[adrockthewalrus]

I'm considering getting one of these to fit my need for a better-than-on-board sound card/headphone amp.
 
I use a mixture of a mac mini and a desktop pc, and use a mixture of headphones (ms-1 and a gaming headset with mic), and an old nad amp attached to a couple of speakers. At the moment this largely involves un/re-plugging various cables to sort out what i need, depending which machine i'm using for what.
 
Is it possible with the 0404 usb to leave different inputs and outputs connected and select which ones you wish to use? In theory i could output spdif from the mac mini to the 0404usb and have the usb connected to the pc, or vice versa. If i leave the 0404 connected to my speakers and plug in whichever headphones i want to use can i select which ones i want to use at any given time?
 
I'm pretty certain it'd be capable of working with the other components i've listed, it'd just be nice to know whether i'm going to have the same cabling shenanigans i have now.

 

[PCMbinaryaudio]

I'm now a believer.
see today's thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/498736/zoom-h4n-as-a-usb-interface-headphone-amp-44-1-48k-only
 
 
But from this thread on another forum
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/24192-USB-20-beer-budget-EMU-0404-mini-review
 
I'd probably recommend it too.
 

 

[uraflit]

from what i can guess, you can select from:
 
1. MAIN
2. spdif (coax or toslink)
3. OFF (but USB still works)
 
... the headphone will always output sound no matter which mode you choose.
 
===
 
for my usage:
 
i use the toslink audio in. speakers plugged into the "MAIN" output in the back. headphones plugged in integrated jack.
 
i set the unit onto MAIN mode, and use optical spdif. sound comes out from both speakers AND headphones at the same time--just turn down volumes for the one you dont need!

 

[ph0rk]

You can leave the 0404 usb connected to two digital sources at once, and it will either play just the USB source or mix both sources if you press the monitor button. You can also fiddle with source volume that way.
 
 
If you have an analog source too you can mix all three and have them all use the same output headphones or speakers if you wish.