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Emu 0404 24/96 Digital Audio PCI Card

The E-MU 0404 Digital Audio PCI Sound Card delivers everything you need to produce audio on a PC with professional results -- pristine 24-bit/96kHz converters, hardware-accelerated effects and mixing, and seamless compatibility with your favorite PC audio/sequencer software. Learn More...

    • New $99.95
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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Feature:
While the 1010 is the most basic Emu card, the Patchmix software is completely insane (in a good way) and unprecedented at this price point. You can basically route ANYTHING, from the card's actual physical inputs and outputs, to all of your software's virtual inputs and outputs, to ANYTHING else; the sky's the limit. My most common "tricky" use for this is to record live mixdowns from Cubase into CoolEdit in realtime, rather than just rendering the mixes to disk. I'm not sure what's going on with the summing mathematically, but it definitely sounds better than just bounce-mixing! I couldn't do this on any other card in this price range. The onboard MIDI is exceptionally tight with the included Cubase LE and my existing copy of SX - it's noticeably tighter than my previous USB-based MIDI interface, especially when driving analog synths over a MIDI-to-CV converter. If you've struggled with sloppy MIDI timing from USB interfaces, you'll be pleased with how this tightens things up. I really can't vouch for the onboard effects; I never use them. Though I imagine that they're useful for setting up monitor mixes for tracking.

Quality:
I've had no problems with it, though I'd worry about the heavy breakout cables putting strain on their jacks if it were mounted higher on my tower (I have it in the bottom slot, so the cables rest on the floor). My one frustration with the card has been that about once a week, it completely stops making any sound. This is easily fixed by choosing "restore defaults" in the patchmix software, but that requires a PC restart. Adding to the frustration is that this is a widely-recognized problem, but Emu seem to have no intention of fixing it. Not life-changing, but definitely an annoyance.

Value:
This is inarguably the best value for audio cards in its price range; it sounds better than anything else out there and it can do ten times what most of them can do when it comes to routing and onboard stuff.

Desirability:
It's an audio card, so it's utilitarian and unsexy. I do have to comment that the included Patchmix software is UGLY - it's an eye-straining shade of green that looks embarrassingly "techy" and "Matrix"-y. Luckily, there are a ton of free, user-created skins for the software out there on the internet, and I quickly replaced it with a very pleasant, clean one.

Sound:
For the price range, it sounds absolutely excellent. I don't know what actual converters are used, but they've no doubt trickled down from whatever was top of the line just a few years before.

Ease of Use:
There's a definite learning curve with the Patchmix software; it's not as user-friendly as it could be, especially to someone who's never worked with the extensive routing that it offers. It took me about a week to get my head around it, and I've worked with the equivalent in the analog world. The included manual is quite lacking in this area, so I'd imagine that a neophyte would have a bit of trouble learning it. On the other hand, the ability to easily save and recall different patchmix presets and the included templates allow this to easily function as a "set it and forget it" card for those that just want to record the stereo inputs and maybe use the MIDI ports.

Support:
It seems that software updates for the card have ceased at this point, though they do seem to have fixed the major bugs with the exception of the aforementioned "silence" bug.

Overall:
Definitely the best bang for the buck, and a real workhorse that does what it needs to do. I wish that Emu's cards were completely modular and that you could just add that breakout box from the 1820m without having to completely upgrade.

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Overall:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Features:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
features are ok, nothing spectacular or better than the other guys

Quality:
ok quality as far as the hardware side, software side your on your own

Value:
dont bother

Desirability:
never again will i buy any emu/creative soundcard product

Sound:
the sound is good but whats the use with the most unstable drivers. the drivers havent been updated in ages emu needs to step up their support.

Ease of Use:
read the manual a few times

Support:
dont even bother, unless you like getting the run around

Overall:
should have saved my money and got a better m-audio card like the 192, or digidesign.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Desirability:
Would buy again.

Sound:
Excellent 'workhorse' soundcard. Excellent value.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
The software bundle alone is worth the price of admission. I was a Home studio user so the Sonar LE software was a nice little upgrade. The dsp effects are neat, although I was slightly disappointed in that you can't use more than one or two at time in real time.

Quality:
Seems well built....no forseen issues here.

Value:
What a deal....very happy with purchase

Desirability:
For the price it's awesome. About the only thing more you could ask for is additional I/O or a break out box.

Sound:
Blows away what I had before (Trutle beach Santa Cruz) The included Protesus X soft synth sounds great (although it is a CPU hog!)

Support:
Excellent. EMU responded almost instantly to my e-mail to inform me of Flash Bios update. Only frustrating because I bought the card on a Friday night and wanted to play with it all weekend but EMU support wasn't available over the weekend

Overall:
Don't know what all the negative hype is about how hard it is to use. Read the manual and get help from EMU support, because what you get for $100 is pretty awesome.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
The patch mmix is awesome, once you get your head around it. Took me a while, but I could see what was possible and struggled on. The fact that I can use logic for my parts and record a mix straight into samplitude or cool edit is great. No wires, no fuss. DSP and vst, big problem for me, waste of time in fact. They don't work in logic 5.5 for P.C. None of the updates have sorted this, in fact they make my system unstable, so I've not advanced from 1.6. But having said that they work in cubase, which I don't use, and have waves so I'm not sure I'd use the effects anyway. So 1.6 works and I'm cool with that.

Quality:
Pretty good build, don't know about going on the road though, but hey it's a pci card so i wouldn't expect it to last forever.

Value:
The best at this price, and maybe a little higher.

