I'll spear.

I have chosen:
- The quality of circuits (unless all of this is that the marketing ...)
- USB 2.0 (what most direct competitive landscape in the same price range have not)
- The balanced outputs (to connect directly to my monitors, it's class!)
- Inputs / outputs SPDIF or AES
- The independent headphone amp and volume associated
- Direct Monitoring
- The price!

I use it on:
- Micro (rare)
- Directly to the outputs of my Pod XT Live (I do not like sound card)

For my config, see my profile.

UTILIZATION

Installation: Manual comes down to its simplest form (just the same limits), but to install everything is clear.

Once installed (I left all my previous sound card enabled, which of course should not be): panic! After two uninstall / reinstall full: stop the Pod, the suppression of AC97 directly into the BIOS ... it works!
Then experiment with Groove Agent standalone: ​​cracking all the time?
After some tests I see the need to leave the resolution of the E-MU 16 or 32 bits (24 cracks here) ...

FYI, my Pod XT Live, which is also a USB 2.0 sound card, which accepts the 44.1 and 48 in 16 or 24 bits Jamis asked me not the slightest problem or crash ... At this stage of my testing so I express doubts about the stability of the driver.

GETTING STARTED

Once past all the pitfalls of installation, all is well. I had chosen to avoid using an analog mixer tapping and monitoring headphones and I'm not disappointed on that point. The knobs are smooth, accurate and produce no artifact. The entries are very successful: it can pass very quickly from a microphone to an input line of very high level, dynamic limiter is present, but in my opinion it is too early an attack (from-12dB), so I personally do not use it.

! added in January 2007! : Prémplis are actually very average quality. As long as we remain in line level, so good. For the microphones here remains to be seen ...

For monitoring, surprise: the knob is in fact an endless encoder, no explanation is available on the doc. In level I found it a bit limited (I always needed to lower the level of the mix to hear the monitoring).

! added in January 2007! : It's really balls: they manage the monitoring in software internally and do not even have a driver that can handle this with more precision than can the button on the front!
An important point: the latency!
The ASIO config panel comes down to its simplest form (as is the little app that comes with the card): definition bits (16, 24 or 32) and latency.
In SONAR 5, with a non-computer dedicated to music (so lots of work in the background ...): 5 ms (below, it cracks.

And finally: the SOUND.
Obviously I'm not going to insult a comparison with the E-MU AC97 or the POD sound card. The 0404 USB has a good dynamic and the details are perfectly rendered. I Consat no difference between my headphones and listen to (in any case the same signal is recovered after the D / A converter, so there is the amp that could play). The volume range is linear and independent enough from the headphones and line-out (and each is from 0 to max), very flexible to use.

OVERALL OPINION

I have now for ten days. I bought this card that compared the characteristics of AF and many others. My main criteria were the connections (which avoids using an analog console when you're alone), and its capabilities (up to 192 kHz, digital inputs and outputs in AES or SPDIF, MIDI input. ..).

She has met all my expectations in terms of ergonomics, ease of use and sound quality. For the price (199 €), I would do so of choice without hesitation.

! added in January 2007! : I think now that the 192 kHz, it is mostly marketing. They could be limited to the 96 kHz and put on better preamps. Anyway, here led me to buy it and I should not be the only ...