<i>Originally posted by pranza</i>
<br />So recording always take place at 24bit, despite what you choose in software, right?
***yes data is converted at 24 bits and always handled at 32 bits.
What other hidden tricks does the 1212m have? Is there a way to pass signal from software directly to hardware output bypassing the mixer? (like with M-Audio Delta patchbay/router)?
***@ unity gain everything is a "wire".
I noticed that bypassing card's mixer with my M-Audio Delta AP not only makes sound more relaxed, but even gives better test figures regarding harmonic distortion. I would like to buy an emu 1212m, as it has theoretically better AKM's, but what about drivers and nature of the card?
***not theoretically, truly better. You can't get the numbers we have without having a clean signal path. Drivers still have some weaknesses especially on WDM side(very basic stereo implementation only) but on the ASIO side is very good. Some people on particular systems are having problems with Recording Dropout, and also crash recovery of driver when apps crash. We are working on these issues and hope to have updates that address these issues and feature enhancements in the future.
Does it have some fixed sample rate / bits, that is working with inside?
***Sample rate is fluid. It goes to whatever you tell it to. No SRC in mixer or ASIO paths, WDM has SRC on mismatch. Bit wise all data handling is high precision 32 bit integer w/ 67 bit accumulation(double precision w/ 3 headroom bits)
Does it resample or alter data before it goes to hardware out (SPDIF or analog)?
***Only on WDM streams if there is a Source>Device mismatch. SRC is only allowed between 11-48K. Above that rates must be matched or no audio.
I saw that mixer has option to add gain to inputs and outputs (you can put sliders above 0), so it looks like it must be capable of doing some math with the signal For example, with Delta cards you can do nothing about incoming signal level.
To summarize, I would like to know some details about internal sound routing / processing in emu 1212m, as well as possibilities to bypass these things (gain, volume, pan controls) absolutely.
***Make sure sample rates are matched and set everything to unity and they are bypassed.
Maybe folks at emu have plans for simple lightweight driver for basic tasks?
***Probably not. Basic means you can't do complex. With complex you can do simple.
I'm curious, because i just discovered, that different software players sound different with same cd, and even bypassing card's internal mixer has effect on sound!
I consider the emu 1212m as possible replacement for M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496, willing that it should be better for recording from analog sources and/or have better spdif output... Any thoughts?
Best,
ICHi
E-MU Systems
