[MikoLayer]

i was lucky enough to have my roomate to give me a ride to local radio shack. grabbed a pair of 1/4 phone -> mono plugs, came back and popped them in and they worked like a charm. while they sounded great as everyone else says, i was intrigued by the complexity of Patchmix DSP at first

just to make sure not to post a duplicate thread, i went thru just about every single EMU related discussions; there wasnt a single one on how to set the card up optimally, so i guess it would be a good idea to clear things up right in this thread.

First off, in the playback options i have 24bit FP padded to 32bit / triangluar noise shaping. As for plugins, i only have SSRC resampler set to 96000hz (havnt tried 192khz, not holding my breath tho...) and advanced limiter. The card sounds so sweet and warm as is, eliminating a need for the convolver plugin....

When i played a track in foobar the patchmix dsp spitted out some sort of pop up screen and i chose the one that says +4db (the exact option eludes me at the point

)

Other than that i have not changed anything at all. If you got better suggestion on how to improve the sound even further, please feel free to bombard me with replies. Thanks

 

[shuurajou]

Bookmarked a thread not so long ago as I'm currently interested in the E-mu 1212m, here ya go! http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ighlight=1212m

Out of curiosity -- what kind of cables do you need to hook this soundcard upto a headphone amp, just phono to phono's or more?

 

[MikoLayer]

thx for the link, i really appreciate it

to answer your question, my amp is a DIY zen which accepts both RCA and 1/8'' stereo input. before this card i was using my RCA - stereo 1/8'' y-cable to hook the amp up with the sound card. now i am using the 1/8'' input on the amp, with the RCA end plugged into those radio shack adapters and then into the balanced output of EMU-1212M. the exact name of the radio shack adapter is "Monaural 1/4'' Jack Adapter" (Accepts phono plug, fits 1/4'' phone jack, Gold-plated connectors) part# 274-884

$8.54 for a pair after 7.00% GA sales tax

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuurajou Bookmarked a thread not so long ago as I'm currently interested in the E-mu 1212m, here ya go! http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ighlight=1212m Out of curiosity -- what kind of cables do you need to hook this soundcard upto a headphone amp, just phono to phono's or more?

The card takes 1/4" plugs on both the inputs and outputs. The plugs can either be balanced or unbalanced. If you happen to have a amp that allows for balanced inputs then get balanced cables, it'll lower your noise floor.

 

[shuurajou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasper994 The card takes 1/4" plugs on both the inputs and outputs. The plugs can either be balanced or unbalanced. If you happen to have a amp that allows for balanced inputs then get balanced cables, it'll lower your noise floor.

I don't suppose you know if the Corda HA-1 MKII Amp from Meirer Audio accepts balanced cables? O_o.

Because I'm so new to this I'm a little unsure on how I would be meant to set this up to go into my amp utilizing both of the cards (as I have come to believe is needed?).

Thanks!

 

[JeffL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasper994 The card takes 1/4" plugs on both the inputs and outputs. The plugs can either be balanced or unbalanced. If you happen to have a amp that allows for balanced inputs then get balanced cables, it'll lower your noise floor.

There is no difference between a standard 1/4" TRS - 1/4" TRS stereo and balanced cables.

Most devices with balanced inputs also have XLR inputs.


For the general majority of equipment, you want a -10dB output unbalanced. DO NOT select +4 unless the equipment will handle it, or you will get clipping/distortion.

 

[MikoLayer]

i see.. switched to -10 output unbalanced as suggested.

now, what is the difference between triangle noise shaping and strong ATH noise shaping?

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffL For the general majority of equipment, you want a -10dB output unbalanced. DO NOT select +4 unless the equipment will handle it, or you will get clipping/distortion.

I tend to doubt +4 will distort most amps... my AP 2496 "consumer level" setting is +2dBV (pretty close) and I've never gotten any distortion that I know of. Not sure if there's any other benefit/drawback to using a lower analog output level tho, except maybe being able to use more of the range of the pot on an external amp. Possibly less noise pickup from the analog section on the card at the lower setting... wouldn't you be able to hear sounds nearer the noise floor with the higher setting tho?