Creative Professional E-MU 1820: studio-quality digital audio system

Creative together with E-MU Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd., announced its new brand, Creative Professional, for professional digital audio systems intended for musicians, recordists, and sound producers. The first product introduced under this brand is a studio-quality digital audio system, Creative Professional E-MU 1820, that delivers 24-bit/192kHz converters, hardware-accelerated effects and mixing, and compatibility with PC audio/sequencer software. The solution is bundled with ASIO 2.0, WDM, DirectSound drivers for Windows 2000/XP.

Creative Professional E-MU 1820 features E-MU E-DSP 32-bit Multi-effects Processor that offers over 20 hardware accelerated effects (over 500 presets) with no CPU overhead. Besides, the plug-in architecture allows adding new effects as needed.

Creative Professional E-MU 1820 features ADAT, S/PDIF and FireWire® interfaces, as well as connectivity to a family of internal and external I/O and sync options. The system includes an external half-rack module with a number of interfaces from 1/4" balanced I/O to specific connectors, including turntable input with hardware RIAA preamp, dedicated speaker output and two studio-quality TFPro preamps that have Neutrik connectors and can work with mics, line and Hi-Z signals.

There´s also a sync signal card option supporting Word Clock In/Out, SMPTE In/Out, MTC Out (MIDI Time Code).

E-MU 1010 PCI card specs:

• ADAT In and Out (192kHz compatible) — switchable to optical S/PDIF
• Coaxial S/PDIF In and Out
• FireWire Port
• EDI Connector to E-MU AudioDock M

E-MU AudioDock M specs:

• Front panel:
  • Two premium TFPro™ Mic Preamps with Neutrik® Connectors, 48V Phantom Power and 40dB of Input Gain control
  • Stereo Headphone Output
  • Optical S/PDIF Output
  • MIDI In/Out 1
• Back panel:
  • Six balanced 1/4" Analog Inputs (24-bit/192kHz)
  • Eight balanced 1/4" Analog Outputs (24-bit/192kHz)
  • Stereo Turntable Input with RIAA Preamp and Ground
  • 4 Stereo 1/8" Speaker Outputs (configurable from stereo to 7.1)
  • MIDI In/Out 2
  • EDI Connector to E-MU 1010 PCI Card (no external power required)

Brief digital audio system specs:

• General:
  • Sample Rates: 44.1, 48, 96, 192kHz from internal crystal or externally supplied clock (no sample rate conversion)
  • Bit Depth: 16 or 24 bits
  • PCI Bus-Mastering DMA subsystem reduces CPU usage
  • Zero-latency direct hardware monitoring w/effects
• Analog Line Inputs (6)
  • Type: servo-balanced, DC-coupled, low-noise input circuitry
  • Level (software selectable):
    • Professional: +4dBu nominal, 20dBu maximum (balanced)
    • Consumer: —10dBV nominal, 6dBV maximum (unbalanced)
  • Frequency Response: +0.0/-0.2dB, 20Hz — 20kHz
  • THD+N (1kHz at —1dBFS): —102dB (.0008%)
  • SNR (A-weighted): 111dB
  • Dynamic Range (1kHz, A-weighted): 112dB
  • Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz at —1dBFS): < —115dB
  • Common-Mode Rejection (60Hz): > 40dB
• Analog Line Outputs (8)
  • Type: balanced, low-noise, 3-pole low-pass differential filter
  • Level (software selectable):
    • Professional: +4dBu nominal, 20dBu maximum (balanced)
    • Consumer: —10dBV nominal, 6dBV maximum (unbalanced)
  • Frequency Response: +0.0/-0.8dB, 20Hz — 20kHz
  • THD+N (1kHz signal at —1dBFS): —98dB (.0013%)
  • SNR (A-weighted): 112dB
  • Dynamic Range (1kHz, A-weighted): 112dB
  • Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz at —1dBFS): < —115dB
• Combo Microphone Preamplifier/Line Inputs (2)
  • Type: TFPro™ combination microphone preamp and line input
  • Frequency Response: +0.8/-0.1dB, 20Hz — 20kHz
  • Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz min gain, —1dBFS): < —120dB
  • Line Input:
    • Gain Range: —12 to +28dB
    • Max Level: +17dBV (19.2dBu)
    • THD+N (1kHz at —1dBFS, min gain): —94dB (.002%)
    • Dynamic Range (A-weighted, 1kHz min gain): 100dB
    • SNR (A-weighted, min gain): 100dB
    • Input Impedance: 10K ohm
    • Common-mode Rejection Ratio (60Hz): > 40dB
  • Microphone Preamplifier
    • Gain Range: +10 to +50dB
    • Max Level: —12dBV (-9.8dBu)
    • THD+N (1kHz at —1dBFS, min gain): —95dB (.0018%)
    • SNR (A-weighted, min gain): 100dB
    • Input Impedance: 330 ohms
    • Common-mode Rejection Ratio (60Hz): > 80dB
• Headphones (stereo)
  • Type: linear power amplifier
  • Frequency Response: +0.0/-0.35dB, 20Hz — 20kHz
  • THD+N (1kHz, max gain)
    • 33 ohm load: —70dB (0.032%)
    • 600 ohm load: —85dB (0.006%)
  • SNR (A-weighted): 112dB
  • Dynamic Range (A-weighted): 112dB
  • Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz at —1dBFS, 600 ohm load): < —100dB
  • Maximum Output Power: 500mW
  • Output impedance: 22 ohms
  • Gain Range: 85dB
• Phono Input (stereo)
  • Type: RIAA equalized phono input
  • Frequency Response: +/-0.5dB, 50Hz — 20kHz
  • THD+N (1kHz, 10mV RMS unbal input): —76dB (.015%)
  • SNR (10mV RMS unbal input, A-weighted): 90dB
  • Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz at —1dBFS): < —80dB
  • Maximum level:
    • Professional: 80mV RMS
    • Consumer: 20mV RMS
  • Input capacitance: 220 pF
  • Input impedance: 47K ohm
• Digital I/O
  • S/PDIF:
    • 2 in/2 out coaxial (transformer coupled)
    • 2 in/3 out optical (software switched with ADAT)
    • AES/EBU or S/PDIF format, switchable under software control
  • ADAT:
    • 8 channels, 24-bit @ 44.1/48kHz
    • 4 channels, 24-bit @ 96kHz (S-MUX compatible)
    • 2 channels, 24-bit @ 192kHz
  • Firewire:
    • 400 Mbps 1394a port (6-pin)
    • Compatible with DV cameras, storage peripherals, etc.
  • MIDI
    • 2 in, 2 out

Creative Professional E-MU 1820 is also shipped with PatchMix DSP mixer, effects, and sutdio software, including full versions of Steinberg Cubase VST 32 v5.1, and Wavelab Lite V 2.5. The estimated price of Creative Professional E-MU 1820 is $373 (w/o taxes).

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