[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maeda /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... jiiteepee, no go, i tried all your options, but asked/read on unofficial emu board, apparently new? drivers will enable volume taskbar icon, will try that.

You know, the volume control may well indeed only work with the newest drivers......I could swear that with the original drivers and the first official updated drivers, the speaker icon would disappear from my systray when I powered up the 0404 USB, and would reappear when it was powered down and the Realtek onboard sound took over as the default device!

I installed a couple of their beta drivers and went back and forth for a while, so I'm unsure of when the capability to control volume via the Windows master slider was incorporated.....but it definitely does work now with the latest official release drivers, and it does so even when running Foobar via ASIO.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

The thing I don't understand is why volume control would work when its running in ASIO mode. ASIO bypasseses Windows mixer and is native to the software that is using the device at that moment. Which means Foobar should be the only software level control that should work and windows control should not work.

If it does, then I don't see how its ASIO implementation at all.

 

[sejarzo]

Yes, that's what I thought, but jiiteepee has an explanation for that.......don't you, jiiteepee????

 

[jiiteepee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, that's what I thought, but jiiteepee has an explanation for that.......don't you, jiiteepee????

Well, it's been on the table here few times already so little searching ...

jiitee

 

[infinitesymphony]

OP, I completely agree with your perception of the 0404 USB's sound signature, so I appreciate your comparison of it with the 0202 USB. This thread should do a great job of answering the question, "Which is right for me?"

I just sent E-MU a question about the master volume slider affecting volume from an ASIO application, so we'll see what they have to say...

 

[liupublic]

Anyone used 0404 or 0202 w/ Itune on a XP computer. Thinking about getting one for work to pair with DT770 80ohms version. Currently powering the headphone with laptop docking station's headphone output. Would an external E-MU USB sound card be a good upgrade solution? Portability is not an issue since I will only listen at the desk anyway.

My other main concern is that I also store all the lossless files on an external USB HD. Would there be a bottleneck problem?

 

[terrymx]

From your description the 0202 and 0404 sounds like some kind of polar opposites. Your description of each of them remind me of those bad characteristics from the 0404pci, which was aggressive sounding and too much bass at the sametime. Anyway hope I am wrong, since I'm looking for and affordable dac that is extremely neutral and uncolored like the 1212m.

 

[maeda]

When i saw volume icon disappeared upon install, my first wild & wrong guess was that emu patchmix software w/ asio bypassed windows default mixer, but i didn't installed any emu asio drviers so..

I did too, send emu a letter through their support page, 2 weeks ago, nothing in my mailbox yet.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maeda /img/forum/go_quote.gif When i saw volume icon disappeared upon install, my first wild & wrong guess was that emu patchmix software w/ asio bypassed windows default mixer, but i didn't installed any emu asio drviers so.. I did too, send emu a letter through their support page, 2 weeks ago, nothing in my mailbox yet.

maeda.......there is NO PatchMix software involved with the 0202 USB/0404 USB drivers.

Are you sure that you are downloading and installing the right drivers?

 

[maeda]

yes i know that now

there are 2 download links at emu site

E-MU® 0202 / 0404 USB Web Install Package
Date: 4/23/2007
Size: 24.5 MB

E-MU® 0202 / 0404 / Tracker Pre USB Web Install Package v1.3
Date: 2/1/2008
Size: 69.8 MB

 

[sejarzo]

The new v1.3 package allows me to use the Windows master volume slider with the 0404 USB.

That new package is larger than the previous one, but it appears to contain all documents for all of the devices in all languages.....I don't think that the driver itself has become overly bloated--I don't see any difference in CPU usage versus previous versions.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiiteepee /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, it's been on the table here few times already so little searching ...

And that's what I has hoping to encourage by bringing up the point!

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Quote:

From your description the 0202 and 0404 sounds like some kind of polar opposites. Your description of each of them remind me of those bad characteristics from the 0404pci, which was aggressive sounding and too much bass at the sametime. Anyway hope I am wrong, since I'm looking for and affordable dac that is extremely neutral and uncolored like the 1212m.

I wouldnt call either of them neutral. They each have their own characteristics, and they can be looked at as pros or cons depending on what you like.

But between the two, the 0404 can probably be considered more neutral sounding overall.

 

[JVOBIKER]

Thanks for the review.

I am looking at external DACs right now because my Mac doesn't offer a line-out connection. I have a pair of Alessandro MS-1s and a Minibox-E+ headphone amp. I was using the line-out port on the iPod dock but then I have to play everything through the iPod instead of using iTunes on my computer.

I was pretty much set on the Edirol UA-1EX, which seemed to be the best external DAC under $100. I didn't want to buy a EMU 0404 cause its huge and I don't want that thing sitting on my desk. I had never considered the EMU 0202 because no one seemed to talk about it. Would this provide a better line-out signal than the Edirol usb dac? I was just looking at the manual and it says the main outputs are "unbalanced outputs." I'm not really sure what that means. Will this provide me with a line-out signal or is the signal always going to run through the amp inside the 0202 first?

Thanks

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

"Balanced audio is carried on a pair of wires, neither of which is grounded; the lines being driven with equal voltage, but each with opposite polarity"

"An unbalanced line uses one wire for the signal and another for the ground. Unlike balanced lines, unbalanced lines use the ground for signal return. In typical unbalanced cables, the ground is the cable shield."

got that from a quick search.

The EMU has a headphone amp with dedicated volume control. The Main Live level output does not have a volume control as I mentioned before, but yes, that will be your line out as such.

You would use the Main outputs of the 0202 to connect to your external amp. There are two options for this. One is to use the TS connectors, convert them to RCA using a TS->RCA converter cable

or use a converter with RCA cable cable.

Or you can use a regular mini-mini

or mini-RCA connector since the 0202 has both.

As for comparisons, I personally havent heard the Edirol, so I really can't comment on how good it is. But I do remember considering it when I bought the 0202, and I chose the 0202 in the end based on my research.