Asus Xonar Essence STU User manual

TheFunisintheDiscovery!

Xonar EssenceSTU Tweakingkit

Pleasenote:allimages(excludingEssenceSTUproductphotos)andiconsrequirewrittenpermissionfromASUSbeforepublicuseorreproduction

Disassembleandassemblethecover

Removethe6underside

screws

Pushagainstthefrontpanel

andinsertyournailstothe

side,toliftthetopcover

Removethetopcoverfrom

thefrontusingbothhands

Removethetopcover

Whenputtingeverything

back,alignthefrontsideof

thetopcoverwiththeinner

sideofthefrontpanel

Gentlypushdownonthe

topcover,youwillheara

clickifit’sfastened

DownloadourOp‐AmpswapguidefromASUS

supportsite:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/Audio_Car

d/Xonar_Essence_STU/E8333_Xonar_Essence_

STU_Op_amp.pdf

SwappableOp‐Amps

Convenienttonaltuning

I/V

LPF

※Toavoidreversion,ensurethatthe

circlepin(upperleftcorner)ontheOp‐

Ampfacingsthesamedirectionofthe

socketopening

Rollingfun!

I/Vrolling(StockLPF:LM4562)

LM49720Stock– wellbalanced,clean,airyandopenbutslightlytothewarmside.

LM49720‘MetalCan’– almostidenticaltostock,butjustatapfullerinbody.

OPA2604–denser,notasairyandopenasstock.

OPA2209–bassnoteisalittlelean,goodheight.

OP270–Alsodense,butalittlebettersoundstagethanOPA2604.

OP275–Leanerandbrighterthanstock,almostgrainy.Goodsoundstage.

AD8066–EvenbrighterthanOP275,butwithoutthegraininess.Slightlyflatinsoundstagebutgoodwidth.

OPA2227–Forward,fullandbright,slightlygrainy.

OPA2134–Moremidcentric,lacksoundstage.

MUSES01– SimilartoStock,withbetterdynamicandimpressivesoundstage.

MUSES920–fullandforward,likesmootherOPA2227.

LPFrolling(StockI/V:LM49720)

LM4562–stock,again:wellbalanced,clean,airyandopenbutslightlytothewarmside.

LM49720‘MetalCan’– Similartostock,slightlylessdenseandmoreopeninthemid.

OPA2604–thickandslow,grainy.

OPA2209– Full,similartoOPA2604butwithoutbeingoverlythickandslow.

OP270–Lean,slightlylackinginbass,slightlybright.

OP275–Wellbalanced,thoughsoundstageisn’tgreat.

AD8066–Veryairyandopen,greatsoundstagebutalittlebright.

AD8620–LikeatuneddownversionofAD8066,withbetterbodyandsmootherpresentation.

OPA2227–warmandslightlydull,butsparklyonthetop.

OPA2134– similartoOPA2227,moremidcentricandnotassparkly.

MUSES01– Similartostock,butslightlybetterdynamicandsoundstage.

MUSES8920–somewherebetweenOPA2227andOPA2134.

ThankstoClieOS fordetailedcombinationtesting

onHead‐Fireview:

http://www.head‐fi.org/products/asus‐xonar‐

essence‐stu/reviews/9307

ManymusicenthusiastschoosetosolderaDC

servoontheirDACtominimizepower‐uppop

noiseontherenownedTPA6120A2headphone

amplifier.ThededicatedDCservoonXonar

EssenceSTUoffersaconvenientandsolder‐

freealternative.

DCservoheadphoneoutput

Filtersoutunwantedpopnoise

※HowtoswitchtoDCservoheadphoneoutputmode?

Defaultsetting:

non‐DCservomode

Removefour

jumpers

Placejumpersbackon

pinsasshownbelow

●●○

○●●

●○●

Jumperswitch DCservo

1 2 3

Volumebypassmode

Easeofuse

Thejumperswitchre‐routessoundand

allowsXonarEssenceSTUtobeusedasa

pre‐amplifierinconjunctionwitha

dedicatedpoweramplifier.Youcanopt

toadjustmastervolumedirectlyonthe

poweramplifierwithouthavingtoreach

XonarEssenceSTUcontrols.

※Howtoswitchtothevolumebypassmode?

Defaultsetting:

non‐bypassmode

Removetwo

jumpers

Placejumpersback

onpinsasshown

below

●●○

●●○ ○●●

○●●

1 2 3

Dedicatedvariableresistors

aredesignedforleft/right

channelcalibrationofspeakers

orheadphones.Userscan

tunethemtofindbalance

levelstheyprefer.

Variableresistorcalibration

Convenienttoolforcheckingright/leftbalance

※Howtocalibrateresistorsandcheckbalance?

VariableresistorforHP‐out(leftchannel)

VariableresistorforRCA‐

out(rightchannel)

◣Turnthescrew

ontheresistorby

usingaflathead

screwdriver.

◣Post‐calibration,

youcanusea

multimeter to

checkiftheoutput

voltageofthe

right/leftchannels

isbalanced.

Clockwiserotation:highervolume

Counterclockwiserotation:lowervolume

Asus Xonar Essence STU User manual

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