Subjective Testing: Music
Before we explore the Xonar Essence ST any further it must be noted that from this point onward the review becomes subjective in nature, and so this reviewer will do his best to describe the quality of the sound issued from the card.
Test Equipment
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Kenwood home cinema Amplifier (set to BYPASS so the sound card does all the processing and not the amplifer; except that of amplification)
- Eltax Concept 180 floor mounted speakers
- Cambridge Audio Ultra 100 speaker cable
- Cambridge Audio AUD3000 1M phono inter connectors between sound card and the amplifier
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Spare sound cards for comparison, which include Audigy 2 ZS and the XFI-Extreme Music (Daniel K drivers)
In this review we could have tested the sound quality using a regular Compact Disk Album. However this reviewer had the philosophy that if a consumer is playing music on their computer then the chances are they would be using MP3′s.
This reviewer has an ecclectic taste in music, so testing was performed using a wide range of music from Mike Oldfield and Kate Bush to Hip Hop and Heavy metal.
For testing in the music section, the settings used where “Two Speaker” and “Hifi”‘ as this disables any virtual 7.1 sound and the equalizer thus given a crisp clean sound!
Software Settings in this mode
Settings in HIFI mode
Kate Bush Wuthering Heights (New Version)
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) The piano at the start of the track was not convincing and sounded slightly muffled. Though the lyrics sounded very clear. Though both sound cards did well at chorus section producing a solid bass sound.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: The piano notes at the start were faultless and was very uplifting as a real piano would be. The transition between the notes and the start of the lyrics was a pleasure to hear. This was coupled with a solid clean bass at the chorus section.
Mike Oldfield Tuberlar Bells Two (The Bell)
In this track there are a range of twenty differing instruments played all at once; so this would be the ultimate test as far as playing music of this type.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) The tuber bells instrument and the acoustic guitar sounded very well rendered, in addition to the french horn, but once again the grand piano failed to be ‘grand”. However, overall the bass notes where correct and the track was a rather enjoyable experience.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: The acoustic guitar and the grand piano is where this sound card really shined, almost giving a ‘live experience’, the tuberbells instrument was on par with the X-FI Extreme Music and the bass once again stood out.
1980′s Music: Human League (Love Action)
Whilst being on the ‘cheesy’ side, this track is still known today for its great bass and rhythm.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) A real solid thumping sound that had this reviewers head bobbing along to the music and twenty years later this track still makes people want to dance.
Asus Xonar Essence ST:A brilliant solid track once again easily on a par with soundblaster cards but with a slightly better analogue synth sound.
Hop Hop ICE-T Leathal Weapon (From the Album Iceberg)
A great track and brilliant samples taken from Eric B and Rakim’s ‘Microphone Fiend’ song. Subtle electric guitars and a high level of turn-table use.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-FI) A thoroughly brilliant performance from both of the sound blaster cards with its solid bass and the ‘scratch’ sounds issued by the turn table’ However the guitars did sound a little muted, even given that they are more subtle in this track.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Another thoroughly enjoyable performance with a solid bass, great guitar work.
Hijack: Style Wars
One of the most well remembered tracks of early UK-Hip Hop that broke the mold, competing with the likes of Overlord X, Derek B and MC Duke. This track features fast vocals and an almost legendary use of the turntables.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-FI) High distinct ‘scratch’ sounds, but slightly ‘blurred ‘ vocals, however still an enjoyable experience!
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Crystal clear vocals and the best bass this reviewer has heard of yet!
Operatic Metal
Sirenia: The Path to Decay and the Mind Maelstrom
Operatic Metal combines heavy guitars with extremely strong vocal talents, including that of the ‘growler’ and the opera vocals.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) High vocals are not very distinctive in addition to the guitars, with both blurring into one another, however the bass was exceptional.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Brilliant distinctive operatic vocals and the guitars sounds were really accented in this track. As usual the bass was excellent.
Industrial Metal
Sonne
Almost everyone has heard of Rammstien, having featured on many films. Their songs feature guttural angry vocals (due to the German accent) and extremely heavy guitars often eclipsed by some almost operatic vocals.
A dark track that features more on the vocal side than guitars.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) Vocals a little ‘hissy’ on the operatic section, however a solid bass produced.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Clear operatic vocals, bass on par with the Creative sound cards.
Rammstien:Du Hast
A Rammstien track that combines heavy electric guitars to an almost heavy thumping dance beat.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-FI) A solid bass line however the guitars though sounded good were not distinct.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Once again a solid bass line, however the guitars really stood out in this track.
Doom Metal
Paradise Lost have been credited with the formation of the genre ‘Doom Metal’. Having been around for twenty years they have experimented from early ‘growly’ metal to an almost depeche mode type sound and then metal again.
In Requiem
Famous for its guitar solo at the start and at the closing sections, this will test the sound cards ability to render the instruments correctly. This would be the ultimate test for guitar solo sound quality.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) The guitar, though well rendered, sounded a little artificial. When the rest of the guitars (particularly the bass) joined in the tune played well.
Asus Xonar Essence ST: The lone electric guitar at the beginning was so well rendered that it sent shivers down this reviewers spine! Just as this reviewer was getting used to that, the other guitars kicked in and the whole track sounded flawless
Paradise Lost. The Enemy
If there was a metal song that was meant to be performed ‘live’ then this is it. Strong vocal clarity is a must here
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) Great performance in this song, but still a very slight hiss in the vocal sections, as usual great bass and good guitar sounds
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Vocals were crisp with no trace of a hiss, complete with a thumping guitar
To be fair if we reviewed the Creative cards on their own, as far as sound quality are concerned they would achieve a silver award! However when in comparison to the Asus Xonar Essence ST that score would indeed fall. The sound quality difference in terms of music is like night and day, this reviewer means to say that the difference is not subtle at all it is rather like a slap in the face by a rather large whet fish!
Subjective Tests: Movies and Games
In all honesty this test has been performed as almost an after thought. If a consumer purchases a sound card of this quality, they usually do not want to use it for games or home cinema, they want it to play their CD/MP3 Collection.
Movie Mode Settings
All movies where set to 7.1 virtual speakers, this is where the software tries to emulate a home cinema environment by using only two speakers. Power DVD software was employed in order to play back the DVD’s, and a single DVD titled was used, James Camrons’ The Abyss’ the Directors cut.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) This is where Creative comes into its own, whilst the sound quality was on a par with other sound cards the holographic sound (virtual 7.1 speakers) was nothing short of amazing, considering there were only two speakers!
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Whilst the actual audio quality sounded better than the Creative sound card, by a long margin, the virtual 7.1 sound was not anywhere near as convincing as the Soundblaster cards tested.
Game Mode Settings
Whilst clearly the Asus card is not engineered for a gaming environment, it is thought we should review this section anyway. Testing was undergone by installing a popular game known as ‘Oblivion’ using the same environmental sound (stone corridor) as utilized by both cards, EAX on the Creative cards and DS3D GX on the Asus.
Sound Blaster (ZS and X-Fi) The creative cards did an amazing job, with footfalls in the stone corridor being rendered perfectly in crisp quality sound, giving a great sense of atmosphere!
Asus Xonar Essence ST: Whilst the gaming audio quality was every bit as good as the Creative cards, this reviewer did feel that the Stone Corridor emulation was not quite as convincing the Sound Blaster cards. The footfalls being interesting but not to the degree used by the Creative products.
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