emusonacid!

hi,
I was wondering, if it's better to use the s/pdif in for sampling (my mixer and cd player can keep the dgital signal) or soundwise is it better to use the usual anolog in on my e-synth keyboard?

cheers
machinedrumman

Well, the smart-arse answer is: it's best to use the one that sounds best to your ears. Unfortunately, it's also the right answer. On the one hand, you should have no extra noise going all digital. On the other hand, it might sound a little cold or dead (but that will probably have more to do with the sources). So it really all comes down to which one you think sounds better.

Try a side by side comparison. Sample the same thing, once through the digital and once through the analog. Plug headphones into the sampler and play back both versions (one after the other; or pan one hard left and the other hard right, reversing them and listening again to eliminate the possibility of unbalanced headphones or ears). When you pick what to sample for the test, use a source similar to what you would eventually use it for anyway, so the test will make sense to your situation and style.

Only other factor I can think of to consider is if there are any environmental issues in your studio space. Analog noise can be inducted in leads from a variety of source, which shouldn't be a problem with the s/pdif.

To be honest, I can't really personally recommend one input over the other, as I've been using my unit for editing and mangling stuff ported over from PC sound files so far.

This probably hasn't answered your question at all... sorry...

Is it better to use s/pdif or anologs ins and out ?

The Question is what you like better, not what is better.

I think you have to make clear what you mean.If you just want to "Edit" something it is better to transfer it via Digital i/o (or smidi).
If we talking about Recording/Soundesign there are different ways.
In particular the Digitally transducers D/A from the old E III and Emax 2 ( there are many People out there with this meaning) have a special Sound- Character in connection with the Emu Filters.
I had Experience like this with my E4XT output Extention. Longtime i connected my Setup via the Adat i/o , after a while i had to
tried instead of them the Analog OutPut Extention ,( because my AudioInterface had not enought i/0 etc) ,and the Filter-Sweeps sounded Realy different !. Specially the Morph-Filters came very different via Analog than Digital.

But it?s Subjectively. It?s Soundesign . It?s up to you. Try it.!

That Emu ;-)

Michael