What's Better than Delta 1010?

  • Thread starter Thread starter dmemphis
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My setup by the end of next year will be:

DAW with RME 9652 card (has 24 channels of ADAT lightpipe I/O)
UAD-1 card installed
Alesis HD24 for a/d/a conversion
Soundcraft Ghost console
Assorted outboard gear

The difference I have heard between the 1010 converters and the Alesis converters was fairly obvious. Using a variety of monitoring devices, each showed the 1010 A/D's to sound sort of cold and unflattering to the sound. Everything sounded like it had a veil on it. The HD24 A/D's sounded much more "smooth", "detailed", and "clearer".
 
genob said:
Not to keep this going hehehehe...

The thing that makes the Delta great is that it is ONLY an codec interface. It doesn't have all of the front end junk found in most cards these days. Let's face it, the AKM codecs produce a -117db (tested, if you don't belive me, look it up in google) noise floor when idle, which is beyond amazing. Show me something that can do better in the world, and then we can talk. You can pay 10,000 for a piece of equipment that will still only function marginally better.

Most of these pieces of equipment that cost $1000 more, just have several more codecs giving you 16-24-32+ channels of bi directional transfers at one time.

I know this because of my profession...

I'm saying all of this because most people who talk down to interfaces under $1000 like the delta, have a bad understanding of what really goes on inside that rackmount piece of equipment.

Bottom line, there are only a few ultra low noise codecs on the market, and the M-Audio delta 1010 gives you the best ones out for a nice price.

If you own one and don't like how it sounds, then check your pre-amps, and other gear surrounding the delta. It is not going to skew (color) the signal, it's only job is to sample the waveform and convert it to a 24bit value, or read the sample and produce a voltage across the line.
Click to expand...

yea yea the chip is great but the analog circuitry SUCKS and that accounts for the MAJORITY of the sound then comes the clock THEN waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy down the line the chip ;)

and also do a REAL world test and the SNR of the 1010 is more around -90 to -100 db. While my lynxtwo in real world actually performs to spec @ -114 DB
 
The Delta 44 and Delta 1010 are different converters but you cant doubt that they sound similiar. I dont think there is really a major difference.

I repeat again, upgrading to something better than the 1010 will make a difference. But make sure thats really the weakest chain in your link that your hearing right now before you do that. It wont do you any good if you upgrade to an RME, Lynx, or Motu and you find out that the sound you were hearing was something else. If it is for sure that it is the weakest link in your chain then definately upgrade because it will be worth it. And if its really not the weakest, see if you can manage to upgrade both.

sonusman - thats close to the same system that ive got now and its a dream. I bought the motu 2408mk3 before i bought the rest of the package and it was a good thing i did. One of the main reasons why i got it is because i wanted to have flexibility later on when i upgraded. Even though im not using half of the features it has and not even the a/d converters in it, its still nice to know how upgradeable it is. Ive been extremely happy with the Ghost LE 24. Although the preamps arnt extremely colorfull or sexy they are extremely usable for anything. 24 Channels at one time is incredible for flexibility. It kicks the ass out of the Protools 6.2, HD2 system with the Control 24 that i was using before. Not even comparable in my opinion.

Danny
 
Yeah. There is some stuff on the UAD-1 card that works VERY well, and some other VST and DirectX plugin's that I really like. And I definately like being able to edit and all that.

But when it comes to generally eqing, smashing the fuck out of a snare track, reverbs, panning, and overall summing issues, I will take a Ghost over ANYTHING digital I have EVER heard. Also, mouse mixing sucks ass, so as many things I can do with real devices make me a happy mixing guy!
 
Thanks this was a help.

I did a few short compositions with the unit and simply didn't
like the quality of the sound.
I am fairly exprerienced with sound and digital audio.
I have pretty good ears. My gear is simply a mic pre, the delta and
my computer.

The sound coming off my hard disk was not THAT good.
So I backed up and A/B compared what comes out of my mic pre
with what comes out of the Delta 1010 mixer monitor and listened hard.
Its simply a disappointing aural experience listening to what comes
out of the 1010. I can't expect any recording to be any better than
the monitoring.

Its not BAD but I want the digital recording to sound dead nuts
like my input. Sure digital is convenient and doesn't degrade but
there is no point in pointing a lot of time into a composition if from the
start it doesn't sound amazing.

Si I am bagging the digital computer recording until I can demo something
that sounds so for all intents and purposes exactly like the input.
-Like a good audio reel to reel would.

This isn't to say that the 1010 is a BAD product, it all depends on
your intentions. Its certainly better than a sound card, but its
not worth my time if it what comes out doesn't sound like a commercial recording.

I'll check into some of the suggestions here.

Anybody want a Delta 1010?

THANKS!
 
have you considered checking out rme or lynx ?
i'm personally saving up for RME.
steve 350 just posted that his terratec is great.
others posting this week seem to like the new emu.
 
manning1 said:
have you considered checking out rme or lynx ?
i'm personally saving up for RME.
steve 350 just posted that his terratec is great.
others posting this week seem to like the new emu.
Click to expand...


Which Terratec is he using? I'm looking at going with the EWS Mic2, or possibly 2 Phase 88's in conjunction with CW Pro Audio 9, and Sonar. Are there any latency issues with the Terratec equipment?
 
Since you asked, YES I am interested in the Delta 1010 :)

Let me know.

Thanks,
Rick
 
I am a little late to the game with this suggestion, but for a single channel you might look into getting a Kurzweil Rumour or Mangler. Though they convert no higher than 48KHz/24bit and output via S/PDIF, they are considered by some to be close to (or at) par with Apogee and Lynx.

The input signal chain would be mic--> preamp --> Kurzweil --> PC (req. S/PDIF in/out).

The output chain would be PC --> Kurzweil --> Monitors

If you can afford it, a Kurzweil RSP-8 w/mLAN (firewire) would be fantastic. Consider, a eight channel converter in the Apogee range comes in around $5K and up, but a KSP-8, RSP-8, and mLAN package would set you back $3.4K and provide what I have been told are fantastic effects along with world class converters.

Worth looking into!!
 
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