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SOUND ON SOUND
•
september 2004
166
o n t e s t
pc soundcard
Martin Walker
J
oining the excellent 1212M, 1820 and
1820M in Emu’s soundcard range, the
new 0404 is also a PCI card, and
features the same E-DSP chip capable of
running up to 16 DSP effects
simultaneously. The 0404 boasts stereo
analogue inputs and outputs, plus both
co-axial and optical S/PDIF digital input and
output, and a MIDI input and output, for an
amazingly low UK price of just £69.99. This
time the analogue I/O is unbalanced, but the
software bundle seems to be exactly the
same as for the 1212M, consisting of
Steinberg’s
Cubasis
and
Wavelab Lite
, the
Sound Guy’s
SFX Machine LT
effects plug-in,
and a trial version of Minnetonka’s
Discwelder Bronze
DVD-Audio burning
application, plus the same Patchmix DSP
utility software as the rest of the range.
Once again this product is currently for PC
users only, and runs either on Windows
2000 or XP.
The Grand Tour
All the 0404’s circuitry, including the
Burr-Brown PCM1820 ADC and AKM AK4395
DAC chips, is on a single PCI card. Both
converter chips are 192kHz-capable, but
only 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz sample rates are
supported here, although at this price I don’t
see this as much of a restriction. As on the
other Emu soundcards, the mysterious Xcard
In and Out connectors are present for
rumoured multi-card support, as well as a
Sync socket so you can attach the optional
Sync daughterboard via an internal ribbon
connector to add word clock in and out,
SMPTE in and out, and MTC (MIDI timecode)
out. I suspect these functions will be overkill
for the majority of potential 0404 users, but
it’s a welcome upgrade option.
All I/O is on flying breakout cables, with
the audio emerging from a nine-pin D-type
connector to four quarter-inch unbalanced
in-line jack sockets, and the digital I/O using
a separate 15-pin D-type connector
terminating in two in-line phono sockets for
co-axial S/DPIF, a tiny in-line box with two
Toslink optical sockets, and two in-line
five-pin DIN MIDI sockets. As its 0404
nomenclature suggests, both S/PDIF inputs
and outputs carry the same signal, so you
can record and play back up to two mono
analogue and two digital signals
simultaneously.
Installation of the 0404 drivers and
Patchmix DSP software went without a hitch,
although for any existing Emu users who are
wondering, you can’t use the 0404
alongside a 1212M, 1820 or 1820M, since
the drivers in each case look for their
specific hardware and don’t currently
support multiple cards. However, although
the 0404 Patchmix DSP software seems
tweaked to only look for the 0404 card, it’s
functionally identical to the version supplied
with Emu’s other, more expensive cards,
with exactly the same selection of 32-bit
DSP effects that run at either 44.1 or 48 kHz
(but are disabled at 96kHz), and once again
there is no hidden sample-rate conversion
going on behind the scenes.
In Use
Since I devoted so much space to explaining
the ins and outs of the Patchmix DSP
software in my extensive review of the
1820M in
SOS
June 2004 (available on-line
myself here, except to reassure new users
Emu
0404
Emu have already taken the market by storm with their
range of affordable, high-performance soundcards, and
their new stereo PCI card offers impressive features and
audio specifications at a budget price.
PC Soundcard
Emu
0404
£70
pros
• Amazing value for money.
• Incredible dynamic range for the price.
• Same DSP effects suite as the more expensive
Emu cards.
cons
• Not currently compatible with
Emulator X
soft
sampler.
• Emu’s MME-WDM and Direct Sound drivers still
don’t support 96kHz operation.
• No GSIF driver support.
summary
Emu’s 0404 is absolutely stunning value for
money at just £69.99, and with a dynamic range
of 112dB it blows away most stereo soundcard
competitors at double the price.
• Sample rates: 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz from
internal clock.
• Analogue inputs: two, unbalanced quarter-
inch jack at -10dBV sensitivity.
• Analogue outputs: two, unbalanced quarter-
inch jack at -10dBV level.
• Digital I/O: S/PDIF in and out on phono
co-axial and Toslink optical, up to
24-bit/96kHz, MIDI In and Out.
• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz,
+0.2/-0.1dB.
• Dynamic range: 111dBA (analogue inputs),
116dBA (analogue outputs).
• THD + noise: -100dB (0.001%), 1kHz signal
at -1dBFS.
Emu 0404 Brief Specifications
