Asus Xonar Essence STX - PCI-E Audiophile Soundcard
Packaging and contents
Published: 9th March 2009 | Source: Asus | Price: £160.99 |
Packaging and Contents
Asus have chosen to represent their Essence STX with a plain simple packaging displaying the 'Chime of Tiger' logo. It's certainly different and should stand out on the shelves.
Everything is there to do the basics, but with a £160 sound card, I did expect something else. Perhaps a Digital Optical cable or something. I'm perhaps being a little picky, but posters of the sound card are a little lame and I cannot see any audiophile putting them up.
Asus have chosen to represent their Essence STX with a plain simple packaging displaying the 'Chime of Tiger' logo. It's certainly different and should stand out on the shelves.
The rear of the box is a patchwork of information and whilst it looks good, it's actually pretty hard to make out the essential details.
Thankfully Asus provide a lot clearer information on the inside of the cover. The card is visible, something I always like to see. The information is arranged in a clear concise way.
The card and contents are well protected by a clear plastic covering which also shows off the card to it's advantage.
The package that comes with the Essence STX is actually more basic than I had expected if I'm honest.
You get:
• 2 x Xonar Essence STX Posters
• User manual
• Audio Precision Test Report
• 1 x RCA to 3.5mm jack adaptor
• SPDif pass-through digital Toslink Adaptor
• 3.5mm to 6.25mm headphone connector
You get:
• 2 x Xonar Essence STX Posters
• User manual
• Audio Precision Test Report
• 1 x RCA to 3.5mm jack adaptor
• SPDif pass-through digital Toslink Adaptor
• 3.5mm to 6.25mm headphone connector
Everything is there to do the basics, but with a £160 sound card, I did expect something else. Perhaps a Digital Optical cable or something. I'm perhaps being a little picky, but posters of the sound card are a little lame and I cannot see any audiophile putting them up.
Most Recent Comments
I prefer speakers too, which is why I hooked it up to my AV receiver 
Great card and personally I don't see it as a niche product per se, it's got all the connections you'd need to use with a decent speaker system (inc digital out)Quote
Great card and personally I don't see it as a niche product per se, it's got all the connections you'd need to use with a decent speaker system (inc digital out)Quote
I suppose I prefer a normal 7.1 wired on 3.5mm jacks rather than needing a separate amp etc.
I guess if you have higher end audio its great, but for £120 I would go for the D2X. I suppose its aimed at music listeners rather than gamers so its better in that respect. Considering my only really high quality headphones are the shures (~£250) its not worth it just for those.
Its all a matter of what you want from the card and if you want really nice sounding music and have a good av kit, this is definitely the card to go for.Quote
I guess if you have higher end audio its great, but for £120 I would go for the D2X. I suppose its aimed at music listeners rather than gamers so its better in that respect. Considering my only really high quality headphones are the shures (~£250) its not worth it just for those.
Its all a matter of what you want from the card and if you want really nice sounding music and have a good av kit, this is definitely the card to go for.Quote
Nice review mate and yes that card does indeed rock. Had one in my system for a month or so now and I just could never go back to an X-Fi or whatever now.Quote
How does it compare to the normal asus cards, does anyone know?
And kempez, the forum link at the end links to quad sli review...Quote
And kempez, the forum link at the end links to quad sli review...Quote
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Given the price, it looks like it would go great with my shure se530s, but if I'm sitting at my desk I prefer speakers.
Definitely a niche audiophile product (like high end headphones) but still a nice review guys.Quote