iq100

Chris, you wrote>"... I recommend contacting the people who banned you from those sites in your effort to regain the ability to comment on those sites. ..." That statement does NOT make sense to me, since the part of my post you deleted made it clear that I did "contact the people who banned you from those sites in your effort to regain the ability to comment on those sites." As such, your post creates a significant false impression of events. I suggest you delete BOTH your post and this one. Or let both stand. Please don't just delete mine, which creates a false record of the fact that my efforts to communicate to J. River and Alan Gouger went unanswered. On a seperate matter, is it OK to post graphs and screen shots comparing response time, latencies, and jitter of my EMU 0404 USB when driven with J. River and Mediamonkey front ends? iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.

Chris wrote>"... I recommend contacting the people who banned you from those sites in your effort to regain the ability to comment on those sites. ..." I did, and posted here a verbatim copy of my email to Alan Gouger, AVSFORUM. J. River has NOT responded to my communication efforts, as well. You may remove this post, if you want, but I did want to post the FACT that I did follow your recommendations as to contacting those who banned me, but they did chose to IGNORE such attempts. My conclusion is that too effective postings as to shortcomings in exsiting products can and will be, at times, dealt with in a Draconian fashion. That itself is worth knowing by computer audiophiles interested in communicating their experience in a manner that can encourage improvements. Thanks for your 'independent' forum, and feel free to delete this post, if that is your 'policy'. iq100 the best way to delete an idea is by posting one of your own.

I have had a good experience with the Beta, Windows 7 capable, EMU 0404 USB ASIO driver, available for a while now on EMU's Preview site. http://connect.creativelabs.com/emu/default.aspx The significant change with the beta driver, in my Windows 7 Professional environment, has to do with automatic native file, bit perfect, sample bit rate changing across ALL applications. For instance, if I launch a VLC or YouTube video that uses 48KHZ sample rate, after playing a 192Khz "awesome audiophile", the video plays with sound and I see the EMU control panel (aka applet) change its sample rate fom 192Khz to 48Khz, with no manual keystrokes! In the past, I used a www.MediaMonkey.com (definitely recommended over J. River) plug-in, to automtically switch my EMU to match the native sample rates. That worked super! However if I exited MediaMonkey having played for instance a 192Khz FLAC file, I had to manually change EMU 0404 Conrol panel to 48Khz in order to hear the sound accompanying a vlc or youtube video. Now I can save those mouse clicks! You do have to click 'Stop' inside of MediaMonkey to release the EMU 0404 USB soundcard (if you do NOT want to exit MediaMonkey), but the native sample bit rate change occurs automatically upon launch of the file OUTSIDE of MediaMonkey. Since time is measures these days in terms of the number of mouse clicks, that should add a few years to my rapidly aging time here on earth (lol). I wonder if Einstein realized that someday time would be measured in terms of the number of mouse/keyboard clicks?

blaine78 wrote >"... j river is not poorly designed ..." I can't speak to the design of either J. River or MediaMonkey. That is because unlike other well intentioned open source software like Linux, its derivatives, and very few music players, neither are open source. Only open source would allow/encourage examining and understanding the data structure and coding styles J. River and MediaMonkey use. However to me the advantages of mediamonkey over J. River are: 1- mediamonkey is free, including free updates that corrects bugs and provides improvements. J. River uses a sprawling and heavily moderated Intercept forum to document bugs. Then after several months will produce a new version and charge their customers yet again for the product. 2- MediaMonkey has a formal bug tracking system. http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view_all_bug_page.php 3- MediaMonkey will cause my EMU-0404 ASIO interface to automatically change bitrates, 192Khz, 96Khz, 88Khz, 176Khz to match the song's native bitrate. That way I can play a mixed bitrate playlist and just listen, as I watch EMU-0404 USB ASIO applet automatically display the current bit perfect bitrate. I could NEVER get this to work in J. River. 4- J. River banned me because, in part, I posted the phrase "open source" on their forum. MediaMonkey does not seem to ban you for posting concepts. Hey ... just my humble opinion, iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own. Egypt, soon Libya, may UNBAN people. Maybe J. River has matured and will unban me?

