To all (current and former) owners of EMU 1616m (or 1212m)

Discussion in 'Computer Hardware' started by gkarpa, Jul 27, 2020.

Tags:
  1. Vexed

    Vexed Ultrasonic

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2018
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    30
    I loved my 1212m at 10ms (or lower! Didn't it go down to 2ms?!) latency - perfect for real-time MIDI VSTi triggering. I'd still be using it now if only they'd updated the drivers. It ran so perfectly on WinXP but once Win7 came along they never made proper drivers for the original PCI version. They released the PCIe cards not long after I bought mine, annoyingly, that did have proper drivers for Win7. Anyway, I still hold onto it in hope, but am now happily using my 2nd Gen Scarlett 6i6, which shares the better driver of the higher models and has an equally ultra low latency driver to the old E-MU. Neither product has ever let me down or had driver issues.
     
  2. gkarpa

    gkarpa Member

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2014
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    11
    How do the two interfaces compare regarding conversion? Have you noticed any change for better or for worse?
     
  3. Tob

    Tob Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2019
    Messages:
    305
    Likes Received:
    200
    Maybe you overthink the converter too much? Maybe because you have your card for such a long time. We live in great times. there are no more "bad" converters. Sure there are always things that have better specs, but ...
    If you buy a well-known brand. All converters are Pretty much flawless and perfectly useable nowadays. I saw this video like a week ago a quality comparison between the current audio beginner lineup of audient and SSL. Check from minute 9.55. The guy starts talking about the converters. And doing an ADDA test 500 times with these budget interfaces. Quality channel.

     
  4. gkarpa

    gkarpa Member

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2014
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    11
    You're right: I have my card for such a long time and maybe I worry too much. But here's my story:

    In 2007 I replaced my first interface (it was a Terratec DMX 6 Fire) with the EMU 1616m. At that time, I wasn't aware about conversion quality at all. But the first time I listened to a track I was blown away from the sonic difference. And, mind you, it was mp3 256, in an untreated room, on some low-budget monitors! That was the only hands-on experience I had regarding different converters.

    Of course, I've listened to many tests in YouTube (such as the one you posted) through all these years, but I think it's not the same thing. My personal humble opinion, after all these tests, is that the difference in modern converters (for interfaces up to 2000€) is rather negligible. And if there is one, it is smaller than the difference you can get with better monitors, better acoustic treatment etc.

    Having said that, my mastering engineer insists that I'll see (hear, to be precise) a 50% improvement if I change my converters and I frequently read about "huge" and "night-and-day" differences among modern interfaces. But then, when I listen to these A/B tests I don't hear that much of a difference. So, I'm rather confused. I don't know, I'm 45 and maybe I have crippled ears.

    Anyway, thing is if I get the UFX and won't notice any improvement in conversion (which, I agree, isn't the most important thing on an interface), it will be a disappointment for me. And till now, users who have used the EMU and then got a modern RME card (UCX, UFX, Babyface) confirm that they can't hear any difference...

    But, of course, more opinions are welcome :)
     
  5. mrpsanter

    mrpsanter Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2014
    Messages:
    1,777
    Likes Received:
    892
  6. Riot7

    Riot7 Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2015
    Messages:
    231
    Likes Received:
    161
    I actually own all of those these days. Including the 0404 card. Don't ask why.

    Like someone said, you are overthinking the converters. Generally speaking people can't hear the difference between modern DA/AD converters. Some claim that they can, they are usually full of shit and fall apart when put in a controlled environment (ie. a blind test).

    If you are happy with the interface, keep using it. Most probably you won't hear any difference whatsoever if you get an RME.

    Personally I don't like how hot the dock gets and that for whatever reason the E-MU cards just don't seem to work in ASIO mode in Adobe Audition. There's some other compatibility issues too and now and then I get intermitted tiny glitchy sounds that go away when I fuck with the ASIO settings or reboot the computer.

    And like someone brought up, some dude on KVR figured out a while back a way to essentially combine modern Creative SB drivers with the ancient E-MU drivers to keep the E-MU cards working under the latest WIN 10 updates. It didn't fix all the issues but at least you can keep using the cards for the foreseeable future (a recent WIN10 update actually completely broke the old drivers). I haven't actually measured it but I could almost swear it also made the low latency performance better at least on my system.
     
