ESI ESU22 User Manual

Multi-Purpose 24-bit USB Audio Interface

User’s Guide

ESI - Copyright © 2008

Revision 1, November 2008

www.esi-audio.com

ESU22 ESI

INDEX

1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................4

1.1 Key Features ........................................................................................................................................................4

2. Description of ESU22................................................................................................................... 4

2.1 Front Panel...........................................................................................................................................................4

2.2 Rear Panel............................................................................................................................................................5

2.3 Minimum System Requirements..........................................................................................................................5

3. Installation....................................................................................................................................5

3.1 Windows XP........................................................................................................................................................6

3.2 Windows Vista.....................................................................................................................................................7

3.3 Mac OS X ............................................................................................................................................................8

4. ESU22 Control Panel................................................................................................................... 9

5. Audio Applications.....................................................................................................................10

5.1 Windows Multimedia setup............................................................................................................................... 10

5.2 Latency setting and ASIO applications under Windows....................................................................................10

5.3 Mac OS X Audio MIDI Setup...........................................................................................................................10

6. General Information..................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction

Thank you for choosing the ESI ESU22.
ESU22 is not only stylish, it is a portable device that can go with you anywhere. Offering total

flexibility of an external and fully bus-powered USB device with pure pristine digital audio quality,
coupled with true high quality 24-bit support on the 2 analog input and 2 analog output channels
provided via RCA inputs, a microphone preamplifier with XLR input, a Hi-Z instrument input for
guitars, a high quality headphone output and TRS line outputs, ESU22 will easily qualify as one of
the most useful devices in your studio, wherever that may be.

If you're looking for a really powerful USB audio device that is small and that gives you maximum
performance under any current Windows system as well as under Mac OS X, then ESU22 is a
device for you.

1.1 Key Features

- 2 simultaneous analog input and 2 simultaneous analog output channels

- XLR input for built-in microphone preamplifier

- Hi-Z guitar/instrument input

- stereo headphone output

- stereo line output with 1/4" TRS connectors

- stereo line input with RCA connectors

- 24 Bit AD/DA converter

- works with both Mac and PC

2. Description of ESU22

2.1 Front Panel

The front panel has the following connectors from left to right:

Microphone Input: the input of the microphone preamplifier, optimized for dynamic microphones.
Hi-Z Instrument Input: the direct input for guitar / instrument signals.
Headphone Output: stereo headphone output for monitoring using studio headphones.

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2.2 Rear Panel

The rear panel has the following connectors from left to right:

Right Line Output: the right channel of the line output with 1/4" TRS connector.
USB: the USB port for connection to your computer.
Left Line Output: the left channel of the line output with 1/4" TRS connector.
Right Line Input: the right channel of the line level input with RCA connector.
Left Line Input: the left channel of the line level input with RCA connector.

2.3 Minimum System Requirements

PC

- Intel Pentium III 600MHz CPU or equivalent AMD CPU

- 512 MB RAM

- Direct X 8.1 or higher

- one available USB port

- recent Version of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista (32-bit)

Mac

- Power Macintosh G4 or higher

- one available USB port

- 512 MB RAM

- Mac OS X 10.4 or higher

3. Installation

Before installing the drivers of ESU22, we recommend to check on the download section of
www.esi-audio.com for updated drivers.

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3.1 Windows XP

Disconnect ESU22 before you install the driver if it has been connected already. Then launch
setup.exe from the Windows folder of the included driver CD or from a download of a recent driver
from our website.

You will now see a dialog as shown on the left picture below. Click Next. You can define the target
directory for the installation now. Confirm it with Next.

The installer now informs you that the driver installation will start as shown on the left picture
below. Confirm this with Next. During the following process you will see a dialog box once or
several times that informs you that the driver software has not passed Windows Logo testing. Please
be assured that our drivers have been tested in various different ways and are OK to be used.
Confirm any such dialog with Continue Anyway.

You will now be prompted to connect the hardware on the next dialog that is shown below on the
left. Plug in ESU22. Do not click Next yet. During the driver installation, Windows might again
prompt you to confirm the Windows Logo testing dialog once or several times with Continue
Anway before the driver installation is finalized.

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You can now finally click Next on the ESI ESU22 Audio Driver Setup dialog. The installation is
now finished. To confirm this, please check if the ESI icon is displayed in the taskbar notification
area as shown below.

If yes, the driver installation has been completed successfully.

3.2 Windows Vista

Disconnect ESU22 before you install the driver if it has been connected already. Then launch
setup.exe from the Windows folder of the included driver CD or from a download of a recent driver
from our website.

When launching the installation, Windows Vista might prompt a security message. Make sure to
allow the installation. You will then see a dialog as shown on the left picture below. Click Next.
You can define the target directory for the installation now. Confirm it with Next.

The installer now informs you that the driver installation will start as shown on the left picture
below. Confirm this with Next. During the following process you will see a Windows Security
dialog box once or several times that asks you for confirmation to install the driver software.
Confirm any such dialog with Install.

