Customer Reviews

M-Audio Delta 1010-LT PCI Digital Audio System (PC & Mac)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

THis is an excellent option for the hardware required to run pro tools m-powered! However you need to make sure that you have a computer with the proper (older) PCI ports to install it in. I installed it on a brand new computer that only had PCI EXPRESS slots available. I had to get an adapter to convert my pci-exress slot to normal pci to get the card to work. The adaptor pushed the size of the card to be too big for the case so I had to break out the metal hack saw to get it to fit in in the computer!!! It fits now and works perfectly with the adaptor (about 30 bucks). If you have a Normal PCI slot to put this card in your computer I would Highly reccomend it otherwise be prepared to get the adaptor and bust out your Hack saw to you case!!!

PCI Express TO Pci Adaptor Link:[...]

I have owned 4 of these cards for over 5 years and they have been working faithfully with little problem under windows XP 32 bit. Since I moved to windows 7 x64 there have been nothing but audio quality problems. The company is slow to release windows 7 drivers that work properly and frankly, since they were acquired by AVID a couple years ago even the XP drivers have been dodgy, to say it politely. If you want to build a nice DAW with XP and these cards, go for it. But stay away if you want to run windows 7. Do yourself a favor and look at the M-Audio forums. They are filled with people saying exactly that.

I have been using the Delta1010lt for about 6 years now and it is the absolute best bang-for-the-buck card out there. In fact, I like it so much I just bought another one (you can link up to 3 together to get 24 channels).
I use it for semi-professional home recordings, and the quality is impeccable. Some of my recordings made using this card even get needletime on terrestrial radio.
It is relatively easy to use. The included software/drivers give you plenty of flexibility and versatility and even allow you to reconfigure for a variety of "virtual patching" options.
I also find it more reliable (ito drop-outs, latency etc) than the external USB based cards (but that is just in my personal experience).
For under $200, it's a steal.

I regret buying just one of this card at first because I soon ran out of analogue inputs recording a band and vocals. With the latest drivers, default settings, and WinXPPro, it produced lush, detailed, click-free, distortion-free audio. Note: use the latest M-audio ASIO drivers for the best results. I tested ASIO4ALL 2.9 on it, but there was unpredictable clicking on the recorded *.WAVs even at 1024 samples, which I think begins to negate the whole idea of low-latency. The default 256-sample setting of M-audio ASIO works superbly without a hiccup.
3 of this Delta 1010LT in a PC makes up for a super-inexpensive but very high quality 24-track recording studio in-a-box.

honestly, I already had one when I bought it, however, I just want to say that it isn't a MIDIMAN 1010lt (whatever that is), its a DELTA 1010lt... I have no idea what a MIDIMAN is, but the product is correct if you search for it. This card is just awesome! 8 inputs and 8 outputs, and thats not including the SPDIF and MIDI interface! the sound quality is good on the first 2 channels, and the other 6 need a preamp, but thats expected... top notch if you ask me. I wouldn't expect anything less from M-audio

Be aware that M-Audio has limited to no support for Windows XP 64 bit users. This was a very unwelcome surprise to encounter.

Bought this card after some research on medium end cards (I am a home/enthusiast musician). This card works great on Vista (with or without SP1); haven't tried XP but should work just fine. I use Sonar 6 for music recording and editing; Sony Vegas Studio 7 for video editing. Works flawlessly. I saw huge difference between this and my old SoundBlaster Audigy card. With so many inpus (all sorts), you have power in your hand. Only caviat is that it might be combersome to organize the I/O pins. But hey, quick labeling with a scotch tape does the job just fine!!

In August 2006, I choose the Delta 1010lt because it was reported to be a reliable product, and that reliability stemed from the direct PCI connection within the PC. At that time, USB and Firewire interface devices were reported to be unreliable.

I first used the 1010lt without problems in a Dell docking station mated to a 1.13GHz Dell Latitude C-610. Last year, I upgraded to a D-dock and a 2.2 GHz Dell Latitued D-830. Formerly I used Cubase 3 to record just two tracks. I now use Cubase 5 to record live jazz using 6 to 10 simultaneous tracks.

As another reviewer cautioned, only two of the 1010lt's inputs have mic preamps and these don't supply phantom power. Fortunately, the mics I use on these two inputs are battery powered Nakamichi CM-300s, which also require very little preamp gain.

The next six inputs are RCA unbalanced line level inputs. As needs grew, I activated two of these using an M-Audio Audio Buddy mic preamp (M-Audio Audio Buddy Budget Microphone Preamp - Preamplifier). A few months later, I needed two more channels, so I found locally another Audio Buddy for half-price, and bought two of them. I then could record eight tracks using a mixture of mics, DI boxes (Live Wire Solutions SPDI Passive Direct Box with Attenuation Pad) and XLR splitters (ART Splitcom Pro 2 Way Microphone Splitter and Combiner).

Later, I needed ten simultaneous tracks and the only input left on the 1010lt was a coax S/PDIF. So fortunately I found very cheap an M-Audio FastTrack Pro (M-Audio Fast Track Pro 4x4 Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface with Preamps) to use just as a standalone (but USB powered) two-track mic preamp with a S/PDIF output to interface with the 1010lt.

Also, the 1010lt doesn't have any headphone outputs, so I had to get an external headphone amplifier, an Art Headamp 4 (ART HeadAmp4 Four Channel Headphone Amplifier), which accommodates 4 headphones each with a separate volume control.

So, this is how I gradually built a portable PC DAW system that uses the PCI interface directly, swiftly and reliably. It has been rock solid for numerous rehersals and major live jazz CD projects. The only limitation as some might see is that the 1010lt's max sampling size/rate is 24-bit/96kHz. I always record at 24-bit/44.1kHz, then mixdown to 16-bit/44.1 kHz CDs and have no complaints.

The only complaint I have is to get 10 audio tracks into the portable PC, I have to connect the docking station (with the 1010lt inside) to 3 Audio Buddies, a FastTrack Pro, and a headphone amp, using a variety of connecting cables and four wall warts which make setup and packup a little tedious. All these components can be replaced with a modern multichannel USB 2.0 or Firewire audio interface such as an M-Audio Profire 2626 (M-Audio ProFire 2626 High-Definition 26-in/26-out FireWire Audio Interface with Octane Preamp Technology), an M-Audio FastTrack Ultra 8R (M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R), or Tascam US1800 (Tascam US-1800 USB2.0 Audio/Midi Interface), but I'll still need one separate two-track mic preamp to get 10 tracks, and these can surpass the 1010lt's 10-track limit. However, one is advised to compare the ratings of these and other USB and Firewire interfaces with the 1010lt before deciding, and remember that up to three 1010lts can be bridged for a total of 24 tracks.

The card lacks Phantom power!!!
I was under the impression that 45volt phantom power is standard these days. not so when it comes to pci cards... in hind sight, I would just go with a Fire-wire mixer instead- more inputs, phantom power, mobile, just so many advantages over a pci card.

This card is a steal. I can't believe I was able to get such a quality audio capture card for this price. The sound quality and the fact that it has Balanced audio is a dream come true for $179.

The only slight con was the driver CD that came with my card. It only had 32 bit drivers for Vista. Having a 64 bit system I kept getting the message that my operating system was not compatible. It was more of a downer when I read the literature both in box and online that indicate that my system was not going to work. However, be sure to visit the [...] website and download the latest drivers which include Vista 64 bit. Once I did that everything was smooth like snot on a chickens back... :)