ASUS Essence STX II PCI-E Sound Card Review

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion

ASUS have a solid reputation for quality and premium products and when it comes to sound cards, only 2 names really come to mind for general consumers; ASUS and Creative.  There are of course alternative options to these 2 brands and with the emergence of the USB DAC, there is more variety than ever in a growing market; audio is a key fundamental component of life.  Talking about options, of course ASUS have a wide variety of “quality” graded sound cards such as the DX, D2X just to name a couple, but is the STX II a welcome addition to an already overwhelming line up?

Well the answer is YES, clear cut and simple.  The audio quality output from the Essence STX II is nothing short of sublime and with both a nice set of studio headphones and even ASUS’s own STRIX PRO headset, fidelity, tonality and of course clarity was ever present throughout.  Even microphone quality was improved upon and noticeable too over the ALC on-board audio which features across the majority of the Intel 1150 Z97 chipset; fancy marketing will only get you so far until you compare it to something like the STX II.  That being said, aside from listening to MP3, FLAC and even MP4 movie files, I had absolutely no doubt that the STX II was doing its job; and then some.  I even had a little play around with RMAA (RightMark Audio Analyser) and although it made a difference over onboard, I wasn’t too happy with the testing conditions at present and had to omit the results from the review; doesn’t take much to work out that the STX II has much better components than onboard.

ASUS have gone all out with their choice of components although not too dissimilar to the previous Essence STX model.  Re-used parts include the Ti Burr Brown PCM 1792A digital to analogue converter, the ASUS AV100 audio processor and even the headphone amplifier is the same; the Ti 6120A2.  It seems like the majority of the key components remain unchanged from the original ASUS Essence STX sound card which isn’t a bad thing, but of course the main addition here is the optional fully 7.1 support daughterboard.  Aside from that, there isn’t anything worth upgrading from if you already own a first edition STX unless you require the addition 7.1 support.

Design wise, the STX II features a very nice gun metal grey EMI shield which as far as I can tell, does the intended job perfectly.  One thing I do feel could have enhanced the look a bit better is a back plate of some kind; bare PCB is a little unsightly and even just a thin sheet such as the metal used on the EMI shielding would have been suffice.  Also Molex power can be a little unsightly but those focusing on pure performance rarely care much about aesthetics; well personal preference of course.  With the daughterboard being attached via an IDE like ribbon cable that is probably as unsightly as it gets and I doubt many people will applaud ASUS for its choice there.  Overall though, the design works well and I personally feel the tiger embossed onto the Emi shield is a particular, but elegant touch which works well.

Coming in at around £175, the ASUS Essence STX II sound card is undoubtedly expensive and is never going to win any value awards but here’s the kicker; anyone spending £175-300 on any kind of sound card or DAC is of course going to have a set of speakers or headphones which will make the most of it, well I hope so at least!  Taking that into consideration, the AKG studio headphones I tested earlier aren’t exactly full audiophile quality but are used by plenty of musicians I know due to their clarity and not so overpowering bass tones; the STX II made them better than I have ever heard them sound which is probably the best endorsement you could get.  Of course, if you wanted the additional 7.1 daughterboard then you are looking at £210 for a fully-fledged 7.1 sound card; doesn’t seem too bad in reality.  Of course, there are cheaper options available on the market and they cater to different spectrums of the market; this is an audiophile grade card pure and simple.

Overall the ASUS Essence STX II is mind blowingly brilliant and being a man who loves his music just as much as his gaming, I can’t shout about how good the STX II actually is.  There is one downside however, lesser quality headphones can become somewhat flawed so bare that in mind; on-board sound chips have been known to muddy up tones and sometimes make them sound better than they are.  If however you happen to own a pair of nice cans or studio speakers and want the best possible audio performance for around £200 give or take £10-20 either side depending if you want 7.1, then the ASUS STX II is undoubtedly the best PCI-E sound card you are going to get for the money.  It’s fitting that the EMI shield is a gun metal grey as I am awarding the STX II our prestigious Platinum award and of course, with that comes the Performance and Editors Choice awards as I couldn’t go back to onboard sound even if I wanted to!