U46DJ - Worth it?
I've just ordered my Ms Pinky vinyl and software, and I'm now on the look out for a new sound device.
Word on this board seems to be for either the Maya 44 USB or the U46DJ. Although many people seem to be having issues with the U46DJ making me question whether it's worth it or not.
How bad is the latency on a USB sound card? It seems to me that a USB interface would have a moderate to high latency level and I wonder if a miniPC w/ a high end PCI sound card would preform better (I already have a shuttle PC).
For extremely low latency - What do people recommend?
Word on this board seems to be for either the Maya 44 USB or the U46DJ. Although many people seem to be having issues with the U46DJ making me question whether it's worth it or not.
How bad is the latency on a USB sound card? It seems to me that a USB interface would have a moderate to high latency level and I wonder if a miniPC w/ a high end PCI sound card would preform better (I already have a shuttle PC).
For extremely low latency - What do people recommend?
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The new E-Mu USB 2.0 converters
In spite of all the troubles with it, I still vouch for the U46DJ. I use it almost every day under OSX and it works fine.
I've seen that E-Mu has released several new USB 2.0 audio converters. They don't feature built-in phono preamps, but they look like they have plenty of other attractive features.
http://www.emu.com/support/files/storag ... erfaces.pd
And of course there's always the new M-Audio Conectiv:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/C ... -main.html
Looks like it could be interesting. And there's a story to tell.... but not yet
For now I'd say sure, why not just go with the U46DJ. It's a fine deal for the money, except for that bad batch which apparently got sold in Europe... still a mystery to me.
I've seen that E-Mu has released several new USB 2.0 audio converters. They don't feature built-in phono preamps, but they look like they have plenty of other attractive features.
http://www.emu.com/support/files/storag ... erfaces.pd
And of course there's always the new M-Audio Conectiv:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/C ... -main.html
Looks like it could be interesting. And there's a story to tell.... but not yet
For now I'd say sure, why not just go with the U46DJ. It's a fine deal for the money, except for that bad batch which apparently got sold in Europe... still a mystery to me.
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Go SPDIF!
Ms Pinky loves turntables with built-in phono preamps and/or SPDIF!!
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Wait for the Conectiv
If you're contemplating buying an interface from M-Audio, I would really recommend waiting until the Conectiv comes out. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact date it will be available in stores, but it's coming pretty soon.
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=pro ... 0afe495ad1
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=pro ... 0afe495ad1
just to throw my 2 cents about the U46DJ into the ring; For the money, it's a good soundcard. It does exactly as it says on the tin, and works very well with Ms. Pinky. My one gripe is that the phono-preamps, even at their lowest levels, can still be a bit too loud, making recording vinyl difficult.
Windows XP experience:
A problem a lot of people are having is hearing the timecoded vinyl buzz. I had this problem, and noticed that my soundcard was one of the new (bad) batch (serial no. starting with ESJ060). This was fixed as soon as I installed the latest driver 1.16. This new batch NEEDS the 1.16 driver to work. I've posted the driver I received by email yesterday from ESI up here:
(Note: I've not personally tested this file, I used one found on their forum but I can't find it again to link to. I'd appreciate if someone could verify that this is virus-free / works etc. for other users.)
http://dan.unworkable.org/_upload/insta ... 60307).zip
Once that's installed, mess around with the settings yourself, make sure to mute the two monitor channels (they act as audio-thru). Ms. Pinky should then work fine.
Note: Asio4All isn't a driver itself!! (It's more of a wrapper I think?) It still needs the above driver to be installed first to be of any use. The original driver never worked properly for me with Asio4All. But once you're all up-to-date, definitely use Asio4All to get low latencies.
OSX experience:
The new batch of soundcards give the exact same problem as described above, but as OSX is not officially supported by ESI, they're not going to do anything about it. I have found a hammy workaround though involving aggregating your internal soundcard which works well, I'll post up a more in-depth guide soon!
Hope this helps!
Windows XP experience:
A problem a lot of people are having is hearing the timecoded vinyl buzz. I had this problem, and noticed that my soundcard was one of the new (bad) batch (serial no. starting with ESJ060). This was fixed as soon as I installed the latest driver 1.16. This new batch NEEDS the 1.16 driver to work. I've posted the driver I received by email yesterday from ESI up here:
(Note: I've not personally tested this file, I used one found on their forum but I can't find it again to link to. I'd appreciate if someone could verify that this is virus-free / works etc. for other users.)
http://dan.unworkable.org/_upload/insta ... 60307).zip
Once that's installed, mess around with the settings yourself, make sure to mute the two monitor channels (they act as audio-thru). Ms. Pinky should then work fine.
Note: Asio4All isn't a driver itself!! (It's more of a wrapper I think?) It still needs the above driver to be installed first to be of any use. The original driver never worked properly for me with Asio4All. But once you're all up-to-date, definitely use Asio4All to get low latencies.
OSX experience:
The new batch of soundcards give the exact same problem as described above, but as OSX is not officially supported by ESI, they're not going to do anything about it. I have found a hammy workaround though involving aggregating your internal soundcard which works well, I'll post up a more in-depth guide soon!
Hope this helps!
esi + asio4all
Interesting observation that I think a lot of people (including myself) overlooked about the Asio4All deal. More research revealed this page, which may be useful for us U46DJ users: http://tippach.business.t-online.de/asio4all/intro.html
Basically confirms that Asio4All DOES NOT replace existing drivers. Perhaps this is where I messed up. I'll try it later when I get home from work
So Dan, Ive confirmed at least that the file you posted is virus free (symantec's 8.11.2006 rev 19 virus definition), but I can't test it because I've got an ESJ-050. Anyone else?
I'll give the Asio4All + ESI 1.14 a try.
Thanks for the advice!
-M3tr1k
Basically confirms that Asio4All DOES NOT replace existing drivers. Perhaps this is where I messed up. I'll try it later when I get home from work
So Dan, Ive confirmed at least that the file you posted is virus free (symantec's 8.11.2006 rev 19 virus definition), but I can't test it because I've got an ESJ-050. Anyone else?
I'll give the Asio4All + ESI 1.14 a try.
Thanks for the advice!
-M3tr1k
Zen koan: The master turned to the pupil and said "know this: I own you". And the pupil was owned. And he knew it.
Re: esi + asio4all
m3tr1k wrote:
So Dan, Ive confirmed at least that the file you posted is virus free (symantec's 8.11.2006 rev 19 virus definition), but I can't test it because I've got an ESJ-050. Anyone else?
-M3tr1k
Cheers for the confirmation! Good luck with the setup!
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