| | |  | E-MU/Creative Professional | Home » » 1616M PCI | | | | | | | Description: | | PCI Digital Audio System
E-MU's new 1616M PCI Digital Audio System delivers everything you need to produce audio on a PC with professional results- 24-bit/192kHz converters (the same A/D converters used in Digidesign®'s ProTools® HD 192 I/O interface), hardware-accelerated effects and mixing, comprehensive sync options and seamless compatibility with your favorite PC audio/sequencer software. The MicroDock M breakout box offers a total of 16 inputs and 16 outputs plus 32 channels of MIDI I/O, including two E-MU XTC Class-A ultra-low noise mic/line/hi-Z preamps with 48V phantom power and analog soft limiting circuit for clip protection. The 1616M PCI also ships with ASIO2 and WDM drivers for Windows XP, 2000 and x64, as well as the E-MU Production Tools software bundle that includes E-MU's Proteus X LE, plus software by Steinberg, Ableton, IK Multimedia, and many more - everything you need to create, record, edit, master and burn your music.
The E-MU 1616M PCI features: - Mastering grade 24-bit/192kHz converters - the same A/D converters used in Digidesign's flagship ProTools HD 192 I/O Interface delivering an amazing 120dB signal-to-noise ratio
- Hardware-accelerated effects - over 600 standalone and E-MU Power FX VST plug-in effects with no CPU overhead
- PatchMix™ DSP zero-latency hardware mixing and monitoring - with super-flexible patchbay - no external mixer needed
- Comprehensive analog and digital I/O plus MIDI - MicroDock M offers 16 inputs/16 outputs plus MIDO I/O - everything from balanced analog and turntable inputs to ADAT and S/PDIF (switchable to AES/EBU)
- Two E-MU XTC" Class-A, ultra-low noise preamps (-129.5dBu) - Mic/Line and true Hi-Z inputs via Neutrik connectors, with analog soft limiter, 48V phantom power and 60dB of gain
- Compatibility with most popular audio/sequencer applications - ultra-low latency 24-bit/192kHz ASIO2, WDM and 64-bit drivers
- E-MU Production Tools Software Bundle - includes Cakewalk SONAR LE, Steinberg Cubase LE and Wavelab Lite, Ableton Live Lite 4 for E-MU, IK Multimedia AmpliTube LE and T-RackS EQ, Minnetonka diskWelder BRONZE, SFX Machine LT, plus E-MU's Proteus® X LE Desktop Sound Module - everything you need to create, record, edit, master and burn is in the box
I/O Configuration: - Two E-MU XTC™ Ultra-low Noise Mic/Line/Hi-Z Preamps with Soft Limiter and 48V Phantom Power (-129.5dBu EIN)
- Four 1/4" Balanced Inputs
- Six 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/192kHz coaxial S/PDIF Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
- Two sets of MIDI In/Out
- Stereo 1/8" Speaker Outputs (configurable from stereo to 5.1)
- Stereo Headphone Output
E-DSP Hardware-accelerated Effects, Mixing and Monitoring:
E-MU's Digital Audio Systems feature the powerful E-DSP chipset, which features a hardware-accelerated effects processor with over 28 effects plug-ins (over 600 presets). This effects architecture is fully expandable, allowing you to add more effect plug-ins to your system as needed. E-DSP 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.
All Digital Audio Systems ship with the following Effects Plug-ins:
| Stereo Reverb |  | Lite Reverb | | Compressor | | Leveling Amp | | Chorus | | Flanger | | Phase Shifter | | Frequency Shifter | | Distortion | | Speaker Simulator | | Rotary Speaker | | Auto-Wah | | Vocal Morpher | | 1-Band Para EQ | | 1-Band Shelf EQ | | 3-Band EQ | | 4-Band EQ | | Mono Delay 100 | | Mono Delay 250 | | Mono Delay 500 | | Mono Delay 750 | | Mono Delay 1500 | | Mono Delay 3000 | | Stereo Delay 100 | | Stereo Delay 250 | | Stereo Delay 500 | | Stereo Delay 750 | | Stereo Delay 1500 | | | | |
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| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
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| 5.92 pounds | | Package Length:
| 11.3 inches | | Package Width:
| 10.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 6.1 inches | | Package Weight:
| 5.45 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 4 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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Excellent!!Jun 23, 2009
Another reviewer said this is the best product of its kind at this price, but for my use it's the best I've found within several times its price.
I don't use the 1616m for recording, mixing, monitoring, etc.; I'm just an audiophile who listens to music from my computer on my headphones. I export WAV files in 16-bit/44.1-kHz ASIO digital from my hard drive over the 1616m's EDI cable to its DACs, then feed the analog signal through its headphone amp to my headphones.
I don't have the equipment to do objective testing, but I've read the reviews that do, and the 1616m has distortion and jitter figures as low or lower than everything to which it's compared. Subjectively I can say the 1616m has an extended, linear frequency balance and lots of textural detail--as one would expect of solid state--as well as all the emotional impact one might expect of vacuum tubes.
