Creative's E-MU 0404: Pro Sound Quality on the Cheap

Introduction

The 0404's form factor is the traditional PCI card you insert into a slot in your PC like any other sound card of this type. However, its input and output connectors are different. The card's back plate has two connectors to which are connected two breakout cables with all the female connectors to accommodate all existing types of connections.

As would be expected on a card oriented toward performance, the 0404 is a 24 bit card operating at frequencies up to 96 kHz. In many ways, it performance is close to that of its higher end big brothers in the E-MU line and also offers similar possibilities. This is quite an exploit for a sound card in this price range.

Obviously, you shouldn't expect the card to do what a consumer-type card does. It's not intended for games or for decoding DVD or similar sound applications. We should also point out that for professional use, the 0404 can be associated with a synchronization card.