# Asus Xonar STX/ST and headphones: A basic guide



## wali

This is a very basic headphone config for *stock* Asus Xonar STX/ST. I decided to post this because I was very happy with this config and I was tired of repeating it in every STX-related post. I hope its helpful. 


 Driver version: 7.12.8.1777
 OS: Windows 7 64bit

 After installing the driver you have two options, using the line out or the headphone out. The popular opinion used to be/still is that the line out is 'better' but although that's how it looks on the paper, the real life experience of many including myself differs. The built-in headphone amp of Xonar STX is especially well-suited for high impedance headphones. 

 Setting up the software for headphone listening:








*Audio Channel:* 2 Channels

*Sample Rate:* The default setting is 96khz, I don’t know the reason for that, it could be lack of auto sample rate but all my music is 44.1 and I set the sample rate at 44.1 to avoid any resampling. I have the windows sound option for Xonar also set to 24/44.1.

*Analog out:* I use the headphone out and I recommend the headphone out especially for high impedance headphones (64ohms and above). For reference read the xbitlab review and scroll down to the charts and commentary in regards to Xonar’s headphone amp chip (TPA6120A2): http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/asus-xonar-essence-stx_3.html

 The highest gain setting of 300-600ohms provides the best sound quality, and it’s a perfect match for example with HD580/HD600/HD650, all these headphones have an impedance range of 300ohms to 600ohms. 

 Use the headphone gain setting at your own risk and make sure you know what you’re doing. This is the most important setting and you must get it right. 






*DSP mode* (bottom right)*:* The only option enabled there should be HF (hi fi) this is very important. HF or hi fi disables all post processing of the signal, for example environment size in Effects option (look below). Environment size creates artificial sound staging and in the process distorts the sound. If you click on any of its options L M S the HF option will be disabled, so make sure HF option is always enabled for optimum fidelity. 

*Volume Control:* Use the volume in Xonar, set the volume at your music player (foobar, winamp etc) at 100%.






 Everything else in the driver should be left at default unless needed for some specific reason. 


 This is what I use for headphone listening. The biggest difference for me was setting the proper gain setting for my headphone and enabling HF. 

 Please don’t hesitate to share what are your Xonar STX/ST settings and why. But after playing around with this card for three months, this is what I have decided and its very simple and straight forward.


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## Agro

thanks for the tips!


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## niCe99

What sort of Gain would you recommend for the Denon AH-D2000?


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## ManuLM

Hey thanks, simple but usefull guide

 why do you recommend to put the volume at 100% ? 
 Even with low gain, this is way to high on low impedance headsets ... So what volume management do you use? your player's ?

 For those who want to use the equalizer and do not find the interface convenient enough, settings can be edited manually for better precision:

 Open C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\ASUS\Xonar D2 Audio Center\cmicnfp.ini

 At the end of the file add these lines (number at the end of the string is the preset number, upto you ...):

 EQITEMNAME0=k701
 EQITEMNAME0_Data0=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data1=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data2=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data3=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data4=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data5=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data6=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data7=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data8=0
 EQITEMNAME0_Data9=0

 0 gives zero gain, 1310720 gives +20dB, -1310720 for -20dB, then have fun under excel for your dream settings. Bands go from lowest to highest in frequency.


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## wali

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *niCe99* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_What sort of Gain would you recommend for the Denon AH-D2000?_

 

That headphone is 25ohms so the lowest setting, normal gain.


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## wali

ManuLM: Thanks for pointing that out, actually i meant the music player i. e. foobar, winamp and such. correcting the volume with xonar software. i edited the post. 


 using equalizer is not recommended because it disables HF (hi fi) and that means environment size is enabled.


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## ManuLM

I believe completing the guide with players output configurations could be nice. What player are you using ? 
 If Foobar, I have been using the wasapi @ 24 bits quite successfully. 

 side aspect, I read from the sneak peak thread /robscix that latest beta drivers are supporting auto sample rate switch, that would be a simple but good enhancement, among other stuff including the possibility to change some DAC controls.


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## wali

I use foobar and my settings are very simple and minimalist. my os is win7 64.


 Playback:
 -replaygain is disabled

 DSP:
 -no active DSPs

 Output:
 -WASAPI
 -buffer size 530 
 -24bit


 Auto sample rate would be a good idea for those playing different sample rate files in the same play list. as far as changing DAC settings, I can only wonder what they could be.

