Asus 90YAA0C00UAN00Z manual

Xonar Essence STX Audio card User manual[...]

ii E7806 Revised Edition V2 October 2012 Copyright © 2012 ASUST eK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any means, except documentation kept by the p[...]

iii Contents Notices ......................................................................................................... iv Safety information ....................................................................................... v T rademarks ...................................................................................................[...]

iv Notices Federal Communications Commission Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: • This device may not cause harmful interference, and • This device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment has b[...]

v This symbol of the crossed out wheeled bin indicates that the product (electrical and electronic equipment) should not be placed in municipal waste. Check local regulations for disposal of electronic products. Safety information • Before installing the device on a motherboard, carefully read all the manuals that came with the package. • T o p[...]

1 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 1. Introduction 1.1 Package contents • ASUS Xonar Essence STX PCI Express audio card • 3.5mm-to-RCA cable x1 • 3.5mm-to-6.3mm adapter x1 • S/PDIF T OSLINK optical adapter x1 • Support CD • Audio Precision T est Report 1.2 System requirements • One PCI Express 1.0 (or higher) compatible slot for the audio card [...]

2 ASUS Xonar Essence STX Items Description Audio Performance Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 124dB for Front-out 110dB for Headphone-out Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 118dB Output Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (-3dB) : 0.0003% (-110dB) for Front-out 0.001% (-100dB) for Headphone-out Input Total Harmonic Distortion[...]

3 ASUS Xonar Essence STX *Specications are subject to change without notice. Items Description Audio Performance Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 124dB for Front-out 110dB for Headphone-out Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): 118dB Output Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (-3dB) : 0.0003% (-110dB) for Front-out 0.001% (-1[...]

4 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 2. Xonar Essence STX card layout (continued on the next page) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 No Item Description 1 Front Right Out port Connect the Right audio cable (red) from your 2/2.1 channel speakers to this port. For multi-channel speaker systems, connects to the Front Right In port on the powered speakers. 2 Front Left Out port Con[...]

5 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 4 Line In port Connect analog devices like MP3 players, CD players, music synthesizers and other line-level sound sources to this 6.3mm port for audio recording or processing. (Through Ultra-high delity 1 18dB SNR A-D converter) 5 S/PDIF Out port Coaxial and optical T OSLINK combo digital output port. Connects to externa[...]

6 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 3. Installing the hardware 3.1 Preparing your computer Before you proceed with the following installation steps, it is recommended that you disable the onboard audio device in the BIOS settings, or uninstall any other sound cards on your PC. For BIOS setting or uninstallation of other sound cards, refer to the user manuals [...]

7 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 3.2 Installing the Xonar Essence STX card 1. Secure the audio card with screws and the metal bracket. 2. Connect the 4-pin power cable of your power supply unit to the power connector of the audio card. 3. Put back the chassis cover . 4. Reconnect all cables. 5. Plug the power cord to the computer and to a power outlet. 6. [...]

8 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 3.3 Connecting to a TV tuner card 1. If you have a traditional PCI or PCI Express TV tuner card on your PC, you may need to connect it to the Xonar Essence STX card to send the tuner card’s sound to your PC speakers. 2. Secure the PCI/PCI Express TV tuner card and screw it into the back-panel. 3. Connect the audio output [...]

9 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 4. Installing software Installing the card driver Ensure that you have installed the VGA card driver before installing the Xonar Essence STX driver . Otherwise, driver installation error may occur . 1. After you have installed the Xonar Essence STX card, turn on your computer . Windows ® automatically detects the HDA V car[...]

10 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 5. Connecting speakers and peripherals 5.1 Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater) The Xonar Essence STX supports Dolby Digital Live technology , which transcodes any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard Dolby Digital surround bit-streams. This makes playback through your home theater system p[...]

1 1 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 5.2 Connecting stereo headphones The Headphone Out port has a built-in high-quality amplier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones to the Headphone Out port son the Xonar Essence STX card. Headphone Out[...]

12 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 5.3 Connecting 2/2.1 channel speakers No Item Description 1 Front Left/Right Out The Left/Right Front Out ports have a built-in high-quality amplier to drive headphones. Connect the 2/2.1 speaker set’s 3.5mm plug to the bundled RCA-to-3.5mm Y cable, and then connect the Left/Right ends to the Front Left/Right Out port[...]

13 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 5.4 Connecting microphone No Item Description Front Left/Right Out port/Headphone port Connect the headphone’s 3.5mm 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 Xonar Essence STX card. 1 Microphone Input port Connect your external PC micropho[...]

