Hi, some help with my delta1010LT please

I

Isabella

New member
Hello everyone,

First I would like to say that I am new to the concept of forums and bbs, so if I posted this message in the wrong topic, please be patient with me, I will learn eventually :o

I bought a 1010LT sound card as a gift for myself not a long time ago. My background as a professional is that I am a new computer programmer, but still stuck in primary languages (like TCL, beuuurk!). I consider myself efficient in computers, and I am the person that family and friends run to when their computers catches viruses, or it brakes somehow but they "didn't do it"...yeah, a real girl geek...LOL :p

So, anyhow I am a musician too. Been playing the classical piano for 15 years, and the classical guitar for 2. My parents insisted on my musical education, and I had very few choice to be honest. But they did well.

So last month, I decided to pick myself an electric guitar, and see how I can handle it. It turned out that if I wanted to record my music in my computer, I needed some audio sound card. Searching on the Internet for information, I decided upon a 1010LT due to my limited budget, and to some websites recommendations. These websites also recommended using amplifiers, using interfaces, using stomps, and I got really confused by the information overload and through the ebay website without realizing it, spent 1,000$ on stuff I don't know what I should be using them for

So here is the list of the stuff I got:
  • Delta 1010LT
  • The Brick (a tank looking box)
  • Atomic Amplifier
  • AC Booster (pedal?)

The only item I kind a know the purpose of if the Delta1010LT. I know it is the sound card that takes an analogue signal and converts it to digital, and through the ASIO drivers, send it to my host (Reaper).

I installed the soundcard today in my computer, but before installing it I read the manual, and I noticed that there is 4 jumpers, 2 of each control input 1 and input 2. But I have no idea whatsoever on what these jumpers mean or do, it is explained a bit in the manual, that one position is mic +something and the other is line +something else, but this is all alien to me, and I feel totally lost.

And now I look a the stack of unopened boxes and wonder how dumb I am for buying all that stuff when I do not know what they do, and I have nobody to help me set it up, .... I panic :(

The idea I had in my mind is to connect my guitar to the brick device (I still don't know what it does, nor what it is, i am guessing it amplifies the signal somehow), and then from the brick to my Delta1010LT and to my computer, and the output of my Delta1010LT to my atomic amp. But then the AC booster, where do I plug it?

I am still scratching my head figuring all this by myself. Any help you can give me would truly be appreciated.

Please? :(
 
Wow. There's alot to work out here. There are alot of people far more qualified than me to answer your questions and they will. but to start with what cables/adaptors do you have?
Do you have a pod6, v-amp, or tonelab for your amp?

The first hurdle is that the brick is balanced and your 1010lt is not, not a big problem I have the brick and the 1010lt, but you need cables/adaptors to over come this. or you could use the mic-pre/xlr inputs, but you want to make sure it is set for line level input or that the gain on the card is very low.

I didn't a microphone on your list so I don't see how you would use your amp for recording.

how do you monitor on your computer? speakers or headphones? It looks like your trying to monitor through your amp, an amp would colour the sound though and you would not get a good idea of what your actually recording.
 
thanks for your help

Hi rust, and thanks for your assistance :)

I do not have the pod6, v-amp or tonelab , what I want to do is load a virtual plugin (VST) in Reaper and use my computer as my effects processor, and output the sound to the Atomic Amp. I have downloaded demo version of of software Amplitube that is supposed to be good if I read the reviews. But reading a lot of reviews is what got me in troubles the first time.

As far as cables are concerned, I bought myself 2 guitar cable with 1/4 male on both side (normal electric guitar cable) and 2 three pong cable (XRL I think) and both side.

I have no idea what this balanced vs non balanced means, but when you said the line level input I recalled these 2 jumpers on the delta1010 that can be in 4 different positions (2 mic, and 2 line) and that I read in the manual.

I don't know if I am making any sens at all. I hope I am :o


P.S: Sorry for my English, I know I can be hard to understand at some times. It will not bother me to repeat the same information if you need any clarifications.
 
