Reiki Music. Video Marketing

ASIO support for the Asus Soundcard

ASUS (best known to me for their motherboards) have entered the high end sound card market with the release of their Xonar Essence STX. A PCI-express sound card.
What caught my eye, besides the claimed audiophile style 124dB signal to noise ration, was the inclusion of ASIO 2.0 support, which is a Steinberg led, pro audio standard for music composition sequencers, like Steinberg’s own Cubase.
The remaining spec also seems impressive, including a headphone amplifier with very low distortion (0.001%), but as yet I have not heard it.
The pedigree of the card also seems high, using high specification electronic components, including;
24-bit Burr Brown PCM 1792A D-A converters, Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors, TI TPA6120A2 headphone driver and an AV100 high-definition sound processor.
Connector wise there are; an optical digital output, 2 RCA phono sockets for Input and a 6.3mm stereo jack headphone output.
The Asus Xonar Essence STX PCI-Express sound card is aimed at gaming and entertainment PCs, as it supports ASIO 2.0, Dolby Digital Live, Headphone, Virtual Speaker, Pro-Logic II home theater sound technologies and DS3D GX2.5 3D gaming engine support.

Not surprisingly the Xonar uses a EMI Shield design, with a multi-layer PCB design to separate signal and noise, ensuring the cleanest signals are passed to sensitive components. EMI and shielding seals are also used on all the analog outputs to preserve the minimal noise environment.

Marketing Features

The card is not cheap, at around £161 inc. VAT, but it is aimed at a higher end audiophile market.
As a pro sound card it would be quite cheap.
But a pro sound card requires more than just great sound, it also needs to be efficient in terms of system performance, as audio and video environments are very power hungry themselves.
I’ve yet to see or hear or measure the efficiency of the Asus Xonar Essence myself, so if you have, please comment below.
Another great thing is that it is a serious PCI “EXPRESS” card, and that is a computer format, many pro audio sound card makers, have been avoiding so far.
By a high volume manufacturer aiming at the elite market, it could be an encouraging marketing condition.