ASUS Xonar Essence STX soundcard review -
Introduction
| Product: | ASUS Xonar Essence STX |
| Manufacturer: | ASUS |
| Product code (SKU): | 10626256 |
| Information: | website |
| Street price: | $199,- USD / 179 EUR |
Hey audio crazies, we have us a brand spankin new audio card to tests out today in our labs, and it's all about the essence sound, lets get started with some background first.
The Xonar soundcard lineup has been methodically targeting all segments of the PC audio world with impressive results to the end users. The release of the original D2 marked the entrance of ASUS into the add-in soundcard hardware segments and the Xonar family has been building a strong and dedicated fan base.
The recent addition of the HDAV 1.3 and Essence STX have targeted two new markets for the ever moving Xonar sound machine landing impressive contributions to the high end HTPC audio and high end stereo/headphone markets.
This review will encompass the new Xonar Essence STX and we will examine what this card has to offer new users who are interested in this product. This new card has been highlighted as the pinnacle of the Xonar soundcards at least as far as 2.0 and headphone audio are concerned.
The Essence STX boasts extremely impressive numbers across the board and this card has a dedicated high impedance headphone amplifier meant to power those high end headphones which usually require an external amplifier unit for maximum audio enjoyment. Is this card as impressive as the numbers and reports say?
Does this card offer something new and bring new features to the Xonar line up? We are curious to find out so lets get to it, next page please.

We review the ASUS Xonar Phoebus 7.1 soundcard. Gamers are not quite as strict as the audiophile market place, we would still suggest they like to have great sound, after all a great game is just that much better with high quality surround sound or headphone based audio immersing you into the action. We have been following the development of this product since the beginning and today we have a brand spanking new Phoebus 7.1 bundle in the Guru3D Audio Lab. Without any further delay, lets pull this new audio card out and check it out.
Asus Xonar Xense 7.1 Soundcard review
Asus recently announced that they have teamed up with Sennheiser, a proverbial powerhouse in the audiophile headphone market to bring audio lovers the Xonar Xense 7.1 soundcard bundle.
ASUS Xonar Essence ST DeLuxe review
We test and review the Xonar Essence ST Deluxe 7.1 soundcard. Yes, you read it right, the full deluxe model! ASUS has been relentless with its R&D and soundcard releases, putting out one high end card after another. The Essence models are considered the current undisputed kings of the Xonar series of soundcards. We are quite excited to see what the Essence ST offers over the STX and in general. So, lets pull out the Xonar Essence ST Deluxe 7.1 and have a look and a listen.
ASUS Xonar Essence ST Sneak Preview | test
The PC audio market has been churning out some great new high fidelity soundcards lately. A good example here is the recent release of the new Essence STX headphone card, which stirred up the audio community and caught the attention of people who usually look for external headphone amplifiers. Some of you may know there were rumors of ASUS expanding the Essence Line-up with possibly a PCI model. Guru3D has the prototype the engineering sample of the Essence ST in our audio lab today, and will bring you a sneak preview on it.