Hi Isabella, The Brick is a Microphone Preamp and DI Box, You would use it to either Plug a Mic into to record your guitar or voice or you can use the DI part of the Brick and plug your guitar directly into it to record....

as for the Jumper on the Delta 1010LT card, they controll the 2 XLR inputs ,They set these Inputs as either Microphone inputs (so you can plug a mic directly into the card) or as Line level inputs which is what the rest of the RCA inputs on the card are....I have mine set to Line inputs which you may want to do if you want to use these inputs with the Brick...

So say you want to record your guitar...One way would be to Plug your guitar into the DI input on the Brick, then use an XLR Cable and plug in from the output on the Brick into the XLR Input on your Delta 1010LT (you have 2 on the Delta 1010LT) and then set up your recording software and simply record....

You will probably need some headphones and maybe a Headphone amp or a mixer with a headphone out so you can hear what you are playing when you are playing it or on Playback....Monitors would also be a good Idea for Mixing and Mastering....

As for Ballanced or Unballanced signals i don"t think is is important enough Yet for you to worry about and might just serve to confuse you...Just know that the output from the Brick is Ballanced and the 2 XLR inputs on the Delta 1010LT are ballanced so you can use these together without worrying about it....

I hope this helps a bit....It might be good if you know someone who has some experience with this type of stuff to come over and help set everything up and explain to you in more detail what you need to do to get everything up and running in an effecient way....


Good luck
 
Hi minion,

I think I understand better now thanks to your help and to that of Rust. Thanks guys.

Now I see how I can connect the guitar to the Brick, and the brick through XLR to one of my 2 XL inputs on the 1010LT, set to the line jumpers.

The line-in jumper can be in 2 line-in positions: On 1 it sais "Line level +14dbu peak" and the other "Line Level changes line level to +3dbu". What does that mean? Which option should I choose?

And now that I understand how to connect the Brick to the delta, and from there process the sound with VST, how do I connect the dela1010 to my Atomic amp so I can listen to what I am playing while I am recording?

Sorry for all the questions :o
 
In my opinion I would be recording the amp with a microphone, I might do a bass direct but that is it, then you can hear what you are playing, if the amp is in a different room then you need to route the outputs of Reaper to your 1010 outs, to a pair of headphones so you can monitor.
 
Just to elaborate on what Carter said....You would get a better sound if you Plugged your Guitar into your Amp and put a mic in front of the amp which is plugged into the Bricks XLR Mic input and then from the bricks output into the delta 1010lt and record....that way you will hear what you are recording as you play it...
You will still need to get some powered monitors (speakers) and/or a headphone amp w Headphones as you don"t want to plug the output of the delta into your guitar amp as it won"t sound good and it isn"t in stereo pluss it isn"t made for this type of thing...You could use a regular home stereo system to monitor but it wouldn"t be Ideal but would work in a pinch.....But headphones are pretty much manditory if you are going to record several tracks one at a time.....

Also when you are recording make sure you set the recording livels to about -20db (in your recording software) which will make it so you don"t clip the delta cards inputs and will give you more headroom.....

As for the Line level input Jumper on the delta card mine doesn"t have the +14db or +3db setting(but there is something simular in the delta cards driver settings) I think I usually have mine set to +3db which should work for you....

good luck....
 
Hi guys,

The problem I think is that the Atomic amplifier, doesn't work like a normal amp, it doesn't even have a volume button :(

I bought it because most reviews said that it was the ideal amp for digital modeling, which is what I want to do. Run my input through a virtual amp sim, and out to the amp.

Is it a bad idea? can't I just connect one of the outputs of the 1010LT straight into the amp?

Thanks.
 
What type of amp is it?? Is it a guitar amp or a power amp, is mono or stereo?? Can you post a link to it or at least post the model number....

it really depends on what the amp is made for....From what you discribe it doesn"t sound like the amp is designed for Guitar uses...
 
Sorry, my mistake. I assumed everyone will know what the Atomic amp is.

It is supposed to be, from what I understand of it, a guitar amp custom build for digital amp simulation.

