[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1)Any issues I should be aware of using E-MU 0404 USB 2 with Windows Vista? Anyone have any problems?

Anyone using EMU 0404 with Windows Vista computer?

EMU website says they will not have official Vista drivers for 0404 till Q3 2007 but who knows when they will be available, can't believe it is taking some companies this long to issue Vista drivers!

Just want to use 0404 as USB plug n play soundcard/headphone amp and don't need all the recording features etc

 

[3000]

You might want to take a look at the Fubar III as well, I probably would have bought that one if I hadn't already have a E-MU 0404 usb..

 

[Gatticus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone using EMU 0404 with Windows Vista computer? EMU website says they will not have official Vista drivers for 0404 till Q3 2007 but who knows when they will be available, can't believe it is taking some companies this long to issue Vista drivers! Just want to use 0404 as USB plug n play soundcard/headphone amp and don't need all the recording features etc

I use it in Vista but I have it set up using digital out from my X-Fi to the EMU digital in. If you don't need the recording capabilities then it is best to set up the EMU that way using COAX. Less jitter than USB.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatticus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use it in Vista but I have it set up using digital out from my X-Fi to the EMU digital in. If you don't need the recording capabilities then it is best to set up the EMU that way using COAX. Less jitter than USB.

My Vista computer has no soundcard so no digital out connection, sound is integrated on motherboard so I will have to use the USB connection for EMU 0404.......just hope Vista allows a plug n play set-up so I can use basic audio/headphone capabilities

Wait......computer does have a cheap looking digital RCA jack on back so maybe I can try that connection method also

 

[goldnbearbuckeye]

What kind of cables do you need for the 'unbalanced outputs' on the back of the Emu?

I bought an RCA/RCA cable to try to connect them to my M-Audio DX4s (I'm an idiot. Those unbalanced outputs on the Emu aren't RCA).

So what kind of connection is it? I'm looking on monoprice but I can't find the right one.

I'm assuming that using these unbalanced outputs instead of the 1/8" jack is going to improve sound quality.

 

[sejarzo]

For connection to an unbalanced amp, standard RCA cables with two of these adapters inserted in the 1/4" TRS outputs of the 0404 USB:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103711

Or.....cables made up with 1/4" TS (mono) phone plugs on one end and RCA's on the other.

 

[Gatticus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wait......computer does have a cheap looking digital RCA jack on back so maybe I can try that connection method also

Yep. My latest mb (Asus P5K) which is still in the box has onboard digital coax and optical. I use seperate soundcards though. You can get a Chaintech
AV-710 for twenty bucks if the onboard is crap.

 

[Gatticus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif For connection to an unbalanced amp, standard RCA cables with these inserted in the 1/4" TRS inputs of the 0404 USB: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103711

Yep, this is what I use to connct my EMU 0404 USB to my amp, just bought two of them a few days ago. Get two mono as you don't need stereo jacks.
I'm using the 1/8" output to feed my subwoofer so had to use the 1/4" TRS outputs. I use the Mic HiZ to get a siganl from my second PC. Two computers in to the EMU 0404 USB. All works like a dream and I'm glad I did get the EMU 0404 as it is very versatile and sounds good too.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldnbearbuckeye /img/forum/go_quote.gif ......(I'm an idiot. Those unbalanced outputs on the Emu aren't RCA). So what kind of connection is it?

No, you are not an idiot, the way it is set up is confusing. I should have answered this for you in my post about the adapters....and sorry if you know most of the following, but this confusion has been common, so I'll do my best to explain it:

The outputs on the 0404 USB are balanced outputs if you use TRS plugs (like a stereo headphone plug) wired properly to feed a balanced amp. TRS is "tip-ring-sleeve".....when used for balanced mono signals, the tip is "hot", the ring is "cold", and the sleeve is "ground". Whatever signal appears at the "tip" is balanced by an equal and opposite signal on the "ring"........balanced!

If you insert a TS plug, it shorts the ring/cold to the sleeve/ground. The circuit auto-detects that (how, I dunno, ask an EE.....shorting outputs to ground seems to me to be the last thing you would want to do, but I'm a chemical engineer!) and you end up with a regular unbalanced signal, with the tip being the signal and the sleeve being ground.

