Asus Xonar STX doesn't sound right (RCA OUT)

so i got my dac on some headphones for the next 10 or so days for a burn in pushing for 250 hours anyways i havent used a soundcard in 3 or 4 weeks and im back with the xonar stx rca out and it sucks bad it sounds muddy and lifeless i dont remember it being this bad anyone else use the rca out ? btw its rca --> to 1200$ amp it just sounds bad. tried HP jack sounds much better

 

Im using the xonar essence stx atm

RCA out with the mini jack adapter .. to my sennheiser pc350 speakers..


i got 1 question.. why on earth are you using a card thats clearly built for stereo headphone usage with a 1200$ amp..via analog..

If anything id get cranking with some toslink cable..

Other than that only thing i can think off is you need to mess with the settings in the asus control panel.. turn up the sampling rate.. disable the gain on the built-in headphone amp.. etc..


But tbh.. use digital link.. no point letting a 200$ soundcard do the D/A convertion over a 1200$ amp..

 

Time for you to go op-amp rolling, to find op-amp combos which work good with your amplifier. As when your using the RCA out, it using both JRC OP-amps that's in the I/V as well as the LM4562 in the buffer.
Reason why some people uses another amp on the RCA is because they wanna use a better amp then whats on the card. Or in my case using a amp with the card since my HDAV doesnt have amp on it.

But yea momo your gonna have to go op-amp rolling to find some that works very well along with your amp. You could try many combos like 3x OPA2277PA's , 3xLM4562s or even LME49720NAs in the I/V and OPA827 in the buffer etc etc.

 

..The STX was built for high quality stereo audio not just headphones. If you check the specifcations, the line out has higher quality sound over the headphone output.
Line out: SNR=124dB, DR=124dB
Can out: SNR=117dB, DR-117dB
Thats going from memory.

There is a point when the soundcard is capable of such high quality output. The STX has one of the best DAC chips that money can buy.
As for digital, it has been proven aorund here and in other forums that in many cases a receiver or other external gear will have a lower quality DAC section for the S/Pdif input. Not that it means the unit sounds bad, just the digital input section usually has lower quality converter then a modern soundcard.

 

I use RCA outs and the sound is great. What settings are you using and did you change the opamps? -(not that you have to) Just wondering if you have as they may be the trouble.
What are your output levels?

The RCA output is of higher quality then the headphones output. By quite a margin. I used them for a long time...
I am thiking the card isn't setup properly or something is enabled that shouldn't be or your levels aren't set up properly.

The headphones can sound more livley because of the can amplifier chip, iof it is boosting the inputs you get a more warmer sound..etc.
If the inputs are boosted too much you will be overdriving your inputs and may damage them. It is not recommended to drive the inputs of one amplifier with the output of another.

If your levels are off it can make the card sound very dull as the outputs are producing a nice strong sgnal for your inputs on your amp.
Having proper output levels from your source can make all the difference in the world.

I changed the title of the thread also. Try to be a bit more constructive and descriptive in your titles. If you use words like "SUX" etc...people think the thread is just ranting or opinions from a person that owns another card. If the title is more descriptive it helps others who are having similar issue.

 

I too use both Headphones (MDR-7506's plugged into the back of the card) and RCA line out to an amplifier. I have to switch between the two in the Audio Center but I haven't noticed any signal degradation running to amp. Any chance there could be an existing ground loop, bad RCA cords, etc?

 

lol the rca cords are most likely 20+ years old tryed some diff cords no difference.

 

..and your settings, levels etc?

 

ok next question how can their asio driver be bit perfect if you can change the EQ levels while playing something with their asio driver. well i finnaly got tracking for my dac from china will be here next Friday so ill just live with this till then

 

Did you get the sound fixed yet?

How is it set up?

 

na still sounds bad but i think its just how the card sounds stock now.

how the drivers are set up ?

 

Card sound fne stock. Better with new opamps...

Yes, the drivers....levels etc...how is it set up?
If your levels.etc are off it can make the sound quite off.

 

no eq no dh no nothing set @ 50% volume

 

So what sounds wrong?
The volume is set at 50%
What about the Wave level?

 

waves 100% just seems muddy but i have like 5 different usb sound drivers and forte/ stx in. i tryed a40 headphones sounds better then beyers with the soundcard =/

 

Strange, a STX is far from muddy when operating properly. There has got to be a issue somewhere...

 

Sure you're not overdriving your amp by pushing too much signal to it and thus causing some clipping? Tried lowering the gain to your amp? Any "tape2" effects like an EQ causing clipping in the chain somewhere? Sorry, just running over the "usuals" that cause distortion.

 

tryed 1% for volume and turned amp all the way up no good.

 

Can you rule out a problem with the amp by plugging say, an iPod or equivalent device just to see for troubleshooting purposes?

 

i pluged in my usb dac to test a usb -> bnc adapter a few days ago sounded alot better.