M-Audio DELTA 1010?

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RecordingRobb

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Is this worth the $600? I want to record using Reason 4.0, Cubase 5.0, an M-Audio Oxygen 61, a basic Presonics Preamp for my Mic and I am not sure which Mic I am going to use yet. Right now I have a Sound Blaster XFi Platinum with external sound module. I was planning to connect my oxygen via USB and Mic to a Presonics which would connect via USB as well. What capabilities would the Delta 1010 provide using just these components that the Sound Blaster couldn't? It just seem like a huge amount of money to spend for an audio card and external module that doesn't even have XLR inputs. Thoughts?
 
$600? Holly crap that's a lot for a 10 in 10 out interface without preamps IMO.

I say go with this instead:

http://www.audiomidi.com/ProFire-2626-B-Stock-P13957.aspx


Don't let the B stock scare you, I have a B stock unit and it has the full warantee and it comes looking like a new.

You might be able to find a B stock for as low as $550. That's how much I found mine for.
 
i owned a delta 1010 for several years and while i felt like it was worth the $600 price tag when i bought it more than 6 years ago(i knew pretty much nothing then which is only slightly less than i know now) i think there are far better options for the money available now.
now, i am by NO MEANS an expert but while 8 analog ins and outs are nice to have, if you only NEED one or two then it's a bit overkill... especially since it has no pres at all. another big concern is what OS are you running? m-audio does not have the greatest track record with 64 bit OS drivers so that is something to keep in mind too. if you NEED all those ins and outs and since you're using cubase, you could always look into the mr816 steinberg interface. it's a LOT more than the 1010... like twice as much but i've been very happy with mine, which is what replaced my 1010. if that's more than you need then there are many 1-4 input pres at far more reasonable prices available.
honestly, i just think the 1010 is a bit outdated and overpriced for what it is... i'm kind of surprised it's still in production.
just my humble $.02, hope it helps
 
I agree with Mikey C, except I don't agree with the inputs thought. 2-4 inputs is so limiting when your tracking drums.

I'm currently capped at 10 and I hate it (well... actually my interface has 26 inputs but I would have to grab another couple of 8 ch. preamps with adat to get to them).

Cubase LE is also capped (unless they changed it) at 10 inputs.
 
well, once again, it depends on his needs. if he only ever plans on recording an acoustic guitar along with one vocal track then an 8 input pre is overkill. if he needs the full 8 then more power to him and he should absolutely buy for the future but without stating his actual needs i was simply attempting to give an answer that might cover a couple of bases at once.
 
Gotcha, my assumption is that when people are looking at a 10 I/O device it's something they will use.

That's not a knock on you, just my assumption when answering questions.
 
I'm still using a Delta 1010LT and for what it is I think it's a bargain. There was one that went for $70 last week on eBay and I've seen them cheaper. They are 10 input but you need a pre 'cause the included ones are too junk plus have no phantom power.

Starting out, the best advice I have is don't set your sights on a particular brand and just watch Craigslist and eBay for a fluke super deal. I doubt there's a huge difference in the low priced ones as far as sound quality.

Get everything like computer, interface etc as cheap used as you can and make your main money expenditure your mic.
 
good point, the 1010 isn't bad if you can get one really cheap on ebay or craigslist and don't mind/want to buy your pres separate. dinty, it's looks like you're saying the 1010lt actually comes with some pres? i don't know much about it but the 1010 with the break out box has none at all so he would definitely need some pres.
robb, the dmp3 i had when i still had my 1010 was a good budget pre. if you want more than budget there are many options that many others can educate you on better than i can.
honestly, i would probably still have my 1010 if i hadn't upgraded to a 64 bit OS and had nothing but massive problems with the 1010 after doing so. having said that, i love my mr816csx.
 
If you want the Delta 1010, buy it used on ebay. Dont pay more than $350 for it. If you keep your eyes out you'll find one for that price. It is getting long in the tooth. I had one for quite awhile. Worked ok. I had it working on my new system (win 7 64 bit) as well. M-Audio does have a 64 bit driver for it now.

If you were going to spend $600 or so bucks, the Steinberg MR816 is a great sounding interface (very nice, very high gain mic pres on all 8 chanels) with an unfortunately spotty driver I'm afraid. The MR comes in 2 flavors, the MR816x and the 816 CXS. The CSX has built in compressors for each chan as well as DSP reverb.Not sure how usefull the compressors really are vs other approaches. The 816x has no compressors, just the reverb. The 816x can be had, new, from Sweetwater etc...for around $699. So, you get a firewire interface with 8 very clean mic pre's for less than $100 pchan.

The MR has some limitations however. The marketing pitch implies that you can daisy chain MR816's together, via firewire, and connect as many as 3. While you can do this, a big gotcha is that if you connect this way, you will not be able to use direct monitoring for no latency monitoring of units 2 or 3. You can direct monitor unit 1. Steinberg has a tech sheet out that describes a way to get direct monitoring when the boxes are hooked up this way but's a pretty convoluted setup that requires you to use all of the Cubase control room studio sends to create one headphone mix. If you don't have a version of Cubase of that provides the control room function, then you have no way of doing it at all.

In my humble opinion, based on having used a number of interfaces over the years.....look on ebay and pick up a used RME interface. If you have a deskside system, get a PCI or PCIe card based interface (HDSP, HDSPe). These use a firewire cable (it doesn't actually use firewire protocol, it uses a proprietary RME protocol thats much faster...handy because it's a very standard cable) to connect to an outboard interface box. The outboard boxes are....

