Maya 44xte vs emu 1212 pciexpress

[TOTAL]

Hi

I am fairly decided in terms of the class of the card I need and the price I am willing to pay.

I want ti to be PCI express with 4 ins and four outs
and
headphone out
and
Phantom mic output

I will not mind a midi, but I have no real need for it now.

This brings me to a choice between

EMU 1212 PCI Express
and
Maya 44 XTe

Both cost the same.

I know EMu has onboard effects, but I don't know if I want to use them (never tried; so far have been doing well with VST).

It doesn't have a mic-in. Still, I am not a singer, so the mic may bot prove useful.

My questiona are:
does the emu's onboard fx pack stand the test of time? It has been around in earlier models
in terms of noticeable sound quality and stability, do these cards differ much?

[dkelley]

tell ya one thing. back in teh day I had (still have somewhere) a maya 44 card, probably an older model though (I know it's pci for example and probably at least 10 or 12 years old).

that card was the best sounding recording and playback card I've ever owned. I doubt it's more accurate than what I use now, probably less so, but it was so warm and musical.

but it's less than I need for my home studio so it collects dust. also doubt it has current drivers.

but if maya is still making cards at that level you might find it to be pretty killer.

this is however only a pretty distant cousin probably and I can't compare it to the other card for you so I don't know how helpful it is.

[TOTAL]

True, the key components betw now and zen may be far apart.

how poor marketing they must have to get so little publicity among gear slutz.

Thanks

T