ASUS has announced the next step of its sound card series Xonar and launched its latest card named Xonar Essence STX, where it boasts a market best Signal-to-Noise Ratio. With specially grounded circuits Essence STX can send out signals at 124 dB SNR, which is 64 times better than what most integrated audio circuits can do. The sound card also comes with an integrated headphone amplifier for those of you with some serious headphones. The perhaps best thing of all is that it uses the PCI Express x1 interface of the stone age PCI interface.
Additional information in the press release below;
The Classics Deserve First-class Treatment
ASUS Announces Xonar Essence STX PCI-e Audio Card with
124dB SNR Audio and Built-in Headphone Amplifier for
Extraordinary Audio Performance
Aimed as the culmination of searching for the very essence of sound, the new ASUS Xonar Essence STX range of audio cards delivers the purest, cleanest audio to offer users the ultimate audio experience ever from a sound card. Equipped with carefully-selected components, and ASUS’ exclusive Hyper-grounding and EMI Shield design, the Xonar Essence STX is capable of achieving an industry-leading 124dB SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) in signal clarity. Furthermore, full-driving for any available headphone is provided through the built-in headphone amplifier—presenting unprecedented audio quality and under 0.001% of distortion to sate even the most demanding audiophile. Interestingly enough, the design for this audio card is based on a paradigm that is forty centuries old.
The Quest for True High-end Audio Starts Forty Centuries Ago
In China 4000 years ago, the ancient ancestors were also searching for instruments that were able to play “heavenly” music; not just to pay homage to the gods, but also to represent the harmony between man and nature. This process of seeking the most sublime and harmonious music between man and the environment resulted in the Tiger Chime, which not only represented the soul and quintessence of sound, but also served as the highest level of audio enjoyment. Like these ancestors, ASUS also searched for the best components and used only the finest designs to reproduce the purest of sounds. As a symbol of respect for these ancient pioneers, the Xonar Essence STX adopts a gold-plated Tiger Chime totem on the EMI shield—infusing a mix of ancient and cutting-edge technologies.
Industry-leading 124 dB SNR Delivers Pure Music for Listening Enjoyment
With the penultimate of component and design selection, the Xonar Essence STX is able to reproduce truly pure sounds, and delivers an industry-leading 124 dB SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio). This is 64 times clearer the most on-board audio solutions (85–88 SNR). It also features the ASUS exclusive Hyper-grounding circuitry design that utilizes a PCB design to separate signal and noise—ensuring that only the cleanest signals are passed on to ultra-sensitive components for decoding.
The Finest Component Selection to Deliver Crisp, Clear Audio
With a top-o-the-line Burr-Brown PCM 1792A Digital-to-Analog Convertor (DAC) to convert audio signals at 127dB signal-to-noise ratios, users will be able to enjoy minimum loss from the process of converting digital signals to analog sound. Additionally, Nichicon “Fine Gold” capacitors deliver rich bass and crystal-clear high frequencies (like the sounds from a piano or violin), allowing the Xonar Essence STX to achieve an amazing <10 Hz–90 kHz frequency response and 124dB dynamic range. Furthermore, The Xonar Essence STX’s EMI shield protects all analog outputs perfectly from any exterior electronic magnetic interference—resulting in the cleanest sound generation and delivery for the user’s enjoyment.
High Density Sound Performances with Built-in Headphone Amplifier
Most quality headphones usually require additional driving power; or else suffer from sounds that are dull and bland. The Xonar Essence STX is equipped with a built-in headphone amplifier capable of driving every available headphone with up to 600 ohms of impedance to their full extent and less than 0.001% of distortion—all without additional amplication. This ensures that only the most high density sounds can be heard from these headphones without the need to purchase an extra amplifier. Furthermore, the Xonar Essence STX also comes with the following features which include: Swappable OPamp sockets to help tune up unique sounds effortlessly, complete Dolby Home Theater technologies, and the latest DS3D GX2.5 3D gaming engine technology.
Specifications
Audio Performance | |||
Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): | – 124 dB for Front-out | ||
Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): | 118 dB | ||
Output total harmonic distortion + Noise at 1 kHz | – 0.0003% (-110 dB) for Front-out | ||
Input total harmonic distortion + Noise at | 0.0002% (-113 dB) for Line-in | ||
Frequency response (-3 dB, 24-bit / 96 kHz format): | <10 Hz to 90 KHz | ||
Output/Input full-scale voltage | 2 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p) | ||
Headphone impedance | Optimized for 32–600Ω | ||
Bus compatibility | |||
PCI Express | Compatible with X1 to X16 PCI Express slots | ||
Main Chipset | |||
Audio Processor | ASUS AV100 High-Definition Sound Processor (Max. 192 KHz / 24bit) | ||
24-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources: | Texas Instruments PCM * 1 for Front-Out (127 dB SNR, Max.192 kHz / 24bit) | ||
High Fidelity Headphone Amplifier | Instruments 2 * 1 (120 dB SNR, 100 dB THD+N @ Vcc±12 V, RL=600 Ω, f =1 kHz) | ||
24-bit A-D Converter for Analog Inputs: | Cirrus-Logic CS5361 * 1 (114 dB SNR, Max. 192 kHz / 24bit) | ||
Sample Rate and Resolution | |||
Analog playback/ recording, sample sate and resolution | 44.1K / 48K / 96K / 192 KHz @ 16/24bit | ||
S/PDIF digital output | 44.1K / 48K / 96K/ 192 KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital | ||
I/O Ports | |||
Analog output jack: | RCA jack * 2 (Front R / Front L) | ||
Analog input jack: | 6.30 mm jack * 1 (Shared by Line-In / Mic-In) | ||
Digital S/PDIF output: | High-bandwidth Coaxial / TOS-Link combo port supports 192 KHz / 24bit | ||
Other line-level analog input (for TV Tuner or CD-ROM): | Aux-In (4-pin header on the card) | ||
Front panel: | Shared by Headphone out / 2 channels out / | ||
Driver Features | |||
Operating system | Windows Vista (32 / 64bit) / XP (32 / 64bit) / MCE2005 | ||
Dolby technologies | Dolby Digital Live / Dolby Headphone / Dolby Virtual Speaker / Dolby Pro-Logic II | ||
ASIO 2.0 driver support | Supports maximum 192 KHz @ 24bit with very low latency | ||
Price: Recommended street price 199 euro
Availability: End of Dec
About ASUS
ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era. With a global staff of more than eight thousand and a world-class R&D design team, the company’s turnover for 2007 was 6.9 billion U.S. dollars. ASUS ranks among the top 10 IT companies in BusinessWeek’s “InfoTech 100”, and has been on the listing for 11 consecutive years. ASUS was also selected by the Wall Street Journal Asia as No.1 in quality and service in Taiwan.
