[alfie]

Anyone tried 0404 balanced outputs and may comment about them?

 

[dulath]

How does "USB Jitter" manifest itself in sound?

 

[crystal]

Just got it today and had time to run a few of my favourite CDs through it to audition the DAC. First impressions are that someone did their homework. I would describe the sound as very crisp and detailed. They say that the headphone amp is fed from the AKM, and I believe it. The harpsichord in Sarah Brightman's Nella Fantasia seemed to hang in the air and I could hear the clarinet mechanics in the opening notes of The Last Words You Said....superb. It drives my AKG K 240 DF headphones to quite a loud level, but not deafening....just right. Flawless playback without a glitch so far. Haven't tried recording yet, although I plugged a condenser into each XLR to verify that everything is working OK.

Sorry to sound so glowing, but I'm moving up from a consumer sound card. I couldn't stop putting another CD on just to hear them all over again.

More to come.....

 

[Mindspin311]

Would the 0202 still be a good investment though for just listening to music?

 

[prescient]

excuse my less than stellar headphone knowledge, but could i used the balanced outs on the e-mu 0404 to drive balanced headphones? And has anyone found any jitter numbers for this unit?

All i have found is this

"E-MU's new 0404 USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface delivers an unparalleled level of audio performance to your PC with premium 24-bit/192kHz A/D and D/A converters, pristine XTC™ mic/line/hi-Z preamps, ultra-low jitter clock and rock-solid stability."

I'm pretty curious what they consider ultralow jitter.

 

[uofmtiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crystal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just got it today and had time to run a few of my favourite CDs through it to audition the DAC. First impressions are that someone did their homework. I would describe the sound as very crisp and detailed. They say that the headphone amp is fed from the AKM, and I believe it. The harpsichord in Sarah Brightman's Nella Fantasia seemed to hang in the air and I could hear the clarinet mechanics in the opening notes of The Last Words You Said....superb. It drives my AKG K 240 DF headphones to quite a loud level, but not deafening....just right. Flawless playback without a glitch so far. Haven't tried recording yet, although I plugged a condenser into each XLR to verify that everything is working OK. Sorry to sound so glowing, but I'm moving up from a consumer sound card. I couldn't stop putting another CD on just to hear them all over again. More to come.....

Thanks for the review. This one (0404) is on my Christmas list! It seems to have it all.

 

[tracky]

Here is what the specification says about jitter:

Ultra-low jitter clock subsystem: < 500ps RMS in PLL mode (48kHz, Coaxial S/PDIF Sync)


E-MU specifications:

http://www.emu.com/products/product....Specifications

 

[Ex-Vin]

Hi there,

I'm quite interested in getting the 0404 for myself, but I'm still in the market, so I have a few questions before I buy anything:

I noticed that on the 0404 USB there is an external power supply, and I was wondering if that means that you can also use the device separate from a computer?

If this is possible, what I'm thinking of doing would be to hook up the 0404 on the external power supply and then feed it the optical input from my PC -- I'm assuming that the optical input would sound better than the USB...

 

[yeeyy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex-Vin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi there, I'm quite interested in getting the 0404 for myself, but I'm still in the market, so I have a few questions before I buy anything: I noticed that on the 0404 USB there is an external power supply, and I was wondering if that means that you can also use the device separate from a computer? If this is possible, what I'm thinking of doing would be to hook up the 0404 on the external power supply and then feed it the optical input from my PC -- I'm assuming that the optical input would sound better than the USB...

I do not think there will be much different connecting with USB vs Optical.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Maximum output power is 20mW?!
http://www.creative.com/products/pro...ct=15167&nav=1

 

[Aryolkary]

For the owners, is it possible to use the card as an external DAC? In this review: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...-0404-usb.html
it's metioned that some users could manage to do it. But what I'm really interested is knowing if one could connect a Microphone, and then connect the analog out to a minidisc and in this way record portably. I thought of the possibility of connecting the digital out to the minidisc optical in, but I highly highly doubt the card would do the conversion when not connected to a PC.
Also, would it be possible to make a "battery" pack with some AA batteries or the like, so one could use the emu 0404 usb without a computer.

So, to sum up, if anyone could try using the emu as a mic preamp and connect it to a minidisc to see if it works without a computer, that'd be great.
If this worked, one could have really high level quality recording on the go

 

[crystal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex-Vin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi there, I'm quite interested in getting the 0404 for myself, but I'm still in the market, so I have a few questions before I buy anything: I noticed that on the 0404 USB there is an external power supply, and I was wondering if that means that you can also use the device separate from a computer? If this is possible, what I'm thinking of doing would be to hook up the 0404 on the external power supply and then feed it the optical input from my PC -- I'm assuming that the optical input would sound better than the USB...

Well......I can partly answer your question......

I thought I'd try the digital out from my XtremeMusic with the USB to the 0404 unplugged and yes it works. This test is with coaxial, not optical though. It successfully flips to "external sync" at 48K or 96K depending on the sample rate that was last set in the EMU 0404 USB control panel on the PC, when the USB was plugged in.

I haven't tried it with other digital sources yet though.

Direct Monitor is set to "Main".

I ran this test with a tune playing on Windows Media Player.

I won't bother with this setup though because I don't believe that there is an audio benefit and I need the USB for the other functions such as MIDI, but I hope the info helps though.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crystal /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry to sound so glowing, but I'm moving up from a consumer sound card. I couldn't stop putting another CD on just to hear them all over again. More to come.....

Just got mine today and I second that emotion......unless something major changes, this thing is the absolute most insane audio deal I have ever experienced.

Connected it to my Compaq V6120 notebook, installed the drivers only, started Foobar, went into the ASIO dialog in Preferences and added the 0404....plugged in the HD600's, started playback with resampler in 96k ultra mode with no glitches at all.

I think the built in headamp is pretty good, but connecting the mini output to my home PIMETA showed that the built-in amp's dynamics are a bit constrained (what I expected, given that it's a 5VDC unit.)

Here's the kicker, though........I've had a Musical Fidelity CD-Pre24 for a couple of years now, a 24/96 upsampling piece, and I eventually found that driving the HD600's directly from its pre outs provided more detail than driving them with either my Millett or PIMETA connected to the CD-Pre's tape out, so the CD-Pre>HD600's direct became my "reference rig".......but seriously, the EAC rips>Foobar>0404 USB>PIMETA>HD600 chain immediately revealed details that I never, ever heard when listening to the original CD's directly through the MF unit.

The increased separation of instruments is immediately obvious, and the overall sound is detailed yet smooth.

Think about it.....I'm comparing what was a $3000 MSRP CD/preamp combo just a few years ago to a $175 USB dac into a $100-ish head amp, and the cheap rig wins, hands down.

Now, I just have to rip about 300 CD's to FLAC files on my new 120GB portable drive, and I have quite the mobile set up.

 

[Aryolkary]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the built in headamp is pretty good, but connecting the mini output to my home PIMETA showed that the built-in amp's dynamics are a bit constrained (what I expected, given that it's a 5VDC unit.)

Hey, glad for you mate!
Would you have any IEMs to try with it? Or other headphones? Or amps to compare how good the built in amp is.
If by any chance you can try what I asked in my last post (trying the emu without the PC) that would be killer. No matter if you don't have anything to record, but maybe trying to use it as a external dac?

Thanks and hope you enjoy it!

 

[mofonyx]

Are there any jacks on the back?

edit : sorry I kinda found a pdf file looking at both ends of it. There is a line out at the back