I am curious as to your testing methods. If the difference is MAJOR, no need to respond. But if the difference is subtle, how do you do your testing? 1. Do you have someone else switch the two environments to be tested, in a manner that you do NOT know the details for which you are listening to? 2. How do you make sure the volume levels are exactly the same? 3. Do you vary the testing order so that things like 'ear fatique' are eliminated? 4. Have you ever tried to use a quality microphone to digitized the thru the air speaker output and then compare the graphs? Thanks for your efforts. iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own. one of perhaps a hundred BANNED from J. River INTERCEPT. Egypt, and soon Libya have learned to accept peacefull self expression. Could J. River be next to UNBAN people?

Chromium is open source. http://code.google.com/chromium/ J. River is NOT. Medimonkey will share their source code, if you ask. I read/use J. River products and forum for the same reason I read your posts. Mediamonkey has a friendly useable issue tracking/fixing subsystem. http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view_all_bug_page.php J. River is a mishmash of redundant forum posts, Wiki's, PMs, et. al. Thanks for thinking about these things. iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own. one of perhaps a hundred BANNED from J. River INTERCEPT. Egypt, and soon Libya have learned to accept peacefull self expression. Could J. River be next to UNBAN people?

Old Listener wrote> "... Did you think that J. River incorporated some code from the Chromium project into MC 16? ..." Jim Hillegass of J.River wrote (on his forum)>"... The Chromium engine is included with MC16 ..." Old LIstener wrote>"... You claimed that the Media Money company has a larger staff of paid programmers that J. River has. I asked you for numbers to back up your assertion. Since you did not provide any evidence at all, I'll conclude that you were blowing smoke. ..." You can install the free version of mediamonkey from www.mediamonkey.com and click on Help to see the long list. Again, mediamonkey includes a free issue tracking subsystem. J. River does not. http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view_all_bug_page.php I have often listened to both J.River and Mediamonkey thru my EMU 0404 USB DAC. Both sound very good. Mediamonkey will cause my EMU ASIO interface to automatically switch to 192Khz when a track in the playlist natively uses this. My experience is J.River has problems with this. iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own. one of perhaps a hundred BANNED from J. River INTERCEPT. Egypt, and soon Libya have learned to accept peacefull self expression. Could J. River be next to UNBAN people?

JazzDoc wrote > "... I'm not surprised that you have been banned from posting on the J.River Intercat forum iq100!(LOL) You don't seem to be the greatest fan of their product. I do however, agree with you that product based forums should also permit and respond to criticism rather than prevent the post. " For a small company, I think J. River deserves kudos for their technical perseverance. Howerver for me, it is their, hopefully now moderated "manners", that causes me to be critical. After all, I am BANNED! There was a time when posting phrases like "open source" or "free expression" would be deleted from Interact (sic) postings. Ironically J. River leverages open sourch software like Chromium. I believe that Interact has somwhat learned its lesson, mostly because some REFUSE to pay dollars to badly behaving players. Perhaps the times are changing. Perhaps J. River should formally UNBAN IQ! Heck even Egypt now claims to embrace peacefull open debate. lol Old Listener wrote>"... "automatic connection on startup ... easier to use features" The new user cost for MC16 is $49. The new user cost for Mediamonkey is zero. Yes, JRiver has a free version, but I do NOT think it even comes with a MP3 decoder and IMHO is mostly a teaser to cause users to buy into the yearly MC revenue cycle. In Mediamonkey it is part of their culture to provide "automatic connecton on startup" and "make features easier to use" without attempting to charge more for what to me are failures in design. Mediamonkey comes with a free subsystem to report issues and track fixes to issues. http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view_all_bug_page.php iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own. one of perhaps a hundred BANNED from Interact.