 Btw, you have a K701. I got one today as well and it sounds absolutely amazing with STX headphone out. I use the 64-300ohms setting for K701.


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## ManuLM

vs the heed canamp that I also own, I am a bit dissapointed by the STX with the K701.
 I find it quite agressive and not giving the bass impact the canamp does bring on the K701.


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## gurubhai

^^try the OPA2137p in I/V instead of the LME49720NA


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## angle_sh00ter

Great guide man. We need something like that for the musiland monitor 02 now


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## cschiu

alright so wali didn't have an answer for me, so i thought i'd try my luck following up on this post:

 1. don't care too much about asio or bit-matching. for simplicity i will be using itunes. under quicktime preferences for "play audio using," windows audio session is grayed out (due to my OS = W7 64-bit, if i've read up correctly), which means i've got to choose "safe mode" or "direct sound." does it matter? why the hell is it grayed out in the first place?
 2. am i correct to assume that QT sound out should match windows default format as well as xonar audio center settings? for me it would be 24-bit, 44.1kHz, stereo.
 3. exclusive mode in windows? yes/no on one or both check boxes?
 4. i understand that for low impedance headphones, the ST built-in amp ain't all that great. i have a CMOY portable amp coming in the mail. will the CMOY amp be of ANY benefit for my headphone out or for my line out to speakers for that matter? or will it just be redundant and make things worse? speakers are klipsch 2.1s and i've got a pair of grado rs1i's.

 thanks in advance guys.


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## shimm

200 ohms is optimal impedance for STX/ST. Less - more distortions, more - less output power
 Here some measurements on russian forum (Line & Phone): ASUS Xonar Essence STX – çâóêîâàÿ ïëàòà äëÿ ãóðìàíîâ çâóêà [95] - Êîíôåðåíöèÿ iXBT.com


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## ROBSCIX

You set them impedance based on the phones you are using.


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## manuvajpai

To set the output impedance use a simple procedure. Start with the lowest impedance and see how high your output volume goes. If it is loud enough then you are golden, otherwise move to the next level. Simple as that.


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## ROBSCIX

I wouldn't say it is as simple as that, this is where many are getting into trouble. Setting the gain too high and the card becomes bright/agressive. 
 Use the proper setting for your cans impedance. You also have a volume control...Use it instead of boosting the gain too much.g


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## Kuze

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *ROBSCIX* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I wouldn't say it is as simple as that, this is where many are getting into trouble. Setting the gain too high and the card becomes bright/agressive. 
 Use the proper setting for your cans impedance. You also have a volume control...Use it instead of boosting the gain too much.g_

 

I agree, paired with some HD650 at 300-600ohms and it was too bright, set to 64-300 feels better.

  Quote:


  Originally Posted by *wali* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_The highest gain setting of 300-600ohms provides the best sound quality, and it’s a perfect match for example with HD580/HD600/HD650, all these headphones have an impedance range of 300ohms to 600ohms._

 

I never did like this statement, i wouldn't say higher ohms = best sound quality.


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## wali

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Kuze* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I never did like this statement, i wouldn't say higher ohms = best sound quality._

 

you know what, stop trolling and cut the noobish bs. you have been bumping similar thread in other section as well.

 check the xbitlab review and its charts, just because you "believe" in something, it does not mean crap, alright?


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## Kuze

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *wali* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_you know what, stop trolling and cut the noobish bs. you have been bumping similar thread in other section as well.

 check the xbitlab review and its charts, just because you "believe" in something, it does not mean crap, alright?_

 

Hey dou*he bag, i didn't say i believe in anything or imply everyone they should do the same, I'll leave that up to your godly know it all to run around and tell everyone to set to high gain, prick!


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## chinesekiwi

Hate to say it Wali, but he's right (and wrong) and so are you.

 What the different settings do is just boost the gain. More gain = more current. To be driven properly, your headphone need to have the right amount of current going through it to move the drivers properly. Tbh, the IC used in the STX/ST built-in amp is quite bad for these phones. Even the one in the X-fi Forte is better in terms of the IC used.


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## wali

These are the numbers when it comes to power output of STX... Anyone should be able to calculate the power output at whatever impedance there phone is rated for.

