ESI MAYA44 eX | 24-bit/96kHz PCIe Audio Interface with 4 in / 4 out

Seeing as this only has one review so far, and an undeserved 1-star at that, here's my take. The Maya22 is well worth the money and has great sound. Important for me is that I can easily hook up RCA cables for both recording and playback, avoiding those dinky little 3.5mm jacks so common otherwise. You do need two mono TRS-to-cinch adapters for the playback side, but that's not a big deal. The manual, alas is pretty sparse and could do a better job explaining the ESI software control panel - luckily it's mostly a straightforward affair anyway, and not hard to figure out. One glitch I've encountered is that sometimes, after waking my Windows 10 64-bit PC from sleep mode, there's no sound from the Maya22. Toggling the 'mute' button a couple times in the control panel brings it back right away - looks like a software bug, fortunately a harmless one. (I might otherwise have deducted one star, but the ESI is still close to perfect for my needs.) I have not encountered the constant static noise that was mentioned by the first reviewer. The Maya22 is dead silent unless asked to make sound. :)

Simple, clear crisp 2.2 stereo 4 computer. Paired with Klipsch speakers. Together, they ROCK!

This is one awesome little unit. I use it with my laptop. This unit gives great sound reproduction. I also use it to interface my TV, DVD recorder, Directv, makes it great to switch between inputs without having to unplug and replug to hear a particular piece of equipment (the main reason I do this is I use headphones all the time as I am hard of hearing, and I want to hear everything thru my laptop which I use as a desktop with extended monitor, keyboard, & mouse). I have a small preamp for my phonograph and it has an extra in and out which gives me an extra plug to the ESI unit. I would highly recommend this to anyone, and the drivers now work with Window 10 as well as previous versions of Windows. I live in the country and am very likely to get hit by lightning thru the power lines and I am afraid I might lose this unit so I am ordering another one tomorrow as a backup, as this has quickly become the heart of my system and I am afraid they may quit making these. Nov 2018, It has been 2 years since I last reviewed this product. It is still working awesome with my laptop/(desktop). Don't know what I would do without it. The second one I ordered still sits in the box. Never have needed to use it. I may give it away as a present. I do not think I will ever need it. Other than a power surge or some such thing, there is not much that can go wrong with this unit. I still continue to highly recommend this unit if you have need of a great sound card, but no room to put it inside of whatever type PC you are using.

I am happy to make this choice.Great product, I would recommend this product to anyone....... I am happy with it

I have 3-4 of these cards in various workstations. The Windows 10 drivers for this product are stable and the card generally works good. The software utility/control panel application isn't bad and the DirectWire utility can be useful at times. Unfortunately this card has some serious engineering flaws. The worst is the noise problems. It's easy to get noise on the inputs/outputs from various sources...video cards, PSU's, peripheral devices, etc.. High end MB's and PSU's don't solve this problem either. The next flaw is that all I/O's are Unbalanced. Unfortunately this is the only card on the market I could find. I would prefer a PCIe card over a USB audio interface, but if sound quality is your primary concern go with a USB audio interface. Out of the 3-4 cards I have running, 1 of them had an output channel go bad after about 2 years of use.

I got nervous before the interface was delivered because I wasn't sure it would work with iPad. I realized I didn't stop to check that factor... Lo & Behold, iPad saw it immediately and this little interface rocks!! Clean, small, portable, well built. I have had Motu, M-Audio, Focusrite ... But I wanted something portable, small, affordable and simple. Don't need all the bells & whistles for what I'm trying to do. I needed 4 outs though.. 2 for stereo track, one for drum loop and one for click. This little guy does the job perfectly!! Wish I could get an endorsement with this company!! Love it!!

Doesn't work the way that I expected. Waste of my money

Worked great for my streaming setup. Good quality, compact and does the job needed. Clear audio, no connection issues. Very easy to use and came with some DJ software I might just try out. No complaints.

Buena calidad, aunque más cara que otros productos similares

Genau was ich gesucht habe! Guter Sound, einfache Handhabung, kompakt und sehr robust, nicht überfrachtet mit Funktionen und das ganze zu einem vernünftigen Preis! Hatte bisher den TRAKTOR Audio 2 DJ und habe ihn nach einem Jahr und zunenehmend auftauchenden Aussetzern wieder zurückgeschickt ...so viel Plastik in einem so kleinen Gehäuse konnte einfach nicht dauerhaft stabil bleiben :/ Werde diesen noch ausgiebig im Einsatz testen ...aber bisher ALLET JUT!

Le produit répond aux spécifications annoncées, la faible latence est le point qui me l'a fait choisir et je n'ai pas été déçu. Avec ma configuration, curieusement, le pilote ASIO n'est pas le plus performant, ceci dit le MME convient parfaitement à mon utilisation. Je recommande cet article.

Ottimo rapporto qualità prezzo. Avevo una ESI UGM96, rotta dopo averla collegata a presa usb3, non fatelo MAI ! (sovratensione...), che era anche più piccola e maneggevole, questa però ha caratteristiche audio anche superiori e completa come ingressi. Sempre comunque compatta, robusta, e facile da trasportare. Un gioiellino, ESI è sempre una garanzia. Acquistata via Amazon Warehouse, arrivata come nuova senza un graffio.

I am a professional DJ and on Friday night I had a total timecode failure on my old sound card. Ironically I had a spare mac book, USB cables, RCA cables, the works - but not a spare sound card.(I did the rest of the night via CDJ/USB/Ear) I realised it was time to get something little more up to date with a warranty and official support from the audio software manufacturer. I contacted virtual DJ, with whom I am a fully paid infinity member who supplied me with a list of supported hardware. This device was on that list. After some research I found that most of the other soundcards came with software such as Traktor, serato or VDJ and cost about £230-800 depending on version. As I already owned the software this product looked like the logical option. I was worried after someone said in a 2013 review that VDJ didnt work correctly but I can only assume support has now been added. Its worth noting however this unit does not have a phono input, only line ergo you can use DVS with CDJs but not your technics 1210s. Considering the next option on my list was a rane device for £230 I decided that this one was more then enough. I purchased it and it works beautifully with VDJ - plug & play with minimal config and no drivers required (mac). My only issue with this device is that it used a mini USB port. Traditionally they come with a B type USB which is more durable in my opinion. So I did the local thing - I purchased two for a total of £172 which compared to one rane at £230 is a no brainier. I will probably 3D print a case to protect the unit, but its so small, sleek and good value that i dont feel worried. Best of luck with your choice in sound card and if you are a DJ : One day you will leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember.