onetonnemusic

They've pitched the new range for the "Desktop Professional and Home Studio Musicians" which seems like the right spot given the price points and feature sets. It's a difficult market to enter, as there's already several companies who do similar things with little to distinguish each product. I think what's unique or at least helps the new EMU gear stand above the crowd is that they also happend to boast hardware accelerated effects - as well as the sundry I/O featuring hardware digital signal processing (DSP), that's certainly something to notice.

On the topic of onboard DSP I have no reason to suspect that the quality will be anything short of excellent, my experience of EMU hardware to date has been universally positive. Without hearing them I can't personally vouch for the quality, but I would bet should one magically appear in my greasy paws, I wouldn't be dissapointed. EMU has a strong history of producing studio quality hardware and they're chasing hard to catchup with whats happening with software synths. Zero processor overhead is what you get from onboard DSP (at least if the inbuilt effects are what you want to use) and at this price, there's not many cards that have this kind of processing firepower. There's a few cards floating about that have exciting DSP capabilities but none have the the pedigree these have and none that I know of are available with DSP and effects under $299AUD. Sadly there seems to be the usual price hike that we experience with technology gear down under and the EMU 0404 has an estimated street price of $99 in the states, I'm not so good with the maths (or the book learnin') but that price conversion doesn't quite work out. Still that's only RRP and even at that price I venture that it is indeed a reasonable price to pay.

Theres a lot to like about the new gear, but of note from the press release it states that the 1820M ($1199 AUD) (has a) "half-rackspace breakout box that features premium 24-bit/192kHz converters - the same A/D converters used in Digidesign's high-end ProTools HD interface. " Holy crap man! If this isn't even half true, this is damn fine news. I'd be very interested to see DigiDesign's response to that. Pro-Tools HD rigs are well in excess of 20,000AUD for the unititiated. The prescense of Neutrik pro-grade connectors also indicates to me that EMU are taking this very seriously, and personally, I cannot wait to check these out for real.

There's lots of other juicy information, and I've included a copy of the press release for your very own eyes below. Enough of the me, and more with the Specs!

Visit EMU Online or Creative.com
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E-MU 1820M, 1820 and 1212M Digital Audio Systems deliver professional I/O, Hardware-Accelerated, Effects and Sync on your PC from AU$299

SYDNEY - November 10, 2004 - Creative Labs Pty Ltd, a local subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users, today announced Creative Professional E-MU Digital Audio Systems - 24-bit/192kHz PCI audio interfaces that deliver everything musicians need to produce audio on a PC with professional results, including mastering-grade converters (the same A/D converters used in Digidesign®'s flagship ProTools® HD 192 I/O interface), hardware-accelerated effects and mixing, and seamless compatibility with all major PC audio/MIDI software. There are three Digital Audio Systems: the E-MU 1820M, 1820 and 1212M, each matched with I/O and sync options to suit the specific needs of musicians, recording engineers and sound designers, and ship with comprehensive WDM, DirectSound® and ASIOT 2.0 drivers for Windows® 2000 and XP. E-MU's Digital Audio Systems has started shipping at recommended retail price of AU$1199inc GST for the E-MU 1820M, AU$949 inc GST for the E-MU 1820 and AU$499 inc GST for the E-MU 1212M.

"Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro with the I/O hub has been the choice of music hobbyists to produce music. With this exciting range of Creative Professional E-MU Digital Audio Systems, we are able to extend on the Sound Blaster to deliver more professional solutions for the hobbyists and even the professional musicians," said Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd.

Hardware-accelerated Effects, Mixing and Monitoring
All three Digital Audio Systems feature E-MU's powerful E-DSP chip, an effects processor that can deliver over 16 simultaneous hardware-accelerated effects, freeing your computer from running CPU-intensive plug-ins that limit your audio performance- a feature only offered by the most high-priced DAWs on the market. E-MU's Digital Audio Systems ship with over 500 effects presets, and the effects architecture is fully expandable, allowing you to add more effect plug-ins to your system as needed. The E-DSP chip also provides zero-latency, hardware-based mixing and monitoring via the included PatchMix DSP mixer, delivering unmatched flexibility in routing audio between all of your physical and virtual (ASIO/WDM) inputs and outputs- no external mixer needed.

Total Analog, Digital and Sync Connectivity
E-MU's Digital Audio Systems all feature ADAT, S/PDIF and FireWire® interfaces, as well as connectivity to a family of internal and external I/O and sync options.

