Under the Shield

EMI Shield Removed

Asus has installed an EMI shield over the core components of the Essence in an effort to cut down on excess noise interference which could affect the sound output. With the shield removed, you can get a good look at the circuitry underneath. The first thing that stands out is the size of the amplifier capacitors. Since both the headphone, RCA, and microphone connections use individual pre-amps, Asus has implemented some pretty good sized capacitors to boost signal power. When swapping between sources, you can even hear the high pitched ‘thunk’ of the amplifiers being powered on, which gives you an idea of their power.

Op-Amp is on the left

Here we can see the op-amp, which comes in a standard 741-type 8-pin package. There are a variety of operational amplifiers available on the market and this allows the Essence to be customized to just about any user’s particular taste. Generally speaking, the op-amp is what helps to provide the ‘color’ of the sound produced. Audio purists know that by changing out the op-amp, you can adjust the brightness and color of the sound to satisfy their particular needs. By including an op-amp that is easily changed out, Asus has demonstrated they understand what the audiophile is looking for in a sound card.

Asus AV100 HD Processing Unit

Notice the two big capacitors next to the headphone amplifier

The DAC is also surrounded by big capacitors

The pre-amps for the headphone, microphone, and RCA jacks are all housed under the EMI during normal operation. This allows the very sensitive components to operate with as little electronic noise as possible.

It's capacitor city next to the ADC

The output connectors