anybody use EMU 0404 usb?

[kensuguro]

hey all, I'm still looking for a minimal usb audio interface.. I'm not looking for anything crazy, but I need something better than a presonus usb thing.. Emu 0404 usb seems to come up as having acceptable DAC.. not sure what your experience may be with these simple interfaces. It seems to me they're pretty much all the same.. Any particular one better than the rest? I mean, I don't mind paying, I just don't have firewire, need MIDI, and 2 or more inputs but no more than 4.. and 2 out is fine. I just need to be able to go into the PA system.

can't believe how difficult it is to find just a simple interface.. It's hard because I see all these reviews here people are comparing things to the soundblaster audigy and stuff.. "it's a great improvement over my m-audio XXX".. I'd like to shoot a little higher than that.. Maybe I have to go firewire? But then I get into firewire chipset problems..

[valis]

RME Babyface (based on the Fireface UC) is what I'm waiting for. They haven't shipped yet. Considerably more expensive than the 0404 usb, but on modern (core2 & higher) intel/amd chipsets the RME Fireface UC gets the lowest latency of any interface I'm aware of, with exceptional cpu performance. Were I not so happy with my 8 year old Multiface, I would probably just get the fireface UC (but I don't need that much i/o for mobile use. which is where the babyface will be nice.)

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_babyface.php

[kensuguro]

hmm, fireface uc looks cool.. but ya, I don't need that many io.. babyface definitely looks promising.. I wonder when it'll come out. i kinda need one now.

[valis]

It was initially due out Aug. 10th and that was relisted on several shops as the 30th... We know how the 'almost ready just sourcing one more part/fixing one more bug!' game goes though, it could be next week or next month.

Apogee's Duet/Solo interfaces for OSX are nice and have bootcamp drivers iirc (and also have heating issues under OSX with the apple supplied firewire drivers) but their windows support sucks in general (even with bootcamp) and I wouldn't really recommend them to someone that wasn't a prosumer or garageband user (and certainly not a windows user.)

Skip the cheap presonus interfaces if you don't baby your stuff. I had one and know several others who also did, I liked its small size but not the short lifespan of the knobs or the overall build quality. Presonus's consumer/prosumer gear isn't very well built for road use (google Chris @ analog industries talking about the surface mounted knobs on his Central Station for an anecdotal reference )

Focusrite had some smaller i/o boxes in their Saffire series that I actually thought sounded decent, but their driver support wound up being lackluster. Vista drivers took AGES, though that was the case for many. But Win7 drivers again were the same and having already recommended the other ones to people and still no Win7 drivers in sight (other than some betas I talked their devs out of) I'm not sure I would recommend their products.

In fact that applies to so many other companies (TC, M-Audio/Digi/Avid, Steinberg's rebadged stuff etc.) if the format turns out to be unpopular or they decide to refresh a given pricepoint you might find driver support only last 2-3 years at best. While m-audio continues support for stuff like the Delta1010LT for years because it's been sold into so many musical packages for schools. Personally I'm kind of tired of buying $3-400 devices to get acceptable sound quality for monitoring and stacking them in the closet just due to software issues. They are useful for adding a few extra machines to the room but I'm really getting to the point where the AC bill is enough already myself...

RME has continually provided drivers for anything not-ISA based and I think will continue to do so. That's important for a device costs enough that I don't want to relegate it to the production room in 2 years. I can't know if the babyface will have some manufacturing defect, but RME will track issues and usually seems to solve them if they prove repeatable and are able to track down the source of the issue.

Emu I'm not so sure about, their drivers do still seem to be out but Creative Labs is driven mostly by marketing/executives making the decisions so I've avoided even the 'm' stuff that has 'pro tools quality converters'. The 1212m & 1812m did have some nice scene mods that enabled them to beat the modded RME stuff that people were doing at the time for 'sound quality' but that doesn't apply to the 0404 I'm sure (and the 0404 iirc shares the 'non-m' 1212's converters.)

[kensuguro]

Ah, I see you've gone through the list as well. Rme stuff are definitely the best candidates.. If only they didn't cost an arm and a leg.. Motu's usb/FireWire thing is promising, except it only does bus powered on FireWire. Otherwise it suites the bill

all the other cheap ones seem to be for people who think protools le or GarageBand is the only way to record music.. And they got a guitar from back in the days lying around and can play tears in heaven, and more than words.

[iSiStOy]

Hi guys,

4 USB I can't be of any help but regarding Firewire, you'll also find these, from TC:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/audiointerfaces.asp

I own the Konnekt since 2008 and I am quite happy with it, even if I find its routing capabilities quite limited (compared to Xite, it's a Lapalissade).

[kensuguro]

Interesting reading audiophiles review recording gear:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/472 ... fire-6-usb
It's always funny when people list gear as their identity..

I'm going with the saffire, knowing I'd probably get the babyface when it comes out. Who knows, if saffire is not half as bad I might stick with it. I'm not too picky about my gear so, whatever works. I just need to get some sound in and out of my tracking notebook. I mean, I've been recording and gigging with a m-audio audiophile usb (old, OLD one), which I had no complaints about... so anything is a step up.

[valis]

Saffire is great, I actually thought the converters & Pre's were considerably better than m-audio etc in that pricerange (with the possible exception of the TC unit.) Just be aware that the first 2 models ("Saffire" and "Saffire LE") don't have non-beta Win7 drivers yet. That may not matter to you The stuff that's in their current lineup on their website should be fine ( you can only find the 2 models I mentioned in their support section now iirc.)

[kensuguro]

well, I ran out and got the saffire 6 at the nearby (the only) guitarcenter in manhattan.. It worked out of the box as expected, glad I didn't get any usb issues like I've seen other users had.

Inputs are fairly decent, outs sound okay too, both nothing superb but expected. My only gripe is that while the output sounds fine, the phone monitor sounds like it doesn't have enough juice. I'm using akg k240 studio, which is easy to drive, but still obviously sounds dull. Attack is rounded, and high end is blurred. To me, it's to a point of not being able to do any drum sound making. (all kicks have their edges rounded off, can't hear any enhancer type effect do its work) I'll just plug into my cheap behringer, which the saffire outs go to, and use that to drive my cans. (which fortunately sounds fine) Not something that I expected from focusrite.. but still, you'd have to expect the worst from a $200 audio device. At least it didn't catch on fire and explode. It is strange how no reviews made a mention of this.. maybe it's just the akg 240s.. but a weak phone jack should be fairly obvious.. that's why you need a musician to review things!

The thing also comes with a suite of focusrite branded vst effects.. a comp, a gate (why?), a reverb (why?), and an eq. I guess I can take their comp for a test drive, but I'm not expecting anything.. I would have loved it if they bundled a focusrite branded 3osc synth instead.

Over all though, I'm happy I got something that's usb bus powered, outputs audio, and also takes mic input. I plugged it in and sound came out, so I got what I needed. I just hope this thing is stable in performance, we'll see.

[garyb]

i'm sure it will work just fine.

[dawman]

I am so glad you're gigging.
Thats where you really learn music.............PRESSURE.

[valis]

Headphone out issues sound like a combination of impedance & being usb powered... otherwise congrats.