| | |  | | 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:
| 12.01 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.91 inches | | Product Height:
| 10.43 inches | | Product Weight:
| 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 7 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 7 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Best in its price classDec 04, 2007
By Dave
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.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Best PCI Recording System at This PriceMay 06, 2009
By Gary A. Spong
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.
 Customer service is hideous, but it's a nice piece of gear.Apr 01, 2010
By gnis
I do voiceover and recently upgraded my studio and wanted a new interface...I have owned/tried Tascam, M-Audio, and Focusrite as an interface from the channel strip I use as a pre-amp to the computer where I record on Adobe Audition.
I followed a tip and got the E-MU1616m. I ripped the box open, installed it on my machine (Windows 7 64 bit) and started to record....and....HORRIBLE HORRID HEINOUS audio. I messed with the settings for a few hours on the unit and on my computer and nothing. I tried to contact customer support via phone and they don't take calls...only a voice telling you to email E-MU...So I emailed E-MU and the email I got back from E-MU told me to consult the manual and make sure the settings on Adobe Audition were correct. I did a little research and found people having problems running it on Windows 7 64 bit, so I decided to try to install it on an older computer running Vista...and it worked PERFECTLY!!!
After my day and a half of misery I finally got it running on the other machine and I gotta say the thing is pretty sweet. No line noise compared to the M-Audio junk I was using. Since I only record voice latency isn't an issue and wasn't with my previous rig, but from what I hear for musicians it is "latent-less" or "latency free".
I like the basic FX, EQ/Compression and like that I can store a session and recall it easily. As I mentioned I do voice over work and have had times when I have to read a corporate training script and then a rock radio imaging strip where the PD likes me to almost "yell"...which is not my cup of tea but he is the client so I will yell. With the E-MU I can toggle between sessions that I created worth different EQ/Comp that are suited for the different reads.
Once you get past the hurdles of setting it up, I think it is a nice piece if gear.
Customer service gets a -4 million star rating and the product itself gets a 4.
 Hope it doesn't blow up, mine did? yikesFeb 27, 2010
By E. Thompson
EMU support was completely DOE for over a month last year (absolutely off the map) Links down on website and everything, rumor was creative was going to discontinue the EMU line. Now the support section of the web site is back up but support is EMAIL only and if you do get to talk, you will talk to someone in India, AND if your 1616m preamps spark and catch on fire like mine did during that period and your warranty expired in the mean time, they will NOT honor the warranty, so RUN FAR AND FAST from EMU in general. and the 1616m Preamp jacks are sensitive and might spark out in a short while (mine did).
Awesome SoundNov 23, 2009
By H. Brinlee
"Papa Homer"
After upgrading my DAW software,( Cakewalk Sonar, Propellerheads Record and Reason) I needed to upgrade my sound card as well. Cakewalk provides a hardware compatability page and I discovered that the EMU 1616M was perfectly suited to my needs.
[...]
It has really high quality DAC chips that deliver a truly awesome sound.
I am now remastering all my old projects through this new sound card.
Unbelieveable Improvement of Sound!!!
See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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