E-Mu 404 Specifications - page 2
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
Pro 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
o n t e s t
pc soundcard
E M U 0 4 0 4
Emu’s 0404 has the
same multi-channel
DSP mixer and
effects as its more
expensive cousins.
£
£69.99 including VAT.
T
Emu Europe +353 1 433 3201.
F
+353 1 806 6788.
W
i n f o r m a t i o n
▲
• Emu 0404 Windows XP driver version 5.12.01.0495.
• Intel Pentium 4C 2.8GHz processor with
hyperthreading, Asus P4P800 Deluxe motherboard
with Intel 865PE chip set and 800MHz 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