  7. gkarpa

    gkarpa Member

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2014
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    11
    These are my findings too. Yes, the dock gets hot, but 13 years later, it still runs without any problem.
    Regarding Audition, I think that it's an issue related to the software and not the card. Correct me if I'm wrong.

    So, you're suggesting that the AD/DA differences that we were experiencing in the last decade are not so big anymore?
    Does this also apply to companies like Mytek, Prism, Dangerous Music etc when compared to RME, UAD etc?
     
  8. hackerz4life

    hackerz4life Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2020
    Messages:
    1,025
    Likes Received:
    559
    Location:
    Space
    i read this on many forums but mine worked on all systems xp/7 64bit for many years.
    the emu converters do have a sound of their own, they are not the cleanest they are a bit on the warm side but so is the apogee ad8000 which is still considered a great audio interface.
    many converters sound good until you start mangling the sound and piling up tracks and have a hard time processing the highs which can quickly sound harsh or shrill, emu takes eq well.
    the big dynamic range and very low noise floor is what makes it still to this day a very good card.
     
  9. Ozmosis

    Ozmosis Producer

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2011
    Messages:
    177
    Likes Received:
    80
    Did you ever try the KX Project Drivers?
    I was talking to someone I know who still loves SF2 recently about the KX Project drivers, he never heard of them before.
    Anyway we were only talking about this the other week and i noticed a 64bit driver version for Win7 - well worth trying out:

    https://drivers.softpedia.com/get/S...X-Project-Audio-Driver-510003550-64-bit.shtml
    https://forum.hardwareheaven.com/forums/kx-project-audio-driver-support-forum.67/
    The one and only OFFICIAL web site for kX Project is github: https://github.com/kxproject
    Driver binaries can be found here: https://github.com/kxproject/kX-Audio-driver-binaries
    Driver source code is here: https://github.com/kxproject/kx-audio-driver
    Documentation from the old web site is here: https://github.com/kxproject/kX-Audio-driver-website

    EDIT: Just read some of their forum, apparently this is working with W10 :)
    https://forum.hardwareheaven.com/threads/windows-10-and-kx-3552-new-fix.230567/
    Works with the APS Suite and E.Cards, not sure about 10K2 cards... need to do more reading!!

    Or another option google - EmuPMX_PCDrv_US_2_30_00_BETA.exe
    A comment from MS forum:
    E-MU 1820m stopped working again (Dec 2017) after yet another Windows 10 update (64bit). I found that 96kHz 24bit no longer works but I got 48kHz 24bit working again.
    What I (he) did:
    1. Reinstalled beta driver EmuPMX_PCDrv_US_2_30_00_BETA.exe.
    2. From Start menu Creative Professional > Restore Defaults.
    3. Load or create 48kHz Patchmix session.

    Good luck and please report any results back, keen to know if you have success :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2020
  10. Colin

    Colin Producer

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2017
    Messages:
    167
    Likes Received:
    117
    Have been using 3 PCI 1820m at home since they came out and, barring swapping out the usual caps that go bad, have never had any issues. Still a great sound for what I use them for. Latency about 3 or 4 ms. Bought one of those pcie converter risers, but have never gotten around to using it. Nor have I ever done any of the mods. Still use Windows 7 with them and have always managed to get the drivers to work. Patchmix messes with a lot of people, but once you get your head round it, it's really flexible. I guess at some point, the lack of driver support will make them redundant, but for the time being they still do what I need them to do. Not bad for being 15 years old!
     
Loading...
Similar Threads - (current former) owners Forum Date
Checking Out: Klanghaus 2 & Klanghaus Bio Machine by Best Service (currently 60% OFF) Software Reviews and Tutorials Apr 4, 2019
Checking Out Hybrid Scoring Strings by Sonixiema (currently 60% OFF ) Software Reviews and Tutorials Jan 31, 2018
Checking Out: Emulation II by UVI (currently 67% Off) Software Reviews and Tutorials May 24, 2017
MOTU DP8 (Digital Performer) for Windows Software News May 2, 2013
Loading...