So, the outputs are both balanced and unbalanced. Lots of gear is set up that way........but AFAIK, it would be more typical to use XLR's and not TRS's for the outputs on a piece of gear like this.

Your confusion is quite understandable!

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone using EMU 0404 with Windows Vista computer? EMU website says they will not have official Vista drivers for 0404 till Q3 2007 but who knows when they will be available, can't believe it is taking some companies this long to issue Vista drivers! Just want to use 0404 as USB plug n play soundcard/headphone amp and don't need all the recording features etc

EMU 0404 arrived today.........

Got mine from Beach Audio at Amazon Sellers, arrived in 2 days! Unit comes with free USB 2 cable inside, hooked unit up to my Vista computer using USB 2 cable, I installed only the basic driver disc and not the various other discs that come in package, 2 minutes later it was done successful installation!

I have tried various music formats using Windows Media Player 11 on my Vista computer: CD, 256k MP3 files, music samples from online websites etc using Senn 600/Cardas cable attached to EMU 0404 headphone output.......sounds great!

Very nice improvement from integrated sound that comes with computer

 

[Jahn]

Welcome to the EMU0404 club! Yeh, integrated soundcards are not for we Computers-as-Source Head-fiers!

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif EMU 0404 arrived today......... Very nice improvement from integrated soundcard that comes with computer

I'd say!

Now what you really need to do is set up Foobar and run the unit via ASIO!

Using version 0.8.3 was a breeze for me on either the desktop or notebook.

 

[Gatticus]

My only complaint about the EMU 0404 USB is when using it as an external DAC and I reboot my PC it loses external sync and I have to switch it off and make it sync to the sample rate again. Couldn't they have put a hard switch on it to force it to use the sample rate of your choosing? This would have made it perfect for my purposes.

 

[appletree]

sejarzo: Thanx yet once again - for your detailed explanation of huge sound difference speaker out vs. headpone out. I was thinking that there shouldn't be such a HUGE difference when they both use the same DAC, now I am no longer wondering

Quote:

Originally Posted by bludo /img/forum/go_quote.gif the non elite X-Fi uses the JRC NJM4556 opamp on the main channels output, the elite has the JRC NJM2114

And this is the same as headphone amp ? From my amateur point of view JRC NJM4556 seems to drive both line out & headphone out which are all in the same jack input. When I switch drivers from speakers 2.1 mode to headphones mode it sounds "different" however I register simillar changes not only when outputing analog but also in digital therefore I think that the "difference" is exclusively based on manipulations with digital signal rather then with analog signal.
(Btw: I got digital out finally working with ~10$ cable / gold plated stereo jack -> 2xRCA when using only the correct one of the RCAs for the SPDIF. Ironically it is the cable I got at home for ages. Since I'll use it only for games / movies which I play / watch sporadically I dont care that much about the quality, but I didn't notice any cracking, popping etc. anyway)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatticus /img/forum/go_quote.gif My only complaint about the EMU 0404 USB is when using it as an external DAC and I reboot my PC it loses external sync and I have to switch it off and make it sync to the sample rate again. Couldn't they have put a hard switch on it to force it to use the sample rate of your choosing? This would have made it perfect for my purposes.

Wouldn't be better for you to use it connected to USB all the time and then set it in the EMU Control Panel with "Sync Source" option as "External" ? I find it more comfortable and faster: e.g. switching from "bit perfect mode"@44.1 kHz to "game mode"@48kHz is done almost instantly that way(it takes only the time you need to switch in X-fi drivers). You can simply select the desired sample rate to match sample rate of the source with "Sample rate" option in the EMU control panel. Even after reboot - to make it sync again is matter of few clicks. And As DarkAngel mentioned, his EMU works also on Vista + USB, therefore I guess that there should be already out some Vista drivers (As I understand it, his installation CD comes with Vista support. I didn't try my own CD because I don't run Vista)

 

[ade1982]

Can anyone suggest how I might set-up foobar, with plug-ins and the rest of it, to make my EMU 0404 and Senn 595 sound best? I currently listen to all music through those headphones.

Cheers!