Modifications - Modifying the soundcard
Modifications - tweaking the STX
Yes, you read it right. I prefer to experiment with every piece of audio gear I get in hope of pushing its sound quality further then the designers did on their specific budget. There are really only a few places for easy modifications on this card, lets have a look:
Opamp Replacement
These chips have become the talk of most audio forums as of late, as to where they are, what do they do and how do I improve them? Good news, ASUS has left the opamps in sockets so you can change them out with relative ease. I ran tests using commonly found audio opamps that many may have on hand. I think we will look at replacing the generic units found in the I/V section, lets pull out those JRC 2114Ds and try out:
OPA2134
Lets try one of the common audio opamps found and suggested around the audio forums. This audio opamps seemed to add a bit more heft to the bass and midrange while keeping a similar gloss in the high end. The clarity remains but is changed somewhat for a more laidback type of sound.