory
>60 MB available HDD space for driver installation package
CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive) for software installation
High-quality headphones, powered analog speakers, or a Dolby Digital decoder, to enjoy the ultra-high fidelity sounds of the card

Product Range Specifications (Actual Product Specifications May Differ)

Audio Performance    Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
124dB for Front-out,117dB for Headphone-out (600ohms) dB
Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
118 dB
Output THD+N at 1kHz:
0.0003% (-110dB) for Front-out, 0.001% (-100dB) for Headphone-out
Input THD+N at 1kHz:
0.0002% (-113dB) for Line-in
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input):
<10Hz to 90KHz
Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage
2 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p)
Bus Compatibility    PCI Express:
-PCI Express Rev. specification compatible
-Compatible with X1, X4, X8, X16 PCI Express slots

Main Chipset    Audio Processor:
ASUS AV100 High-Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192KHz/24bit)
24-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources:
Texas Instruments PCM1792A*1 for Front-Out (127dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
24-bit A-D Converter for Analog Inputs:
Cirrus-Logic CS5381* 1 (120dB SNR, Max. 192kHz/24bit)
High Fidelity Headphone Amplifier:
Texas Instruments 6120A2*1 (120dB SNR, 100dB THD+N @ Vcc±12V, RL=600Ω, f=1kHz)
Sample Rate and Resolution    Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
S/PDIF Digital Output:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital
ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:
Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @16/24bit with very low latency
I/O Ports    Analog Output Jack:
RCA jack *2 (Front R / Front L), 6.30mm jack*1 (Headphone out)
Analog Input Jack:
6.30mm jack *1 (Shared by Line-In/Mic-In)
Other line-level analog input (for CD-IN/TV Tuner):
Aux-In (4-pin header on the card)
Digital S/PDIF Output:
High-bandwidth Coaxial/TOS-Link combo port supports 192KHz/24bit
Front-Panel Header:
Shared by Headphone out / 2 channels out /
Microphone in
S/PDIF Header:
Connects to compatiable graphic cards for HDMI output
Driver Features    Operation System:
Windows 7/Vista/XP/MCE2005
Dolby® Technologies:
Dolby® Digital Live
Dolby Digital Live encodes any audio signal on PC in real-time to Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sounds to your home theater environment through one single S/PDIF connection

Dolby® Headphone
Dolby Headphone technology allows users to listen to music, watch movies, or play games with the dramatic 5.1-channel surround or realistic 3D spacious effects through any set of stereo headphones.

Dolby® Virtual Speaker
Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers.

Dolby® Pro-Logic II
Dolby Pro-Logic II is the well-known technology to process any native stereo or 5.1-channel audio into up to 6.1 channel output, creating a seamless, natural surround soundfield.
Smart Volume Normalizer™:
Smart Volume Normalizer™
Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming
Xear 3D™ Virtual Speaker Shifter:
Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning
Magic Voice™:
Xonar Essence STX provides VocalFX, the latest vocal effect technologies for gaming and VoIP, including: -VoiceEX: produces vivid environmental reverberation for your voice in EAX games -ChatEX: emulates different background environment effects when you chat online -Magic Voice: changes your voice pitch to different types (Monster/Cartoon…) for disguising your real voice or just for fun in online chatting
Karaoke Functions:
Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects like professional Karaoke machine
FlexBass™:
Professional Bass Management/Enhancement system
3D Sound Engines/APIs:
Vista: DirectSound3D® GX 2.5, DirectSound® HW, DirectSound SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability

XP: DirectSound2.5 SW, A3D®1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability
Bundled Software Utility    
Accessories    1 x 3.5mm-to-RCA adaptor cable (8ch)
1 x S/PDIF optical adaptors
1 x 6.3mm to 3.5mm stereo adapter
Size (Width x Height)    111.15 x 168.26mm