EMU 0404 DSP audio card : Audigy card in disguise?

[bebop]

EMU just launched a really low cost DSP audio card, the EMU 0404, ready to fill one of your pci slot at only 99$ :

http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp ... tegory=754

I don't know if this is really interesting, no one seems to have tried it yet, but maybe one of you has got some infos about how good or bad or odd it can be.

Who knows, maybe at once a good low cost product? It's said to be based on EMU 1820M, 1820 & 1212M technology, but Creative Labs Audigy cards are also based on EMU technology, so what of this exactly?

[Majken]

EMU is owned by Creative, that however does not mean EMU soundcards are Audigy cards. They're completely different although sold by the same company. Much like GM owns a bunch of car brands, they're still not the same car in disguise.

EMU 0404 seems like a good soundcard along with the new ESI Juli@. And there are no reviews yet since they're both too new. First magazine reviews should be around in a month or two. My guess is that EMU 0404 will be a very priceworthy card, I bought an EMU-X Studio and the 1820m is a very nice soundcard, the basic design of 0404 should be similar.

/Majken

[Stupid American Pig]

Much like GM owns a bunch of car brands, they're still not the same car in disguise.

That may not be the best analogy, since actually there are relatively few GM cars(corvette, Caddy slk, a few others) that arent the same platform with a different skin. I cant believe people are buying Saabs these days as its a chevy malibu with leather seats and console mounted starter...

[Spratman]

I'd like to see something about how the fx are supposed to be used with sequencers (something about vst or dx compatiblity would be nice....). I'm guessing this is a closed standard device to.

Spratman

[Kim Lajoie]

I'd like to see something about how the fx are supposed to be used with sequencers (something about vst or dx compatiblity would be nice....).

If it's anything like the "bigger" Emu cards, it'll be a bit of a fiddle - you have to load the effect into the "DSP Patchmix" (or whatever it's called) software that manages the card, and load a "VST bridge" plugin in your host where you want to use the effect. And you have to use DSP Patchmix software to edit the effect parameters (can't do it in your host - the VST bridge plugin has no useful controls). And there's no automation.

Forever,




Kim.

[Majken]

Much like GM owns a bunch of car brands, they're still not the same car in disguise.

That may not be the best analogy, since actually there are relatively few GM cars(corvette, Caddy slk, a few others) that arent the same platform with a different skin. I cant believe people are buying Saabs these days as its a chevy malibu with leather seats and console mounted starter...

True enough I suppose. As i understood it Saab is no longer using their own engines which is a bloody shame. Anyway though, Creative/EMU sort of works the same way i suppose. EMU may use some ideas from Creative but the actual model is different. Things like FireWire connector and such would very likely not be included had Creative not been around.

/Majken

[Spratman]

If it's anything like the "bigger" Emu cards, it'll be a bit of a fiddle - you have to load the effect into the "DSP Patchmix" (or whatever it's called) software that manages the card, and load a "VST bridge" plugin in your host where you want to use the effect. And you have to use DSP Patchmix software to edit the effect parameters (can't do it in your host - the VST bridge plugin has no useful controls). And there's no automation.

That is what was going through my mind on the matter. I don't mind static fx if I'm doing special fx too much, I used to do that with my sblive a fair bit, but trying to do things with music and the onboard fx was always a pain with the live (and then you'd upgrade liveware and wish you really hadn't!). I'd have thought EMU would kind of be thinking about the whole convenience issue. Then again they're protecting themselves by keeping routings etc in their own format in their own special purpose programs I guess. If they had an open api for the thing I'd imagine someone would be at it like a chainsaw to an amazonian forest (not that I suggest anyone try that literally speaking).

It'd be lovely to have a set of nice compressors and so forth with no cpu overhead...(considering my overusage of live fx )

Spratman

[peejunk]

It seems that, at least software and DSP-wyse, 0404 is another 1010 system card, much like 1212 and 1820 ones. It seems to have same converters as non-M 1820, but no ballanced outs and ins, no ADAT and it's all on just one PCI card.

It still looks like a bargain to me.

[ericj23]

its not the same convertors as the rest of the 1820 series

they have 192 Khz inputs

but i think otherwise they are much the same

[peejunk]

its not the same convertors as the rest of the 1820 series

they have 192 Khz inputs

yeah I've checked the specs, my bad

[ambe]

the way i see it is that emu have pretty much been responsible for creatives sound card lineup from the awe32. the dsp chips were all emu chips and without them they woulden't have had much over the competition (and soundfonts woulden't be around either).

it is clear that there are similarities between the audigy chip and the emu chip, although i don't beleive it is exactly the same chip as whats in the audigies, as some people seem to be claiming. was strange though that when i installed my 1820m the kx drivers picked it up as a 10k2 based card .

from what i've heard from the kx forums though, the kx drivers install but don't play or record anything through the card.

this new 0404 card though does look like it could finally be somthing to beat the m-audio audiophile. its basically the same specs but with 1/4" inputs / outputs, hardware fx, and flexible software routing. oh yeah, and its a lot cheaper too.

[Kim Lajoie]

the way i see it is that emu have pretty much been responsible for creatives sound card lineup from the awe32. the dsp chips were all emu chips and without them they woulden't have had much over the competition (and soundfonts woulden't be around either).

Good point. It's likely that any similarities between the Audigy and the EMU DSP will be that the EMU DSP is Emu technology, and the Audigy is "based on" EMU technology.... Or something like that.

Forever,




Kim.

[peejunk]

The chip seems to be based on 10k2 to some extent. That doesen't make it Audigy thos. Besides, 99% of what's bad about Live/Audigy is the crappy drivers, converters and the analogue electronics around converters.

And the chip on the 1010 cards is clearly more powerfull.

[xg2]

According to this article at Digit-Life, it IS the EMU10K chip!
That's no problem anyway, as the previous poster said - what matters is what the card DOES with the EMU10K, and for those that care, the quality of the sound it produces, etc.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/creative-emu-1820/

[Yossarian]

There's a review of the Emu 0404 here:

www.kordak.net/0404/review.htm

/Yoss