Emu 0404 usb or NI Audio Kontrol 1?

[Hakolo]

Hi

I'm going to a buy an audio interface( first time ever). After a lot of searching I came down to these to: Emu 0404 usb and NI Audio Kontrol 1
Which of these will suite me the best?

I'm not going to do much recording on them, I only have a MIDI controller keyboard. I use a PC with Vista, are the driver on these products stable?

[Tweak]

In my opinion the 404 is more worth having than the Audio Kontrol, but if it were my money I'd get neither, spend a bit more and look for a decent firewire interface. But if the budget is $200-250, emu is it for me.

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--NI ... /sid--SCf3
http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--EMU0404

You might read my article:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_fo ... studio.htm

http://www.tweakheadz.com/audio_interfa ... _chart.htm

[Hakolo]

The problem is that I don't have a firewire port on my pc. I was thinking of getting a cardbus with firewire ports, but could this mess up the connection between the audio interface and my pc?

Is the firebox a good buy if I buy an firewire card, do they have good drivers for vista?


By the way, I've read your guide and it has helped me a lot! Thanks Tweak

[mintcheerios]

Hakolo, I was in a similar situation because my laptop had a low quality firewire chipset which rendered firewire useless for me (it's true, not all firewire ports are the same). After overcoming my fear of USB 2.0, I decided to look at USB options and the EMU 0404 USB fit the bill. I've had it for 3 months and it hasn't given me any problems as of yet. I was quite surprised that my laptop didn't melt after reading so many criticisms about the format.

I think there's an unjustified USBphobia in the audio world perpetuated by a fixation on pro formats. While I'm sure that there are performance benefits to be gained using firewire, this doesn't mean that USB products are destined to give poor performance. In fact, I have yet to see any controlled tests showing significantly better performance with firewire (and I don't mean tests that show how firewire is a better format). Still there are people that rule out USB products automatically. There are USB 2.0 products that can successfully record 8 channels at once, so I don't think 2x2 or 4x4 products will give the format that much trouble.

If you're in a position where firewire isn't an option for your home studio, don't automatically rule out USB. I'm glad I didn't.

Edit: Oh and one more thing (at the risk of sounding like the poster boy for USB). Most USB 2.0 interfaces can also do USB 1.1 for older systems albeit with less bandwidth. This is useful for when you need to use the interface on older systems. For example, if I wanted to use a software guitar amp simulator live with a cheap old laptop only equipped with USB 1.1 to use as my dedicated host, all I'd have to do is plug in my EMU and voila; I have a cheap ampless rig with the ability to use impulse cabinets.

[mintcheerios]

By the way, Amazon has the E-MU USB 0404 for only $156 shipped. I haven't seen it for less than 200 elsewhere.

[Hakolo]

Thanks for the replay mintcheerios. After reading your post I think I will buy the Emu. It's no point of gambling with buying a firewirecard, when I don't know if it will work. I can just buy an audio interface with USB , something every computer supports.

[RichJ]

Very useful l post mint!
I too have been looking at getting an entry-level audio+midi interface for having fun with recording. It's sometimes difficult to make sense of all the posts from more serious recordists that may not apply to someone like myself who just wants to record in my basement by myself - pretty basic stuff that, from what I can gather, could easily be handled by any USB interface. In fact, my impression is that USB or firewire doesn't really matter for 2 track-recording. One is probably better off looking at the actual features and options rather than worry about FW or USB.
Comments?
Cheers!

[malganis]

This is probably an immensely stupid question... but like the OP, i'm looking into buying an entry level audio interface as well, but I assumed that my laptop didn't support firewire because, well i've never noticed it or used it before.

I discovered a tiny little socket near the USB sockets on my laptop, which I found out is actually a 4-pin 1394 port, soo does this mean that my laptop would support a firewire audio interface? And how do you know if your firewire chipset is too low quality to be able to handle one?

It would be great if it worked, because it would open up my options a bit more.

Cheers

[johann]

I used the USB 0202 for a while and it is a good entry interface. Has everything you need to record a guitar, bass and vocals.
Only reason I don't have it anymore is that it is has only 2 i/o and no midi i/o. I think the 0404 has midi connection.

[Tweak]

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--EMU0404/sid--showroom

E-MU's new 0404 USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface delivers an unparalleled level of audio performance to your PC with premium 24-bit/192kHz A/D and D/A converters, pristine XTC mic/line/hi-Z preamps, ultra-low jitter clock and rock-solid stability. From its plug-and-play functionality and hands-on ergonomic design to professional features and signal-to-noise specs that are simply unmatched by any other USB interface on the market, the 0404 USB will forever change your expectations of USB audio.

Linked to USB chart