EMU 0404 USB - really the best?

Maybe the thruth in this is that everyone rates his/her card the best available ... so they can give a reason for themself of made purchases.

I have had E-MU 0404 USB now few days and all I can say is, i'ts an excellent device even it's highly strung for some processes as like dongle driver (Sentinel driver just can't be running while using this device --> distortion / out of sync issues).

jiitee

I have the EMU 0404 PCI version, and I am upgrading to the Benchmark DAC1. I find that opinion hard to swallow. I hope it's wrong.

I obviously like the E-MU 0404 USB, but probably a bit more from the value standpoint rather than absolute quality. I wouldn't doubt for a second that I'd prefer the DAC-1 USB, but when street prices for the E-MU delivered are only $175 versus the DAC-1 at $1300.......geez, that's $1125 difference to spend on CD's, cans, headamps, etc. etc.

In my case, I also bought a Marantz SA8001 so I can enjoy SACD's.....the following is from the recent Stereophile review:

"To my ears, the SA8001 (in "Red Book" mode) was every bit the equal of the Benchmark DAC-1 (using the SA8001 as a transport)—which, last time I looked, was still in Class A of Stereophile's "Recommended Components." And the SA8001 player has some advantages over the DAC-1: the Benchmark doesn't have a transport and can't do SACDs."

And I paid only $560 for a 3 week old SA8001. The total cost to me for the new E-MU and the nearly-new SA8001 was $732, and I've not yet seen a used DAC-1 USB go for anywhere near that little. To me, I'm much happier having the capability of CD and SACD and PC-based listening....and I attained that at $570 or so less than the cost of a new DAC-1 USB.

There is enough difference between all of these devices that there is room for personal preference, both in how the device performs on an absolute basis, and how it performs on the type of music you listen to most. If one listens to a lot of edgy/hot mastered material, then maybe a Monica would indeed suit your tastes better than a DAC-1.

You should always buy what your own ear tells you is good, not for what people you don't know vote for....at least if you are serious about enjoying music more than impressing others!

You can only learn so much from reviews and recommendations, because each person only has experience with a limited set of gear. This is made worse by the "flavor of the month" effect, where an item gets a strong recommendation leading a large number of new head-fi members (who have nothing comparable in their experience) to buy it, and of course they all love it, and then they recommend it at every opportunity. But those recommendations only really carry the weight of a satisfied customer, not the weight of an expert in the field. So they are little better than reading reviews at amazon.com or whatever. Trying to piece together those reviews and make a definitive list of what is "the best" is beyond impossible.

That said, the EMU line has been a flavor of the month for several years now, so the ratio of happy customers must be pretty high.

How are you connecting the EMU to the CDP? It has no inputs. Sorry for the dumb question.

Personally, I don't connect the E-MU to my CDP......I find that I prefer the DAC section in the Marantz to the E-MU.

And I'm confused about the question.......there are both coax and optical S/PDIF inputs and outputs on the 0404 USB, plus there have been quite a few posts on the forum about how to connect and configure the unit to run as a standalone DAC.

Take a look at this page for details on the connections available:

E-MU Systems - 0404 USB 2.0 - USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface

Ahh, I see. I've been looking at that particular CDP. It's still on my Christmas wish list. Yes I'm starting early.

the 0404 usb is a great bang-for-the-buck dac, but i would hardly say that it's the best. far from it.

for people like me who are content with a mid-fi setup, i'd say it's quite good.

By Christmas, you should be able to pick up a used SA8001 for $475, I'd bet. The internal headphone amp in it isn't bad, either.....I'd rather listen to a CD played via the SA8001's headamp versus a FLAC played back via a PC and the 0404 USB's internal headamp.

Let's just hope that the transport issues that have come to plague the SA8260 don't surface with the SA8001.

The best words to describe the EMU are:

clean
crisp
detailed


It's quite a good DAC. Don't be misled by the argument that there's so many functions, and you will only be using one of them. It's a great value even if you are using it just for the DAC. Be aware that the outputs are 1/4" mono jacks or 1/8" stereo jack.

If I had to pick on the EMU, I'd say that it can be a tad dry compared to other DACs.

being better than a Benchmark DAC1 is really not saying much at all. The only thing the DAC1 ever had going for it was the balanced output. If you don't need that there are many many DAC's with smoother fuller sound for much less $'s.

I've been going back-and-forth between a EMU 0404/Headroom Desktop Amp and a Benchmark DAC1, for about a year now. I thought I'd finally made a decision. I think I may be wrong. Grrr. This is like throwing darts blind-folded.

FWIW......the DAC1 has a large following in the pro community, because they feel it's extraordinarily transparent and honest. One fellow I know who runs a small label focused on acoustic/classical material, recorded in "real performance spaces", says he uses the DAC1 because then he's sure that he's hearing as uncolored a version of the mix as possible. He still has Lynx and Apogee DAC's in his studio, but the DAC1 is the one he uses now for critical applications.

I understand where some folks are coming from re the "sound of the DAC1", but remember that you're always hearing the combination of the CD/source material plus the DAC. As poorly as most recent pop/rock CD's are produced, well......the DAC1 is probably just showing them to be exactly what they are.