[charlesaudio]

Yes, my SE530s actually came with an attenuator, however I heard doing that tends to wear out the sound source more quickly, leading to shorter life. I'm deciding now whether to keep the Xonar Essence or refund it and get the EMU-404. Hows are the drivers for the EMU?

 

[Hybrys]

Quote:

Yes, my SE530s actually came with an attenuator, however I heard doing that tends to wear out the sound source more quickly, leading to shorter life. I'm deciding now whether to keep the Xonar Essence or refund it and get the EMU-404. Hows are the drivers for the EMU?

With iPods, yes, but only by proxy.  Higher sound level output = more battery usage = more battery charges.  In theory, the device looses 'life' via charges (of which there are a finite number).
 
The drivers for the 0404 USB used to be spotty at best, but as far as I recall, there are newer Win7 drivers released in the last few months that have been working like a dream.  If you were to have any issues, I'm sure we could help you again.

 

[charlesaudio]

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. I'm going to ask the retailer, which is in a different city, to see if I can get a refund. It might not be worth the hassle if I have to pay shipping for the return, and another hundred dollars for the EMU-404. On the other hand, I realised I have lying in the house a stereo system which includes an high end stereo amp. Hmm... I wonder if that can be used for pumping some mikes. Would the power be overwhelming?

 

[Hybrys]

Two words.  Phantom.  Power.  If they aren't pumping a solid 48v down the XLR line ins, you won't get much out of most microphones.  That said, if you're looking to update your mics, some wireless mic base stations have RCA / 1/4" outputs aswell as XLR, and that could let you get around the Phantom Power problem.  It's either that, or some high quality computer mics...

 

[bcschmerker4]

Thanks for alerting me to a design flaw in the ASUS® XONAR® line.  There must be some resonance issue with the Brown-Burr®/Texas Instruments® PCM1792A1 at multiples of 14.7 kHz (the Nyquist frequency of the original Philips® Compact Disc™ Digital Audio specification) that doesn't occur at multiples of 16 kHz.  Not an easy issue to fix.
 
As for the phantom power issue, I would that Auzentech® were able to design an XLR-ready PCIe 3.0 x1 card around the C-Media® CM8888 that required an 8-pin PCIe auxiliary connector before they folded - phantom power requires a fourfold boost of the +12VDC to achieve the +48VDC that condenser and ribbon microphones and high-voltage internal guitar and bass preamplifiers require, itself a somewhat energy-intensive process.