zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound:
It did sound good when I had it working, but see the support section below.
Feature:
Includes a LOT of software, and a pretty well-made USB cable with braided shielding and an outer clear plastic covering.
Ease of Use:
Overall simple to use.
Quality:
It's plastic throughout, but seems well-made and solid despite that.
The monitor level pot has no white stripe, and no stops - it rotates continuously.
Value:
The device is likely a great value for the money *if* drivers are available for your OS.
Manufacturer Support:
Long story short: as of June 2010, there are no reliable Win7 drivers for this device.
I received the E-mu Tracker USB Pre from zZounds on 6/23/2010. After much tinkering, I decided I could not get it to work reliably in my Windows 7 setup - E-mu have yet to release Win7 drivers for the device. I consider drivers to be "support" so this is where I will document the main issue I had with this device.
(It should be noted that I was installing this device on a Thinkpad I had JUST rebuilt with a new, stock, legit copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, 32 bit, fully updated. The ONLY other software/driver I had installed was Audacity. So we can rule out operator error, malware, or other device/driver/software conflicts as the source of the problems I outline below.)
I had thought that the released Vista drivers would work fine - usually Vista drivers are OK on Win7. In this case that was not true and I can't say technically why. Even when I could get it working somewhat, the best sample rate I could get was 48kHz; a shame since this device is supposed to go all the way to 192kHz. And even at 48kHz I sometimes experienced dropouts, likely due to driver issues. I tried the drivers on the included CD, and when that failed I uninstalled them all and downloaded/installed the latest driver set from the E-mu website.
A check around the web revealed I was not alone; many other Win7 users have had similar problems. Given that Win7 released about 11 months ago and E-mu still doesn't even have beta drivers up for this device (or their 0202/0404 products which apparently share the same drivers), I didn't feel it was worth waiting and taking the chance that E-mu might take many more months to release a usable Win7 driver (or never release one at all!).
The Wow Factor:
The 192kHz sampling frequency was pretty important to me. I realize that sounds like overkill today but I'm making archival recordings for historical use and so I wanted to prevent the possibility of some future person saying 'if only they had sampled at a higher frequency!'
Plus the device had great reviews from others who seemed to have use-cases similar to mine.
Overall:
Sadly the lack of Win7 drivers killed it for me. I submitted my RMA request last night, and now it is approved (thank you zZounds) and will be sending the device back to today (6/24/2010). I'm glad they have such an awesome returns policy!
I don't want to bag on this device; it's probably a great value in many situations. For me the main problem was lack of drivers for the current version of Windows; and the whole point of this review is to help others avoid this problem! Before you buy the device, check E-mu's website to see if they have drivers for your operating system.
4 of 4 people
(100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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Sound:
The sound is excellent and comparable to much more expensive products. You must use care when connecting it to other equipment because ground loops/switching power supply noise from the PC can be a problem, other sound cards also have this problem. The best results are obtained when the laptop is powered from battery.
Feature:
The product includes everything you need to get up and going. It is extremely convienient because it can phantom power microphones with full 48v using ONLY USB power.
Ease of Use:
Depending on the host application, the product can be tricky to use because you may need to set the sample rate in multiple locations. One frustrating thing is that it does not remember the last sample rate setting, it always starts up at 44.1.
Quality:
Quality of construction is fine, however it would be nice if it were in a metal enclosure, but given the price, I am very satisfied.
Value:
I own or have owned MOTU, ECHO Audio, M-Audio, EMU, Presonus, Turtle Beech USB/Firewire sound cards and for it's intended application of two channels, the EMU Tracker Pre would be my first choice.
Manufacturer Support:
Communication with EMU is less than satisfactory, but their response is typical for this market. I have had worse support from MOTU for instance.
The Wow Factor:
This is a workhorse product not a useless sexy toy.
Overall:
I continually watch for new and improved sound cards, but I expect this will be my first choice for quite a while.
14 of 15 people
(93.33%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Sound:
good sound , clear when recording @192khz.
Feature:
didnt have many bells and whistles but did have effect loops before a/d conversion which is good for using compression before recording.
Ease of Use:
this interface is one of the easiest to intergrade with vista that i ever have used.stay away from presonus,they have wierd issues.
Quality:
this thing actually came deffected. one leg was gone and also the 1/4 ouputs on the back didnt have nuts on them. i should have sent it back. but i tried it and liked the way it sounded and kept it.i have had around $300-$500 interfaces that never sounded this good.i usauly dont record with the onbourd pres i use a channel strip though.the a/d conversion is real stable i love it.
Value:
i didnt think recording @192khz would make this much differense but it does.this is an excellent start to a home studio.the reason why, is most people get discouraged starting out by getting a audio interface with drivers that dont work or pres that are crappy and recording dont have clarity. if you dont need much in and out this is for you.good for vocals.
Manufacturer Support:
never used them just downloaded the latest driver from there web site
The Wow Factor:
it would be better if it were a rack unit.
Overall:
ill probally try to find another product later , but the only reason is the in and out options.but im glad i bought it because it has incouraged me about wanting to invest in another 192khz interface later, without the fear of spending the money,and wondering if it would make a difference.this product actually rocks.it helped my vocals stand out in clarity.instead of in the mud.the process of adding effects didnt degrade the vocal it just made it shine. not like recording @ other sample rates. so for the newcomer or someone who wants to try 192khz for the price you cant beat it.and if you want to take it on the road with a lab top. easy as pie without all the headache of most interface drivers.
15 of 16 people
(93.75%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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Sound:
This box has a LOT of noise. Any track you record is ruined by noise coming from inside. Something isn't right with the circuitry.
Feature:
Not a lot of features which doesn't really matter if you don't need them.
Ease of Use:
Plug it in. It works.
Quality:
No sense in paying for something you're going to regret later on.
Value:
It's a piece of equipment that wasn't made very well. Not much value in it at all.
Manufacturer Support:
There's really nothing E-MU support could do about this. The company made a cheap product. That's all. They do have great driver support for their products however. So that's a definite plus.
The Wow Factor:
I don't want it.
Overall:
The company made a cheap product that's noisy.
2 of 18 people
(11.11%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Sound:
No monitoring(sound monitor and through program together...as chorus)
it;'s doesn't work at 5ms only start work at 20ms big delay,very bad
all greative no pro...
1 of 17 people
(5.88%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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