Asus Essence STX II User Manual
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Asus Essence STX II manual content summary:
- Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 1
Essence STX II Audio card User Guide - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 2
unless such repair, modification of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS; or (2) the serial number of the product is defaced or missing. ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL "AS IS"WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 3
introduction Package contents...5 System requirements...5 Specifications summary...6 Essence STX II card layout...9 Chapter 2: Getting started Before you proceed...13 Installing the audio card...13 Installing the audio card driver 14 Chapter 3: Connecting speakers and peripherals Connecting - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 4
- Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 5
® Pentium® 4 1.4GHz, AMD Athlon 1400 CPU, or faster CPU • 256 MB DRAM system memory • 60 MB available HDD space • CD-ROM drive (or DVD-ROM drive) for software installation • High-quality headphones or powered analog speakers to enjoy the ultra-high fidelity sound of the card ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 6
Out) Optimized for 32~600ohm Main Chipset Audio Processor 24-bit D-A Converter of Digital Sources ASUS AV100 High Definition Sound Processor (Maximum 192KHz/24bit) Texas Instruments PCM1792A*1 for Front Out (127dB SNR, 192kHz/24bit) High Fidelity Headphone Amplifier 24-bit A-D Converter for - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 7
High bandwidth Coaxial/TOSLINK combo port supports 192kHz/24bit Shared by Headphone out/2 channels out / Microphone in Windows® XP/7/8 (32/64bit) Dolby® Digital Live encodes any audio signal on PC in real-time to Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sounds on the next page) ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 8
™ Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming Shifter Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning Other Effects 10-band Equalier/27 Environment Effects ASIO 2.0 Driver Support Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @16/ - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 9
Essence STX II card audio center or mute the volume before powering up. • DO NOT connect your speakers to the headphone output port. The possible high audio including PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS and WMA-pro. PCI Express finger: Connect to a PCI Express slot on your motherboard. ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 10
expansion board of Essence STX II 7.1 edition or Xonar H6. 4-pin Molex power connector: Connect to the power cable of your power supply unit. STX requires a 4-pin Molex connection to power the card. Front panel audio header: Connect to the chassis-mounted audio module. 10 Chapter 1: Product - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 11
C. Low pass filter To swap op-amps: 1. Use an IC clamp to clasp an op-amp and remove it vertically upwards. 2. Replace it with a new op-amp from the op-amp kit. To avoid reversion, ensure that the half-moon opening on the op-amp points the same way as that on the socket. ASUS Essence STX II 11 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 12
ENGLISH 12 Chapter 1: Product introduction - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 13
slot cover of an available PCI Express slot. 5. Insert the card into the PCI Express slot until the card is seated firmly in place. 6. Secure the card into the slot with a screw. 7. Replace the chassis cover and reconnect all the cables. 8. Power on the computer. ASUS Essence STX II 13 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 14
ENGLISH Installing the audio card driver After installing the ASUS Essence STX II to your computer, install the card driver from the bundled CD or download from ASUS support site (http://support.asus.com). • Essence STX II requires a 4-pin Molex connection to power the card. Connect it to your - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 15
Theater) Essence STX II supports DTS Interactive technologies, which transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard DTS surround bit-streams. This makes playback through your home theater system possible, creating an immersive and impressive cinema surround sound experience - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 16
ENGLISH Connecting stereo headphones Front Out/Headphone Jack. The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack. 16 Chapter 3: Connecting speakers and peripherals - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 17
's 3.5mm plug to the bundled RCA-to3.5mm Y cable, and then connect the Left/Right ends to the Front/Left Right Out ports on the Essence STX card. ASUS Essence STX II 17 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 18
plug to the bundled RCA-to-3.5mm Y cable, and then connect the Left/Right ends to the to Front Left/Right Out ports on the Essence STX II card. Microphone Input port. Connect your external PC microphone to this port by using the bundled 6.3mmto- 3.5mm adapter for voice communication, recording, or - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 19
. Connect the CD/MP3 player or any other line level analog audio sources to this line-in port by using the 6.3mm-to-3.5mm adapter for sound recording or real-time Dolby/DTS sound processing through the monitoring path. Refer to the Mixer section of the driver's user guide. ASUS Essence STX II 19 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 20
ENGLISH 20 Chapter 3: Connecting speakers and peripherals - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 21
of Essence STX II. To launch Essence STX II, double-click the Essence STX II icon on the taskbar. If the icon is not shown on the taskbar, click Start > All Programs > ASUS Essence STX II Audio > Essence STX II Audio Center to launch the Audio Center. Close button Minimize button Support link - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 22
display area shows the 10-band signal meter, Information icon. Click this icon to launch the driver information window. Menu Open/Close. Click this button to sound effects combinations for Music, Games, DVD Video, and effect-free (Hi-Fi) modes. By default, DSP Mode is OFF. 22 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 23
fidelity. Essence STX II card supports sample rates up to 192KHz (44.1K, 48K, 96K, 192KHz). Typical values: • Audio CD, MP3, WMA, Wave files are 44.1KHz; • The audio of DVD-Video is 48KHz; • DVD-Audio or other HD media may contain 96KHz or 192KHz high-definition audio content. ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 24
adjust audio to match your actual speaker setting, such as headphones and 2/2.1 speakers. Essence STX II will play the channels and process the 3D/Dolby sound accordingly. Select the correct speaker type for your connected speakers. Speaker Test. Click this button to show the speaker test window in - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 25
