How to properly use the Detla 44 outs.
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Posted on Nov 23, 2002 12:15 am
Loki
Cone Poker
Member Since: Apr 07, 2002
Alright, I want to avoid damaging my card, so I figured I'd ask before I do anything. The delta 44 has four outs, which are each mono correct? The only thing I have speakerwise is my two tens for the PA and a pair of headphones and the speakers that came with my computer. Thing is, the speakers are stereo but go through one wire.... can I hook any of this stuff up without hurting the card so that I can listen to my music through the delta or am I going to need to find a way to only use the delta for recording and to use the default factory soundcard for playback until I can get a decent set of monitors?
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Nov 23, 2002 02:22 am definitely! you can run the delta's out anywhere that will accept a line level. I'm assuming your computer speakers have a male stereo 1/8"?. that can be fixed with a few adapters from Radio shack. Noisy but cheap. I would save those speakers for your Audigy. It's nice to have two functional soundcards onboard.
But if your PA has line level ins (maybe stereo Tape In RCAs or something?) just set your Outs 1/2 on the Delta to "Monitor Mixer" to send all 8 channels to 1 and 2 and then get some patch cables to run your outs 1/2 from the Delta to the PA. It'll sound like crap, and you won't be able to mix or master anything properly, but it's got to be better than PC speakers.
Another thing you can do, and I do it regularly although everyone's gonna tell you not to, is just plug head phones straight in the Delta Outs 1/2. The voltage for line level is very similar to headphone power and I convert my stereo 1/8" minijack on my headphones to stereo RCAs with 1/4" adapters on the ends to fit the Outs 1/2 on the Delta. It's worked for me over two years, and I've had great results. It might be a little loud, if so just roll back the Master Volume. I use -7.5dB for most of my works. Try it at your own risk. Just don't blame me if it all blows up! -j
Nov 23, 2002 07:43 am Don't plug your headphones into the line outs, you probably won't blow anything up...right away...you either Jamie, stop it! There are products, some quite cheap, that will take that out and make it into a headphone out, actually, make that into 4 or 5 headphone outs...it's called a headphone amp, and they rock. I have a Samson and it make one stereo out pair into 4 headphone outs each with it's own volume control and it make the signal the exact right signal for headphones.
Nov 23, 2002 02:33 pm sure, one of these jobbers would be better:
service.bfast.com/bfast/c...mp;bfmtype=gear
:-P
The one you are looking at requires an adapter, with the Samson I have and most of them like this Behringer you can run one set of out, into the headphone amp, out of that into your control room amp. If you need phones, turn it on and the control room amp off, if you need the control room amp just turn it on thand the headphone amp off. It requires no adjusting which out every track goes to and all that crap, just a couple ons and off buttons. It works great and fast.
But yes, the one you see one Ebay will work. :-)
Nov 23, 2002 02:43 pm awesome. soon as i'm not so broke, I think I'll be getting a rack to start filling with fun stuff.
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Nov 23, 2002 03:51 pm Alright, whoo, I finallly fixed my computer, got windows XP running, got my soundcard installed, got my cdrw and dvd player working, and got my copy of sonar installed. I am just stupid as to how to set up my delta 44 for recording, hardware and software wise. How do you guys recomend setting this up? Maybe we should write an article on this... cause I am so lost...
Nov 23, 2002 04:00 pm "set up" your soundcard? Isn't it working? What exactly do you need? We'll walk you thru it step by step.
Well it's off to band practice for me. later! -j
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Nov 23, 2002 07:28 pm alright, so far I've got audio going from the mixer into the delta and from the delta into the mixer, so all my sound is being routed back into the mixer, now how would I go about recording four channels at once?
Nov 23, 2002 07:40 pm how many outs does your mixer have?just stereo outs and that's it, or does it have a sub out bus? do the channels have direct outs? If you don't know, post a link to the manufacturers website. Phonix, isn't it?
Quick tip:
If your mixer does not have a sub-set of outs (an out bus besides the main ones) don't route the sound card back in to the mixer unless you need to run the sound through some external gear. Just run the sound card straight to your amp.
www.dbmasters.net/hrc/new...tory&id=110 for an explaination of what I mean.
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Nov 23, 2002 08:24 pm well I'm using that big honking powered mixer I bought, which is a Yamaha mixer
Nov 24, 2002 06:58 am OK, you still didn't answer my questions about it though.
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Nov 24, 2002 02:30 pm sorry here are the outs:
an echo send (and return)
mon out left and right,
line out left and right
graphic eq out left and right
Right now my set up is like this, output 1 and 2 of delta into line in left and right of mixer, mixer left and right line out into delta in 1 and 2.
