it's not there
ESI Juli@, 24bit/192kHz reference audio interface with swappable I/O socket and ultra low latency drivers.- Depending on the I/O requirements, the user can select between balanced (+4dBu nominal) and unbalanced (-10dBV nominal) connectors - S/PDIF digital signal input clock detection - Shutter type optical output jack - DirectWIRE 3.0 - 4x4 up to 24-bit/192kHz, full-duplex recording interface with MIDI I/O - Universal Board (compatible for both of 3.3V and 5V PCI slots) - Independent monitoring control for analog in, digital in and digital out signals - Supports E-WDM driver: MME, DirectSound, ASIO 2.0 and GigaStudio support - OS: Windows XP/2000/ME/98SE, MAC OSX 10.2 or better, Manual in english and german included.
The card has gold-plated connectors and can be configured to use either -10 RCA phono i/o connectors, or 1/4" balanced +4 connectors... with a twist!... Here's the ESI text:
High quality 24bit 192kHz stereo Audio/MIDI interface with swappable I/O socket Juli@, a PCI based 2-in 2 out audio & MIDI interface. Juli@ provides 24-bit/192kHz recording quality with S/PDIF digital I/O and 16 channels of MIDI. Juli@ is equipped with RCA (unbalanced) and TRS (balanced) connectors at both ends of its unique swappable I/O socket. User can select his prefered configuration simply by turning around the analog part of the PCB. The digital and analog parts are totally separate as they are placed on two different PCBs, providing excellent audio quality. This makes Juli@ a new reference for audio quality in this price range of audio interfaces. Juli@ is compatible with +3.3Vand +5V PCI slots, providing broader compatibility in the future, even support for G5 Macintosh systems. Juli@ comes with a driver based on ESI’s EWDM driver technology for enhanced stability, best functionality and excellent performance. And now it's fully compatible with Mac OS 10.2 or better.
Specifications.
The card supports plenty of sample rates btw, and the addition of the 88.200k sample rate will be a bonus to the growing band of '88.200k users' - The theory is that as you'll be dithering down to 44.100k/16bit, you should use sampling rates that are divisible by the end result: So 88.200/32bit requires a lot less math to get to 44.100/16bit than, say, 48.00k/32bit.
So... on to the video. The video shows the JULI@ package, the card splitting system in action etc, and for noobs there's a complete walkthru of the JULI@ install... We try the card in 2 different machines. An AMD64 3000 with an SIS chipset, and an older AMD2000XP machine with a VIA KT333 chipset... The JULI@ installed first time without any hitches on both machines, and in our initial tests, playback of audio in Logic (pc version 5) & Wavelab on the AMD2000 & VEGAS on the AMD64 all resulted in clean clear crackle & pop free audio playback. MIDI input was then setup on the AMD2000 with Logic and again, playback of Absynth & Kontakt VSTi's within Logic was flawless and artefact-free with a low latency of about 3ms.
Also worthy of note is that on the older AMD2000 installed the JULI@ fine despite the fact it had other drivers on the system from other previously installed cards, and was by no means anywhere near what one would call a 'clean' system.
That old AMD2000 has so much stuff added to it!... so I was impressed with the way the JULI@ just installed and worked with it straight out of the box!...
As for the AMD64... it's currently using it's built-in motherboard graphics!... Built-in motherboard graphics adapters CAN be a problem, and most people including myself would urge any newcomer to utilise a dedicated AGP graphics card & NOT use built-in graphic's adapters... Yet despite that, the JULI@ played back from Sony VEGAS on the AMD64 with no pops or problems at all... That bodes well for overall stability once a sequencer s/w is added & tested!
As mentioned in the video, I will be adding Cubase to the AMD64 3000 and checking things with the JULI@... I'm very keen to see how the JULI@ performs with AMD64 because it's a super-cheap 'upgrade' machine built on a super-cheap mini ATX motherboard offering a lightning-fast AMD64 with a gb of Kingston ram and a whopping great 250gb drive, all costing just a measly 250GBP!... Results with VEGAS on the AMD64 were 100% fine, so if the JULI@ lives ok with the SIS chipset and peforms as well using Cubase and a proper music sequencer workload then the whole system with the JULI@'s low price will be an absolute bargain power-system!... Anyways, stay tuned for that, I'll put SX onto the AMD64 and add the results to this page in a few days.
RESULTS?.... Well, I found the card's sound to be nice & clean and VERY quiet!... You could blast the volume right up with some headphones on and doodle away with a plugin synth etc, and noise was totaly un-noticeable... The card has to my ears a subtley defined 'presence' in the midrange but with a very flat eq across the whole range which was noticeable the moment playback began.
It's hard to describe that 'cleaness', but interestingly Martin Walker in his SOS review noted that in comparisons he was able to identify his Emu 1820M in listening tests as being slightly 'warmer'... That kinda tallies with what I found, however i dont neccessarily think that the Emu is any 'better' for it's slightly 'warmer' overall tone (if one could call it 'warmer')... The JULI@ to my ears especialy at lower monitoring levels seems to be actualy preferable because the sound has this slightly cleaner 'presence' to it, making the overall sound seem slightly more 'listenable' & detailed at lower volumes.
To my ears JULI@ gives a very clean, listenable, accurate & beautifuly detailed midrange at lower levels but with no lack of upper or lower detail & overall balance was excellent across the whole mix... I actualy really liked the JULI@, and besides, as a PC version LOGIC user the Emu 1820m for me is no good due to bugs it has with Logic in PC format... So even if I COULD use the 1820m, tbh I'd kinda preferred the JULI@'s sound because when I'm working an 8 hour day the subjective 'warmth' of the playback is not an issue for me... What IS an issue is an ability to hear what's happening in a detailed accurate way at lower listening levels without having to raise levels and drive the speaker system harder.
