So that certainly is very nice and we will discuss all the electronics in detail further on in the article (oh we are going in-depth today's alright). In the PCI shield picture we see the entire signal I/O this card has to offer. From the left of the picture, RCA stereo outputs, ¼” TRS Mic-in/Line-in, amplified headphone out and the S/PDIF output.

Other connectors

The Essence STX has external connectors for Aux input and front panel Audio pin headers connectors for microphone and headphones which connect to the cable header available on many new cases.

There is also a S/PDIF output pin header available at the rear edge of the PCB and this output could be used to connect to digital output header or could be used to connect to a modern graphics card which has S/Pdif audio input for the graphics card HDMI audio/video out.

Specifications

Processor/ Interface / Dimensions

• Audio Processor:  ASUS AV100 (Max. 24bit/192Khz)
• 24bit DAC : TI Burr-Brown PCM1792A (127SNR)
• Bus Compatibility: PCI Express X1
• Card Dimensions: Approx. 168*107mm (W*L, PCB Board)

Audio Performance

• Signal to Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 124dB for Front out, 117 for 600ohm HP out, 118 for Input
• THD+N at 1Khz: Front-Out: 0.0003% (-110dB), Headphone-out: 0.001%(100dB), Line-in: 0.0002% (-113dB)
• Frequency Response: <10Hz to 90-Khz (-3.5dB)
• Analog Playback/Recording Resolution: 24bit/192Khz
• S/PDIF Digital Output: 24/bit/192khz
• Headphone Impedance: Optimized for 32~600Ω

I/O Ports

• Analog Output Jack: RCA Jack: *2 (Front R/ Front L), 6.30mm Jack*1 (Headphone out), 6.30mm Jack*1 (Mic/Line-In)
• Digital S/PDIF Output: Coaxial/ Toslink Combo
• Aux In: Aux-in 4 Pin Header
• Front Panel: HD audio and AC’97 Compatible

Features

• Dolby Tech: Dolby® Digital Live, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Pro-Logic II
• DS3D GX 2.5: Direct sound 3D Hardware for Windows Vista and XP
• VocalFX for online Gaming and chatting, Smart Volume, Acoustic Echo Cancelation, Karaoke Functions
• And Flex Bass.
• ASIO 2.0: 44.1K,48K/96K/192KHz@16/24 bit