formats: PCM (Pulse Code Modulation, which is a typical raw audio data format.) Dolby Digital advanced upmixing option. This advanced setting will automatically upmix stereo (2ch) content to 5.1 channel surround with Dolby Pro-Logic II when using Dolby Digital Live Output. ASUS Essence STX II 25 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 26
ENGLISH Audio Channels (For Windows® Vista/ Windows® 7 only) This setting only appears in Windows® Vista/ Windows® 7. Windows® Vista/ Windows® 7 delivers the audio channels to the audio driver according to this setting, no matter what the original audio content is or how many channels they have. - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 27
the right window to the Speaker page for manual adjustments. Settings will be retained even when a different Analog Output is selected. Drag speaker or listener. You can drag each speaker or listener to a different relative position "virtually" using only your mouse. Essence STX II card will process - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 28
It can expand stereo audio, such as MP3, CD, and TV programs into immersive 5.1 or 7.1-channel surround. Dolby Pro-Logic IIx. Tick this checkbox to enable Dolby Pro-Logic IIx. Click the textbar to switch the right window to the Pro-Logic IIx page for manual adjustments. Center Width. This parameter - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 29
produces surround sound cues so window to Dolby Headphone page for manual audio. They differ in the sense of the spatial dimension they impart. DH2. DH2 - Livelier Room: More acoustically live than DH1. DH3. DH3-Larger Room: Larger room than DH1; more distant and diffused effect. ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 30
sound II processing, delivers a virtual 5.1-channel surround listening experience from any high-quality stereo source. Dolby Virtual Speaker. Tick this checkbox to enable Dolby Virtual Speaker. Click the text bar to switch the right window to a Dolby Virtual Speaker page for manual Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 31
volume of the MIDI files • CD: CD-ROM digital playback (CD-DA) volume control • LEFT, RIGHT: the volume control for each speaker/channel Windows® Vista does not support WAVE, Synthesizer, and CD-In volume controls. Reset. Resets all Speaker settings to the default settings. ASUS Essence STX II 31 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 32
select the path/source you are going to record. The recording function on Windows is a one-path selector. Hence, you can select only one default audio module, enable "Front Panel Microphone". For typical low-cost PC microphone, we recommend that you enable this function. 32 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 33
• Aux: recording from Aux-In for typically TV-tuner card audio or other sound sources. • Line-In: recording from Line-in jack for external audio devices. • WAVE: recording from digital wave audio you are playing on. Reset. Resets all Speaker settings to the default settings. ASUS Essence STX II 33 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 34
. There are a total of 27 environment options that can be applied to all 2D sound sources such as music. Default environments. These four buttons activate Bathroom, Concert hall, Underwater are three size settings for each environment: Large, Medium, and Small. 34 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 35
own "User Defined" equalizer setting. Add / save. Click this "+" button to save your customized equalizer setting. Delete. Click this "-" button to delete a customized equalizer setting. ASUS Essence STX II 35 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 36
Karaoke Essence STX II provides powerful features for Karaoke, including Key-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo. Key-Shifting changes the pitch of adjust the gain for echo signals (30~16KHz). Reset. Resets all Speaker settings to the default settings. 36 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 37
speaker's type for optimal sound performance from the speakers. Essence STX II filters out the bass signals below the crossover frequency from small speaker channels and forwards them to the subwoofer. The higher the crossover frequency, the more bass signals are subtracted. ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 38
(SVN) automatically keeps all music or video/TV audio output at a constant level to reduce manual adjustment hassles inherent with sound sources of different loudness. It allows you to 1 becomes quieter. Music 1 0dB (Full-scale) Music 2 SVN Off SVN On T -10 dB - 38 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 39
. When SVN is enabled, "Smart Volume" will be lit up at the bottom of the volume meter and the volume meter will show the level. ASUS Essence STX II 39 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 40
speaker types. In addition, Essence STX II also offers a Hi-Fi mode for hi-fidelity playback without any effect processing to keep the original audio fidelity. Every time you turn on Hi-Fi mode, Xonar HDAV 1 clears all sound effects. Use Hi-Fi mode for audio quality tests (using RMAA software or - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 41
Hi-Fidelity playback, where all effects will be cleared to keep the original digital data and analog output quality as high as possible. Music Mode. This mode is set for Music playback. Movie Mode. This mode is set for DVD Movie playback. Game Mode. This mode is set for Games. ASUS Essence STX II - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 42
disguising your real voice or just for fun while chatting online. App List. You can add a VOIP application on the VOIP application List. 42 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 43
in the game. For VOIP 1. Click App List. 2. If you do not see your VOIP application in the list, click Add. Ensure that you have installed the latest version of Skype or MSN Messenger. 3. Navigate to the application then click Open. ASUS Essence STX II 43 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 44
ENGLISH 44 Chapter 4: Audio Center - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 45
the card, plug it into another PCI Express slot, and try again. I cannot find the Essence STX II Audio Center. • Ensure that you have installed the driver • Locate the Essence STX II Audio Center icon on the taskbar, then double-click the icon to launch the Essence STX II Audio Center utility - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 46
of audio in/out for the cleanest sound production. • Duplex HD: Supports audio sampling rates up to 24bit/192KHz for outputs and 24bit/96KHz for inputs. • ASIO 2.0: Essence STX II includes an ASIO 2.0 driver for low-latency, low-distortion music creation application. 46 Appendices: Troubleshooting - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 47
eu-rma.asus.com/sales Technical Support Telephone (Component) Telephone Germany (System/Notebook/Eee/LCD) Telephone Austria (System/Notebook/Eee/LCD) Support Fax Online support +49-2102-5789555 +49-2102-5789557 +43-820-240513 +49-2102-959911 support.asus.com ASUS Essence STX II 47 - Asus Essence STX II | User Manual - Page 48
ENGLISH 48 Appendices: Troubleshooting and FAQs
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Essence STX II
Audio card
User Guide