My Emu 0404 USB arrived today

[Mojo777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenratiophi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry to threadjack, but my other thread was pretty much dead on arrival. Simple noob question: how big is the gap between the sound from the iMac G4 integrated sound card and the 0404? I'd imagine that there's a difference, but not sure if it will be noticable through my SR60's. Thanks

Its massive! Both my Mini and Macbook with Intel's HD Sound sucked compared to the 0404 USB. I cannot put it more plainly, it's a massive upgrade in sound. I †hink your Grado's will benefit within...ohhh...3 seconds of listening to your favorite jams. If your near a big town you can get it Fry's and return it if you don't like it but I am sure you will.

 

[AngryGuy]

This may sound stupid but, I'm a little confused about what the Emu 0404 USB actually does.

Is it essentially just a sound card and also a decent external DAC? Can I plug it into my LD2++? Ultimately what I want to know is if a 0404 USB would sound better than a PCI 0404 going into my little dot 2++ with K701s.

Would I be better off just buying a cheaper sound card and finding a seperate DAC for roughly the same cost?

 

[Ahriman4891]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngryGuy is it essentially just a sound card and also a decent external DAC?

Every sound card contains a DAC, DAC is what converts 0s and 1s into electric waves which are then amplified and converted to sound waves by your speakers/headphones. It's just the word "external" is dropped when they talk about Lavry, Benchmark, Zhaolu, etc.

They say that the amp in 0404usb is not beefy enough to amp K701 properly, since they have very low sensitivity. So you may be better off with LD2++, although I'm not familiar with either those headphones or that amp. As for pure source quality, the consensus seems to be:

0404PCI(new) << ESI Juli@ << 0404USB < (<= ?) 1212M

As I said, I'm not familiar with LD2++, it may mask the differences, and I believe those differences will be quite subtle to begin with. All these cards except 1212M use AKM DACs, so sound should be similar. Of course, DAC output is affected by the whole supporting scheme, opamp quality, power filtering... But unless you switch between them immediately, I doubt you'll notice the difference.

 

[AngryGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahriman4891 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Every sound card contains a DAC, DAC is what converts 0s and 1s into electric waves which are then amplified and converted to sound waves by your speakers/headphones. It's just the word "external" is dropped when they talk about Lavry, Benchmark, Zhaolu, etc. They say that the amp in 0404usb is not beefy enough to amp K701 properly, since they have very low sensitivity. So you may be better off with LD2++, although I'm not familiar with either those headphones or that amp. As for pure source quality, the consensus seems to be: 0404PCI(new) << ESI Juli@ << 0404USB < (<= ?) 1212M As I said, I'm not familiar with LD2++, it may mask the differences, and I believe those differences will be quite subtle to begin with. All these cards except 1212M use AKM DACs, so sound should be similar. Of course, DAC output is affected by the whole supporting scheme, opamp quality, power filtering... But unless you switch between them immediately, I doubt you'll notice the difference.

In other words, for the best overall sound quality if I was only buying one of these I should get the 1212M and hook it into my LD2++? Since the price seems to be around $150 this seems like my best value if I am understanding right.

(Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread

)

 

[Ahriman4891]

I suppose yes, although the difference betw. 0404usb and 1212M is pretty slight. Scroll all the way down for listening tests. (keep in mind I have 0404USB, so I'm automatically biased

)

But since you already have LD2++, I think 1212M is the way to go. Plus it's cheaper.

 

[kamal007]

so xfi xtrememusic is out of the race?

 

[Autochthon]

I ended up getting the 0404|USB over the 1212m for non-sound quality issues. I had limited remaining space inside my computer and the 1212m uses 1 pci slot and an additional slot for the daughter card. The USB also gave me the option of using it with my laptop when i'm away from my desktop. But beyond that the 0404 is slightly more non-pro consumer friendly with both headphone amp and additional 1/8 inch stereo output. I also find myself using the external balance/volume controls constantly; very handy if you are in a full screen application and don't want to navigate to a software panel. I judge the cost difference as pretty trivial buy the features that suit your needs.

 

[Veniogenesis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abbadon /img/forum/go_quote.gif The headphone output is 1/4".

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

I tried looking on the EMU/Creative website but saw nothing regarding the output jack size specifications.

 

[Ghanso]

I bought the 0404usb myself some time ago and as a reaction to the sound quality:
When I give my onboard alc880 HD chip of my laptop the index of 100, I would rate my new 0404usb as 140. I give an other older onboard chip (VIA AC'97) the index of 75-80.
So it is a step forward for me, much more pleasure in listening.

 

[appletree]

So I finnaly bought my E-MU 0404 USB today, and I want to know what kind of cable do I need if I want to connect it as a standalone DAC (without USB) using digital output of my X-Fi Xtreme Music card. I guess I need coaxial cable ending with 1/8 jack connector to be plugged into X-Fi, but I dont know what connectors should be used for E-MU.
http://www.ixbt.com/proaudio/emu/0404usb/frontb.jpg

I would assume that I need something that could be pluged into the "dark square" marked as "In" but I don't know what is the exact name of such connector and I am also not sure what is the purpose of those two RCA plugs above - do they play any role / could be used for digital in or out ? Also does quality (& price) of the cable affect SQ ? It will be used only over short distance.

 

[Ahriman4891]

You need a RCA on one end and a 1/8" on the other. The "dark square" is for optical, so ignore it and go for the rca input right above it.

 

[sejarzo]

There is a picture on the Creative web site that shows a cable with a 1/8" TS (mono) mini on one end and an RCA on the other, connecting an X-Fi to some sort of external device:

Use such a cable if you wish to complete an electrical digital connection....or you can use a TOSLINK to make the optical connection placing a mini-jack optical adapter into the Flexijack, then connecting a standard optical cable between the adapter and the 0404 USB.

Why not simply use it via USB, though?

 

[appletree]

Thanx ! I want to use X-Fi DSP effects for games / movies and for music simply switch to bit perfect playback. This should nicely combine advantages of both cards. Also the playback over USB uses ~ 15% CPU (not a big concern now, but could become later if I wanted to listen to music and also extensively use CPU) Also I heard that USB connection contains mutch more jitter than through digital coaxial - I don't know how serious this is, because even through USB it sound very good to me (I guess that my ears are to weak to hear something like jitter)
And I would like to mention that E-MU 0404 USB can be used also with some older FPS game when connected through USB. I was testing on Q3 and I was easily able to get the optimal 125fps without any audible artifacts in sound.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by appletree /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also I heard that USB connection contains mutch more jitter than through digital coaxial - I don't know how serious this is, because even through USB it sound very good to me (I guess that my ears are to weak to hear something like jitter)

Or, it just might be that there really is not any significant difference in jitter due to the way the 0404 USB is designed.

As to the cable shown in that picture, I've thought about it a little more and wonder if just any 1/8" TS to RCA would work. Inexpensive cables designed for analog audio only would likely be a shielded, twisted pair rather than a coaxial design, which is what is really needed for digital transfer.

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/RCA-mini-spdif.html

 

[appletree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've thought about it a little more and wonder if just any 1/8" TS to RCA would work.

Great, actually I was willing to ask this question before I read your post. So there shouldn't be any difference in signal quality only in price ?
Btw this is odd, but I went to the big nearby shop with electronics (audio/video/PCs) and I couldn't find any cable ending with 1/8" jack and RCA

Only lots of 1/8" stereo jack to 2 RCAs which I guess are useless.