WEBVTT 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:13.679 Welcome to an unboxing of something that is honestly a little bit outside the 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:18.720 scope of my expertise. Let me start by saying I love good sounding audio 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:25.279 whether it's music, movies, or games. But this is a in a completely different 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:30.080 class from anything that I have experienced before. This is the Zonar 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:35.680 Essence 1 USB DAC and headphone amplifier. It is, according to ASUS, the 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:39.680 world's first 8X symmetrical upsampling DAC. And we're going to go ahead, we're 00:00:37.760 --> 00:00:44.079 going to flip it around. I'm just going to be doing a very, very high-level sort 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:47.680 of coverage of exactly what this thing is and why you might care. And then 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:52.800 we're going to be following this up on my NCIXCOM channel with a more detailed 00:00:50.480 --> 00:01:00.480 look at exactly what it is and why it's so special. So this is uh the the zonar 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:02.079 sort of symbol that uh uh the tiger that 00:01:00.480 --> 00:01:07.040 is sort of representing according to ASUS the mankind's endless pursuit of 00:01:04.960 --> 00:01:11.520 the essence of sound and also Zonar Essence STX's commitment to offer the 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:14.640 best quality ever from an audio card. So that is what ASUS believes they've done 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:18.720 here. This is your ultimate DAX solution. Extreme audio clarity with 120 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:23.759 decel sound to noise ratio. The difference between this and other 120 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:27.360 decel sound to noise ratio devices we've seen in the past is this one has the 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:30.640 testing to back it up. So I would actually believe it. It has a built-in 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:36.880 headphone amp which powers up to audio file class headphones. That is up to 600 00:01:33.759 --> 00:01:39.840 ohm impedance headphones. No big deal, 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:44.400 right? User customizable tone characters with 11 swappable op amps. So two of 00:01:42.960 --> 00:01:49.759 those are on the headphones and the others are not. So you can change 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:54.320 completely the way that the DAC sounds just by changing out to different op 00:01:51.600 --> 00:01:58.399 amps. Cleanest sound thanks to dedicated internal power supply. So ASUS has put a 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:04.320 lot of effort into the power supply that is inside this unit in order to minimize 00:02:01.520 --> 00:02:09.039 any interference or electrical noise that might be transmitted to the sound 00:02:07.600 --> 00:02:14.879 that you are listening to. So we'll check out the packaging here. We've got foam on the top there to keep it from 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:19.120 getting damaged in any way. This unfolds here. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:24.160 This is a very expensive piece of kit. I should probably, you know, preface this 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:29.840 entire unboxing by saying that this is not something for your average Joe 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:32.480 computer user at all. It is very, very 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:38.640 hefty. And this is not an internal device, as I probably should not have to 00:02:35.519 --> 00:02:41.280 explain at this point in time. This is 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:49.040 meant to sit next to your computer and it is ASUS's response to other high-end 00:02:45.040 --> 00:02:51.519 audio file class OP uh optics 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:56.239 USB DAX, but in their estimation should pretty 00:02:53.760 --> 00:03:01.360 much turn the entire rest of that market on its ear because it'll pretty much 00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:05.360 blow away everything else in their estimation. If you guys are interested 00:03:02.720 --> 00:03:10.080 in specs, they are here. Although I would, like I said, I haven't done as 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:14.239 much sort of reading as I would be required to do in order to understand 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:18.959 exactly what all of that stuff means. I mean, what I do see here is that they've 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:22.720 specified every component they're using. So, for the audio file guys out there 00:03:20.959 --> 00:03:28.560 who are really interesting in pairing this up with, you know, like a Sennheiser HD800 or something along 00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:33.760 those lines, you're going to know exactly what chipset it's using, exactly 00:03:31.040 --> 00:03:40.640 which op amps it comes preconfigured with, and exactly what this thing is 00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:44.480 capable of. So, package contents. Let's 00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:48.000 move on here to the accessories. 