[section_title title=”Performance”]Performance
Audio Equipment
Headphones – AKG K702
Headset – ASUS STRIX PRO
To test the performance of the ASUS Essence STX II sound card, I felt splitting it into a couple of different categories would make it somewhat easier to interpret and differentiate the different focal points of I believe a sound card represents; sound quality, usability and of course compatibility. Fundamentally speaking, sound quality is always going to be the focal point of any sound card but of course you need to factor in usability; hardware can be easy but software has been known to cause headaches for novice users. Last is compatibility, in which I mean what would be suitable connection wise; pairing up a £20 pair of Sony earphones to a £300 DAC will give you good quality but of course you will be limited to the headphones and top quality sound cards have been known to show flaws in lower end headphones/audio equipment.
Sound Quality
I have been an adopter of ASUS Xonar sound cards for quite a number of years now and have owned quite a few different variations; DG, DX, D2X, U5 and the previous model to this one, the original Essence STX. Obviously you really need to question your own motives for upgrading from onboard audio as it is coming on leaps and bounds all the time; where a £20 sound card gave you superb quality, onboard has bridged the gap to its closest levels ever. Question is, can on-board keep up with the likes of the STX II. Well the short answer is no, not even close! The STX II offers unbeatable tones from a PCI-E sound card and when used with the AKG K702 studio headphones, the sound was completely different from the somewhat muddy tones of the Creative SoundBlaster on-board ALC audio chip featured on my motherboard. Highs were crystal clear, mid-range was undoubtedly clear and the bass was as punchy as I have ever heard it through these particular cans; in comparison to on-board, there is no doubt that the STX II gives ground breaking differences in quality.
The AKG K702 have a fidelity of 105 dB which in comparison to what is supported by the STX II (124 dB SNR), the STX II allows me to get the most out of them which from my current experience, is crystal clear vocals which on FLAC files of songs with heavy vocal sets such as Adele or Amy Winehouse, the STXII does a sterling job and is a real joy to listen too. Even with the ASUS own STRIX PRO gaming headset which I recently reviewed, even these have a 98 dB sensitivity meaning that I managed to get that extra bit of clarity and tone from them with the STX II; doing what it should, enhancing sound and tone quality any way it can.
Voice quality with the microphone on the ASUS STRIX PRO was also particularly good and clear with the STX II although on programmes like Skype, audio is never going to improve much due to the compression of Skypes own SILK codec. Nevertheless, in programmes like recording direct to Audacity, using VOIP applications such as Mumble and TeamSpeak 3 made a world of difference; with and without the STRIX’s own ENC noise cancellation enabled etc.
Usability
Obviously usability is a pretty important aspect in my opinion as its ok having all this “pro” hardware but not being able to use the software renders it pretty pointless in my opinion; of course it will sound better on default than onboard but would you rent a Ferrari to drive it on a 30MPH road daily? Of course not! That being said, ASUS have actually done a fantastic job with their Essence STX II Audio Centre. If you are familiar with this particular suite, there isn’t much difference between the different versions and there isn’t really anything “new” from the original STX card; not to be expected but of course the hardware is clearly an improvement.
With fairly well-defined presets to choose from for different musical genres, I tend to listen to most genres on the Classic setting as I feel the bass tones reign supreme although “true” audiophiles will of course create their own presets and who can blame them; it’s just what they do! It was very easy to use and differentiate settings when using my 2.1 Corsair SP2500 speakers and of course the AKG/STRIX headphones which made life pretty easy for me due to being able to have both plugged in at the same time; much more convenient than onboard sound etc.
Overall the software is a great addition and unlike on previous revisions of the ASUS drivers on older models, I have had no issues with drivers at all this time round which gets a huge thumbs up from me.
Connectivity
The ASUS Essence STX II sound card does come with an optional daughter board which enables use of the full 7.1 capability the STX II features but due to not having it in my midst, I can’t really give it a full analysis but what I can do is tell you what the standard STX II is all about. Headphones with 6.3mm and of course 3.5mm plugs are supported as well as line in/microphone devices of the same size; XLR isn’t supported, but this isn’t for musical creation anyway. There are also a couple of RCA Phono plugs for connecting speakers although if you don’t have a splitter, you can always use the included 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter via the headphone jack; not ideal but still works with no issues at all.
My only gripe here is that if someone has a 3.5mm plug for their headphones, it’s likely if they are using a headset that the microphone part will also be 3.5mm; so why only included 1 x adapter? Seems a little strange to be especially given that this isn’t only just a high-end bit of audio equipment, it’s also fairly expensive; perhaps it was overlooked?
Aside from the lack of daughter board, we still have S/PDIF support which is always a welcomed edition to sound cards; discrete and onboard. Overall not including the daughterboard as standard hurts the overall package in my opinion but I can see why they did this; keeps costs down for those who don’t use 7.1 and I’ll be honest, with a PC I don’t currently know ANYONE who uses 7.1.
