I'm looking for a replacement for my old Edirol UA-25, which has been a pretty decent device, but has developed a bit of a hum. I'm not sure if it's always been this way or if I've only recently noticed it. Anyhow, I'm going to replace it. So far, from what I've read, the E-MU 0404 looks like a good candidate for a replacement. Stereo in, stereo out, a few other nice features. Does anyone have any devices they would recommend instead of the 0404 for a similar price point and that provide similar functionality and quality?

USB or PCI?

Since it should be a replacement for the Edirol UA-25, I guess USB

I think you should go for the 0404. I have been in the same situation recently and looked up a lot of reviews on the net of various devices. The 0404 just offers the most features and highest quality components for a reasonable price. E-MU is not famous for their drivers, but the latest drivers for the device are excellent (i.e. they just work without problems).

Also you can get very low latencies (don't know if that is an issue for you?). Even though there is an issue with periodic CPU spikes on my Sony VAIO laptop (probably a problem of my laptop and/or Windows Vista) I am able to set the latency as low as 4-5 ms without dropouts.

It's definitely not a single manufacturer that has that issue. With my own X38 based system and also with my friends brand new Dell Vostro both running Windows 7 X64 those CPU spikes occur.

Response from EMU support has been poor to say the least (they basically deny the issue).

I use the 0202 USB often. For recording and listening. Since it is very similar to the 0404 I´d recommend both interfaces. They are very easy to use with several OS, configuring in- and outputs is very easy. In comparison an X-Fi from Creative I own (whatever nonsense reasons drove me to buy one of those still illudes me). Very low noise, robustly built.

I´d say they are really neat for the price. Supposedly, both share a unique kind of USB connection which is used to avoid Jitter. Yeah, I know, the typical subject of not so objective comments by audiophiles. Naturally I can´t say if this is any better for the sound.

But this connection does have one thing in particular: it uses relatively high CPU ressources. On an admittedly older Pentium 4 3.8 Ghz (HT) it uses around 15-20 % CPU ressources when it is used. It appears not to be a driver problem but a problem which comes from the asynchronous USB use.

Both interfaces also have one big problem: they don´t work very well with foobar´s ASIO output. It has to be configured anew after every restart of the host-pc. Maybe this too relates to the different USB connection used - but I´m no expert on this.

However, apart from this things my experiences so far have been very positive and I´d buy the 0202 USB again if I´d have to.

My current plan is USB, but if there's a compelling case to be made for PCI I might consider that. My current desktop is in in a half-height case, however, so that makes things difficult unless I can find a half-height 0404, which seems pretty doubtful.

As I find ASIO use with foobar2000 to be nothing short of ridiculous in almost all cases, I don't have this concern.

Low latency is a boon, especially for working with live audio. As I might be doing some work with live audio, that's a selling point.

I used the 0404 on my parent's windows computer a couple of years back. It is an easy to use device which is great for the musician, though I hate to use USB for audio. But, for an audiophile or listening to music, there are better, smaller, and more focused machines which will direct your signal better for a variety of devices.

You realize this comment is pointless without mentioning what these devices are, right?

Are you sure ?

Why not ASUS Xonar Essence STX ???

I have this one myself and I love it!

Absolutely.

It's not external and has no recording facilities nor midi nor several of the other features that my UA-25 has and I am looking to replace. Thanks for the heads-up though, the Xonar has better RMAA measurements than even the 0404.