[Mindless]

Well im just wonderiing since im thinking about buying one. I've been hearing alot of good stuff about this soundcard, both for recording/listening/editing. How would it compare to a equaly priced dedicated source (CD Player) or a CD Player for $300-400? Would it be about the same? Or would it be much more detailed and refined? Does the card lack characteristics? (is it warm, cold, rough etc etc)

Someone please fill me in. It's a bit more expensive here in Sweden (around $310) but im used to stuff beeing more expensive than in the US / rest of Europe. Im not going to import from the US because it would probably cost more than buying it from my local dealer.

To the soundcard I will use a EAR90 from Harmony Design (swedish company, very high-end amp, very similar to the Gilmore V2 from headamp.com) and some Nordost interconnects into a HD600 headphone.

 

[Mindless]

Im just asking, are people that un-intrested in peoples questions around here? Or is the soundcard simply so rare amongst the members here (can't be that, I've seen lots of people who has it in their sigs) Or is it just that they feel "why bother with such a stupid question"? Or am i too unpatient?

EDIT : I mean, this is a big forum, with hundreds of visitors / hour, isnt there a quite big chance that someone with a 1212M soundcard could stop by and drop in a reply?

 

[xtreme4099]

yeah its a very good card, a definite upgrade from the revo, punchy, deep, articulate, though i do see where it can improve, my amp does alleviate many of its flaws, its not really a gaming card, but it does sound great in games when its working, some games will play fine for a couple minutes and suddenly clip out and have no sound, so you might wanna keep your original gaming soundcard in your box, and make the emu1212 an addition.

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtreme4099 yeah its a very good card, a definite upgrade from the revo, punchy, deep, articulate, though i do see where it can improve, my amp does alleviate many of its flaws, its not really a gaming card, but it does sound great in games when its working, some games will play fine for a couple minutes and suddenly clip out and have no sound, so you might wanna keep your original gaming soundcard in your box, and make the emu1212 an addition.

I've NEVER had that problem with any game, I've played tonnes of games, including all the latest betas for upcoming games, I have had ZERO problems with my 1212m, no clipping, no stuttering, no losing sound.

 

[xtreme4099]

dungeon siege, doom3 will clip out and have no sound after maybe 30 min of gaming ... hmm.. maybe i should get the latest forceware drivers, ive got dx9c, then again ive just reinstalled xp so maybe its gone away, after the emu crashed my box, heh actually ive got to empty it i got maybe like 5 gigs left, gots to get a couple dvdr's and empty the sucker, nothing like a fresh clean install.

 

[EasyRaider]

You can buy the EMU cards cheaper directly from Creative.

Go to se.europe.creative.com -> Butik -> Creative Professional

 

[Solude]

1212m good? Oh yeah! I happily sold my Arcam CD72T after hearing the 1212m in my system. It does have issues in some very select games. Doom3 DID work for me, DS:LoA DID work also, Star Wars Battlefront though does some funky stuff to my sound. The cuts out and makes WMP skip. That's the only game I've had issues with and the 1.60 drivers have resolved it, so far.

Heck its driving my Beyer 880 directly for now while my Gilmore is in the mail and I have no complaints. I could live with it as is, but obviously when the Gilmore arrives... I'm going to use it

 

[ooheadsoo]

I've never been able to play a single game without sound problems with the emu. Not an issue if you have another soundcard or onboard sound though.

Without upsampling, I actually feel it's not much better than my onboard nvidia soundstorm and that's with the soundstorm's analog outputs run into the inputs on the emu. YMMV. Maybe it's just me.

 

[klo]

How is 1212m compared to 0404?

 

[Mr.Radar]

The 1212m is more refined, smooth, and detailed, while the 0404 is more aggessive and dynamic, which makes the 1212m better for music like Jazz and relaxed classical and the 0404 better for rock, pop, electronica, and more exciting classical.

 

[Distroyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar The 1212m is more refined, smooth, and detailed, while the 0404 is more aggessive and dynamic, which makes the 1212m better for music like Jazz and relaxed classical and the 0404 better for rock, pop, electronica, and more exciting classical.

You've heard them both? I assume you're gathering that info from lan's comparision...and that's stating a lot from what he said.

Consider them close to equals, and when you knock $100 off the price tag, the 0404 is the way to go if all you're using it for is playback.

 

[Moskau]

I would just get the 0404 and use the saved $100 towards a DAC which would sound the best.

Then it comes down to the 1212m being better for recording etc. but both about equal as transports.

Basically, if you just want playback, getting the 0404 is a win win situation.


I'm just not a fan of the type of connectors the 0404 uses.

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Distroyed You've heard them both? I assume you're gathering that info from lan's comparision...and that's stating a lot from what he said. Consider them close to equals, and when you knock $100 off the price tag, the 0404 is the way to go if all you're using it for is playback.

Have you heard them both?

I've read a few other reviews on other sites comparing the 0404 to the 1212m and the 1820 and although yes, the 0404 is very close, the other cards do out perform it. Not to mention, you lose some things with the 0404, like firewire, balanced analouge inputs, 192khz, adat, many recording features, things to keep in mind.

I'm just glad I bought my 1212m before the 0404 came out so I didn't have to make the choice

 

[Mindless]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I knew this forum wasnt dead.

PS : Looks like Ill be buying the card next week (my birthday then = cash)

 

[Distroyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asmo Have you heard them both?

No, I was drawing directly from what lan said in a thread (that I dont feel like finding). My accusation was simply that Mr Radar was doing a little more speculating than I think lan offered in his initial post.