Props to ASUS Xonar Essence STX

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I have a fairly gnarly headphone setup (in sig) and I'm using the asus essence xonar stx as a digital coax out. (overkill for that use, but it gets the job done in pci 1x, which is what i needed)

i have an HT Omega Claro PCI sound card that's been an amazing sound card. it was my departure from the terrible world of creative. i built a new pc with the asus z77 sabertooth, which unfortunately doesn't have any pci slots.

upgrade time! i got the essence stx xonar essence and it's been great. how can i tell?

well, my claro had issues with picking up noise from my video cards. i've always had a fairly high end system, so this was always an issue.

until today, i had the xonar about halfway across teh motherboard from my gtx670. today, i installed a second card. the 1x slot i was using is now covered up by the second gtx670 (due to it taking up two slots). the only other slot i can use it literally directly inbetween my two cards. (almost no gap between each piece of hardware)

result? absolutely no noise. i'm impressed. highly recommended from a resident audiophile.

[strat1219]

I recently picked up an Asus sonar DX 7.1, and while I had to use a custom driver, this thing sounds good. Really, really good. I had always used onboard sound in the past, and the first thing I noticed was the lack of any static or buzzing with the soundcard.

With on board, there had always been some quiet noises when I would do things like move the mouse. Now, nothing, and the lows and highs sound so much more distinct.

Like I said, this is my first audio card, but from what I have read ASUS delivers consistent, quality cards.