PCMCIA to USB adapter for E-MU 1616

[Pat2070]

Hello

I have a E-MU 1616m soundcard I'd like to use with my new laptop which doesn't have the cardbus slot required.

What is the name of the technical format of that soundcard? (It says Cardbus on the front, but I don't know if that is branding or the technical name for that form factor)

Does anybody else have experience of converting PCMCIA cards to usb?

Does anybody have any recomendations for specific adapter models I could purchase?

Would this adapter work? ---> http://www.inkino.co.uk/zen/index.php?m ... lrbdei4e66

I've already emailed E-MU tech support, although any advice I can get earlier is appreciated!

Many thanks for your help

Patrick

[Pat2070]

Here's the response from E-MU 'customer support'...

Dear Patrick

Thank you for contacting us at E-MU Customer Support.

Please be informed that at this point, we are unable to recommend any type of 3rd party adapter for use on the 1616 cardbus edition via the express card slot. As you can understand the card has already been discontinued sometime ago and is already considered as an "end of life product". There has been no further information whether an E-MU Express card will be on future project or development but feel free to submit your report if you have attempted any testing on the card.

Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this email.
Best Regards

That's rubbish!

Anyone got any tips on verifying the tech details that I must check in order to make this work?

Thanks!

[twisted-space]

I also have the 1616m cardbus. It will not work in a usb adaptor. If you machine has an expresscard slot you could try an expresscard to cardbus adaptor like
this, which is what I currently use. It works ok in xp, vista and win 7 X32, but doesn't work well under win 7 X64 (due I believe to the emu X64 drivers).
There are other adaptors available, but that was the only one I could find that had a cable to move the adaptor away from your laptop.
I've only tested this on my laptop (Dell XPS-M1530), so I can't say if it'll work on your machine.
Personally, I'm saving up for an RME Babyface.

[kmonkey]

Here's the response from E-MU 'customer support'...

Dear Patrick

Thank you for contacting us at E-MU Customer Support.

Please be informed that at this point, we are unable to recommend any type of 3rd party adapter for use on the 1616 cardbus edition via the express card slot. As you can understand the card has already been discontinued sometime ago and is already considered as an "end of life product". There has been no further information whether an E-MU Express card will be on future project or development but feel free to submit your report if you have attempted any testing on the card.

Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this email.
Best Regards

That's rubbish!

Anyone got any tips on verifying the tech details that I must check in order to make this work?

Thanks!

Why is that rubbish? Are they supposed to know or be responsible in any way because you bought their soundcard without checking System Requirements and you failed to understand technical details? Or even worse you bought a new laptop before checking will this new laptop work with your old gear? Oh my..

And they should advice you on using some sort of crazy 3rd party adapter Like yeah i already see they are buying all sort of 3rd party adapters and they test it just to say - hey it is working..


Dude that is not nice behavior. You need to work on some things by yourself you know. When buying gear - but reading everything before (and asking) everything you don't understand is one of them. Company should not be responsible (or their support branded as "rubbish") just because you are lazy or lack to understand what the heck you are buying.

[bronxsound]

^:uhuhuh:

To OP:
Not exactly what you ask about but I did manage to make it work on my desktop via PCI to PCMCIA card (bought @ Maplins).

[Pat2070]

Thank you JW1023 and Bronxsound for sharing your experience! It's good to know there are others who have successfully worked around similar issues with the card!

-------------------

Kmonkey, I agree with you to a point that the onus is on the purchaser. Perhaps if I explain my original thoughts and current intentions better my posts will make more sense to you?

At the time of release, a PCI version of the 1616m card did not exist. Wanting the best card available for a good return on investment over the years, I bought the card despite it using the cardbus format. I bought a PCMCIA to PCI adapter for use in my desktop PC, and it all worked nicely!

More recently, I bought a cheap laptop to allow we to work away from home. The main feature I required in the laptop was portability. Sound was not an issue as I still have the desktop with the 1616m installed.

Since buying the laptop, it has become my main computer.

-------------------

Over the past few weeks I have become interested in speech recognition software (see http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... highlight=). For best results, a decent soundcard and microphone is recommended. As I thought adapters exist for these types of format conversions based on my previous experience, I understandably hoped to be able to use the soundcard I already own.

What I didn't realise until my initial investigations online was that there are many variants on the PCMCIA technology and that not all of them are capable of being converted into formats like USB.

I posted this thread in the hope that people like JW1023 and Bronxsound would be able to offer potential solutions to bridging the formats, and to help me understand the aspects of the technology I don't understand.

-------------------

I contacted E-MU because they understand the technology fully (having produced the product in the first place). I thought they could help me understand the formats involved more clearly so a solution could be found. I even expected them to have a FAQ related to the PCMCIA format conversion issue simply because the technology is growing older (as they gracefully point out), and that they still have a customer base using their legacy products.

Undoubtly anyone using a PCMCIA soundcard will have the same question when trying to use such cards with newer computers. As computer manufacturers are supporting the format less these days, is it unreasonable to expect any company that has created PCMCIA products to anticipate queries regarding format adaption?

-------------------

I believe customer service reflects the ethos of a company, separating those that chase maximal profits in the short term over good reputation and repeat custom in the long term. E-MU has not made any effort on this occassion to point me in the right direction. It also clearly has not made any effort to anticipate an obvious question regarding one of its products, and to formulate a generic FAQ answering such questions.

My opinion of E-MU's response is partially informed by many superior experiences of customer support recieved from competing music technology companies, and technology companies as a whole. (In some cases going well beyond the call of duty!)

When considering I have invested in E-MU financially, am I wrong to suggest that E-MU's customer support provide at least token assistance in answering valid queries with their products?

In summary, on this occassion I find E-MU's response below par. This is especially true considering the factors I have mentioned above and when the 'support' they provide is compared like for like between music technology companies.

-------------------

@ JW1023 - Can I assume your new laptop has an expressbus slot?

My current laptop has neither a cardbus or expressbus slot. I may investigate using a cardbus to expressbus adapter in a expressbus to usb adapter.

There are several other solutions for my goals which I will also investigate. One is to use a dedicated microphone designed for speech recognition. Another is to purchase a cheap usb soundcard for use with the laptop, and to retain the 1616 for projects on my music PC.

Thanks JW1023 and Bronxsound for your valuable input so far!

Later this week I will devote a lot more time to reading about the cardbus format. Hopefully I'll understand whether it is possible to use adapters for the card I have in the manner I wish to use it.

Patrick