Desirability:
Emu is a strong product name in music. Creative is Naff. Together not sure, but I think emu have had a lot of input on this product, and does what it says on the tin, so has a slight sex appeal, more if they drop the creative logo.

Sound:
I've had this product for about a year maybe more. I have the 1212m. Sound wise, I think it sounds great. I had a ess something or the other before I bought this, paid about the same for it

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
everything you need and want in a 100 dollar sound card plus a little more.

Quality:
top notch and the good thing is its only 100 bucks!!! the emu 1212 is just a tad bit better and cost dubble the price.the 0404 is well worth 100.

Value:
well worth it.

Desirability:
well.....i got it...lol

Sound:
cristal clear.i love the quality it puts out for the price.its well worth the money.i give it a 8 because the ONLY 2 cards thats better is the emu 1212 & the emu 1820.

Support:
i never need to use it but i heard it was top of the line support.

Overall:
this gets a 10 for the simple FACT that it hangs with the emu 1212.if you a quality freak all the way down to the last spect of db,get the 1820m.but if your recording at home and making demos,dont wait to get the 0404.it does the job.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Cool features, great software!!!

Quality:
Awesome!! Got quite a few great sounding recordings already.

Value:
Can't beat it for the price

Sound:
Awesome low noise, crystal clear recordings.

Support:
Never used

Overall:
Get one!!!! Don't listen to the morons who can't figure it out!!!

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Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Quality:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10

Feature:
Who cares if it doesn't work. Woo-hoo features!

Quality:
Rushed to market before the programmers had time to debug!? Sounds familiar. But this is the worst when it affects to core fuctionality of the product. At least MS bugs usually only affect your other non-MS apps.

Value:
Can't record most of the time. Value is worthless product to me.

Sound:
Cannot get it to produce consistent output - popping and noise half the time, no sound a quarter of the time, and works the rest. I did everything recommended by e-mu, installed the hotfixes and upgraded xp to sp2. Didn't make any difference. Read the e-mu forums, this is a widespread problem and seems to be a driver issue that e-mu has not straightened out yet. I would personally weigh the negative reviews on this more seriously than the others, which sound like advertisements.

Support:
Got a quick response to an email online. Advice didn't work.

Overall:
Couldn't get this to work consistently. The only recordings I did that came out OK I had to reactivate my built-in soundcard to play back.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Very, very low latency, astoundingly so! Must be the 32 bit DSP.

Quality:
Top notch all the way.

Value:
Top notch card for the price.

Desirability:
It's a very good product but obviously a break out box would be more sexy but it would be more expensive.

Sound:
Really nice, bright sound with lots of headroom.

Support:
Never really used it but they give you some decent manuals (PDF's).

Overall:
I would say unless your getting really serious about recording, this should easily suffice the loan musician or creating demos.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
2 analog ins/outs, coax/optical in/out, MIDI in/out. Great options for the price range.

Quality:
Very high quality, probably the best card you can buy at $100.

Value:
Great value.

Sound:
Very clean, flat, detailed sound. The analogs are very high quality and sound great with a headphone amp. It can also record/playback up to 192khz with the newest drivers.

Support:
Never had problems, thus i never had to call support.

Overall:
Great product.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
The mixer, sends and patching are complex so makes it hard to work it just going for it, so 1 point off, but the more I read and play with it the more interesting it is. The effects and ability to connnect sofware to software digitally is great. The free sofware is "free software", works great with my cubase sl.

Quality:
It's a card so not much to say, solid, the blue is cooler then the green cards but since it's in your puter I guess it really doesn't matter.

Value:
Couldn't believe it was only 99. For all the stuff you get and the sound it's a real bargain.

Desirability:
It's all good. But after using it I think I should have gotten one of the bigger ones or at least the 1212m because this one is not expandable(!) i'm seriously starting to want more inputs since the mixer is so good, no latency at all and sounds SO much better then my mixer, lots of good effects, cuts down on the spaghetti factor. After listening to the card by itself and comparing it to having my mackie connected its night and day. If this cheapy one is that much better, can't even imagine what those Digi converters sound like.

Sound:
CLEAR, CRISP, no noise or hiss.

Support:
Haven't used it because theres a great forum online, lots of users and some very helpful people from emu http://www.productionforums.com/emu/default.asp

Overall:
I will probably get what I can for this soon and try and get a bigger one to replace my mixer.

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Overall:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Features:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Support:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10

Feature:
Lot's of bells and whistles if you can find them them through the maze of pop-up windows. The work space design in Cubasis (the provided recording software is messy and difficult to figure out if you are new to the Cubasic format. It is missing a very major feature, AUDIO DRIVER!!! It's only way of recording audio is through the wave playback feature through Windows. Unfortunately most of the time Windows doesn't see it. And when it does it can't do it in stereo.

Quality:
Oh it seems ok... craftmanship looks as good as any other soundcard I've seen. Actually a quite attractive looking card.

Value:
Worthless if you want to record audio. I thought I was getting a real sound card, not a virtual fx interface disguised as an audio recording device.

Desirability:
I was excited when I popped it in... the install went smooth. I played back some of my previous recorded stuff on a cheap SB Live card. I sounded great. Then I tried to record with it and the nightmare began.

Sound:
I think it is a very clean card. Unfortunately, I can't get it to work well enough to really judge it accurately.

Support:
Follow the web page instructions correctly and it still won't work right. I don't think I'll even bother calling them, I'm going to return it to the store where I got it. I'm going to tell them the audio driver is malfunctioning. That's a joke because it doesn't have one.

Overall:
What I like most about this card is that the store I bought it from will probably give me a full refund.

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Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Quality:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1