The E-MU 1820 Digital Audio System ships with a 24-bit/192kHz half-rackspace breakout box that offers I/O expansion with everything from pristine 1/4" balanced inputs and outputs to specialized I/O like turntable inputs (with ground lug and hardware RIAA preamp), dedicated speaker outputs and two studio-grade TFProT preamps with 48V phantom power and 40dB of gain. These preamps feature Neutrik® connectors and accept mic, line and Hi-Z level inputs for total flexibility in plugging any microphone or instrument straight into the system. This breakout box also provides two sets of MIDI I/O, and is powered over the EDI (E-MU Digital Interface) cable that connects it to E-MU's PCI card - no external power needed.

The E-MU 1820M Digital Audio System ships with a mastering-grade version of the half-rackspace breakout box that features premium 24-bit/192kHz converters - the same A/D converters used in Digidesign's high-end ProTools HD interface. These converters deliver an unbelievable 120dB SNR, an incredible audio spec at any price, but unbelievable for a system priced at less than AU$1500. No other audio solution available offers the performance, flexibility and value of the E-MU 1820M.

The E-MU 1212M Digital Audio System offers the same mastering-grade converters on a I/O daughter card, providing a pair of balanced inputs and outputs as well as MIDI I/O - the perfect solution for any application that only requires a couple channels of premium analog I/O (i.e. mastering, remixing and running virtual instruments).

The E-MU 1820M Digital Audio System also ships with a sync daughtercard that allows musicians to lock external analog and digital systems together with a stable, high-resolution time base. The sync daughtercard supports Word Clock Sync in/out for sample accurate phase-lock of your digital studio, SMPTE Sync in/out for stable synchronization of external analog tape and video, as well as MTC (MIDI Time Code) out. Together with the comprehensive analog and digital I/O options available, E-MU 1820M offers complete, professional-spec connectivity to your entire studio, at a fraction of the price of the competition.

E-MU 1820M I/O Configuration:
. Two TFPro Mic/Line/Hi-Z preamps (w/48V phantom power)
. Six 1/4" Balanced Inputs
. Eight 1/4" Balanced Outputs
. Turntable input (w/ground lug and hardware RIAA preamp)
. 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
. 24-bit/96kHz coaxial S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. 24-bit/96kHz optical S/PDIF Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. Two sets of MIDI In/Out
. Four stereo 1/8" Speaker Outputs (configurable from stereo to 7.1)
. Stereo Headphone Output
. Firewire® Interface

Sync:
. Word Clock In/Out
. SMPTE In/Out
. MTC Out

The E-MU 1820M also ships with a comprehensive audio software package that includes Steinberg Cubase VST 5.1, Steinberg Wavelab Lite 2.5 and SFX Machine LT.

E-MU 1820 I/O Configuration:
. Two TFPro Mic/Line/Hi-Z preamps (w/48V phantom power)
. Six 1/4" Balanced Inputs
. Eight 1/4" Balanced Outputs
. Turntable input (w/ground lug and hardware RIAA preamp)
. 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
. 24-bit/96kHz coaxial S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. 24-bit/96kHz optical S/PDIF Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. Two sets of MIDI In/Out
. Four stereo 1/8" Speaker Outputs (configurable from stereo to 7.1)
. Stereo Headphone Output
. Firewire® Interface

The E-MU 1820 also ships with a comprehensive audio software package that includes Steinberg Cubase VST 5.1, Steinberg Wavelab Lite 2.5 and SFX Machine LT.

E-MU 1212M I/O Configuration:
. Two 1/4" Balanced Inputs
. Two 1/4" Balanced Outputs
. 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
. 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. MIDI In/Out
. Firewire® Interface

The E-MU 1212M also ships with a comprehensive audio software package that includes Steinberg Cubasis 4.0, Steinberg Wavelab Lite 2.5 and SFX Machine LT.

Pricing and Availability:
The Creative Professional E-MU 1820M has a recommended retail price of AU$1199 inc GST; Creative Professional E-MU 1820 has a recommended retail price of AU$949 inc GST and the Creative Professional E-MU 1212M has a recommended price of AU$499 inc GST. All Creative Professional products are now shipping in Australia and New Zealand. Also available is The Creative Professional EMU 0404 at a recommended retail price of $299 inc GST and the Emulator X at AUD$749 inc GST and the Emulator X Studio at $1399 inc GST.