Page 2 - First Edition
Copyright © 2014 ASUSTeK 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 b...
Page 3 - Contents
Contents Chapter 1: Product introduction Package contents ............................................................................................................................. 5System requirements ..................................................................................................
Page 5 - Chapter 1; Product introduction; Package contents
ASUS Essence STX II 5 Chapter 1 Product introduction Package contents • ASUS Essence STX II audio card x 1 • Quick Start Guide x 1 • Low Profile Bracket x1 • 6.mm to .5mm adapter x 1 • S/PDIF adapter x 1 • Op-amp swap kit x 1 • Installation CD x 1 • RCA-to-.5mm adapter cable x 1 Contact your dealer ...
Page 6 - LIS; Specifications summary; ITEM
6 Chapter 1: Product introduction EN G LIS H EN G LI SH EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Specifications summary ITEM DESCRIPTION Audio Performance Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (AWeighted) 14dB for Front-out 10dB for Headphone-out at 600ohms Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (AWeighted) 118dB Output Total Harmonic Di...
Page 9 - Essence STX II card layout
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 9 EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Essence STX II card layout I/O ports Front right RCA output. Connect to the right input of the /.1-channel speakers of your system. Front left RCA output. Connect to the left input of the /.1-channel spearkers of your system. Amplifie...
Page 13 - Chapter 2; Getting started; Before you proceed; Installing the audio card
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 1 Chapter 2 Getting started Before you proceed Read the following notes and precautions before you install the audio card. • Disable the onboard audio device in the BIOS settings or uninstall any sound cards on your computer. • For BIOS setting or uninstalla...
Page 14 - Installing the audio card driver
14 Chapter : Getting started EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Installing the audio card driver After installing the ASUS Essence STX II to your computer, install the card driver from the bundled CD or download from ASUS support site (http://support.asus.com). • Essence STX II requires a 4-pin Molex connection ...
Page 15 - Chapter 3; Connecting speakers and peripherals; Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater)
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 15 Chapter 3 Connecting speakers and peripherals Connecting digital speaker systems (Home Theater) Essence STX II supports DTS Interactive technologies, which transcode any audio, including games and music, into industry-standard DTS surround bit-streams. Th...
Page 16 - Connecting stereo headphones
16 Chapter : Connecting speakers and peripherals EN G LIS H EN G LI SH EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Connecting stereo headphones Front Out/Headphone Jack. The Front Out jack has a built-in high-quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect your stereo headphones directly to this jack.
Page 17 - Speakers
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 17 EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Connecting 2/2.1 channel speakers 2 Speakers 2.1 Speakers Left/Right Front Out. Left/Right Front Out ports have a built-in quality amplifier to drive headphones. Connect the /.1 speaker set’s .5mm plug to the bundled RCA-to- .5mm Y c...
Page 18 - Connecting a microphone
18 Chapter : Connecting speakers and peripherals EN G LIS H EN G LI SH EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Connecting a microphone Front/Left Right Out port/Headphone port. Connect the headphone’s .5mm plug to the bundled RCA-to-.5mm Y cable, and then connect the Left/Right ends to the to Front Left/Right Out por...
Page 19 - Connecting Line-In audio sources
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 19 EN G LIS H EN G LI SH Connecting Line-In audio sources Line input jack. Connect the CD/MP player or any other line level analog audio sources to this line-in port by using the 6.mm-to-.5mm adapter for sound recording or real-time Dolby/DTS sound processin...
Page 21 - Chapter 4; Audio Center
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 1 Chapter 4 Audio Center Audio Center The Audio Center, the graphical user interface (GUI) of the Essence STX II, allows you to control the functions and features of Essence STX II. To launch Essence STX II, double-click the Essence STX II icon on the taskba...
Page 23 - LI; Main Setting; Sample Rate
ASUS Essence STX II EN G LI SH Main Setting 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 Essence STX II card can support sample rates up to 19KHz (44.1K, 48K, 96K, 19KHz). Usual...
Page 24 - Analog Out mode
4 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H Analog Out mode Analog Out. The Analog Out settings are used adjust audio to match your actual speaker setting, such as headphones and /.1 speakers. Essence STX II will play the channels and process the D/Dolby sound accordingly. Select the correct speaker type f...
Page 27 - Virtual Speaker Shifter
ASUS Essence STX II 7 EN G LI SH 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 adju...