Since I don't have 5 posts yet, I can't seem to be able to post the URL
 
Well with that amp (which is just a standard tube Guitar amp without any controlls, the whole "Made For Digital Modeling" is mostly marketing hype Pluss most digital modelers are standalone devices not computer based devices)
The modelers that are supposed to be use with this amp are NOT computer based , They are seperate modules.....

I would use the effect loop to plug it into your PC to use your VST effects....

There should be an effects "in" and "out" or something simular on the amp, You could Plug the effect Out into an input on the delta card (you might need an adapter depending on the connections used on the amp) then take the output from the Delta 1010LT and plug it into the Effects In on the amp, then I would Mic the amp and record it to your PC...I wouldn"t record the effects loop because it will sound a lot different than what you are hearing through the amp.....

The problem with doing it this way is there might be a little latency because the signal goes through the amps preamp and then out to the PC which then processes the sound and then sends it out to your amp again which amplifies the signal and then the signal has to go through the mic and Mic preamp and back into the PC for recording and this all takes a little bit of time so there could be a slight lag between what you are playing and what you are hearing and recording.....

I would suggest at looking at getting some of the modelers that are meant for that amp, OR Just record the Guitar with a mic on the amp and then after recording you can add your effects and such ,This actually gives you more controll because you can change an effect if you don"t like it but with the amp modelers if you decide you don"t like what it sounds like after recording you will have to re-record the whole track again.....

Cheers
 
your amp is really meant for a stand alone digital modeller, and is probably best suited for playing out (in a club or show) and not really using in conjunction with a computer plug in.

I think your best option (easiest,cheapest, fastest) would be to plug your guitar into the brick, the brick into the delta and track with your amplitube.

If you are not planning on using a stand alone modeller(pod6, v-amp, tonelab) you might want to consider returning your atomic amp or trading it for a nice regular tube amp, it really is not usefull to you without the stand alone modeller.(amplitube sounds far better than the stand alones anyway:))

You can plug in your AC booster between your guitar and the brick. Try it out see how it sounds and let us know:D.

You are starting out with both electric guitar and recording, that's alot to learn all at once!! good luck and let us know how it all works out for you.
 
Hi Rust,

OK, I will let you know how the booster plugged in my atomic will sound.

Pipeline, thanks for the video. Sexy voice you got there ^^ :o

I will try and see what the booster + the brick will give me as a sound, and if it use usable connected straight to my amplifier. If it is, I will think of splitting the signal from the brick, 1 into my PC, 2 into the amp.

Thanks for the advices all, keep them coming :)
 
Hi guys,

An update on my situation. I kept my Atomic, and was my setup work great until I decided to connect my Delta1010LT to my Atomic that is, thinking I could use my computer as the modeler instead of a PodXt or other device.

So purchased 1/4 inch to RCA convertor.

So now I hook up the rca end of the cable to output 3 on my Delta 1010LT, and plug the 1/4 end going into the Return of the Atomic.

Now, I turn the atomic on, and a couple of seconds later a really loud hum start getting produced by the amplifier. If I unplug the 1/4 from the return, the hum disappears.

I am pretty sure it is me doing something wrong. Can my setup work at all or do I need to purchase anther piece of equipment to connect the delta1010 output to the Reactor's input? (maybe there is a voltage mismatch)

Any help would be appreciated.

Merci.
 
OK guys here is an update:

What I did was to test to try and find out what the issue was. So I connected by guitar to The brick and the inst through of the brick to the Amp.

I was really surprised that the hum was still there!

I tried with the brick turned on, and turned off, and the gain knob at 0, no change. Tried the groud lift switch...no change.

So I plugged the guitar straight into the amp, and no hum. I unplugged the power cord from the Brick and tried again with my guitar plugged in the "Inst input" and the amp in the "inst through"...but again, the loud hum comeback as soon as I plugged to by amp.

So I tried a pedal I had that has true passthrough as well, and no hum.

I then remembered that my XLR balanced output is still connected to my Delta1010 input. So I disconnect the XLR output, and voila! no more noise or hum!


Now, I have no idea what this means...Does that mean that my delta1010 card is defective? or that there is an electrical probleme somewhere?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top