Something interesting though is that it plays back audio fine, but when I record it it is kinda crunchy, warballyish in playback. I thought that this might be the mixer so I switched and still had the same problem, anyone know what this is about?
Nov 24, 2002 07:30 pm You're right to send the mixer's Line Outs into the Delta's Ins, but you really might want to send the Delta's out to your monitors (headphones or speakers of whatever) like is shown on the diagram in that article dB wrote and linked to above. but whatever works for you.
as for the crunchy sound you're getting, it may very well be digital distortion. Your analog mixer can handle signals above zero decibles but the Delta's AD converters (and anything digital for that matter) cannot. You have to make sure the mixer's output isn't peaking over 0dB. My mixer allows 10 or 12 dB of headroom! The way to check this is to get your guitar or mic or whatever "crunching" and making that bad sound and record it into WaveLab or Sonar or whatever you're familiar with and then zoom into the graphical representaion of the waveform and look for the characteristic "clipping" of the peaks. If you don't know what digital distortion looks/sounds like, email me. -j
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Nov 24, 2002 08:53 pm changing the buffer settings got rid of that nasty crunch, so that's good. As far as running the delta into my monitors... well right now my PA system is my monitoring system. heh. I have sucky headphones, and no studio monitors so these have to do. It sucks
Feb 27, 2006 10:10 pm Hi, I'm new here. I hate to flood this thread but my question also concerns the delta 44. I can use it for playback in BPM studio Pro (although my kernel driver is not working...) but not for playback in Powerdvd (crappy sound), and unfortunately I really do not know how to record with it. I'd use Cooledit for that purpose. Would somebody be so kind as to help me out, please? Emails are most welcome...
levi, ghent, belgium
HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Feb 28, 2006 04:47 pm Welcome to HRC levi !
Though I am completely unfamiliar with Cooledit for recording, as far as the Delta44 goes, it's relatively simple to set up for recording, but can become very flexable and complex with the right combination of peripherials .
Since it has no preamps for mics or instruments, you'll need one, to get a signal into the card, and up to an acceptable level . You'll also need to amplify the signal of the 'outs' of the breakout-box for direct-monitoring . There are a number of ways to accomplish this... an easy way would be...
Mic/Instrument->PreAmp->Delta 44 in/out-> Amp/Headphone amp->Monitors/Headphones
What I do in order to be able to have a bit of flexability and employ direct-recording of 4 simultanious tracks in to Sonar, is to run 4 channels my mixers direct-outs into the Delta44,(Mixer Ch.1-4 for the preamps.) and then fold them back from the breakout box of the Delta44 into 4 different channels of the same mixer(5-8) . I then send those channels signals out of the mixer via either a direct-out, or a sub-bus out to either a headphone amp, studio monitors, or an actual amp with a cabinet for monitoring while recording .
Mixer Channel #1 D/O-> Delta44 #1 in/out-> Mixer Channel #5-> D/O or SubOut 1,2,3, or 4 .
Mixer Channel #2 D/O-> Delta44 #2 in/out-> Mixer Channel #6-> D/O or SubOut 1,2,3, or 4 .
Mixer Channel #3 D/O-> Delta44 #3 in/out-> Mixer Channel #7-> D/O or SubOut 1,2,3, or 4 .
Mixer Channel #4 D/O-> Delta44 #4 in/out-> Mixer Channel #8-> D/O or SubOut 1,2,3, or 4 .
So the Direct Outs can be fed to an amp for live-monitoring of each musician's channel during 'live' recordings, and/or the signal can be sent into one of the sub-buss for a headphone mix . There is still a matter of selecting the proper channels within the M-Audio patchbay-mixer, and designating the in's and outs within' your software, which is as simple as a mouse click . I hope this gives you a few ideas of how to get the most out of your Delta44... the right mixer helps alot .
~Hue
Kaos62Kaos is only a form of insanityMember
Since: Feb 03, 2005
Feb 28, 2006 05:29 pm absolutely splendid Hue really well described. I wish I had had that told me when I started recording. In fact i still need to be reminded now.
HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Feb 28, 2006 06:21 pm Thanks !... and yeah, now after learning how to hook all this stuff up and make it work smoothly, I have to remind myself how to play a guitar, so I completely understand where you're coming from .
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Feb 28, 2006 09:05 pm You guys do realize this thread is well over 3 years old.
evillevi, you should start a new thread for this, unless your question got answered here.
And welcome to HRC.