I've used standalone headphone amplifiers (both tubed and solid state) with and without USB DACs, some costing several times more than the 1616m, but I've never been as pleased.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Best PCI Recording System at This PriceMay 06, 2009
I couldn't be happier that I bought this great product. Initially I was going to get one of the newer, flashier rack-mount Firewire units that are all the rage, but I was certain I'd read that PCI was a faster bus and had lower latency. I was concerned that this unit had first come out in 2005. I read all the old reviews, as well as any forum info I could find. Supposedly E-MU had finally put out Vista drivers and I confirmed this on their site. But still I was nervous about getting this to work on my new (Jan 09) m9402f hp PC. I'm running 64-bit Vista with AMD Phenom 9650 Quad-Core 2.3 GHz processors, and hated the idea not being able to run this thing with all that horsepower. I'd read all the horror stories about things simply not working. Don't let that deter you. Just make sure you READ all the installation notes before you install. Make sure you do everything in the exact steps described. New drivers don't come with these units. You need to get them from E-MU. Also keep in mind that new PC's may only have one PCI slot like mine. These are being phased out, but once they're gone E-MU will hopefully continue selling these with a PCI Express card.
It really is a powerful unit. I've run guitars, vocals and hardware synths through it and the effects are great. I use the bundled version of Cubase LE which is great. It's truly amazing the level of quality you can get these days with a $750 computer and $400 sound card. It's got tons of I/O and the Patchmix DSP software is very powerful once you've got your head around it. Read this very informative 2005 Sound on Sound article on tapping into its great flexibility. "http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov05/articles/emupatchmix.htm". I very much like the aesthetics of this unit. It looks and feels like world-class hardware and I hope to enjoy it for years to come. One thing I purchased after this turned out be a great complement to this unit. It's the E-MU EM7700 Professional USB/Midi Controller Keyboard with 25 Full Size Keys . The two make a great pair and are the heart of my now very flexible and powerful home recording system.
Home Audiophile - Great Sounding, but kind of a pain...Apr 21, 2009
I use this in my bedroom system for two things. I use it to play back music off of my network shared drive, and to multitask audio between my PC and my FM radio or PC and CD player. There are a lot of times when I want to listen to a CD or the radio, and need to hear my computer at the same time. Also, I often use headphones for games, or music if it's late at night so the built in headphone amp is a good thing.
The hardware sounds great, and if you can handle the pro-oriented software it's really flexible. One thing you can get out of this thing that you won't get from any Audiophile D/A converter is the digital effects library. Now, most home users won't want any of these tools, EXCEPT the compressor! Great for watching a DVD on your PC and keeping your stereo from blowing out the downstairs neighbors.
There is only 1 feature which is missing which would attract most home audiophiles from buying this thing. There is no on-the-fly sample rate adjustment. So while it will playback 92kHz/24 bit hi-rez files from HD Tracks or Chesky, you have to change sessions to change resolutions. Most audiophile DAC's will do this automatically. However, compared to most pro grade DAC's like the Benchmark and Grace, it's a steal.
Happy Listening!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Best in its price classDec 04, 2007
No other system in this price range offers you the quality of AD converters found in this unit. I use this unit for recording on my desktop PC through the pci card and I also have the corresponding PCMCIA card so that I can use it for recording on my laptop. I only have to disconnect the unit from the port on either machine (it attaches and detaches from the computer much like an ethernet cable) and plug it into the other machine and I'm ready. The breakout box is amazingly versatile for the price and considering how little room it takes up. It has a pair of universal inputs in the front, as well as optical and coaxial ins/outs for connecting to other hardware if you want to expand the number of inputs or route the signal to other devices. The back has two sets of stereo 1/4 inch line-in inputs, 3 sets of stereo 1/4 inch outputs, 3 1/8 inch stereo outputs, a set of rca inputs, and a midi port (with an included cable that gives you 2 ins and 2 outs.)
Software-wise, it comes with "lite" versions of a number of popular DAWs and plug-ins. If you are new to computer-based recording, this will allow you to try out a number of different recording environments which will allow you to get a feel for which one you are most comfortable with. You can then purchase the full version of that software if you choose. Plug-in wise, you get soft synths, samplers, guitar rigs, mastering tools and effects processors to play with and use in your projects. A bonus, the unit comes with its own on-board DSP effects, so if you are using this unit in a live setting and doing direct monitoring, you can use the on-board effects and the the card will handle the load, easing the burden on your CPU.
With this unit, no latency means "no latency". My computers and operating systems love it, and I've never experienced any popping, glitching, or freezing up. I'm running it with a 3.2 GHZ Pentium 4 on Windows XP Home on my desktop, with 2 GB of ram. The laptop has a 2.0 GHZ Core 2 duo running XP Pro with 4 GB of ram, so this definitley helps with my performance.
The included software mixer, Patch Mix, if very flexible in it's routing capabilities. It's actually almost too much. I would recommend trying to locate a video tutorial on an internet site like YouTube or something, as it can be a little tricky to navigate on your own if you haven't dealt with one before.
All in all, I'd say that it's worth the extra few hundred dollars you would spend to get this unit as opposed to a lot of the USB based systems on the market that go for a little less. PCI and PCMCIA are much more suitable protocols for live audio, and are much more stable. I'm not sure how this unit would measure up against the firewire systems as I've never used any of them. The AD converters also give you sound quality that you don't usually find in a unit of this price range and for that alone, it's worth the purchase price.
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