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Asus Xonar STX or Good integrated? (MSI x470)

rul3s

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Jan 24, 2019
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Hi guys!
I have a Xonar Essence STX and now I'm replacing my motherboard to MSI x470 Gaming Pro Cabron, which it has a high end audio card.
I know that an old saying says that any dedicated sound card (+50€) is better than the best integrated but:

- Xonar Essence STX has some problems with Windows 10, have to reinstall drivers every 2-3 months (also tried unixonar variant)
- MSI x470 has a very good audio card: https://bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/motherboards/msi-x470-gaming-pro-carbon-ac-review/6/

I know that I should test them and keep the one wich sounds better...but also I like to have your opinion.

Thanks!
 

garbulky

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I have an essence st and didn't encounter any problems with windows 10. I'm not sure what's going on with yours. I went a long time ago to a DAC and replaced my Essence ST with a Musiland Digital Times audio transport. This one was a pain to find the right drivers. But after that it just works as a transport. One of the nice things about a dac is that for the most part you don't have to worry about the drivers going out of date.
 
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rul3s

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I have an essence st and didn't encounter any problems with windows 10. I'm not sure what's going on with yours. I went a long time ago to a DAC and replaced my Essence ST with a Musiland Digital Times audio transport. This one was a pain to find the right drivers. But after that it just works as a transport. One of the nice things about a dac is that for the most part you don't have to worry about the drivers going out of date.
Which drivers do you use? Asus official or Unixonar?

Thanks!
 

bobhol

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I also got tired of playing around with sound cards and went to an external DAC.
 
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rul3s

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I also got tired of playing around with sound cards and went to an external DAC.
But when u use external DAC, this is connected to computer via USB? So do you still need a driver, no?
 

garbulky

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But when u use external DAC, this is connected to computer via USB? So do you still need a driver, no?
For most of the time, no.
Windows has a native USB 2 driver so you don't need to install any new drivers. It just auto installs. Apple and Linux has native USB 2 drivers too. In certain specific brands, however, they do use a specialized driver for their DACs.

DACs also have other inputs - like my DC-1. I use its BNC input to connect to my PC using the Musiland Digital Times Card - though oyu do need drivers for that specfici card.
 

Gregorius

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I gave up on internal sound cards. My last one was the Asus Phoebus. Lost driver support after 4 years. <Screw Asus> MoBo Sound is just as good, save your money and get a Good DAC.
 

xadmin

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Hi! Yes, I already saw it, but I didn't understand all this stuff hehe, I'm not such professional. By the way, STXII is not compatible with my new system (Ryzen) because of the crappy PCIe converter that STXII has (STX1 works perfectly)

What he is saying is it is better to go with an external sound card solution. The interference by the computer makes the soundcard not very ideal. But if you don't have any interference with your computer setup, then perhaps the STX will work fine for you. If you can't tell the difference, then just use the STX soundcard.
 
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