otisbass wrote>"does anyone know if JRiver 16 has any audio related advances over 15? What I've read so far seems mostly to relate to video." If anything JRiver 16 has gone in the wrong direction. Many report stuttering, slowness, crashes. Personally I use www.mediamonkey.com with EMU 0404 USB DAC. Why? 1. Mediamonkey's free version is fully capable and includes all upgrades. 2. JRiver keeps re-charging its cutomer base every time the need more money, by bumping the version number. 3. Apparently JRiver version 16 crashes with new Internet Explorer. JRiver does NOT directly support Apple iphone/ipad. 4. Mediamonkey just works without having to manually futz with buffer sizes, etc. IMHO, given the speed of modern computers, having to manually futz with buffer size and other parameters is an indication of poor design and/or programming. Also, I have been banned from posting to J. River's Interact forum, which could better be called INTERCEPT as far as posting anything critical. Mediamonkey has a larger staff of programmers, does not charge again for each release, and as far as I know does not censor posts or ban people from peaceful, but critical postings iq100 the best way to delete an idea is by posting one of your own.

I am happy with my 0404 USB. The analog volume control tracks well (after the very early original was replaced under warranty). I use its balanced 1/4 inch TRS to my balanced input amp. I was thinking of buying another DAC. Should I buy another 0404 or the 0204? Will the 0204 provide an AUDIBLE improvement? You wrote it uses the AK4396. Isn't this the SAME DAC as the 0404? You wrote the jitter is spec'd at 1/5th the 0404. BUT sometimes such a spec is mostly creative writing (i.e. 'theoretical'). Can we either measure or hear such a low level of jitter? It may be that the potentially quieter balanced 0404 signal is worth more than a lower jitter in name only? Looking for personal experiences. Or actual measurements. Also (OT), I am interested in less than $100 DACs that provide as good performance as AK4396. Anyone? iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.

jstrouth wrote>"... that other app that shall remain unnamed ..." Are you referring to www.mediamonkey.com? The www.mediamonkey.com product works very well. Also, it integrates with iPhone directly. Something that 'the other company' does NOT yet do. Also, unlike J. River, there is NO additional charge with each release of www.mediamonkey.com. Frankly, IMHO all three are good companies. Users benefit from healthy open discussion. Don't worry, I don't think mentioning company names here, in the context of helping to advance technology, will get you banned from computeraudiophile. (lol) iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.

I bought my EMU 0404 USB May, 2007! It was replaced under warranty by Creative in 2007.

dsnyder wrote>"... I found that an upgraded power supply restores dynamics and adds slam to the bass. ... Here's a post that I wrote a year or so ago about my $20 power supply upgrade project ..." I know that over time EMU/Creative made some engineering changes to the EMU 0404 USB. I say this because I was unhappy with certain things with my very early EMU 0404 USB purchase. I returned it directly to EMU/Creative after they said via telephone that they had improved certain things with engineering changes. They sent me a brand new unit. I noticed that things like right/left tracking improved, the volume controls tracked better (no static/pops and went to silence on minimal setting). The power supply 'wart' was also different. Maybe they improved this? Here are the marking of my current EMU wall 'wart': L-LD4-0 P/N 190254-0000 DSA-0051-07FUS 80050F iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.

>"... so keep working with the J River folks or give foobar2000/Mediamonkey a try ..." Careful, if you push J. River too hard you will be banned like me! and perhaps 100 others. If J.River reads this, then PLEASE unban me. Its a New Year and it is the RIGHT thing to do. iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.

jstrouth, Now that you got your EMU 0404 USB distortion problems sorted out, could you please 1- compare the sound with your Benchmark dac1 system 2- see if you can automatically play mixed 44.1, 96, 192 playlists. You can look at the EMU applet to see if sofware is causing the EMU (aka AKC) DAC to automatically switch rates. Thanks iq100 the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.