EMU 404 User manual

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SOUND ON SOUND •september 2004
166
on test
pc soundcard
Martin Walker
Joining 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
to subscribers at www.soundonsound.com/
sos/jun04/articles/emu.htm) I won’t repeat
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

that while it may seem impenetrable at first,
loading in the various Session templates
should soon make things clearer.
Running my audio tests using
Rightmark’s Audio Analyser v5.3, the 0404
turned in a truly superb performance for a
£69.99 soundcard, with a frequency
response that was +0.14/ 0.13dB from 20Hz
to 20kHz, and total harmonic distortion of
just 0.002 percent. However, it’s the
dynamic range measurements that are most
remarkable: at an astonishing 112dBA, this
is an amazing 16dB better than M Audio’s
Audiophile 2496, 12dB better than their
Firewire 410, and 4dB better than Echo’s
Mia. Only when you compare it with Emu’s
own 1212M and 1820M do its results fall
behind by about 6dB.
Of course background noise levels aren’t
the whole story, and in listening tests the
differences between the 0404 and my
benchmark Echo Mia were extremely subtle,
whereas to my ears the 1820M was
noticeably more clear and focused.
However, given that Echo’s Mia MIDI
currently sells for about £160, and apart
from its balanced I/O provides roughly the
same features as the 0404 minus the DSP
effects, this is still an excellent result.
Emu’s ASIO drivers once again worked
very well inside Cubase down to latencies of
4ms on my PC at 44.1kHz, and I managed a
very good 10ms Play Ahead setting with NI’s
ro 53 soft synth using the Direct Sound
drivers, and the usual indifferent Windows
XP result of 45ms with the MME ones. Also,
although I read claims on a web forum that
Emu’s drivers aren’t yet multi client, I had no
problems running the MME WDM drivers and
ASIO ones simultaneously with different
applications, or allocating different pairs of
ASIO drivers to multiple applications. Like
the 1010 PCI card of the more expensive
Emu cards, the 0404 also supports up to 32
ASIO inputs and outputs, so you can mix
down the outputs from these multiple
applications internally using the Patchmix
DSP utility and route them all to the 0404’s
stereo analogue or digital I/O. On the minus
side, while the ASIO drivers can be used at
44.1, 48 and 96 kHz, Emu still haven’t
released MME WDM drivers for any of their
range that support 96kHz sample rates, and
using Gigastudio isn’t an option either, since
there are no GSIF drivers at present.
Cream Of The Crop
At this price and with this spec I suspect
most other soundcard manufacturers will
have shed a few tears behind the scenes
when Emu released the 0404. I can’t think of
a single alternative at a similar price that
provides remotely similar functions and
performance. In fact, I suspect the 0404 may
tempt some potential purchasers away from
Emu’s own 1212M model, which is more
than double the price, since the 0404
provides exactly the same DSP effects and
versatile Patchmix DSP mixer. So what
compromises would there be?
Well, you lose the balanced analogue
inputs and outputs (which, as many
musicians are finding, can help solve a lot of
ground loop problems when connecting to
other mains powered gear), the Firewire
port, ADAT functions and 192kHz
sample rate support. Also, while you do still
have the Sync board as an option, for the
time being at least the excellent Emulator X
soft sampler isn’t compatible with the 0404,
and without GSIF driver support you can’t
use Gigastudio either, leaving Halion,
Mach V or Kontakt as the only real
soft sampling options. However, as long as
you’re happy with unbalanced analogue I/O
and don’t need more than two analogue ins
and outs, there simply isn’t anything
available to my knowledge that provides
such professional sounding audio at this
price. Emu have done it again!
SOUND ON SOUND •september 2004
168
on test
pc soundcard
EMU 0404
Emu’s 0404 has the
same multi-channel
DSP mixer and
effects as its more
expensive cousins.
£
£69.99 including VAT.
T
Emu Europe [phone].
F
[phone].
W
www.emu.com
information
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• Emu 0404 Windows XP driver version 5.12.01.0495.
• Intel Pentium 4C 2.8GH processor with
hyperthreading, Asus P4P800 Deluxe motherboard
with Intel 865PE chip set and 800MH front side
buss, 1GB DDR400 RAM, running Windows XP with
Service Pack 1.
• Tested with Steinberg Cubase SX 2.2 and Wavelab
5.0, Native Instruments Pro 53.
Test Spec