Asus Xonar STX Audiophile Sound Card

[OTPTT]

I built a beefy new Intel quad core based computer and got my Asus Xonar STX Audiophile sound card in yesterday.
I had been using Creative Labs sound cards for as long as I remember and had problems with the CL Audigy 2 Platinum sound card I was using in another system built for multimedia. The CL Audigy 2 had a popping noise when playing anything through it which was intolerable.

The Asus Xonar is simply amazing. Audiophile in every respect. Using it as the source for my McIntosh MC2125 power amp and Klipsch LaScala speakers.

Specs:

Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
124dB for Front-out,117dB for Headphone-out (600ohms) dB
Input Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted):
118 dB
Output THD+N at 1kHz:
0.0003% (-110dB) for Front-out, 0.001% (-100dB) for Headphone-out
Input THD+N at 1kHz:
0.0002% (-113dB) for Line-in
Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input):
<10Hz to 90KHz
Output/Input Full-Scale Voltage
2 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p)

Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
Analog Recording Sample Rate and Resolution:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit
S/PDIF Digital Output:
44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Dolby Digital
ASIO 2.0 Driver Support:
Supports 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @16/24bit with very low latency

If you're looking for an incredible sound card consider this one. It would only be of benefit if you have some audiophile quality equipment to run it through. Not worth the expense if you're simply going to use it with a set of computer speakers although it has a built in headphone amp so a good set of headphones would be a minimum requirement.

I'm hearing things in music I've listened to for years I haven't heard before. From breath sounds to subtle instrumentation. Finally have a near perfect computer based home audio system.