Top quality audio recording workhouse - a bargain (M-Audio Delta 1010LT)

Name: SnooP_WiggleS

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Product:	M-Audio Delta 1010LT
Date:	10.12.07 (291 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 8 analogue inputs and outputs, low latency (adjustable), clean (no bloat) usable drivers,

Disadvantages: the gain of the mic preamps aren't easily adjustable and no +48V power so they are that useful.

For the audio producer on a budget, nothing on the market beats the M-Audio Delta 1010LT for value for money and all round performance. The big ticket item here is 8 analogue inputs - enough to record a full drum set. Competitors sound cards with a similar amount of inputs (eg EMU 1812m) cost twice as much. 2 of the inputs a microphone inputs, but however the gain control is only adjustable by setting jumpers on the sound card, so this limits there usefulness. They can be converted to line inputs with the jumpers however. Quality wise the microphone preamps are usable, good enough for vocal work. Theres no +48V phantom power but thats no surprise given the price and being an internal pci card rather than external box with its own power supply . similarly there are 8 outputs (again all RCA as 6 of the inputs are), which is great as there its enough to have a 5.1 set of speakers and headphones connected simultaneously.

In terms of software the drivers are basic but excellent. Normal software (such as games, media player, music) can either be directed to output to the 'multi' set or any stereo pair. In my setup i have DVDs set to go to the 'multi' set for 5.1 sound and games directed to '7/8' set which directs to the headphones. For music production this card is great. Latency is adjustable to whatever your computer can handle - mine handles a buffer of 128 samples (so 2ms latency @ 44.1khz) fine. ASIO drivers seem rock solid and easy to use. Inputs and outputs can be set to either +4dbu (pro) or -10dbu (consumer) or anywhere between with software. As a bonus the drivers have bass management built in including adjustable crossover, phase invert on the sub and gain control. speaker distances can be set to do delay compensation as well.

Tech wise this isn't the most elite there is, with a noise floor of ~ -100db with AKM codecs and JRC opamps are good performance / cost compromises. while -100db doesn't sound brilliant compared to -120db for the top end EMU/digi gear, its irrelevant in practice since typical microphone setups are are usually around -60 to -90db noise floor, so thats the limiting factor. You'll get excellent sound quality with this as any other decent sound card. Overall a great choice for the budding audio producer, especially since its also usable for general games / movies etc - something that can't be said about a lot of other pro sound cards.

Summary: Great For anyone looking to do some pro quality recordings (even drums!) on a budget

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