E-Mu’s 1616M laptop audio interface system has received some attention recently. And with good reason, if E-Mu are to be believed — they call it “the most powerful and portable laptop audio system ever created,” with the same DSP effects, zero-latency monitoring and mastering-grade 24-bit/192kHz A/D and D/A converters as E-Mu’s high-end systems. The system consists of a PC card and a breakout box, and it also comes with E-Mu’s rather good production tools software bundle.

E-Mu’s full list of features looks like this.

• Mastering grade 24-bit/192kHz converters – the same A/D converters used in Digidesign’s flagship ProTools HD 192 I/O Interface delivering an amazing 120dB signal-to-noise ratio
• The ultimate portable system — for recording, editing, mixing and virtual instruments – use the E-MU 02 CardBus Card alone for its hardware-accelerated effects and premium stereo headphone/line output or together with the MicroDock M for complete analog and digital I/O flexibility
• Hardware-accelerated effects – over 600 standalone and E-MU Power FX VST plug-in effects with no CPU overhead
• PatchMix DSP zero-latency hardware mixing and monitoring — with super-flexible patchbay — no external mixer needed
• Ultra-portable MicroDock M offers 16 inputs/16 outputs plus MIDI I/O — everything from balanced analog and turntable inputs to ADAT and S/PDIF (switchable to AES/EBU)
• Two E-MU XTC studio-grade, ultra-low noise preamps (-127dBu EIN) with analog soft limiter — Mic/Line and true Hi-Z inputs via Neutrik connectors, 48V phantom power and 60dB of gain
• Compatibility with most popular audio/sequencer applications — ultra-low latency 24-bit/192kHz ASIO 2.0 and Stereo WDM drivers
• E-MU Production Tools Software Bundle – includes Cakewalk SONAR LE, Steinberg Cubase LE and Wavelab Lite, Ableton Live Lite 4 for E-MU, IK Multimedia AmpliTube LE and T-RackS EQ, Minnetonka diskWelder BRONZE, SFX Machine LT, plus E-MU’s Proteus X LE Desktop Sound Module — everything you need to create, record, edit, master and burn is in the box

E-MU’s Laptop Digital Audio Systems feature the powerful E-DSP chipset, which features a hardware-accelerated effects processor with over 28 effects plug-ins (over 600 presets). This effects architecture is fully expandable, allowing you to add more effect plug-ins to your system as needed. E-DSP also provides zero-latency, hardware-based mixing and monitoring via the included PatchMix DSP mixer, delivering unmatched flexibility in routing audio between all of your physical and virtual (ASIO/WDM) inputs and outputs- no external mixer needed.

Buy 1616M at SameDayMusic.com