00:03:44.480 --> 00:03:50.879 All right. So, we have a headphone jack 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:59.120 adapter. We have a power cord inside 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:01.360 just like Oh, look at that. I got a uh 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:05.280 an international one. Well, it's okay. It's just a standard PC one. So, it is 00:04:03.760 --> 00:04:12.480 capable accepting. Actually, that's one of the cool things about the power supply. It is capable of accepting any 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:15.760 um any voltage input. So, you can use it in North America, you 00:04:14.239 --> 00:04:20.239 can use it in Asia, you can use it in Europe, doesn't really matter. Includes 00:04:17.280 --> 00:04:23.799 a USB A to B cable. And then what's in the other box here? 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:35.199 Fascinating. So, they managed to include 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.800 only Yeah. Not Yeah, they managed to not 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:41.360 include only the one that I would be using with this particular device. So, 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:46.560 there you go. Okay, let's have a look at the unit itself 00:04:43.520 --> 00:04:49.120 then, shall we? Man, that's heavy. So, 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:55.280 here we have our power switch. We have our upsampling button. We have 00:04:52.800 --> 00:05:02.880 our input selector, so we can use coax, toss link, or USB mute button. This is 00:05:00.080 --> 00:05:08.720 your volume adjustment. And this guy right here, nice big knobs, 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:12.639 is your headphone volume. Finally, here is your headphone jack on the front. The 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:17.520 build quality of this thing is outstanding. Actually, it's just feels 00:05:14.960 --> 00:05:23.360 like a piece of audio equipment, which is uh a far cry from what you get with 00:05:20.080 --> 00:05:25.919 your typical PC equipment. All right, so 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:29.600 here is your unbalanced output. Here is your balanced output. So, you do have 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:33.919 the option of using either. And they're each connected to a different set of op 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:38.240 amps, so you can customize how you want each of these outputs to sound. Here's 00:05:35.919 --> 00:05:42.160 your coax output. Here's your toast link or rather input. Here's your toast link 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:46.000 or your optical input. And finally, here's your USB input. You're going to 00:05:44.479 --> 00:05:50.639 want to make sure you select the correct voltage. In this case, I'm going to have 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:54.320 to change that to 115 before using the device. And then it comes with a little 00:05:52.320 --> 00:05:58.320 sticker covering up the power port. And I'm going to leave that so that I don't 00:05:56.400 --> 00:06:04.160 accidentally screw this up when I uh when I go to plug it into power. So, 00:06:01.840 --> 00:06:08.560 who is this for? total audio enthusiasts who want to use 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:14.960 it on their PC. Although you are not bound to using a PC, you can use any 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:18.560 digital audio source. And I would I 00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:20.000 would sort of suggest that most of the 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:26.560 users who are going to be interested in a product like this are going to be using that port and not the stereo 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:31.440 outputs that are here on the back, be it the XLR or the coax out. I would suggest 00:06:30.080 --> 00:06:36.479 most people are going to be using this as a way to drive their high-end 00:06:33.919 --> 00:06:40.080 headphones and deliver the most pure sound regardless of the volume level. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:45.520 So, the thing about a high sound to noise ratio is that even at a very low 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:50.080 volume level, you should still be able to enjoy all the different aspects of 00:06:47.840 --> 00:06:54.960 the music and hear the entire range very, very clearly. However, if you do 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:59.280 prefer more of a warm sound or if you prefer more emphasis on the bass, then 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:02.720 you can actually customize this guy. Whether you're using the ASUS software 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.960 or whether you're actually changing the hardware of the unit itself, it's fully 00:07:04.880 --> 00:07:10.479 user customizable and there are no warranty void if removed stickers. Yeah, 00:07:08.960 --> 00:07:15.199 you can take the whole thing apart if you really want to. Um, so you can 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:20.800 actually color the sound that way to match your preferences. Now, ASUS is 00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:25.120 comparing this to DAXs that are in the neighborhood of $1,000 to $1,500 that 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:29.039 exist on the market right now and are quite well regarded. However, uh this 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:36.639 guy is going to be coming in at a significantly lower price point. 