Multiface (8 line in's and out's, adat in's, SPDIF in's, various clock connectors etc...similar arrangement to the Delta 1010. The HDSP/HDSPe is the PC interface card (HDSP is a PCI version, the HDSPe is the PCIe version...same function).

Digiface (all digital inputs, something like 3 ADAT ins, various clock and sync connectors, SPDIF etc...)

You can find the Multiface out board box on ebay for $250 to $400. Same for the Digiface. Sometimes you'll find someone selling both the interface and the PCI or PCIe card together for around $600.

Sounds expensive but the RME gear is simply beautifully built and, most importantly, they are so well designed that that you can just about count on it working perfectly right out of the box. Their drivers are some of the best available, their gear is very flexible, sounds great, and rock solidly reliable. Having flogged at getting numerous different interfaces to work and then tried the RME, I've just about concluded that you could hook up an RME interface to a palm pilot with a piece of string and record 16 chan's of audio simultaneously with zero latency!

They also have a software mixer called Totalmix that is absolutely astounding. Takes a little reading to get your head around it but once you see how it works, it's the coolest, most flexible zero latency mixer I've ever seen. Easily create multiple unique headphone mixes with zero latency (dont have a version of Cubase that includes the control room feature, Totalmix,ll do the same thing), easily use Total mix to integrate outboard FX (hang a cheap external reverb off of the Multiface and you can use it to provide zero latency headphone mixes with verb). Add to that their Digicheck software and once you use their stuff and get to know how well it works and how well designed it is...well, I came to the conclusion that their gear is worth every penny I paid for it.

If you have the bucks and want a system that's expandable, rock solid, sounds great, can provide up to 24 chan's of simultaneous input and provide all the zero latency headphone mixes you're ever likely to need....

Get an RME RAYDAT card for your PC. The pick up a Steinberg MR816x, or any other good 8 in/out mic pre convertor. Connect it to the RAYDAT card via ADAT light pipe. Simple, works beautifully, RME's total mix controls everything and you get the best of all worlds. Rock solid audio interface from RME and whatever line in's or mic pre's you like. Expand it when you need by picking up additional mic pre's/convertors.
 
My first DAW set-up was Cubase SX 1.0 with Reason 1, I chained 4 M-Audio Delta 66's as interfaces (I needed external pre-amps for power which complicated things big time). I up graded both Cubase and Reason right up to version 3. It worked ok for me

The most recent system that I put together is Cubase 5 - with all updates - Native Instruments, Komplete 6/Kore 2 and 2 Steinberg, MR816 CSX interfaces.

I am no-longer a properhead/m-audio guy, I am now a Steinberg/Cubase/NI guy from here on out. IMO a much better complement and much smoother work flow.

All I can say is it was worth the money and I am glad I went this route. A feature of the MR816's is that you can ADAT hook up a pre-amp through it as well as have 3 MR816's chained up. So, that's basically a 48 powered in's capacity (assuming your ADAT, Optical I/O pre-amps have 8 in's with 3 MR816's chained up).
The MR816 is plug and play, no messin with external pre-amp or mixing boards of any sort.

I have read that some people are having driver issues, but I am not. I record at 48 kHz 32 bit floating wav format and have not yet run out of room. I am currently working on a project with 54 tracks and most have 4-5 inserts as well as a couple sends to group and FX channels. (EDIT: I should mention, no latency)

Also, the MR816 can be used as a mixing consul instead of a mixing board/amp setup - as a side note, with i7 processors now in laptops, I don't understand why anybody would use the MR816's stand alone.
 
My first hybrid setup about 8 years ago was an Allen & Heath Sabre 24/16/2 and 3 x Delta 1010's

Muddy
Muddy
Muddy

There are much better convertors on the market today at a fraction of the price that will be STABLE at lower sampling rates when you NEED that zeroish latency for recording and overdubs.

Do some homework
 
Mist Enthalpy said:
My first DAW set-up was Cubase SX 1.0 with Reason 1, I chained 4 M-Audio Delta 66's as interfaces (I needed external pre-amps for power which complicated things big time). I up graded both Cubase and Reason right up to version 3. It worked ok for me

The most recent system that I put together is Cubase 5 - with all updates - Native Instruments, Komplete 6/Kore 2 and 2 Steinberg, MR816 CSX interfaces.

I am no-longer a properhead/m-audio guy, I am now a Steinberg/Cubase/NI guy from here on out. IMO a much better complement and much smoother work flow.

All I can say is it was worth the money and I am glad I went this route. A feature of the MR816's is that you can ADAT hook up a pre-amp through it as well as have 3 MR816's chained up. So, that's basically a 48 powered in's capacity (assuming your ADAT, Optical I/O pre-amps have 8 in's with 3 MR816's chained up).
The MR816 is plug and play, no messin with external pre-amp or mixing boards of any sort.

I have read that some people are having driver issues, but I am not. I record at 48 kHz 32 bit floating wav format and have not yet run out of room. I am currently working on a project with 54 tracks and most have 4-5 inserts as well as a couple sends to group and FX channels. (EDIT: I should mention, no latency)

Also, the MR816 can be used as a mixing consul instead of a mixing board/amp setup - as a side note, with i7 processors now in laptops, I don't understand why anybody would use the MR816's stand alone.
Click to expand...

usin a Yamaha N12 now mate, same pre's as your MR816 and it's sweet as a nut
 
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