[jiiteepee]

Maybe not news here but, on Apple discussions, someone quoted post he/she got from E-MU staff regarding future driver support in new operating systems coming from Microsoft/Apple. I quess this means Windows 8 and Lion (which one released already).
 
https://discussions.apple...8?start=0&tstart=0
 
Looks like E-MU has either discontinued or can't deliver atm USB audio intefaces other than 0204 USB (checked what is listed at Creative web shop and Thomann Cyberstore).
 
 
jiiteepee
 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Maybe not news here but, on Apple discussions, someone quoted post he/she got from E-MU staff regarding future driver support in new operating systems coming from Microsoft/Apple. I quess this means Windows 8 and Lion (which one released already).
 
https://discussions.apple...8?start=0&tstart=0
 
Looks like E-MU has either discontinued or can't deliver atm USB audio intefaces other than 0204 USB (checked what is listed at Creative web shop and Thomann Cyberstore).
 
 
jiiteepee
 

As a E-MU 0404USB 2.0 owner myself, I don't know what to make of the company anymore. I no longer recognize their strategy and effort; support seems to have completely vanished. Perhaps, a secret product launch is still to come... likely without my interest or money!
 

 

[leeperry]

you always get screwed over w/ proprietary drivers...

 

[Roller]

Quote:

you always get screwed over w/ proprietary drivers...

Yet generic drivers are the first thing to be replaced when higher audio performance is required (think ASIO). There have been a few attempts at making a higher quality universal driver, like the one that was available from Centrance up to 2008, but now it's locked to their own hardware. Still, I hope someone comes up with such a thing, that would be immensely useful to all kinds of audio devices.

 

[leeperry]

There are many USB Audio Class 1.0/2.0 units based on the XMOS/TE7720L/TE8802L chipsets. You can either use ASIO4ALL, or proprietary ASIO drivers indeed...but the device drivers are still very much generic.

 

[Roller]

I can agree that being screwed with proprietary drivers can affect users on how futureproof a device can be, but certainly not regarding its performance. And despite ASIO4ALL not being a driver per se, it is certainly not generic in any way.
 
Would you say that audio is perfectly fine as it is running generic OS drivers or they would actually benefit from a 3rd party driver, free or otherwise?

 

[leeperry]

Quite frankly, since Vista you can get KS and WASAPI off any device using WDM drivers...there is little point in going ASIO, and even then you still can use ASIO4ALL. And more importantly, generic WDM drivers just work...you don't depend on some guy trying to reinvent the wheel by making up his own WDM miniport.

 

[Roller]

Like I said, ASIO is not meant to be used for playback, and most interfaces come with more reliable and better performing drivers than ASIO4ALL. Proprietary drivers of prosumer hardware allow for settings changes like latency adjustments (yes, adjustments, not just reducing it) on overall system usage, not just on a specific output method.
 
One question, are features like oversampling "hardwired"? I'm asking to know if these features can be tweaked or if they're static.
 
Well, if the wheel was round enough, maybe there wouldn't be so many people trying to perfect it Unfortunately, as OSes change, so do drivers need to adapt.

 

[leeperry]

Well, we're on an audiophile forum...surely ppl doing music production do need drivers for routing and all but we really don't, as all we care for is bit-pefect audio that's automatically bit-matched. And IME, the E-mu drivers have a manual sample rate that cannot automatically bit-match whatsoever. This is a major PITA for audiophile use if you want avoid SRC.
 
The third party Linux drivers for the STX allow you to change the oversampling rate on the fly, but this is not possible on windows...again this is more of an audiophool setting than anything else(I dare you to DBT 8xOS Vs 64xOS

), semi-pro audio users don't care for that as they really have different needs from the audiophile crowd.

 

[Roller]

Well, my main issue with many audiophile drivers, is that they often sacrifice stability for not so reliable improvements. Still, some of the features found on pro audio gear can be of use for just about anyone borderline or full blown audiophile. ASRC is tricky in the sense that said interfaces aren't meant to do that at all, or it would cause chaos on the environment they're being used on.
 
Now now, don't you joke about such DBTs, because I'm sure there is someone, somewhere that can accurately pinpoint audible differences in music, and those different architectures could be the result said people can find different, almost like day and night