00:07:32.960 --> 00:07:38.960 So, 8x symmetrical upsampling. ASUS is 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:42.639 is touting the upsampling as a huge feature of this deck, and I can see why 00:07:41.039 --> 00:07:46.800 they do that for a number of reasons. Number one, they have the hardware to 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:50.560 back it up. Number two is the fact that so much of the digital audio that you 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:54.319 can obtain these days is very low quality. But not everyone necessarily 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:57.199 wants to go to the trouble or the expense. Although if you're really that 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:01.280 worried about the expense, I don't think you're buying one of these. But neither 00:07:59.599 --> 00:08:06.879 here nor there. No, not everyone wants to go to the trouble or the expense of 00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:08.800 purchasing or finding the high quality 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:13.039 audio that they require. So here's a little quick lesson on bit rate and 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:18.400 sample rate. And so the bit rate is basically how um how high quality of a 00:08:16.400 --> 00:08:22.160 sample you're taking of the audio. We didn't really have this with analog 00:08:19.919 --> 00:08:26.000 because it doesn't really work quite the same way. But with digital, everything 00:08:24.080 --> 00:08:29.680 is in terms of hard to find numbers. Kind of like how pixels don't 00:08:27.599 --> 00:08:33.360 necessarily equate to the image quality we saw on an analog screen. It's just a 00:08:31.599 --> 00:08:37.839 different way of doing things. Okay? And then the sample rate is how many samples 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:41.760 at that quality that we're taking per second. So ideally you would have a very 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:48.560 high sample rate and a very high bit rate. So upsampling takes your how many 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:50.959 samples and your bit rate here and tries 00:08:48.560 --> 00:08:58.519 to smooth it out to make it more like how the artist would have intended for 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:58.519 you to hear the audio. 00:08:59.040 --> 00:09:04.959 So why is 8x symmetrical upsampling important and what exactly does that 00:09:02.959 --> 00:09:11.200 mean? What it means is that it can upsample eight times 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:14.240 from a variety of different sources. So, 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:17.519 I'm going to equate this to actually 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:19.600 more of a video example. So, when you're 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:23.920 when you were playing older games that didn't support high resolutions, 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:28.959 especially when LCD monitors first came out. So, I got a 24 in 1920x 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:33.760 1200 monitor. And I did that for a very specific reason. The reason for that was 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:40.000 that when I took older content that was running at 800 by 600 or was running at 00:09:36.640 --> 00:09:43.839 1600 x 1200 and I upsampled particularly 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:47.200 from 800 by 600 to 1,600 x 1200 with 00:09:43.839 --> 00:09:50.240 black bars, I was getting exactly a 1 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:52.399 to4 relationship between the pixels that 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:58.160 I have and the pixels that it's being upsampled to. So this is not a perfect 00:09:54.959 --> 00:10:00.080 example because that resolution change 00:09:58.160 --> 00:10:05.200 doesn't add any additional quality to the image. But what it does do is it is 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:10.160 an even multiple. So we're not going to lose any quality by dithering one pixel 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:14.560 between sort of the surrounding ones and blending the colors and using cheats and 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:19.120 hacks like that in order to increase the resolution. So think of this as your 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:23.760 audio resolution. So ASUS's explanation here is that common upscaling USB DAXs 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:31.279 transfer whatever audio source to 192 kHz indistinguishably. However, some 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:34.560 audio sources that are lower quality and 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:38.079 you would want to upsample do not evenly 00:10:34.560 --> 00:10:40.720 multiply to 192 kHz. So that's why the 00:10:38.079 --> 00:10:44.640 symmetrical AEX upsampling allows you to have two different destinations. So two 00:10:42.959 --> 00:10:50.240 different upsampling um quality levels for the different 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:54.800 audio sources. So it's kind of like the display example I'm giving you guys 00:10:52.079 --> 00:10:59.279 where you want to not lose any quality while you are trying to increase the 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:02.800 quality. So as I mentioned before here we have a slide about the sound to noise 00:11:00.959 --> 00:11:08.079 ratio which is bas or signal to noise ratio whichever you prefer. And that is 00:11:05.760 --> 00:11:12.000 basically ASUS comparing to some other well-known USB DAXs. Like I said you 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:15.920 have so many sound cards. I mean, you can go back as as long ago as an Odigy 2 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:23.839 ZS and they're claiming well in excess of 100 decel signal to noise ratio. It's 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:25.920 kind of nonsense. Um, my expectation for 00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:30.880 an audio file grade product like this is that this would be the actual signal to 00:11:28.800 --> 00:11:35.040 noise ratio that they have achieved, but I haven't tested it yet. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:38.720 Now, the higher up you get in terms of headphone quality, the more power is 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:42.240 required to drive the I mean, they become speakers at a certain point 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.320 rather than being just, you know, headphone 00:11:43.760 --> 00:11:50.800 doodads. So, yes, you require an incredible amount of power to drive very 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:57.120 very high-end headphones. And they're saying basically, I mean, this is sort 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:59.120 of iffy whether or not a regular uh 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:03.519 normal headphone amplifier can drive a 300 ohm or you know, anything above 32 00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:07.519 ohms. But the point of this is that they're saying theirs is capable of up 00:12:05.040 --> 00:12:12.240 to 600 ohm impedance headphones, which is pretty much getting up there about as 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:15.519 high as it goes. So, this is a fascinating way to do product 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:19.040 development, and I think it is such a step in the right direction that it 00:12:16.959 --> 00:12:23.440 definitely merits a mention. Check this out. So they actually besides testing 00:12:21.920 --> 00:12:27.040 I'm sure they tested them besides testing them they actually selected the 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:32.480 capacitors that they were using on the PCB based on what would interfere the 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:38.240 least with the quality of the audio based on checking out hi-fi forums like 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:44.160 DIY audio and headfi.org sorry headfi.org. So that is uh a one way of 00:12:41.760 --> 00:12:47.600 taking user feedback and integrating that very closely with the development 00:12:45.920 --> 00:12:52.000 of a product because the reality of it is the guys who they're going to try and 00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:56.320 sell one of these to already know that they want these particular capacitors 00:12:54.480 --> 00:13:00.160 which kinds of opamps they want to throw into the device and you're not going to 00:12:58.560 --> 00:13:05.040 sell it to them unless you're using exactly what they want and ASUS went and 00:13:02.079 --> 00:13:08.240 figured that out ahead of time. So, in short, guys, if you don't already know 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:14.160 that you need one of these, and if you don't know what all of these numbers meant, and if you don't have the money 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:18.000 to spend on a highquality audio solution, then this is pretty much not 00:13:15.760 --> 00:13:22.959 for you. This is a very niche, very high-end product. Is it a replacement 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:27.600 for a sound card? Yes. Is it a replacement for a sound card for every 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:31.839 gamer and every guy who sits and listens to their iTunes library on their 00:13:28.959 --> 00:13:36.000 computer? No. This is a very specialty product. It will deliver better audio 00:13:33.839 --> 00:13:40.560 quality than almost anything else you can hook up to your PC, but you got to 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:44.720 pay to play. And I got to say, I'm definitely looking forward to checking 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:48.000 this out. But for myself personally, I don't think I would be running out 00:13:46.160 --> 00:13:51.519 buying one of these because if you don't have the hardware to properly take 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:55.360 advantage of it, and by hardware, I don't mean your PC because your PC is 00:13:53.200 --> 00:14:01.360 irrelevant. It uses the onboard chipset in order to completely eliminate any 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:05.440 uh quality interference that could come from a lowquality PC or low quality 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:11.199 sound card, whatever the case may be. But I'm talking hardware in terms of the 00:14:08.560 --> 00:14:14.959 headphones you're using, the I mean, it's not really hardware, but the audio 00:14:12.959 --> 00:14:17.760 sources that you're listening to, you're going to want to make sure that you're 00:14:16.079 --> 00:14:22.240 properly equipped to take advantage of a guy like this before you go and set one 00:14:19.839 --> 00:14:25.920 up in your home. So, thank you for checking out my unboxing online tech 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:29.360 tips and don't forget to subscribe to my NCIXCOM channel as well because once 00:14:28.079 --> 00:14:34.880 I've had a chance to actually play around with this a little bit, I would love to give you my impressions.