Asus unveils Xonar Essence ST audio card with audio clock tuning

Shortly after releasing the Xonar DS for gaming, Asus follows it up with a premium sound card that offers a very high 124dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Labeled as the Xonar Essence ST, this high-end audio card achieves this by incorporate precision clock tuning (supposedly the world’s first audio card to do it) to minimize audio jitter for crisp, clear audio.

Precision audio clock tuning is a method used on high-end home entertainment kits that frees the audio signal from unsynced input streams to come up with sound that’s simply clearer, with 31% less audio jitter interference. It also features Asus’ Hyper-grounding circuitry design that separates signal and noise to come up with the 124dB SNR rating. A premium Burr-Brown Digital-to-Analog converter also helps convert audio signals with a high SNR.

It’s designed to pair up with an upcoming Xonar H6 multi-channel extension board to give it 8-channel output for a premium PC-based surround sound setup. On it’s own, the Xonar Essence also sports a built-in headphone amp for less distortion when listening through headphones.