ESI Maya44e User’s Guide

High Quality 4-in / 4-out

PCIe Audio Interface

User’s Guide

ESI - Copyright © 2008

Revision 1, December 2008

www.esi-audio.com

ESI MAYA44e

INDEX

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

2. Description of MAYA44e ............................................................................................................ 4

2.1 PCIe card connectors ...........................................................................................................................................4

2.2 Breakout Cable.....................................................................................................................................................5

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

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

3.1 Preparation for Hardware Installation..................................................................................................................5

3.2 PCIe Card Installation..........................................................................................................................................6

4. Driver Software Installation ....................................................................................................... 7

4.1 Windows XP........................................................................................................................................................7

4.2 Windows Vista.....................................................................................................................................................9

5. Connecting External Devices....................................................................................................11

5.1 MAYA44e Line Connectors..............................................................................................................................11

5.2 Connection Examples ........................................................................................................................................11

6. MAYA44e Control Panel ..........................................................................................................13

6.1 Pull-Down Menus..............................................................................................................................................14

6.2 Input Section......................................................................................................................................................14

6.3 Output Section ...................................................................................................................................................15

6.4 Digital Section ...................................................................................................................................................15

6.5 DirectWIRE.......................................................................................................................................................15

7. Audio Applications.....................................................................................................................17

7.1 Windows Multimedia Setup...............................................................................................................................17

7.2 Cubase LE 4.......................................................................................................................................................18

8. Specifications..............................................................................................................................19

9. General Information..................................................................................................................20

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ESI MAYA44e

1. Introduction

Thank you for choosing the ESI MAYA44e, a high quality 24-bit / 96 kHz 4-in / 4-out PCIe audio
interface, providing a number of powerful and amazing features optimized for home recording on a
professional quality level and for various DJ applications.

The card can easily be used by home users making their first steps in computer audio as well as by
professionals who produce music on a budget, looking for a professional, yet affordable, PCIe audio
solution.

MAYA44e provides 2 stereo analog line inputs, 2 stereo line outputs, a microphone input with
+48V phantom power and preamp, a Hi-Z guitar instrument input, a MIDI I/O interface with 16
input and 16 output channels, as well as an optical and coaxial S/PDIF output and a coaxial S/PDIF
input (via the included breakout cable).

2. Description of MAYA44e

2.1 PCIe card connectors

1. INPUT 1/2: analog line input connector (stereo) / microphone input (mono)

2. INPUT 3/4: analog line input connector (stereo) / Hi-Z instrument input (mono)

3. OUTPUT 1/2: analog line output connector (stereo) / headphone output (stereo)

4. OUTPUT 3/4: analog line output connector (stereo) / headphone output (stereo)

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ESI MAYA44e

5. MIDI & S/PDIF: connects to the breakout cable for MIDI and S/PDIF I/O

6. Optical Out: optical digital S/PDIF output

2.2 Breakout Cable

MAYA44e comes with a special breakout cable.

This cable provides coaxial S/PDIF inputs and outputs and 16 MIDI I/O channels via one MIDI
input and one MIDI output.

2.3 Minimum System Requirements

- Intel Pentium 4 1.0 GHz CPU or equivalent and compatible AMD CPU

- 512 MB RAM

- Direct X 8.1 or higher

- one available PCIe 1x or PCIe 16x slot

- DVD-ROM drive (for Cubase LE 4 installation)

- internet connection (for Cubase LE 4 activation)

- recent version of Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or higher) or Windows Vista (32-bit & 64-bit)

- the latest chipset and mainboard utility drivers for your system must be installed

3. Hardware Installation

3.1 Preparation for Hardware Installation

The MAYA44e PCIe card and other components in the computer can be damaged easily by
electrical shock. You should use an anti-static device that can discharge the static electricity of your
body to avoid potential static damage to the cards. If you do not feel capable of installing a PCIe
card into your computer please contact a computer specialist.

Turn off the computer power and remove the power cable from your computer power supply.

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ESI MAYA44e

Disconnecting the Power Cord

Refer to your computer user’s manual and remove the computer cover. Make sure that you have an
available PCIe slot on your motherboard to install the MAYA44e.

Removing the computer cover

To avoid possible static shock damage to the computer parts, discharge it by touching the computer
case or something grounded. We recommend you use an anti-static device such as an anti-static
wristband.

When holding the MAYA44e card, touch only the guide or the edge of card. Do not grab the card
by the board or connector.

3.2 PCIe Card Installation

Find an empty PCIe slot on the motherboard. If you are unsure, please check the manual of your
mainboard or computer to identify the PCIe slot, or consult a computer specialist. There are
different types of PCIe slot, MAYA44e will work both in a shorter PCIe 1x and in a longer PCIe
16x slot, however not in old standard PCI slots.

Typical PC Motherboard Slot Configuration

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