Crosshair VI Hero Onboard Audio vs. Essence STX

[Celty2]

Putting together my new Ryzen build and I have my old Asus Essence STX sound card on hand. I know the onboard audio is supposed to be high quality, but does will my sound card still be a better solution? I do use good headphones, and with the Essence STX amplifier, it has always delivered great sound.

Which will be the better choice?

[FoxTech]

I know, its an old threat but I have to say, the onboard sound chip is crap. Even if you use the Sonic Studio.
Very poor performance for a board like this.

And you're only able to use a dedicated soundcard if you don't use a M.2 on the Pcie 4-3 at full speed.
A possible place is the first PCIe X1 slot, if your graphicscard don't block the slot.
I had to throw my soundblaster Z after installing the 960 Evo.
Backplate of my GTX 1080 blocks the first and only available slot for the soundcard.
I'm extremly unhappy with the board layout atm.