Linux Mint 18 Install
Windows 7 64 Bit Install.
Upgraded from a Upgraded from a SB X-Fi Mod: SB0880
I run a Dual Boot System.
First I installed in Linux Mint 18 which is a Ubuntu derivative. Flawless easy install. Linux recognized the card and installed all the drivers automatically. Sounds great but doesn't have all the bells and whistles of running in Windows.
Next ran it under Windows 7 64 Bit Professional. The Card wasn't recognized. So I downloaded the Asus Xonar Drivers from Asus website. Ran perfectly except when I tried to use my headphone in the back headphone jack. No sound came out, although the program showed music playing. Finally figured out that Windows recognized the Front Audio not the back. So I switched the headset to front. No sound.
I'm not sure if I had to do Plan B. It turns out that the trick to running the headset is to have windows Speakers selected. Then in the Xonar software choose "HeadPhone" Or " Pass Through " or Front Panel Headset
Some Tips:
By the way in varied music from The Who, Johny Cash, to Vaud and the Villains the Setting> Effect >Rock sounds incredible.
Don't forget to raise the Impedance for your Headphones. I found that for my Audio Technicas that for the rear the setting "Normal Gain" worked great but for the FP Jack I had to raise it to " High Gain"
In order to avoid problems with voltage causing interference this card is powered by a 4 Pin Molex.
I bought the following 3 items to make sure that I'd have no problems with connecting the card. My case is unusual
Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 Windowed ATX High Airflow Cube Performance Computer Case with White LED Fan - Arctic White
To make everything clean I bought the following 3 Connectors
1.
StarTech.com 4x SATA Power Splitter Adapter Cable (PYO4SATA)
. This beauty split my SATA Power Connection. Because it's long I figured that it would reach far if needed
2.
C2G/Cables to Go 10149 15-Pin Serial ATA Male to LP4 Female Power Cable -6-Inch
This turned the Sata Power into a Molex Connector
3.
24" 4-Pin Molex Extension Cable with Black Sleeving & Connectors
This extended the Molex Connection to reach very neatly to the card.
You can do some variations on these items depending on your power supply and case configuration. This ended up working perfectly for me because even though I had a spare Molex in my power supply it just wouldn't align correctly with the pins, so I was forced to split Sata Connection and use adaptors instead.
In Linux a system wide equalizer called Pulse Audio worked great with this card and is a great substitute for the included Software.
I've put a link to it in the comment section below.
Or just open a terminal and put in the following.
~ $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
~ $ sudo apt-get update
~ $ sudo apt-get install pulseaudio-equalizer
Yeah it's just that easy. Difficulty was finding the instructions
I put it on Rock Mode and my Movies really shone.
Note: Plan B may or may not be necessary. Many reviews in Win 7 and 10 had complaints about the STX II Drivers which haven't been updated since 2015. They say that they solved the problems by installing the Maxedtech STX II Unified Driver below. Be careful because different revisions for the drivers are written for different cards.
Plan B. A company called Maxedtech at the same with a com at the end. has "Unified Drivers" for all Windows versions. I downloaded UNi Xonar STXII 11.5 v1.80b r3 Driver which is specifically for the STX II in Windows 7 64 bit. I installed the drivers and installed "C-Media Audio Panel"from the system.
Why a 5 star because the card sounds awesome with my
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System (Black)
which I picked up over at the bay for around $40.00 less. For around $300.00 I'm experiencing fabulous sound. I admit that I'm not an AudioPhile but I can tell the difference that this card makes. BTW no hissing sound during the silences. In addition it powers my
Audio-Technica ATHM50RD Professional Studio Monitor Headphones, Red
which the Soundblaster X-Fi didn't have enough juice to do.
I was using the Optical Out with a Turtle Beach Earforce DSS now they have a version 2
Turtle Beach Ear Force DSS2 Dolby Surround Sound Processor - Xbox 360
. By the way it still works with this.
One of my favorite features of this Card is that the Software is User Friendly. The previous Soundblaster was so complicated, you needed to be a Audio physicist to use it. So I never used it. On the other hand Xonar Audio Panel and C-Media Panel are a snap to learn.
Flawless install and detection in Linux, Amazing Sound in both Windows and Linux. I just couldn't bring myself to deduct a star for the Windows 7 compatibility problem.
So 5 star it remains
| Brand | ASUS |
|---|---|
| Item model number | Essence STX II |
| Hardware Platform | Headphones |
| Item Weight | 1.56 pounds |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 6.61 x 4.21 inches |
| Number of Processors | 1 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Batteries | 1 A batteries required. |
| Manufacturer | ASUS |
| ASIN | B00ONSBF4K |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | April 4, 2014 |
