Better than EMU 0404 pci soundcard

Good luck.

I've used my 0404 PCI since 2005 or so and on a number of occasions over the years I've made attempts to replace it with an external DAC.  I have not been impressed with most cheaper DACs that I've tried and keep coming back to the 0404.  It's a pretty good card and while i'm sure there are DACs out there that would be a good upgrade, they probably aren't very cheap.

Going from an 0404 PCI to a 0204 USB would be a terrible upgrade.  Their specs are almost identical (1dB difference in SNR) and the DAC is also nearly identical.  The 0204 USB uses the same DAC as the 0404 USB which has been out for quite some time and there have already been numerous comparisons between the 0404 PCI over the years.  In fact, the later versions of the 0404 PCI actually use the same DAC as the 0204 also because the differences are so small.

Check out LAvry DA 11 or Benchmarck DAC1, they are pretty much the reference as far as sound quality and good engineering are go in the studio monitoring world. Whether they will improve the sound of your Genelec compared to the 0404 is another question, a great deal of people will say yes. You may want to post this at gearslutz, which is more of pro audio forum.

For what it's worth to you: I couldn't notice a difference between my 0404's analog out and the CIAUDIO VDA-2 (w/ power supply) which runs about $800 together I think... so YMMV. That's actually when I became very skeptical of high end audio products. The 0404 is a professional card that strives to output a low-noise (NON audible), flat response and does so wonderfully (it's been analyzed and documented, a google search might turn it up) But this is also what any expensive DAC is supposed to do. I believe any "drastic" change in sound signature means you're either crazy or your equipment is faulty.

So I took the 0404 for what it was and use its EQ settings in patchmix to make everything I have connected to it sound like gold. But that also requires patience and a good ear.

I'm not saying you've hit the end of the road, but I do believe you've reached one of, if not THE top points of price vs. performance. Good luck finding what you need!