Hi people! I'm fed up with my EMU 0404 and it's messy beta drivers on win7 and I decided to get a RME Fireface UC instead.
What I'm after are
a. the quality of the drivers which should translate in system stability
b. sound quality (EMU's not bad in that respect but sometimes it seems a bit too dark and muddy on certain frequency ranges)
c. the flexible routing of the multiple ins and outs which would let me hook some external hardware to my daw.
d. and last but not least, low latency (although, being oriented towards electronic stuff with lots of soft synths and fx, I don't plan to push this too far)
I reckon with a RME the drivers would be rock solid on my rig and I could also use properly my oldish external hardware, an ART TCS and a PCM 80. However, I have moments when I believe it's an overkill and I could do the same with less money
So would you talk me out of this decision and show me some alternatives which complies with my a - d musthaves, or maybe... not? Let's see now...

 

To answer your question simply....... NOPE.

 

The problem with older Audio interfaces, ! The Manufactures don't give a rats Ass on the Drivers cause there constently doing the newer ones for newer Devices.
Money, Money Money ! So as a Good alternative PLEASE check these drivers out. THERE UNIVERSAL FOR MOST USB INTERFACES and better then asio4all drivers , Mac and Windows Try These First


Download

 

I have a RME Fireface UCX, Win 7, it's great. Super low latency, rock solid drivers, pristine mic pres. If I had to pick on something, it's slightly less warm than my last interface but it's awesome all around.

 

A. can't be promised, it depends on other pc hardware: usb controller, motherboard ea.
B. It's good, pretty darn good. not dark at all, rather light or clearer then everything I've heard
C. 8 analog mono ins and 6 outs+ and 1 stereo headphone what should be considerd as 2 extra mono outs, this is good enough for me + this all can be routed separately for direct monitoring that doesn't sound so special but it is.
perfect for sucking the sound out of your shynth beasts right into your project
D. The Latency is amazing, the recording delay can be under 6 ms with recording, with mixing/tracking/mastering I upped it to 8 - 12 ms

 

Apogee?

 

onhappin - howdy ^_^

I was thinking to get a used EMU 0404 from eBay and I use Win.7 !

Can you talk me out of it - re. "messy beta drivers", sound quality, versatility etc.?

Thanks.

 

No alternatives: it's the N°1.
Same as coil here, Fireface UCX, Win 7-64, same results. I changed during time 6 audio cards (creamware luna, emu 1820, focusrite, presonus, m-audio, but this one is top quality, both for hw and sw.
It costs a lot, but it worth every spent money

 

I have the 0404 USB (not PCI) and I'm happy with it, but using it only on the Raspi.
onhappin is right however, it's hard to get current drivers at all for this interface.
Best bet might be Linux, and surprisingly the 0404 USB is supported on one of the audio distris for the Raspberry Pi.

As for Win and OSX, I have to agree: RME and Apogee. These two companies seem to be the only ones that care about continuous driver development. Even M-Audio don't earn my recommendation, I had too much unnecessary trouble with their drivers.
The best interface is worth nothing if you have to dump it after 3 years just because there's no driver for the current OS.

The fireface UC seems like a good choice and has a lot to offer.
If you don't need MIDI and want some control in the box, also check out the SPL Crimson.
I don't have any experience with SPL drivers but SPL always had high quality standards, so I'd expect them to deliver good drivers as well.

 

RME rules. Super low latency, awesome converters, great preamps and solid software. You will not be disappointed.

 

RME are a well respected brand. and they do sound good.
make sure you're only going to get what you need.

but in a few years you decide you want to upgrade again you might aswell save a bit more now and go with UAD/Apogee/Prism.

 

Thank you guys for your opinions! They pretty much resemble my own, which was educated through many hours spent on audio forums and came up with a good one this time! I'll go ahead and buy it next week and tell you all how it works!
Some thoughts on your comments:

Yeah, I completely agree! Problem is this driver is another 60euros, and I'm not exactly eager to pay this just to keep alive a less than 100$ interface! And I can't even be sure it'll work...

