Delta 44?

[MonkeyShock]

What's the opinion on an upgrade from the M-Audio24/96 to the Delta 44? Money is tight right now, but I'm wanting to improve my sound quality. I appreciate any opinions. I've read the archives. I'm just recording 1 instrument at a time and don't use midi. I'm just wanting to know if there's much difference in the recording quality between the 2 cards.
Cheers.

 

[hueseph]

The delta 44 uses the same A/D D/A converters as the 2496. Unless you intend to use multiple mics, it's not really an upgrade. If you want to considerably improve the sound quality, you might want to look into a better preamp or mixer with good preamps. If that doesn't do the trick, you might want to look into Apogee A/D cpmverters. That would be a pretty big investment though if your money is tight. What are you plugging into to go into the 2496(preamp/mixer/compressor/effects)?

 

[distortedrumble]

hueseph is right...and actually the audiophile has a little better sound quality than the delta 44 but not that noticeable. if money is tight and you are recording one microphone...look into getting an m-audio dmp3. its 159.99 and cheaper if you can find one on ebay....if you look around for cheap but "best" preamps then the dmp3 is high on the list if not number 1 in most polls. this will improve your sound....since you didnt list your mics or mixer, i cant give you much info on improving the rest of your sound.

 

[Monkey Allen]

What would you do for headphones on the 44? It has no headphone jack.

 

[MonkeyShock]

Hmmm, some good input here, I appreciate it. I guess the next real upgrade will be a few hundred $s. My usual setup is as follows: Strat-Digitech200 effects processor-Eurorack1202 preamp/mixer-2496. When recording the Ovation A/E, I go straight to the preamp and into the soundcard and add any effects later. I have a headphone jack on the pre-amp/mixer.
I don't really have a problem, just thought I might improve a bit. I just bought some better Altec Lansing pc speakers and sub, and noticed that, as people here have mentioned,my guitars sound a bit thin. I appreciate the input guys, thank you! J.R.

 

[gordone]

I went over this with you before...
The 44 has 4 mono analog LINE level outputs (setup in 2 stereo pairs) so you would need to plug them into something which has a headphone output. Some options include
-Mixer
-Dedicated headphone amp
-HiFi stereo system
-Computer speakers (if they have a headphone amp)
If you're desperate, you can try plugging phones directly into one of the output pairs using a Y-cable, but that would not be ideal.

What would you do for headphones on the 44? It has no headphone jack.