14 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 5.5 Connecting Line-In audio sources No Item Description 1 Line Input Jack Connect the CD/MP3 Player or any other Line level analog audio sources to this Line-In port by using the bundled 6.3mm-to-3.5mm adapter for sound recording or real-time Dolby sound processing through the Monitoring path (See the Mixer section of the[...]

15 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6. Xonar Audio Center 6.1 Xonar Audio Center GUI 1. After the driver installation is complete and your computer has been rebooted, you will nd the Xonar Audio Center’s icon in the system tray on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Double click this icon to open the Xonar Audio Center utility . If the icon coul[...]

16 ASUS Xonar Essence STX No Item Description 1 Support link Clicking this button will lead you to the ASUS ofcial website. 2 Display Area This display area shows the 10-band signal meter , volume level, and the status of the Dolby/DTS technologies, EQ, and DSP modes. Note: this area just displays information, but is not used to alter settings. [...]

17 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2 Main Setting 6.2.1 Sample Rate The sample rate determines the number of audio samples per second that the Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC) and S/PDIF digital interface will output. The Xonar Essence STX card can support sample rates up to 192KHz (44.1K, 48K, 96K, 192KHz). Usually audio CDs and MP3 les are 44.1KHz;[...]

18 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.2 Analog Out mode No Item Description 1 Analog Out The Analog Out setting is used to match your actual speaker setting, such as headphones and 2/2.1 speakers. Xonar Essence STX will play the channels and do the proper 3D/Dolby sound processing accordingly . Select the correct speaker type for your connected speakers. 2[...]

19 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.3 SPDIF Out/DDL Xonar Essence STX is capable of outputting Dolby Digital Live, which is a real-time encoder that transcodes any audio, including games and music, into industry- standard Dolby Digital bit-streams on-the-y . This is ideal for playback through a home theater system, creating an impressive cinema surrou[...]

20 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.4 Audio Channels (For Vista only) This setting only appears in Windows Vista. V ista will deliver 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. Therefore, you need to set this in accordance with your audio content before yo[...]

21 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.5 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter The 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter has the following major features: • Expanding/upmixing audio to 7.1-channel surround sound • Virtualizing 7.1 surround sound over any set of speakers • Shiftable virtual speaker positioning allows you to adjust the best sound eld easily without movi[...]

22 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.6 Dolby Pro-Logic IIx Dolby Pro-Logic IIx is a 7.1 surround upmixing technology and is widely used in home theater systems, TVs, game consoles, and car audio systems. It can expand stereo audio, such as MP3, CD, and TV programs into immersive 5.1 or 7.1-channel surround. No Item Description 1 Dolby Pro-Logic IIx enable[...]

23 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.7 Dolby Headphone Dolby Headphone creates a stunning multi-channel surround experience over ordinary stereo headphones for playing 3D games, watching 5.1 DVD movies, and listening to music. Dolby Headphone produces surround sound cues so realistic that you will believe you are listening over speakers in a well-controll[...]

24 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.2.8 Dolby Virtual Speaker Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers. Dolby Virtual Speaker also creates a wider two-channel environment during playback of stereo CDs and MP3 content, and when combined with Dolby Pro Logic ® II processing, de[...]

25 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.3 Mixer/V olume The mixer page is designed to control the volume for playback and recording on the Xonar Essence STX. In addition, the Xonar Essence STX also provides a high- quality digital monitoring function for hearing the recorded audio from the speakers. Y ou can also process the input signals with all playback sou[...]

26 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.3.2 Recording/Monitoring V olume No Item Description 1 Recording V olume T ab Click this button to show the recording volume page. 2 Left/Right balance This horizontal slider controls the volume between the left and right channels. 3 Recording volume slider Drag this slider down to decrease the recording volume; drag up [...]

27 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6 Monitoring button Click this button to monitor and loopback recording audio to outputs (PC speakers). Therefore, the recording volume will inuence the monitoring signals from speaker outputs. The audio will be mixed into the streams you are playing out from your PC and all DSP ef fects will be applied to the source, t[...]

28 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.4 Effects 6.4.1 Environment Effects Environment effects can be used to create realistic listening experiences that mimic different environments. There are a total of 27 environment options, which can be applied to all 2D sound sources, like music. No Item Description 1 Default environments These four buttons activate Bat[...]

29 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.4.2 10-Band Equalizer The equalizer can modify the audio output for different frequencies, and be used to compensate for deciencies in your speakers/systems. There are 12 default patterns and you can also make your own settings. No Item Description 1 Default equalizer options There are 12 available equalizer patterns.[...]

