Audio Is Essense STX audibly better than Xonar DX?

Cranky, you were right about the Xonar's not-so-great performance. The "transparent" speakers have revealed that the Xonars are not worthy of them :(

I brought the Ampino today, and managed to hook it up to my SoundCard & Speakers for about 30min before wife shut us up since it was late (21.00). However right away, I can tell that there is something lacking. It sounds like a mid-fi system, with details missing, and mids not sounding as great as when I had auditioned them :S

I've heard the Usher S-520's at ARN's audition room with the Ampino, and it sounded very detailed there, with excellent mids. I believe that ARN was using an Ayon CDP in their Audition room, costing ~1L. On my system, the mids weren't so clear, although the Bass became somewhat more pronounced. Since Speakers and Amp remain same, it is apparent that my Xonar DX is not upto the task. :'(

I will have to get a better soundcard/dac soon. :sos: Guys, any better options than the Essense STX for ~10K ?
Off topic:
I thought that Monster cables were not expensive, but was I in for a surprise !!! Most of their InterConnects were ~1k+, and speaker cable for 180/m. :O

I'm using MX OFC Interconnect from SoundCard to Amp (Rs. 190), and some No-Name cheapo speaker cable obtained from SP Road (Rs. 20/m). I will probably upgrade to MX OFC speaker cables & banana plugs when I also upgrade soundcard/dac.

And no, I don't believe that the cables are at fault for the Mid-fi output, and neither do I believe there would be any difference with costlier cables. Only that chances of oxidization at contacts/wire would reduce with costlier OFC cables.
 
Gryph0n - I think you already got my views on the xonar STX - people went gaga about it in most forums - but after usign it for over 7 months - I have found something better. Go for a better CDP or maybe a CDP + DAC combo. The STX has got decent headphone out but lacks the pace in the analog stereo output section.

Cranky - good to see you here. We were missing you in the other forum but then again the place these days is like Hitlers Germany !!!
 
The CD1s is not 1L, IIRC, closer to twice that?

First off, you're not going to be able to match the performance of that source. I've already said that the S-520 is no slouch and will be able to differentiate a 25K source from a 2L source, so it's not much of a limiting factor as the price would suggest.

At 10K, you're stuck with the STX. Unless you're willing to look a little beyond that price, almost all options will offer compromised performance. I would have suggested some DIY options if you're game to do some assembling, and then you would be able to run them off the digital output of the DX. even then, the good stuff is not so cheap. It does cost a minimum amount of money to reach a minimum standard :)

I would also urge you to stay away from MX. Most copper available in the country is from recycled brass and bronze stock, which contains large amounts of phosphorous that drastically hampers conductivity. MX is not immune. I would suggest BJC, but if you really, really, really want to stay away from international ordering, buy a roll of CAT5 cable and roll your own cable. It'll perform much better. CAT5 specification requires minimum conductivity and the copper for at least that kind of wire is imported. There is also a DIY silver wire recipe, not very cheap for speaker cables, but excellent for interconnects, which we can talk about later at some point. It will still cost you 1K+, but the speakers (IMO) deserve it and are capable of showing off the difference.

@starky: I was here before I was there, and I'm still here :D. The moderation is much better here for the most part, so trouble gets nipped in the bud long before it becomes trouble. I haven't seen that place recently, but I hear things have gotten real bad. I hope it recovers soon, it was good while it lasted :)
 
Hey Cranky - good to see you after a long time, man!

And gryphon - I guess you have got your answers at both places :).

Cranky - got to tell you that the Behringer DEQ 2496 has meant that I have pretty much discarded the Xonar D2X sound card. The digital out from the ASUS card is shockingly inferior as compared to the digital out of my nforce n650i chipset motherboard which is a couple of years old at least. Perhaps they concentrated a whole lot of effort on the analog outs and left the digital outs in the lurch?
 
Well, you're the one who disappeared, not me :D :p

Truth be told, I didn't test the digital output on the Asus at the time of my DX review. I had nothing with an optical input to test it with, so the SQ is a question mark. I'm not sure what would cause such a big difference though, but the fact is that they put a optical transmitter on the C-media DSP and that was it. Not sure how the D2X was configured tho - been a long time since those Asus cards resurfaced in conversation :)

How are you using the Berry?
 
I was always there. But I ought to spend more time here :).

The Behringer is being used as a DAC, room correction unit and digital equalizer (I guess these two are pretty much one and the same). Got the matching Behringer microphone and performed the equalization. Now the speakers are in dual mono mode and my system is a revelation.
 
cranky said:
buy a roll of CAT5 cable and roll your own cable. It'll perform much better. CAT5 specification requires minimum conductivity and the copper for at least that kind of wire is imported.
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cranky, please share your insights on this one. I happened to read through a couple of articles which used several CAT5 cables and braided to form a pair of cables to be used for a single speaker. :)

This is one such article although I am not sure if that's the best method - How to Make Cat 5 Speaker Cable | eHow.com

Could you please post a simple DIY trick to do that? Is the CAT5 cable locally available suited for the task? Or do we require any specific mak/grade? Does this vary depending on the impedance or wattage rating of the drivers?

