Ravenica

Thanks for all the replies..

Hmm.. Speakers maybe occasionally.. I intend to use headphones most of the time.. And since my priorities is more to listening to music instead of playing games.. I should skip getting the STX and get a stand-alone dac or should i get a dac/amp..?

Hi.. I'm somewhat new here.. So like the topic says.. Currently i'm wondering if getting a usb-dac vs getting an Essence STX? Which would be better for audio..??

Gaming isn't much of my concern anymore compared to last time.. Heh..

No no do not ever use ur X-fi for listening to music. Alot of noise etc... its built for games not for critical listening

Wouldn't be using ASIO to bypass direct sound sampling be sufficient to reduce the noise? Or is it the noise is coming from the soundcard components itself?

Then again l4d has awesome sound positioning.. Even with crappy speakers.. But i think that most gaming headphones like razer's don't do much to help your gaming.. I definitely agree that a better soundstaging would totally help in enemy positioning..

3d emulation on certain soundcards do not really help a game much if the game itself has crappy 3d sound effects.. Take for example Call of Duty 4 has awesome 3d effects compared to other FPS shooter..

You would need to place the files inside foobar folder under components..

Any ideas where to buy usb-dacs? Totally noob at these kind of things..

Hey Masterman.. If you already bought your Essence STX.. Tell me how it sounds.. I'm considering in getting it.. Been reading awesome reviews on it..

I've came across it.. The ASIO plugin in foobar2k is awesome as well if your soundcard supports ASIO.. I've noticed much better clarity with the ASIO output compared with DirectSound..

Sound-staging.. Definitely better with foobar2000.. Best audio player in comp..

Just my opinion.. Have you tried using foobar2000 v0.9.6.8 with ASIO..? I'm sure it would be a waste to play songs on windows media player with such audio equipment..

Hi all..! Currently using Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamers Fatal1ty edition.. Next up is an essence STX..