E-MU 0202 USB ultimate portable USB audio interface for Mac and PC

Mark Walker
July 17, 2009

Rating: 10/10

Purchased this as a way of reducing my latency and to provide extra options for recording in the future. The box is fantastic and is so easy to set up highly recommended if you don\'t have a massive budget and just starting out.

Bob Spearing
April 9, 2009

Rating: 10/10

This is great - The installation instructions were 1st class ensuring an elegant Windows XP setup - and what an enormous amount to install, the software bundle is excellent value on it\'s own. Best of all it just works 1st attempt - oh for all PC add-ons to be as cool as this.

Texrat
April 4, 2009

Rating: 2/10

I am not happy with this product at all.

I bought it to do vocal recording on my dual AMD Opteron, Windows XP 64 workstation, but while it worked very well for sound out, the sound IN functions refused to operate. As far as my recording programs are concerned the E-mu 0202 isn\'t even there.

So, I decided to try it on an IBM Intel-based laptop running 32 bit XP. Same exact problem, even though the machine is very different. There is no way to access recording. Windows mixer applet won\'t even let me select recording controls if the E-mu is engaged.

E-mu support has not been helpful. Response times are slow and spotty. I realize my experience does not seem to be the norm but I do want to caution people.

Peter Morris
January 21, 2009

Rating: 9/10

Work in stereo want a simple interface? Buy an EMU 0202. I\'m a jobbing studio installer and had a client with a need for a simple, good quality stereo interface. OK, I thought, should be able to get one for about £150. When I cam across the 0202 at £68, I thought there was a mistake. Bus powered, 24-bit and, being stereo, doesn\'t even tax USB speeds.

I got one for my client thinking that I\'d put it in store if it was no good. I\'ve ended up buying one for myself as well.

Good sound, low latency, no wall-wart and it\'s Emu. I suggest you buy one at sub-£70 before the sterling crisis pushes it up over £100.

BTW, I have it on my spare studio PC and don\'t travel with it. I think you might have to take a little care if you\'re throwing it into rucksack. Sits on top of my Mac Pro and is totally reliable. Tip top...

will
November 25, 2008

Rating: 8/10

There are a few strange things that happen with GarageBand, which is the free program that come with Mac OSX.(leopard)
After installing the drivers for the EMU 0202 GarageBand hang on \\\'Initialising\\\' which normally only takes a second or two before launching.
Re-installing didn\\\'t seem to help, but launching an old (2.0.2) version of GarageBand from a full system backup- it launched properly and afterwards my current (3.0.5) version of GarageBand launched normally too.
I guess the old copy restored wonky preferences but who knows.

The EMU 0202 has otherwise been settling in fine, and I recommend it, with a good mic and some headphones, as a decent first step into experiments with audio.

graham
January 1, 2008

Rating: 8/10

The reason i bought the e-mu 0202 was to upgrade the sound produced by my laptop. I'm a great believer in quality, and the normal laptop audio line out when linked to my hifi wasn't very good.
So how good was the e-mu....in a word, excellent.
The quality was everything i hoped for. What was also pleasing was the input quality...being linked to a hi fi i can record radio broadcasts, etc, and what was particularly useful were the external line in gain controls...much easier than going through internal sound controls. And of course, the mute button.
Instillation was simple enough, so all in all a good product.

As a test, i compared the sound quality achieved with the e-mu against the soundblaster audigy zs soundcard installed on another of my computers.
I would say that the e-mu was slightly better...a deeper crisper sound. There were no compatibility problems switching from one sound card to the other, so on my pc anyway operating dual sound cards wasn't a problem.
The final test was against my main pc which has the m audio audiophile 2496 soundcard. There was only one winner in this test...the audiophile.

There are many usb audio devices available. I have no idea what they sound like, but for simplicity and quality this one is a good buy, and does the job.

Beatnik
December 29, 2007

Rating: 9/10

For external soundcards in the budget category, it comes down to offering from Behringer, M-Audio and Creative. Behringer got shove for its lack of USB connectivity. My M-Audio monitors are simple but carry big bang for the buck so they came a close second. Creative make excellent gamecards but are lesser-known for their pure audio applications, hence my qualms, although my previous Soundblaster is awesome. The E-mu packs 1/4" outs plus a 1/8" for plug'n-play simplicity; a neat ground-loop solution (yet to be tried for its effectiveness); but what sold me was the impressive software array. I'm not a fan of hacks and cracks so this is an excellent way for a budding computer musician to don his audition rags at a sweet price.
Cons? It ain't heavy (lacks meaty studio quality and tactility), but he's my brother.
Kinda like Behringer here - Best you'll get on a budget.

ISSAKHA
December 4, 2007

Rating: 8/10

I have bought last year my first midi keyboard to use with computer software .I purchased one Photon x25 16 keys from Xlectonic in Hammersmith .This keyboard can even be used as primary soundcard and recognised by my sequencer software.It can coonnect another midi or audio interface to play live.And most of all it is robust and fits in a rugsack.Bravo Alesis

rai
July 2, 2007

Rating: 7/10

Im running a 2.66 gig processor
VST32 on xp sp2
Emu 1212m soundcard..

First the sound is amazing on the emu card but there's something wrong with the link between Cubase and the card,the card crashes out now and then and just leaves an annoying loud beep, i then have to reboot..

As this is my first time using this card i yet dont understand how to set the send and returns, im just getting by on default settings.

When im using synth bass plugins or reason it would clip as if the processor or the soundcard is struggling too, i never had this problem with sound blaster live.
Although the latency is low which is very good i think i will certainly try another card.

lawrence kirkham
June 24, 2007

Rating: 9/10

All round an excellent and fast ,clean sounding interface that I use with my laptop a Dell inspiron make sure you have a usb 2.0 interface(to get the best out of it) before you purchase.The install was quick and slick and Cubase le installs no problem. While it,s plugged in it becomes your default sound card . I knocked one point of because although the preamps are top notch there is NO PHANTOM POWER(for condenser mikes) a big omission, to get it you have to buy the next model up the 0404.

lawrence kirkham
June 24, 2007

Rating: 9/10

All round an excellent and fast ,clean sounding interface that I use with my laptop a Dell inspiron make sure you have a usb 2.0 interface(to get the best out of it) before you purchase.The install was quick and slick and Cubase le installs no problem. While it,s plugged in it becomes your default sound card . I knocked one point of because although the preamps are top notch there is NO PHANTOM POWER(for condenser mikes) a big omission, to get it you have to buy the next model up the 0404.