Stereophile: ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX soundcards

  Quote:


 The maximum output level from the line outputs was 2.16V; from the headphone jack, it depended on the setting chosen: 885mV (0dB, for headphones with impedances below 64 ohms), 3.52V (+12dB for headphones with impedances of 64–300 ohms), and 7.03V (+18dB for headphones with impedances of >300 ohms). Peculiarly, this maximum level remained the same if the Playback Level was increased to its maximum (12dB) in the Mixer panel of the Xonar Control Center. All that happened was that signals below the selected gain were amplified, but signals at or above it were unaffected; ie, with 12dB of gain selected, signals at or below –12dB were boosted by 12dB to 0dB; signals above –12dB were hard-limited to the same 0dB. The line output impedance was a moderately low 99 ohms at all frequencies; the headphone output impedance was 10.7 ohms at all frequencies and settings. All the outputs preserved absolute polarity; ie, were non-inverting. 
 

Please people, either talk numbers and facts substantiated with links or don't waste my time by obligating me to respond.

 If you have a genuine question then that's different.


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## Vanusk

Quote:


 Volume Control: Use the volume in Xonar, set the volume at your music player (foobar, winamp etc) at 100%. 
 

Would it really make a difference?


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## ROBSCIX

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Vanusk* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Would it really make a difference?_

 

That idea, is meant to keep your output signal as high as possible for the LINE-OUT Not the headphone output. This would also be for the player volume and the master volume. The idea is it keeps the SNR as high as possible -the signal has the highest signal with the lowest noise before hitting the nest stage.
 Hope that Helps.


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## InFn-0

guys, i just purchased the Xonar STX card and i am facing a wierd problem, not enough volume for my K601s. Here is a snapshot of my settings



 Even at this volume level, the sound is just adequate. My headphone impedance is put at High (64~300). I have also tried the highest gain (300-600); that increases the volume a bit but it is not enough.


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## InFn-0

nevermind guys, solved it, problem was in the mixer section.


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## Dealth0072

Hey guys, just picked up my Essence ST and I have one question really.
   
  Does anyone else hear a click from the back of their card when they change a setting from 44.1KHz to 48 for example?


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## taiyoyuden

Quote:


wali said:


> Sample Rate: The default setting is 96khz, I don’t know the reason for that, it could be lack of auto sample rate but all my music is 44.1 and I set the sample rate at 44.1 to avoid any resampling. *I have the windows sound option for Xonar also set to 24/44.1*.


 
   

 Why 24/44.1? Shouldn't it be 16/44.1 for most CD quality music?


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## Joe007

I mod my STX last month. The burson dual opamp and elina cap can increase the sound more than you think. I was very happy to the result, but I decide to move forward as the headphone change to T1. For the STX, I think K702 is good enough for it.


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## whirlwind

I am getting some grado 325is cans....will I use the normal gain setting for these?
   
  I believe the phones are 32 ohm....am I correct?


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## minnus

I just got this card! Late to the party, I know :'(
   
  Anyways, is there a way for me to output the same audio stream on multiple outputs? I am trying to use two sets of headphones.


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## germanium

Most of you people are assuming there is a real gain change with the headphone amp. There is not a real hardware based gain change, only a software volume limiting change. The real gain of the headphone amp is 12db or a gain factor of 4X over the 0db gain level of the line out. The only thing that happens when you lower the gain is the driver limits to between 1-3 bits lower than the max output available. Each bit represents 6db. Dynamic range of the DAC is reduced by that amount with each "gain reduction". As such as long as you match the volume for each gain change the sound will be an exact match. If you increase the "gain" by 6db but reduce the volume control by 6db the sound will match exactly.
   
  It is a myth that there is any sound change other than that that occures as a result of the ears sensitivity ( Fletcher-Munson curves ) with the gain changes. If the volume is matched there will be no difference in sound as there is no difference in the ears sensitivity if the volume is the same nor is there any difference in the frequency response of the amp at the difference in "gain" as there is no real difference in actual gain of the amp itself.


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## WrxSTI

Interesting info. Thanks.


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## jeanwolfe

I bought the Xonar Stx card recently observed that there is no audio channel option in the audio manager. I use windows 7 32 bit OS. My headphone is HD 598


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## genclaymore

in the asus xonar control panel, seti the Analog output as headphones, then the hammer icon you see when in headphone amp is the options for the ST/X headphone amp settings.