In the video I compare the 'presence' sound of the JULI@ to that of an akai sampler... By that I mean that back in the day, akai samplers had this very clean detailed crisp 'presence' to the sound, and the JULI@ I find to be similar.
By that I dont mean it has an eq curve of an akai sampler, but overally I REALLY liked the sound from the JULI@ alot.... No muddy-ness at all, totaly silent, and compared to many 'budget' cards I'd say the sound is VERY tight and 'defined'.... Perhaps the best thing I could say to describe the card compared to some other budget units in a similar price range, is that when it played back audio, that little bit of extra 'definition' across the mix made it sound like i was using an 'upgraded' set of speakers with slightly better detail... All I can say is, beginners and the experienced will have NO problems mixing professional work with this card!
i'm going to try and get a short addendum video added showing the ESI 'Directwire' in action. Directwire is ESI's own 'drag & patch' driver interface system which uses virtual cables to connect the in's & outs from applications &/or the physical card using different drivers which can all run independently & simultaneously. So you can for example route one application using the WDM output driver to feed it's signal into another application using ASIO driver... and of course this works with Gigasampler drivers too if you happen to use GSampler.
Also I got a reply back regarding the included Tracktion s/w: It is the full version (with the included serial number) v1 - it is possible for users to upgrade to v2 if wanted... Cool!
Summing up?.... Well checkout the video. The ESI JULI@ is definately in my book now a frontrunner in the sub £100 GBP soundcard bracket, and tbh, I'd be just as happy using the JULI@ over the Emu 1820m wether or not the 1820m worked ok with Logic because I actualy prefer the JULI@'s more clean sound to the Emu... As I said, especialy monitoring at lower levels (which long term projects tend to be all about), you dont want to be blasting your ears off all day with higher sound levels, and to my ears at conservative & reasonable monitoring levels the JULI@'s sound offers super-clean very tight & defined audio which makes working in comfort a breeze.
So, a great little audio card!... Eminently useful to the home-studio buff running a stereo i/o sequencer suite as well as totaly compatible for any pro multimedia/studio suite requiring +4 levels & audio all the way up to 192k... and in both cases you'll get a super flat defined sound which is easy to work with and will show all the detail you could possibly want to make mix decision in confidence!... a real winner all round!
Video Footage
Google 'Quick-fix' version
ESI_JULIA_divx_final_640.avi
This is the higher quality DIVX version in a zip file - 68.8mb
640 x 512 - can also be viewed 'full-screen' - Running Time: 25 minutes
You MUST use a DivX codec to play the d/load video
Click the DivX logo image below to go to download the free codec & player!
DivX is a registered trademark of DivXNetworks, Inc.
And BTW - Stay tuned - ESI ESP-1010 pci-card & i/o rack system video review coming soon!
Yeah I would highly reccommend this product.It installed first time on my Dual Amd MP processor Machine and I use it with Adobe Audition for mastering which works great.Very good Value
yes good card but driver its shit.
Juli@ User.
works for us in 3 different machines all with different chipsets
Work well ?
Its a joke.What hapenned when the driver crash
all the time need to reboot machine.
I have a cheap audigy card and Kx driver. Never happened this shit.
No need to reboot when the driver crash the Cubase SX.
Seems the russian KX driver staff was produced strong driver than this "fenomenal"
ESI card.
Its time to upgrade the driver ESI producer! The customers are waiting your stable driver.
well perhaps your creative card installation has caused a problem, they ALWAYS do, usualy you have to strip everything creative out od the machine inc the registry
What's happened to the video review???
Dead link!!!
not support windows vista.
Don't get me wrong. I love my Juli@ very much, except for one thing - it's one of the sound cards that is not supported by SRS Audio Sandbox software! This is very BAD!
Apart from this big problem of mine, everything else about this card is fine. Fantastic sound clarity, no distortion (try Creative and see what I mean), transparent audio, and wide soundstage.
Remember the WOW setting in Windows Media Player? With this card, this level can be set to maximum and the music still sounds smooth. With other cards, you may hear the music being "stretched" and "coarse" sounding.
I just hope something can be done regarding the SRS audio sandbox tho'. Please!
Re-added the video, google preview and downloadable higher quality from our new server - great card btw, been using it now for 2 years, and it's flawless.
I Just install Juli@ on my VISTA 64 bit rig. I love it much. The lower range frequency is expanded. Back stage sound detail also much improved from what I've got from on-board sound card.
chin_liong@hotmail.com is rigth. It's happen in my VISTA too, this card do not supported by SRS Audio Sandbox software 64 Bit!!.
Hi all, I have this sound card ESI JULI, and i messed up with the drivers and I really don't know what to do next. In Patchmix, it ses your patchmix is limited duo driver something, and i have downloaded the latest patch mix emu.
Before that i had sound, but the bass was very low, and experimenting with different drivers, i messed up the whole thing.I just want to have clean sound now, with good sound from the subwhoofer, please help.
I have a logitech 2.1 z4 system
ESI JUli soundcard
For more details , please contact me.
Thank you very much
I have 2 pc,I installed a M-Audio Revolution 7.1
the second PC esi May@ difference is: M-Audio Revolution 7.1:is without doubt the best sound card....sorry my englaise not my language!
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