I haven't used any E-mu gear so I can't comment on the ones you're looking at, but I love my M-Audio Delta 1010LT and would never part with it. They can be had at most places for around $199.

Very stable drivers, no compatibiity issues that I'm aware of or had experience with (I run 2 cards on one system) and they offer lots of headroom. My 1010LT gives me a noise floor right now around -70dB.

The E-MU stuff is great value. Do a search for E-MU and see what others have said. E-MU did just recently released some new drivers that have really helped those users that were having problems. Don't use a Compaq ot HP thou, or you will likely have problems.

Save your money! New stuff is not going to make bad music and inexperience sound any better. Learn how to make what you have sound good first. Everybody thinks they are doing something wrong if it sounds like crap. The answer is... correct!

<---------- Cubase SX user here and Steinberg does have a compatibily chart for sound cards, if you plan to keep on using Cube.

Click Here! to see the chart.

Does this help?

PB

RemyRAD wrote: Everybody thinks they are doing something wrong if it sounds like crap. The answer is... correct!

They are! :D

Even by using the lower-quality gear if you know what you are doing you can use it with efficacy.

RemyRAD wrote: Save your money! New stuff is not going to make bad music and inexperience sound any better. Learn how to make what you have sound good first. Everybody thinks they are doing something wrong if it sounds like crap. The answer is... correct!

So true, I myself have not been doing this very long around 2yrs for those two yrs I been using the equipment that couldnt afford myself besides the pc and the programs that i bought just hardware was lacking.Not Looking to buy a Top of the line soundcard to make my impectfections sound better,Just to make recording and sampling all that much easier with the latency and connections.I figure sure you can make something alright with a soundcard that came with you pc if you know what your doing,but for the person who does it alot and likes to do it. Having a decent soundcard makes things all that much easier.

There is a lot of truth to what RemyRAD wrote but also keep in mind that better quality stuff will yield better recordings and also make the job easier for you (especially if you are inexperienced).

It boils down the your preference, do you want to spend the extra dough? Or would you keep what you have get better with it and then invest in higher-quality gear?

And for the record just a better soundcard isnt going to help much, you should get better stuff throughout the signal chain. Your gear is as only as strong as your weakest unit.

e.g. If you have a super high quality sound card and your mixer is crap, you can do the math on this one... :)

Whilst I agree with Mr. Nice, which is nice, might I add that an improvement in soundcard isn't just about an improvement in sound quality but also latency (okay, I know it's as much down to the drivers as the card itself, but you know what I mean). Plus, depending upon budget and need, a new soundcard can mean multiple i/o.

Personally, I have no experience with the current range of Emu cards so I can't comment other than to say that nearly all reviews of them (professional and personal) that I've come across have been positive.

HTH