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## Pennypacker

Hello people,

A small tip for the linux users who want good sound from the asus soundcards (D2(X)/ST(X).
Since recent kernels, there is finally support for the 3 power levels for the headphone amplifier.
Ahh linux..so inconvenient..how do i set it up right for 44100 cards?
You just have to have alsasound started, and check if the soundcardmodule is loaded ("snd_virtuoso"), 
create /var/lib/alsa/asound.state (with: # "alsactl store"). 
Then mb the most important step: create a good /home/user/.asoundrc

Below my .asoundrc for 44100 listening, the soundcard is not "fully occupied" bij the music stream thnx to dmix, so you can
open movies etc too (with (resampled) sound). In audacious (or other desired player), use alsa, default pcm (dmix). if used "hw0,0" , then the audiocard is fully occupied, just like with wasapi plugin, or asio in windows. Well then.. doesent the audio quality from anything involving dmix suck? No.


/home/"username"/.asoundrc:



#######################################
pcm.!default {
 type plug
 slave.pcm "dmixer"
}

pcm.dmixer {
 type dmix
 ipc_key 1024
 slave {
 pcm "hw:0,0"
 format S32_LE # internal processing 32 bit
 period_time 0
 period_size 1024
 buffer_size 24576 # can tweak this

 rate 44100 # for emphasis on hifi listening, no resampling for music
# rate 96000 
# rate 192000 # lets go crazy
 }
 bindings {
 0 0
 1 1
 }
}

ctl.dmixer {
 type hw
 card 0
 device 0
}
pcm.dsp {
 type plug
 slave.pcm "dmixer" # use our new PCM here
}
ctl.mixer {
 type hw
 card 0
}
#############################################



Hope this info to be useful for some linux/musiclovers.

P.Packer (with essence ST + HD600, kernel 2.6.37)


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## Pennypacker

N.B. "format S32_LE" isnt neccesary, you can remove that =)


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## Kurashima

I don't know anything about the technical aspects of how the gain settings actually work, but from my experience so far listening to my HD650s through the STX with stock op-amps, I feel that the middle gain setting of 64-300 ohms is probably best for those cans. At the same volume level (as adjusted by ear) through ASIO, the 300-600 ohms setting produces some distortion in the bass. Outside of sound quality, both settings have no trouble with having volume loud enough, that's for sure. In Foobar through ASIO, I'm usually working in the left-most portion of the volume bar, and similarly, in Windows I haven't had to put the mixer above 50% for anything yet.


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## Angelbelow

Hey guys, I have a problem getting my Xonar Audio center to output a sampling rate of 192khz. Everything below that works (96, 44.1 etcetc.) I have a onkyo receiver that has a blurbrown DAC that is capable of playing 192khz music. My settings, as far as i can tell, from the Sound->Playback->Speakers(Asus xonar essence stx audio device)-> speaker properties->advanced-> is set at 24 bit 192kh, tested and working.
   
  is there another setting I should be aware of that I am not enabling?


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## Pennypacker

Addendum: after some further listening i must put some nuance my previous post.. Don't know why, mb i'm crazy, but pure soundquality-wise,
 i'm getting the impression that the above dmix-setup lacks a bit in the high frequencies after all =(. i can't explain this.  I must have been in a positive mood that day.
 Even no asoundrc (=48000 hz from: cat /proc/asound/card0/pcm0p/sub0/hw_params , while playing 44100 files)  at all, seems to sound a little bit better better than the 44100 dmix device for music.
 It must be the hardware resampling on the xonar cards being so good, that it doesnt matter much if you  put 44100 as default sampling rate in asoudrc or not, but
 this  ".asoundrc"  is my favorite so far for the ST! =).  I will leave it at this! My hifi friends!

 --------------------

 pcm.!default{    #  
  type hw
  card 0
  device 0
  rate 44100    # for that good feeling
 }

 ctl.mixer {
     type hw
     card 0
 }

 ---------------
   
  best wishes

 P.Packer


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## genclaymore

I tried to do that in my opensuse boot but for the life of me couldnt get it to use the asoundrc I made. So I in up leaving it as it is.


