E-Mu 1820M or 1820

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jimarick
  • Start date Start date
Me, I've AB'd it with an Aardvark Q10 and I'd say the Emu sounds better.

Note: I have the non-M.

Like I said, driver maturity is the big thing that your losing by getting the Emu. And as some people have pointed out, you can start on the RME path for a low price these days...less than 500 for those nice HDSP cards with all the ADAT ins and outs. It isn't just E-mu keeping price down...
 
thanks. But RME really is l alot more expensive.. still.. ah the agony
 
I agree, driver support is the only thing letting this card down. When Emu have the fixes and updates, then it will be a steal.
As far as the quality of the converters. I A/B using a Motu 828 with the 1820M and compared all benchmark readouts, and the 1820M stood out quite significantly. In terms of dynamic range, low noise floor and THD, the 1820M performs like a top contender. I have posted all the test results on my site and I had to compare with Martin Walker, sos reviewer who also tested the card, my test results as I felt I had not conducted the tests correctly and my results were wrong. But he got the same results and we were both pleasantly surprised at the quality and performance of the converters.
 
Just so I don't get misunderstood...

When I say driver maturity, I mean more than anything that there's not enough STUFF in the drivers. What's there, basically the ASIO2, is very good. If that's all you need, great. Pretty much everyone I've seen seems to have no problem getting this up and running with their favorite sequencer. I was literally 5 minutes away from music creation after I opened up the box. It's not like we're back in 2000 and everyone's trying to figure out the magic PCI slot for their Delta 66 to work without crackles and pops. (I remember the solution for me back then was to buy a USRobotics 100 megabit network card to repalce my old 10 megabit...)

Drivers for this card means I can't make a standalone Gigastudio computer with this card. I can't pass through a bit perfect signal over SPDIF to a separate surround decoder. I can't use WDM drivers to have software surround in my DVD playback, making this useless for the Home Theater guys. I effectively can't use WDM drivers in Sonar so I can have multiple disparate brands' cards to up my inputs and outputs. I can't use two E-mu cards in a system simultaneously, even though there are connectors on the PCI board.

There are a lot of can'ts on that list, but if all you need is for the card to work with your ASIO application, then go for it.
 
I apologize for my ignorance...

Sklathill said:
Just so I don't get misunderstood...

When I say driver maturity, I mean more than anything that there's not enough STUFF in the drivers. What's there, basically the ASIO2, is very good. If that's all you need, great. Pretty much everyone I've seen seems to have no problem getting this up and running with their favorite sequencer. I was literally 5 minutes away from music creation after I opened up the box. It's not like we're back in 2000 and everyone's trying to figure out the magic PCI slot for their Delta 66 to work without crackles and pops. (I remember the solution for me back then was to buy a USRobotics 100 megabit network card to repalce my old 10 megabit...)

Drivers for this card means I can't make a standalone Gigastudio computer with this card. I can't pass through a bit perfect signal over SPDIF to a separate surround decoder. I can't use WDM drivers to have software surround in my DVD playback, making this useless for the Home Theater guys. I effectively can't use WDM drivers in Sonar so I can have multiple disparate brands' cards to up my inputs and outputs. I can't use two E-mu cards in a system simultaneously, even though there are connectors on the PCI board.

There are a lot of can'ts on that list, but if all you need is for the card to work with your ASIO application, then go for it.
Click to expand...

I don't think I would be using the card for anything that the drivers wouldn't support. I want to get a 1212m and run it with a mixer, probably a Yamaha MG 10/2. What is ASIO/ASIO2, and once emu gets these driver updates, they should be available for free download for owners, correct?
What do you mean by WDM? (it's probably really obvious and i'll kick myself when you tell me)
What is SPDIF capable of?
I know that the effects aren't available above the 48khz sample rate. Does ASIO even provide a higher sample rate? Would it be worth it for most applications to use that sample rate? Would I be able to add a little color with the effects after I convert it down to the lower sample rates?

Thanks for all the help and correct info. from everyone!
 
SPDIF is a digital stereo signal
WDM drivers are just drivers, like ASIO.
Recording above 48 kHz is ofcourse better, but the differences are relatively small.
 
ASIO is available out of the box. Capable of 192 khz recording with the supporting software (like the Cubase 5 that comes in the box)

Sometimes driver updates are a question of IF rather than WHEN. For example, I personally think that Emu will never get GSIF drivers in there, mainly because GSIF is used by Gigastudio, and E-mu has a software that directly competes with Gigastudio. In any case, any driver updates are free downloads, as is par for the course...
 
Hmm...here's hopin' for the drivers i guess.

Thanks guys.
 
Hi, I'm also considering getting one of the recent Emu cards. Certainly either the 1820M or the 1212 because of the higher quality converters. What's a really good mixer (8 to 16 channels) to get in combination with one of these cards? I'm looking for something with all the bells and whistles, money no object, motorized faders kind of thing (if possible). Mostly for easier mixing (instead of mouse mixing) but also for the potential to record a band.

Also, with all this talk about lack of Gsif drivers, there is the EmulatorX version of this line of sound cards, which comes with an apparently very nice sampler program that can read gig format. May not interest those that are partial to the gigastudio interface. Then again who knows how well Emu's software converts the gig files.

Question: Which card does the emulatorX come with? Is it the 1212, 1820, or 1820M?
 
I'd love to see your webpage where you compared the tests between the MOTU 929mkii and the EMU hardware...can you link us?
 
ASIO is a soundcard driver type and is not usable by normal Windows programs. So if you plan on an E-mu, do not use a sequencer that doesn't support ASIO.
Not a complete list but...
With ASIO - Cubase/Cubasis/LogicAudio/Cakewalk Sonar2.2 and above/N-track Studio.
No ASIO - CoolEditPro/Adobe Audition/Older versions of Cakewalk.
Not sure about Magix Samplitude - suspect it doesn't do ASIO either, but maybe it does.

Believe it or not - the E-mu cards only allow a max 2 track recording without ASIO. This is a fact that E-mu do not openly advertise, and I can only condemn them for that.
 
Totally agree with the above. I came across one guy who was asking questions about using Adobe Audition with the E-mu 1212M, and I just hated to be the bearer of bad news...
 
I wonder if EMU has figured out why so many people on the forums have had their AUDIODOCK crap out with no warning. They seemed to be just as confused as the people complaining. I would be afraid to buy one until the work the bugs out.
 
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