It seems RME sound is the opposite of what I heard from EMU, that is, cold, analytic and less forgiving on mixing mistakes! Well, that's exactly what I need then!

I'm with a ASUS P8Z77-VDeluxe MB and an Intel i7 3770K here. Based on the list of tested systems posted on the RME site, it should all work fine, but thanks for bringing this up, I'll double check with RME support before buying.

I'm on a PC, man, and those fuckers wouldn't touch my money with a ten foot pole! Can't say I understand their marketing strategy really I guess they're plain stupid, but yes, Apogee would've been a great contender.

It depends on what you're planning to do with it... but I'd say don't buy it, unless you are a very good coder yourself and you can create a stable driver for it. It has very very good preamps for the money and a slightly warm, very nice, sound output. But on win7, it's drivers crash Live, Studio One and Samplitude, once in let's say 4 hours of heavy-duty use, and when I say crash I mean fuckin' BSOD and reboot routines. However, you might just as well bite the bullet and buy it if you'll simply use it for recording vocals/live instruments, you're short on money and have the time and dedication to cater for its shitty drivers (there are ASIO alternatives). Best of luck!

Thanks, seems like a nice alternative. However it's a bit lacking under my C requirement. I can't see enough ins and outs and I'm afraid it doesn't come with something like TotalMIX to give me total freedom in routing and monitoring... Or does it?
By the way, any TotalMix opinions guys? Is it true that you can virtually route anything to anything while monitoring?

Don't know if it's no.1 or even costs that much compared to some Metric Halo or Prism Sound stuff *no*, but then again I'm no deadmouse either and all I need is some stable, 'german' engineered product to take my attention away from the technical side of things and let me focus solely on my hobby :dancing: And in this context Fireface seems indeed no.1.

Thanks again, guys!

 

They sound good!!! Lol!!!! Id put $1000 on a blind abx test that none of you here would be able to tell the difference between a stereo audio file recorded through a Soundblaster 16 converter and bounced 20 times through the same converter compared to the same audio file through a RME converter.... This stuff is hilarious.. . Do your self a favor and Look up Ethan Winer and some of the audio myths hes dispelled. Really puts it to the pretentious a holes over at Gearslutz. Not to knock that forum, because certainly there are many members there that are amazing!!! But really. If you're gonna upgrade, converters are one of THE LAST elements in your studio that will make any difference. And at most - I MEAN AT MOST- it will ever be is a gnat fart of a difference!!!! You should spend your time and money investing into learning sound reinforcemt and making bass traps, diffusers ect ect for your mixing room instead.

 

Or buy a cheap motu thunderbolt interface.. That's pretty low latency

 

@krismiller
Yeap, Motu was shortlisted as well. I finally gave up on their products after reading far too many testimonies of disgruntled users. It seems Win drivers aren't on the same par with RME's... and the same goes for their CueMix software.
As for the soundblaster 16 bit stuff, ... hm parallel record anything through it using the method you described and through an EMU 0404 at least, using the same chain and post the results here! And I bet my Adam A7s, Beyerdinamic DT880s and Etymotics will spell me the difference by letter in no time

 

no

 

You should think about UFX, 30 channels and very flexible.
The other nest steps are a dedicated preamp and adat expansions.
As the computers evolve seams obvious that we start to work with more audio interfaces in the same system...
If You by RME us cor ufx be aware with the serial numbers because the first ones do no accept the advance remote controller ARC
I cannot breath withou my UFX :dancing:

 

The problem with EMU is they no longer exist since Creative bought it they have stopped the development of studio products and stake on Mp3 players headphones for youth etc etc..
I have mail their support many times about the drivers and now my mic pre:s volum pots broke (it simply loose its soldering from the pcb board) and still no answers from them..

 

I upgraded my EMU 0404 to RME HDSPE six months ago and there are massive improvements in terms of audio clarity, monitoring etc..

 

...I would give my kidney for some RME stuff...