https://www.asus.com/Essence-Hi-Fi-A...r_Essence_STX/

I admit I did not give ASUS the benefit of the doubt and seriously consider their Essence STX soundcard as a replacement for my Onkyo SE200-PCI. ASUS make nice motherboards, but unlike Onkyo have no previous expertise in high end audio.

I am happy to report - a bit late in the game, the card came out in 2009 - that they've done a really good job with it and the drivers for Windows 10, technically still in beta, work just fine.

*****

Asus updated the design recently to the STX II. The PCB has been redone, but the only visible change is the PCM1792A DAC has been moved towards the top of the card closer to the IV conversion op amps. An second LDO regulator IC, U34, empty on the STX, is now populated. A "TXCO" clock source is added next to the ASUS audio controller IC. The four film caps next to the output IC are replaced with WIMA brand. It's basically identical, so it...

I'm often asked "which op amp sounds better".

The reply is usually a scowl and muttered "does it look like I care!?" Which is something of a lie... I do care about getting op amps to sound good. It's the phrasing of the question I dislike.

Op amps do not come in "good, better, best" flavors. All it is - and this is pretty obvious I would have thought but apparently not - all this is about is matching an op amp to the job it's going to do; the circuit it's going to be sitting in.

The op amp you'd choose to use as a DAC IV converter is different from the one you'd choose to back a 100k volume potentiometer in a preamp is different from the one you'd choose for an MC phono preamp input stage...

Why do you think there are like a thousands of different op amps to choose from in the first place? It's because there are thousands of combinations of op amp characteristics and properties ... not because companies...

LTSpice copy (protection diodes removed) of the original JE-990 circuit. Even with BC327/337 subbed in for all the original transistors the simulation works without further modification.

C1 seems to be critical for stability. C2 and C3 damp overshoot seen on the simulated square wave response, hinted at by the high frequency rise in frequency response shown in the screen grab below.

My impression is that this circuit is of the heavily optimized, no-stone-left-untouched variety.

Sourced from m.nats page and The John Hardy Company.