Yeah, you're right, the list price of
the Delta1010 is a lot more than the Wave/824.
For me, I was choosing between the Delta44 and the soon-to-be-released Wave/496. The list price of the Wave/496, in the US, was actually less than the Delta44, but I had to go through the Australian Gadget Labs distributor to get the Wave/496, where-as I could get the Delta44 in from the US, where prices are a lot cheaper even once you take into account exchange rates, shipping and import duty and sales tax. I ended up getting
the Delta44 plus
a MidiSport 2x2 USB Midi interface for considerably less than I would have had to pay for the Wave/496 here. Amazing, isn't it?
Note, though, that while you're going to have to pay list for the Gadget Labs card (currently $499 for the 824), you'll be able to pick up a Delta1010 for a lot less than list. OK, it lists at $1000, so it's unlikely you'd be able to get it for anywhere near the price of the 824, so I can't say I blame you for your choice (and I probably would have gone for a Gadget Labs card myself if it wasn't for the fact that I could get the Delta44 for a much better price).
Interestingly, I got the Delta44 for $259 (the price was from Bayview Pro Audio, though I didn't buy it from them - I got someone else to match price) - it's list price was $400. Bayview Pro Audio don't list a price for the Delta1010, but if the ratio was similar that would put it at about $650. OK, still probably not worth the extra.
One thing I'm interested in knowing about the Gadget Labs Wave cards -
the M-Audio Delta cards have an onboard digital mixer, and come with a very nice control panel monitor mixer and patchbay/router. The router lets me control where various output channels actually go (to the physical outs, into the monitor mixer, to different physical outs or whatever). This was one thing that pushed me in favor of the Delta44 over the Wave/496, and I've found it very useful. I've not seen that the Wave cards provide anything similar - but I'd be very interested to know if they do. Perhaps you've come across that information in your research (I saw no evidence of this on the Gadget Labs web site or in reviews I read).
As I mentioned above, for me it very much came down to a choice between a Gadget Labs Wave card and an M-Audio Delta card, so once you get your Wave/824 (which is very similar in specs to the Wave/496 I was looking at, except for the extra ins and outs of the 824), I for one will be very interested in hearing your thoughts.
-- Dingo
(Babies beware)