Review and Measurements of Asus STX II PCI Sound Card

[amirm]

Does anyone know? What would this linear dropoff actually do?

EDIT: Limit the maximum volume level?

Correct. This is only happening with ASIO4ALL wrapper so don't worry about it if you don't use it.

 

[Jimster480]

S

It's worse than the motherboard in some aspects, but not everything.

The problems inside of a computer could be numerous, and cannot simply be chalked up to the equivalent of the motherboard audio. It's running off a PCI-E slot, not meant for audio. It also requires a 4 pin molex connection probably straight off a noisy power supply, again not meant for audio. The motherboard, meanwhile, actually has an isolated PCB section for audio.

So yeah, I don't think they've overcome those limitations, which may very well have contributed to the bad measurements. Unless we get multiple tests across multiple systems, it's not like we'll be able to do anything but assume.

Sorry but your assumptions are wrong.
Power supplies make quite clean power.
The motherboard runs off of the same source, and runs off of PCI-E (even if its not a slot, it still uses the same interface internally).

 

[Jimster480]

Amir, if you would like to test the Xonar D2X I have one in my downstairs storage.
I can mail it to you for testing.

 

[amirm]

Amir, if you would like to test the Xonar D2X I have one in my downstairs storage.
I can mail it to you for testing.

Thanks. Given the issues with drivers and the hassle of installing cards in my PC, I rather pass.

 

[Jimster480]

Thanks. Given the issues with drivers and the hassle of installing cards in my PC, I rather pass.

I don't blame you

 

[Xyrium]

So, in the end, you got SINAD over 100, with excellent distortion results. Only linearity seemed to suffer, but did you retest that as well? Meh, nevermind. Either way, I had this card feeding a Nuprime STA-9 and the sound was actually quite euphoric, with excellent detail through a tiny pair of Dynaudio Emit 10s. So, I tend to wonder about the review sample...great review as always though. Thanks Amir!

 

[mindbomb]

So, in the end, you got SINAD over 100, with excellent distortion results. Only linearity seemed to suffer, but did you retest that as well? Meh, nevermind. Either way, I had this card feeding a Nuprime STA-9 and the sound was actually quite euphoric, with excellent detail through a tiny pair of Dynaudio Emit 10s. So, I tend to wonder about the review sample...great review as always though. Thanks Amir!

Yea, there was a retest of the linearity, and the low level problems went away, but high level problems appeared, possibly due to the use of asio4all and certain driver settings.

With the initial results, it wasn't clear that the card supported 24 bit, and so the card was set to 16 bit. This creates a hard cap on how well the card can perform on all 5 tests. With more 24 bit results, I think we'll see that the card isn't too bad.

 

[Sythrix]

With more 24 bit results, I think we'll see that the card isn't too bad.

I think Amir implied he has had enough of testing this card and I don’t currently have the equipment or know-how to continue the tests when I get it back.

 

[bennetng]

I think Amir implied he has had enough of testing this card and I don’t currently have the equipment or know-how to continue the tests when I get it back.

It would also be unfair to test the card unless the driver issue is completely solved, especially if you don't have those issues in your environment.

Another thing I want to add is this card is only $160 in my area (Hong Kong).

 

[Sythrix]

It would also be unfair to test the card unless the driver issue is completely solved

Well, I think we all know ASUS won't be doing anything on that front.

As for the third-party drivers, they seem to cause more trouble than they're worth in Windows 10, according to their own list of issues.

 

[mindbomb]

At the very least, there needs to be a disclaimer about how a 24 bit mode was later discovered but couldn't be tested due to time constraints, performance results not final. I feel it is unfair to the asus card to just leave up the 16 bit results in the first post and imply they can't do better.

 

[Veri]

At the very least, there needs to be a disclaimer about how a 24 bit mode was later discovered but couldn't be tested due to time constraints, performance results not final. I feel it is unfair to the asus card to just leave up the 16 bit results in the first post and imply they can't do better.

You have it wrong. The ASUS-provided driver is terrible and does not do 24-bit out of the box. This is entirely on Asus. You can't expect installing hacked drivers to be standard for people using these cards. This review is representative, making it perform well is a headache.

 

[mindbomb]

You have it wrong. The ASUS-provided driver is terrible and does not do 24-bit out of the box. This is entirely on Asus. You can't expect installing hacked drivers to be standard for people using these cards. This review is representative, making it perform well is a headache.

You don't have to install alternative drivers. And those have the same issue iirc.

Well, they should have made it 24 bit asio by default, but it seems like kind of a freak occurrence that he wasn't able to set it to 24 bit in his software. You only need to set it once in any asio software, and then it's a global setting that sticks. There's a portable exe that does nothing but opens the asio panel, and you could just use that . http://www.djdecks.be/asioconfig.exe

On most hardware, getting asio to work involves installing asio4all. In this case, when you install the sound card, you automatically get an asio driver. In this sense, it's arguably less work than other things.

 

[Veri]

You don't have to install alternative drivers. And those have the same issue iirc.

Well, they should have made it 24 bit asio by default, but it seems like kind of a freak occurrence that he wasn't able to set it to 24 bit in his software. You only need to set it once in any asio software, and then it's a global setting that sticks. There's a portable exe that does nothing but opens the asio panel, and you could just use that . http://www.djdecks.be/asioconfig.exe

Again this is not standard way of set-up. It's also not a freak occurrence, asus' drivers are terrible for this particular card.

 

[Sythrix]

The ASUS-provided driver is terrible and does not do 24-bit out of the box

It will, but it's bugged, which is what I was trying to say earlier in the thread. It stays grayed out, even when changeable, so if someone is convinced they can't change it, they won't ever try, even when they can.

The whole thing is a giant mess.

 

[mindbomb]

It will, but it's bugged, which is what I was trying to say earlier in the thread. It stays grayed out, even when changeable, so if someone is convinced they can't change it, they won't ever try, even when they can.

The whole thing is a giant mess.

This issue seems to be related to the type of software being used to open the asio panel, with some software having issues with bit depth grayed out, and others not. What were you using asio in?

 

[Sythrix]

This issue seems to be related to the type of software being used to open the asio panel, with some software having issues with bit depth grayed out, and others not. What were you using asio in?

Default. I just opened up the panel in the toolbar that ASUS installs along with the other software.

 

[mindbomb]

Default. I just opened up the panel in the toolbar that ASUS installs along with the other software.

Ok, I just found out that you can right click that icon. I have a xonar dx, and I have nothing grayed out. It might be an stx II specific issue.

 

[amirm]

It will, but it's bugged, which is what I was trying to say earlier in the thread. It stays grayed out, even when changeable, so if someone is convinced they can't change it, they won't ever try, even when they can.

It is grayed out for me and absolutely not clickable:

 

[Sythrix]

It is grayed out for me and absolutely not clickable:

View attachment 16804

Must be system specific then. Something running on your system is actually arresting the (ASUS) ASIO functionality.