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You will now be prompted to connect the hardware on the next dialog that is shown below on the
left. Plug in ESU22. Do not click Next yet. Instead, wait a few seconds for the automatic device
driver installation. You can monitor this in the task notification area where Windows Vista informs
that the driver is installed via a bubble message box.

You can now finally click Next on the ESI ESU22 Audio Driver Setup dialog. The installation is
now finished. To confirm this, please check if the ESI icon is displayed in the taskbar notification
area as shown below.

If yes, the driver installation has been completed successfully.

3.3 Mac OS X

Mac OS X already provides support for class compliant USB audio devices such as ESU22. This
means that no software or driver needs to be installed to use ESU22 under Mac OS X. Simply
connect the unit with the supplied USB cable to your Mac and you can start using it.

Controlling the basic options of ESU22 under Mac OS X is mainly done via the Audio-MIDI-Setup
utility from Mac OS X described in section 5.3 of this manual.

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4. ESU22 Control Panel

This chapter describes the ESU22 Control Panel under Windows. Under Mac OS X no special
Control Panel is required for ESU22. If you are using ESU22 under Mac OS X, please check
section 5.3 with more details.

To open the control panel double click on the ESI icon in the task notification
area. The following dialog will appear:

The panel has the following functions and sections:
INPUT section: this section controls the input monitoring volume of the incoming signal from the

hardware. A pair of mono faders can be controlled together or individually depending on your
mouse position The Mute button at the bottom allows you to mute the signal. A red Mute button
indicates that the mute function is enabled. When disabled, the button is gray.

OUTPUT section: this section controls the playback volume of the playback signal from your audio
applications. The pair of mono faders can be controlled together or individually depending on your
mouse position – perfect for stereo signals. The Mute button at the bottom allows you to mute
playback. A red Mute button indicates that the mute function is enabled. When disabled, the button
is gray.

Input selection: the buttons on the left side allow you to select between the RCA line inputs on the
backside of the unit (Line In), the XLR microphone input on the front (Mic) and the Hi-Z
instrument input on the front (Guitar).

Monitoring: the Mon button (located between INPUT and OUTPUT) allows you to enable realtime
input monitoring. Once enabled all incoming signals are audible through the output.

SampleRate section: under Config > Sample Rate you can select the operating sample rate of
ESU22.

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5. Audio Applications

This chapter contains basic configuration examples for some popular software applications. Please
also refer to the manual of the audio software you use for detailed information.

5.1 Windows Multimedia setup

The Windows Multimedia setup is required if you want to use your ESU22 as the main sound
device for Windows multimedia applications. Go to My Computer-> Control Panel -> Sounds and
Audio Device Properties -> Audio. Select the ESU22 entry as your playback device to make sure
that all standard signals are played via the ESU22 hardware.

5.2 Latency setting and ASIO applications under Windows

Via Config > Latency in the Control Panel it is possible to change the latency setting (also called
“buffer size”) for the ASIO driver of ESU22. A smaller latency is the result of a smaller buffer size.
Depending on the typical application (e.g. for playback of software synthesizers) a smaller latency
is an advantage. At the same time, the best latency setting indirectly depends on the performance of
your system. For recording applications, a typical latency buffer size between 128 and 288 samples
is standard. The default value is 256.

The Config > Buffer Number setting in the Control Panel provides an important fine tuning setting
that allows you to tweak system performance. Depending on your computer hardware, you might
need to adjust this setting if you have problems with noise or drop-outs during playback or
recording . Typically on a modern computer system a value of 4 or slightly more or less is perfect
but you might need to check what is best for your computer as every PC is different.

Note that these values have to be setup before launching any audio application using ESU22.

5.3 Mac OS X Audio MIDI Setup

The main control center of ESU22 under Mac OS X is the Audio MIDI Setup application that you
can find in your Applications folder. When you launch it, you can setup ESU22 as your Default
Input, Default Output or System Output device – if required.

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While audio production and editing applications usually provide an option inside their preferences
to select ESU22 as recording and playback device, many general standard applications such as
iTunes for example are usually accessing the Default Output device, selectable in the Audio MIDI
Setup dialog.

If you want to change settings of ESU22, you need to select it under Properties For as shown in the
picture above. You can change the default sample rate under Audio Input -> Format or Audio

Output -> Format or you can change the main playback volume under Audio Output -> Volume
Slider -> M.

6. General Information

Trademarks

ESI and ESU22 are trademarks of EGOSYS, Inc. and ESI Audiotechnik GmbH. Windows is a
trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other product and brand names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.

The FCC and CE Regulation Warning

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two
conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any
interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. Caution : Any
changes or modifications in construction of this device with are not expressly approved by the party
responsible for compliance, could void the user's authority to operate equipment.

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital
device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial
environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful
interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense. If
necessary, consult an experienced radio/television technician for additional suggestions.

Correspondence

For technical support inquiries, contact ESI support online at www.esi-audio.com.

Disclaimer

All features and specifications subject to change without notice.
Parts of this manual are continually being updated. Please check our web site www.esi-audio.com

occasionally for the most recent update information.

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