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## Pennypacker

Yes Genclaymore,

 It could be (i have only experience with fedora & gentoo, so im not sure about suse)  that suse uses pulse-audio, or some other layer (there are 2 or 3 i believe)
 on top of alsa. But: the basis for linuxsound on every distro is alsa (oss still works if you want, but this is older, would not say worse)
 What you could do is: find the configuration files for alsa & pulseaudio/jack/esd etc. and deactivate/remove anything but alsa.
  (try the suse fora or irc channel)  There is a good chance that there is documentation in /usr/share/doc/.  
 Linux is all about knowing what/where the most used configuration files are, like xorg.conf for X-server,
 /var/lib/asound.state for your audiomixer settings,   or /home/"username"/.asoundrc, for per-user audio-card settings.
 The uniqueness of every distro is that they often  have a slightly different location/format of their config files, startup scripts etc.
 In practise you have to familiarize yourself with some 3 or 4 configfiles that you will acces frequently, with "nano" or "gedit" or any text-editor of choice.
 A tip: just type "man aplay" and a "man alsactl" in a terminal window, en read it =).

 Best wishes,

 A.J Pennypacker

 ("I assume that there's a waterfall grotto?")


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## tgeml

Great information! Thanks.


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## Kurashima

After a bit of belated experimentation, I take back what I said about avoiding the extra high gain setting because of bass distortion. This turned out not to be a problem with the gain, but with the STX ASIO drivers! Going through the Windows mixer / ASIO4All (and I assume other ASIO drivers) takes away the distortion that I found with the 300-600 ohm setting and so this is now definitely the best setting to use. One thing's for sure: I'm not trusting Asus' ASIO drivers anymore after this.
  
  Quote: 





kurashima said:


> I don't know anything about the technical aspects of how the gain settings actually work, but from my experience so far listening to my HD650s through the STX with stock op-amps, I feel that the middle gain setting of 64-300 ohms is probably best for those cans. At the same volume level (as adjusted by ear) through ASIO, the 300-600 ohms setting produces some distortion in the bass. Outside of sound quality, both settings have no trouble with having volume loud enough, that's for sure. In Foobar through ASIO, I'm usually working in the left-most portion of the volume bar, and similarly, in Windows I haven't had to put the mixer above 50% for anything yet.


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## PurpleAngel

Hopefully the new Asus Phoebus will be an improvement in every way over the STX/ST.
  Something that will grind the Titanium HD into the dust.


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## Roller

Quote: 





purpleangel said:


> Hopefully the new Asus Phoebus will be an improvement in every way over the STX/ST.
> Something that will grind the Titanium HD into the dust.


 
   
   
  The Asus Xonar Phoebus is yet another atempt from Asus to make a gaming capable soundcard, yet such card has lower specs and measurements than their current Essence ST/STX flagship products. The only good thing I see about the Xonar Phoebus is that it is actually a soundcard rather than the laughable Recon3D series from Creative, unlike the X-Fi Titanium HD that outperforms every single soundcard in existence when it comes to gaming audio, and is basically the best consumer soundcard, just like the Essence ST/STX are, albeit with different signatures.
   
  For all that, the Xonar Phoebus is fated to fail. Asus should continually improve over past products, even if it's about hardware available on the market for some time.


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## PurpleAngel

Quote: 





roller said:


> Quote:
> 
> 
> purpleangel said:
> ...


 
  Only reason I wrote that was just to see how long it took you to reply.


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## Roller

Quote: 





purpleangel said:


> Only reason I wrote that was just to see how long it took you to reply.


 
   
Here's a friendly advice: get a life.
   
  Shame on you for not knowing what to do with your time.


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## PurpleAngel

I forgot all about this thread.
 Let the questions begin.


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## Triggerfish

Well, I'm glad this thread still exists.  Just did a full new build on a computer and trying to remember how to best set this up for gaming performance and music.
  
 Mostly I'm wondering if anyone could tell me what dolby, dolby pro logic IIx, and 7.1 virtual boxes to check if any.  Also if there are any other settings I should be using.
  
 I'm using 32 ohm Beyerdynamic MMX 300,
  
 My current settings are:
 2 channel
 PCM 44.1
 headphone
 check in the pcm box
  
 If I check the HF box towards the right, it unchecks all of the dolby settings, but do I need them for 3d positional sound while gaming?
  
 I'm constantly either listening to assorted music, playing 3d sound dependent games like Battlefield 4 or World of Tanks, or both simultaneously (more WoT for that).
  
 Thanks for any help all.


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## SaLX

I'm happy that this thread has been rezzed.... Head-Fi needs one like this (after all we've got a very active Sound Blaster Z thread), so a bit of love for all the Xonars (I'm sure we can include them here too) wouldn't go amiss.


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## JohnSantana

Hi,

Can I use this PCI-X sound card to output to my Oritek OMZ DAC v4.1 using TOS link cable (SPDIF) digital ?


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