124 dB SNR / Headphone Amp card for Audiophiles

Story behind the Masterpiece
Thousands of years ago, our ancestors crystallized their knowledge of the materials and music into the Chime of Tiger, one of the first audio masterpiece in human history. Gold-plated on the EMI shield, the Chime of Tiger totem not only represents Xonar team’s new footnote in audio innovation, but also mankind's endless pursuit of the Essence of Sound.

Industry-leading 124dB SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio)
Choosing only the best components and finest design, Xonar Essence STX achieves unprecedented 124 dB SNR – 64 times clear than on-board solutions, bringing top-o-the shelf audio experience for audiophiles.

Built-in headphone amp
A high-quality TI TPA6120A2 headphone driver supports headphones up to 600ohms of impendence with lower than 0.001% distortion. Drive your headphones as intended without additional amplification.

Hyper-Grounding circuitry design
This exclusive ASUS technique utilizes multi-layer PCB design to separate signal and noise, ensuring only the cleanest signals are passed to sensitive components.

Perfectly sealed analog output path
EMI and shielding seals all analog output signals perfectly from noise, offering distortion-free audio enjoyment.

High quality DAC
The Burr-Brown PCM 1792A Digital-to-Analog Convertor (DAC) converts signals at 127dB signal-to-noise ratio.

Nichicon "Fine Gold" professional audio capacitors
Using state-of-the-art etching technology, Nichicon "Fine Gold" capacitors deliver rich bass and crystal-clear high frequencies.

Swappable OPA Sockets
Tune up your unique sound - OPAMP sockets allow simple, solder-less alteration for user-preferred sound color.

Package Contents
Xonar™ Essence STX 2 Channel PCI Express Audio Card
RCA to 3.5mm Y cable
6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor
S/PDIF TOSLINK optical adaptors *1
Driver CD
Quick Start Guide
Audio Precision test report

System Requirements
One PCI Express 1.0 (or higher) compatible slot for the audio card
Microsoft® Windows® Vista(32/64bit)/XP(32/64bit)/MCE2005
Intel® Pentium®4 1.4GHz or AMD Athlon 1400 CPU or faster CPU
>256 MB DRAM system memory
>60 MB available HDD space for driver installation package
CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive) for software installation
High-quality headphones, powered analog speakers, or a Dolby Digital decoder, to enjoy the ultra-high fidelity sounds of the card