TIA
 
Nice, that's kind of a step towards the future if you're compensating for the room. Let's not go OT now, and wait for the TS to respond.

TS: where are you located in India?

Edit: @DES: I simply braid the wire together, 4 runs normally works for the low impedance speakers we have in mainstream applications, though 2 runs should be enough for high-sensitivity single drivers. Basically (without going OT) you take 4 lengths of the length you need of high-quality single-core (though stranded is more flexible) CAT5, and braid the runs together. Some people strip off the jackets, I find this not necessary. At the ends, expose the individual wires. There are 4 pairs of colour and white wires. Expose conductors and join all the coloured wires together for the positive lead, the negative are all the whites. Connect and enjoy :)

CAT 5 cable is slightly capacitative, so your amp has to be up to the task (The Amplimo of the TS should be fine). It's an excellent alternative in cases where one does not need/want believe in quality cables :) Basically no way to tell if the wire is suitable unless you actually use it, unfortunately. Since the cable works at RF frequencies without appreciable loss, one can safely assume it will be reasonable for audio as well :) Don't use CAT6 though, I don't remember why I got this advice or where, but CAT5 supposedly works better!
 
cranky said:
...

At 10K, you're stuck with the STX. Unless you're willing to look a little beyond that price, almost all options will offer compromised performance. I would have suggested some DIY options if you're game to do some assembling, and then you would be able to run them off the digital output of the DX. even then, the good stuff is not so cheap. It does cost a minimum amount of money to reach a minimum standard :)

I would also urge you to stay away from MX. Most copper available in the country is from recycled brass and bronze stock, which contains large amounts of phosphorous that drastically hampers conductivity. MX is not immune. I would suggest BJC, but if you really, really, really want to stay away from international ordering, buy a roll of CAT5 cable and roll your own cable. It'll perform much better. CAT5 specification requires minimum conductivity and the copper for at least that kind of wire is imported. There is also a DIY silver wire recipe, not very cheap for speaker cables, but excellent for interconnects, which we can talk about later at some point. It will still cost you 1K+, but the speakers (IMO) deserve it and are capable of showing off the difference.
Click to expand...

Hmm, haven't done any electronics DIY kinda stuff since college, although I had found it interesting. Gawd, I rem. hooking up 555 timers, op-amps, transistors and other stuff in college. My soldering skills are pretty rusty now, but I guess they can still be called back into service ;)

But as you are indicating that it would be over my budget, I guess it'll have to wait. By the way, if you point me to any good websites/forums on doing a quality DIY DAC to beat the STX, I would be happy.

A problem with having a job & being married is that finding time to do all the stuff would not be easy :ashamed:

CAT-5 cable is a good inexpensive idea, and its easily available here in SP Road. By the way, I'm located at B'lore.

starky said:
Gryph0n - I think you already got my views on the xonar STX - people went gaga about it in most forums - but after usign it for over 7 months - I have found something better. Go for a better CDP or maybe a CDP + DAC combo. The STX has got decent headphone out but lacks the pace in the analog stereo output section.
...
Click to expand...

Starky, do you mind telling me what better you have gone for? Although I would probably not go for a CDP, your DAC might be worth my consideration; either later, or now (if its not that hard on the wallet)
balashome said:
Hey Cranky - good to see you after a long time, man!

And gryphon - I guess you have got your answers at both places :).

Cranky - got to tell you that the Behringer DEQ 2496 has meant that I have pretty much discarded the Xonar D2X sound card. The digital out from the ASUS card is shockingly inferior as compared to the digital out of my nforce n650i chipset motherboard which is a couple of years old at least. Perhaps they concentrated a whole lot of effort on the analog outs and left the digital outs in the lurch?
Click to expand...

True, the opinion seems that there is nothing better than STX at its price range.

I was having a look at the Behringer DEQ 2496's webpage. It looks like a multi-function audio production equipment, but nothing stops us from re-purposing it for playing music :eek:hyeah:

Just wondering, did you pick this up yourself while abroad, or did you order this from India? Because I'm wondering how much customs would have been on it, if you had ordered.
 
spirovious said:
My D2X sounds better with modded drivers.With proper foobar setting mp3 too sounds good.
Click to expand...
The D2X are more targeted towards playing movies than for stereo playback (Dolby Decoding, DTS decoding, etc). The STX seems to have been designed keeping in mind criticisms of the D2X in online reviews for stereo playback. I believe the STX has a better DAC than the D2X. So while D2X is not a bad card per se, its not what I'm looking for.
 
Right,but D2X too claims SN ratio(DAC) upto 118 against 124 of essence.With modded drivers ,it sounds musical.I dont claim it as good as essense,but it can output better SQ.
 
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