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H
It's a cheap compromise
All in all the ESI Maya44 eX isn't that bad. One thing that really makes it stand out is the price, which is really tempting. Having a pci interface removes the problem of latency while recording and it's nice to have an option that won't break your bank like RME or thunderbolt interfaces do.
There are a few cons to this card though:
1. under medium-heavy daw load the sound started to crackle and pop, and I had to increase the latency to make it stop.
2. it has very limited i/o options. Just 2 ins and 2 outs, the card gets crowded really quick.
3. as for the outs, here comes a deal breaker for me: they're both unbalanced. This has caused me more than a few problems since I had to rerout everything through a DI box and a reamp box to get rid of that annoying static hum you get because of EMI. Given that most cards in this price range and even below are equipped with balanced outs I don't know what stopped ESI from giving some love to this one too.
Apart from that, the ins are nice, the mic preamp functions well and the hi-z in for the guitar is more than adequate.
All in all, it's a compromise. It's good if you need to set up a recording environment quick and you want to cheap out on your soundcard.
There are a few cons to this card though:
1. under medium-heavy daw load the sound started to crackle and pop, and I had to increase the latency to make it stop.
2. it has very limited i/o options. Just 2 ins and 2 outs, the card gets crowded really quick.
3. as for the outs, here comes a deal breaker for me: they're both unbalanced. This has caused me more than a few problems since I had to rerout everything through a DI box and a reamp box to get rid of that annoying static hum you get because of EMI. Given that most cards in this price range and even below are equipped with balanced outs I don't know what stopped ESI from giving some love to this one too.
Apart from that, the ins are nice, the mic preamp functions well and the hi-z in for the guitar is more than adequate.
All in all, it's a compromise. It's good if you need to set up a recording environment quick and you want to cheap out on your soundcard.
5
4
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L
High-Quality Sound at an Affordable Price
The ESI MAYA44 eX boasts many features, high-quality sound, and a superb price-to-features-to-quality ratio.
I've chosen it over the UA Apollo Solo.
Current bug: an audible pop when signals stop playing when used as an ASIO playback device in a DAW.
- Possibly hardware constraint, probably driver-related.
Potential Fix with slightly increased CPU/latency: Press "win + r" to open the "run" dialog and type "mmsys.cpl" to open the "Sound" control panel.
- Play a virtual recording device or unplugged input line through the default playback output line by checking the "listen" checkbox
Optimal fix: play back with an inaudible sampler loop of digital noise or noise generator. Not that sample playback is a CPU-intensive process for any machine, but Stock Samplers are especially well suited and intended for low latency/CPU utilization.
Note: Before adjusting buffer length, playback devices must be stopped.
Its low profile, compact size, and PCIe connectivity may make it ideal for stage-use/studio-use/portable Setups for vocal processing and monitoring for individuals. Powerful CPUs/GPUs can process 64 samples (~1,5 msec @ 44.1kHz) roundtrip and reliably with fix applied. This lets you use Vocal Tuners, Compressors, EQs, and real-time processing facilities in your signal flow, scalable with your budget and depending on your machine, plug-Ins have to be optimized for real-time playback though.
Using your GPU for real-time audio processing is becoming more popular, and the rate of adaptation in plug-In manufacturing may increase in the future, making it an attractive investment regardless of usage scenario.
A definitive recommendation!
I've chosen it over the UA Apollo Solo.
Current bug: an audible pop when signals stop playing when used as an ASIO playback device in a DAW.
- Possibly hardware constraint, probably driver-related.
Potential Fix with slightly increased CPU/latency: Press "win + r" to open the "run" dialog and type "mmsys.cpl" to open the "Sound" control panel.
- Play a virtual recording device or unplugged input line through the default playback output line by checking the "listen" checkbox
Optimal fix: play back with an inaudible sampler loop of digital noise or noise generator. Not that sample playback is a CPU-intensive process for any machine, but Stock Samplers are especially well suited and intended for low latency/CPU utilization.
Note: Before adjusting buffer length, playback devices must be stopped.
Its low profile, compact size, and PCIe connectivity may make it ideal for stage-use/studio-use/portable Setups for vocal processing and monitoring for individuals. Powerful CPUs/GPUs can process 64 samples (~1,5 msec @ 44.1kHz) roundtrip and reliably with fix applied. This lets you use Vocal Tuners, Compressors, EQs, and real-time processing facilities in your signal flow, scalable with your budget and depending on your machine, plug-Ins have to be optimized for real-time playback though.
Using your GPU for real-time audio processing is becoming more popular, and the rate of adaptation in plug-In manufacturing may increase in the future, making it an attractive investment regardless of usage scenario.
A definitive recommendation!
3
0
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m
Good Value, but poor RTL
PC - 12th Gen i7, Windows 11 22H2.
The ESI Website states that the Windows 10 Driver is tested and fully functional on Windows 11. While the installation wasn't seamless and required some troubleshooting, it now works as expected.
Most disappointing is the measured round trip latency. The card driver reports an incorrect latency to DAW applications which can give the false impressions that the RTL is very low.
The following results are using the Oblique Audio RTL utility:
At 48kHz - Buffer 128 samples = 11.8ms
At 48kHz - Buffer 64 samples = 9.1ms
At 48kHz - Buffer 48 Samples = 9.1ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 256 Samples = 8.4ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 128 samples = 5.8ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 64 samples = 4.4ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 48 Samples = 4.4ms
At lower sample rates, these values would be considered poor even for a budget USB audio interface. The redeeming factor is the performance at 96kHz and the fact that being PCIe, it is more stable than USB interfaces that I have tried at this higher sample rate.
Other than that, the audio quality is fine, the headphone output is good, and I can see that the DirectWIRE application will be of use to some.
I am pleased with the purchase and will continue to use this card over the USB interfaces that I have.
The ESI Website states that the Windows 10 Driver is tested and fully functional on Windows 11. While the installation wasn't seamless and required some troubleshooting, it now works as expected.
Most disappointing is the measured round trip latency. The card driver reports an incorrect latency to DAW applications which can give the false impressions that the RTL is very low.
The following results are using the Oblique Audio RTL utility:
At 48kHz - Buffer 128 samples = 11.8ms
At 48kHz - Buffer 64 samples = 9.1ms
At 48kHz - Buffer 48 Samples = 9.1ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 256 Samples = 8.4ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 128 samples = 5.8ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 64 samples = 4.4ms
At 96kHz - Buffer 48 Samples = 4.4ms
At lower sample rates, these values would be considered poor even for a budget USB audio interface. The redeeming factor is the performance at 96kHz and the fact that being PCIe, it is more stable than USB interfaces that I have tried at this higher sample rate.
Other than that, the audio quality is fine, the headphone output is good, and I can see that the DirectWIRE application will be of use to some.
I am pleased with the purchase and will continue to use this card over the USB interfaces that I have.
2
0
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L
Good sound,poor software.
The sound of the card is ok but the card cannot handle 2-3 serious vst's with 128 or 256 buffer size @ 48khz. The biggest disadvantage though is that you CANNOT swap the buffer size when you are working in your DAW, you have to close the DAW down change buffer size then re-run it , really inconvenient. Thomann Packaging quality and delivery time is top notch.
1
0
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