30 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.5 Karaoke The Xonar Essence STX provides powerful features for Karaoke, including Key- Shifting, V ocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo. Key-Shifting can change the pitch of Karaoke background music, and V ocal Cancellation can reduce the original vocal in songs and keep the music and symphony for karaoke. No Item Desc[...]

31 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.6 FlexBass FlexBass, an advanced bass management and enhancement mechanism, allows you to select each satellite speaker’s type for optimal sound performance from the speakers. (Small: common speaker that cannot produce low frequencies; Large: wide-band speakers that can produce low frequencies well). It comes with an a[...]

32 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 4 LFE Crossover Frequency Adjusts the cut-off frequency (20~250Hz) for LFE (low- frequency effects) signals. Xonar Essence STX will lter out the bass signals below the crossover frequency from small speaker channels and forward them to the subwoofer . The higher the crossover frequency , the more bass signals will be su[...]

33 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 0dB (Full-scale) -  -10 dB Music 1 Music 2 SVN Off SVN On T 6.7 Smart V olume Normalization Smart V olume NormalizationTM (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 listen to vari[...]

34 ASUS Xonar Essence STX No Item Description 1 SVN On/Off Click this button to enable SVN. This button is outlined blue when active. 2 SVN blue light When SVN is enabled, the master volume knob will be illuminated by a blue light. It will be lit red if the volume is muted. 3 SVN display When SVN is enabled, “Smart V olume” will be lit up at th[...]

35 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.8 DS3D GX and DSP Modes Xonar Essence STX is introducing an innovative technology –DirectSound 3D Game Extensions v1.0 (DS3D GX 1.0)- to restore DirectSound 3D Hardware acceleration mode and its subsidiary EAX effects on Windows V ista for 3D games. Unlike some proprietary API like OpenAL, DS3D GX doesn’t require gam[...]

36 ASUS Xonar Essence STX No Item Description 1 GX Mode DirectSound 3D Game Extensions mode to support EAX and DirectSound 3D Hardware extensions for lots of DirectX/ DirectSound3D games on Windows Vista. 2 Hi-Fi Mode This mode is set for Hi-Fidelity playback, where all effects will be cleared to keep the original digital data and analog output qua[...]

37 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 6.9 V ocalFX V ocalFX is an innovative voice processing technology to let your voice get into the realistic game landscape (V oiceEX) or to emulate the background scenes in online chat (ChatEX). It also allows you to change your voice pitch to disguise who you are (Magic V oice). These features dramatically increase the fu[...]

38 ASUS Xonar Essence STX For 3D Games 1. Check the check box of V oiceEX and Local V oiceEX. 2. Make sure you and your team member can talk to each other in the game. For VOIP 1. Press App List 2. If you don’t see the VOIP application of yours in the list, press Add.(Make sure the Skype and MSN Messenger are the latest version) 3. Look for the a[...]

39 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 4. Y our VOIP application has been added into list. 5. Check the check box of ChatEX and Magic V oice. 6. Y ou can use ChatEX and Magic V oice when you chat online. Click the checkbox to enable V ocalFX function, then a prompt message will pop up: This message implies the record device will be set to microphone. Make sure [...]

40 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 7. Troubleshooting and FAQs [T roubleshooting] The audio card driver could not be installed on my PC. Instructions: 1. Make sure that you have properly plugged the audio card in the PCI Express slot on your motherboard. 2. Check that the Windows hardware device manager has discovered a multimedia audio device. If no device[...]

41 ASUS Xonar Essence STX 3. Ensure that the device master volume or the software player has NOT been muted on the Xonar Essence STX Audio Center . 4. If you are using Dolby Digital Live encoder through the S/PDIF output, the analog output will be muted to get rid of the interference between your digital speaker system and analog speakers or headph[...]

42 ASUS Xonar Essence STX I found no sound effects when playing 96K or 192KHz sound sources. Instructions: 1. Currently Xonar Essence STX ef fects including Dolby supports common 44.1K, 48KHz sound sources processing and will assure high-denition audio (96K/192KHz) in hi-delity playback. This is also usually the behavior that professional aud[...]

43 ASUS Xonar Essence STX Q4: Does the Xonar Essence STX support EAX on Vista? Answer: Y es, Xonar Essence STX can support EAX2.0 not only on Windows XP but also on Vista through innovative DirectSound3D Game EXtensions v1.0 (DS3D GX 1.0) technology . Q5: Why do I need Dolby for PC games? Answer: 1. Dolby Digital and Pro-Logic IIx are available on [...]

44 ASUS Xonar Essence STX[...]