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