Page 29 - Dolby Headphone
ASUS Essence STX II 9 EN G LI SH Dolby Headphone Dolby Headphone creates a stunning multi-channel surround experience over ordinary stereo headphones for playing D games, watching 5.1 DVD movies, or listening to music. Dolby Headphone produces surround sound cues so realistic that you will believe y...
Page 30 - Dolby Virtual Speaker
0 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H Dolby Virtual Speaker Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment rom as few as two speakers. Dolby Virtual Speaker also creates a wider two-channel environment during playback of stereo CDs and MP content, and wh...
Page 31 - Playback Volume
ASUS Essence STX II 1 EN G LI SH Mixer/Volume The Mixer feature is designed to control the volume for playback and recording on Essence STX II. Essence STX II also provides a high-quality digital monitoring function for hearing the recorded audio from the speakers. You can also process the input sig...
Page 32 - Recording/Monitoring Volume
Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H Recording/Monitoring Volume Recording Volume Tab. Click this button to show the recording volume page. Recording volume slider. Drag this slider down to decrease the recording volume. Drag up to increase the recording volume. The tool-tip displays percentage increm...
Page 34 - Effects; Environment Effects
4 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H Effects Environment Effects Use environment effects to create realistic listening experiences that mimic different environments. There are a total of 7 environment options that can be applied to all D sound sources such as music. Default environments. These four ...
Page 36 - Karaoke
6 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H Karaoke Essence STX II provides powerful features for Karaoke, including Key-Shifting, Vocal Cancellation, and Microphone Echo. Key-Shifting changes the pitch of Karaoke background music, and VocalCancellation reduces the original vocal in songs and keep the musi...
Page 37 - FlexBass
ASUS Essence STX II 7 EN G LI SH 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. The Speaker types are: • Small : Common speaker that cannot produce low frequencies. • Large ...
Page 38 - Smart Volume Normalization
8 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H 0dB (Full-scale) - -10 dB Music 1 Music 2 SVN Off SVN On T Smart Volume Normalization Smart Volume 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 ...
Page 40 - DS3D GX and DSP Modes
40 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H DS3D GX and DSP Modes Essence STX II introduces an innovative technology – DirectSound D Game Extensions v1.0 (DSD GX 1.0)- to restore DirectSound D Hardware acceleration mode and its subsidiary EAX effects on Windows® Vista for D games. Unlike some proprietary ...
Page 42 - VocalFX
4 Chapter 4: Audio Center EN G LIS H VocalFX VocalFX is an innovative voice processing technology that can immerse your voice in a realistic game landscape (VoiceEX) or imitate background scenes while chatting online (ChatEX). It also allows you to change your voice pitch to disguise who you are (Ma...
Page 43 - For 3D Games; For VOIP
ASUS Essence STX II 4 EN G LI SH For 3D Games 1. Tick VoiceEX and Local VoiceEX checkboxes. . Ensure that you and your team member can talk to each other in the game. For VOIP 1. Click App List . . If you do not see your VOIP application in the list, click Add . Ensure that you have installed the la...
Page 45 - Appendices; Troubleshooting and FAQs; Troubleshooting; I cannot install the audio card driver on my computer.; I cannot hear any sound from my analog speakers.
ASUS Essence STX II 45 Appendices Troubleshooting and FAQs Troubleshooting I cannot install the audio card driver on my computer. • Ensure that you have properly plugged the audio card in the PCI Express slot on your motherboard. • Check that the Windows hardware device manager has discovered a mult...
Page 46 - I found no sound effects when playing 96K or 192KHz sound sources.; Why do I need Dolby for PC games?
46 Appendices: Troubleshooting and FAQs EN G LIS H EN G LI SH EN G LIS H EN G LI SH I cannot hear audio input (Mic, Line-in, or AUX) from my speakers. • Go to the Mixer recording page in the Essence STX II Audio Center and select the correct input as the recording source. • Remember to turn on the d...
Page 47 - ASUS contact information; ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.; Technical Support
EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS Essence STX II 47 EN G LIS H EN G LI SH ASUS contact information ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Address 15 Li-Te Road, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan 11259 Telephone +886-2-2894-3447 Fax +886-2-2890-7798 E-mail [email protected] Web site www.asus.com.tw Technical Support Telephone +86-21-3...
