Nov 29, 2005 03:20 pm What do you need in terms of number of inputs? The 1010LT has had mixed reviews...
Is Delta 1010 LT a good sound card ?
Posted on Nov 29, 2005 01:43 pm
nisthana
Member Since: Nov 24, 2005
If not, why ?
If not, what other sound interface would you suggest, considering I am on a tight ($200) budget.
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Nov 29, 2005 03:20 pm What do you need in terms of number of inputs? The 1010LT has had mixed reviews...
Nov 29, 2005 04:30 pm I usually record track by track because I am doing it all myself and I also use vocals. So at least 2 line level inputs and XLR+Preamps would be nice. I was thinking of this card since it has many ins and outs which might be useful in future and its in my budget. However I heard RCA inputs are not as good as line level inputs and also Delta 44/66 which has break out box is easier to use. Secondly, I use 1/4" cables from my instruments into the Mackie analog mixer, and if I use this card, I will have to buy 1/4" to RCA adapters.
BTW, do you know any site explaining balance/unbalanced/RCA basic & principles ?
Nov 29, 2005 05:12 pm i THINK rca is only a real problem if they are long connections. From your mixer to the sound card i really dont think would present a problem.
I have this card and the only problems i have ever encountered is user error !
I have a dedicated Pre-amp so i cant comment on the Delta's.
In short i think its a great card but you might be better off with teh 66 or 44 (if you dont need MIDI) simply becuase the 1010 is geared more towrds recording multi tracks at once.
Nov 30, 2005 12:49 pm 44/66 have just 2 input/outputs, wont I need more in future (as my level of recording increases and I would want to route the output from PC to external proc back to PC or wrap the cord around my neck pass it through my ears and back to the PC or some other crazeeeee stuff) ?
I dont want to spend another 300 bucks later on if I find the need of having more than one in/out.So keeping that in mind, is this a good choice ?
Also, does using an analog mixer between intrument and sound card increases noise in recording ?
Nov 30, 2005 01:12 pm I don't think you'll be sorry, I had the 1010lt, and will be getting another one to replace it.
I used it with a yamaha mg16/4 mixer. I used a Hosa 1/4" TS to RCA 8 channel snake to connect mixer to 1010lt cables. The unbalanced connections shouldn't be a problem if you keep the runs short, and don't run them by other power, or strong signals. If they're kept separate, then I don't think you'd be able to hear the difference. Balanced is beneficial when there's noise introduced into your signal cable, either from long runs, or noisy (electronically) environments.
RCA can only support unbalanced signal, as there's only two conductors.
Balanced cable uses three conductors, plus (+), minus (-), and shield, or ground.
In unbalanced cable, the signal travels on the tip, or center pin, and the ground is the outer, or sleeve (or shield).
In balanced cable, there's two conductors for signal, even though the signal is the same in both. The two signals are sent out of the device 180 degrees out of phase with each other. When the two signals get to the other device, the other device swaps one signal back to the correct phase, thus eliminating any noise that was picked up along the way.
Balanced cable can be have XLR ends, or TRS ends. The TRS is the 1/4" stereo jacks, often found on headphones. They look the same, and can be used in either situation. Mono, and/or unbalanced would be 1/4" TS, or RCA, etc.
Any device added to the signal chain adds noise. If the device is well made, and well run, then the noise is negligible. Putting the mixer between your source and the PC will give you much more routing options, plus give you preamps to work with, instead of the 2 built in to the 1010lt. The mackie preamps are probably better, though I don't know for sure.
The amount of noise coming from the mixer will probably bring your noise floor up maybe 1 or 2 db. Hardly noticable if your noise floor is where it should be (mine was running around -60db or so).
HTH
Nov 30, 2005 01:22 pm Quote:
44/66 have just 2 input/outputs
the 44 and 66 have four ins and four outs...unless you are working in stereo pairs, then it would be two stereo ins and outs I suppose, if that's what you meant...
Nov 30, 2005 01:42 pm Quote:
the 44 and 66 have four ins and four outs
And you can run multiple cards. For example I am running 2 Delta 44's and 1 Delta 66 for a total of 12 in/outs. The 66 also has S/PDIF.
The cord that connects to the breakout box is about 6 feet long.
Nov 30, 2005 02:22 pm Thanks for the detailed info pjk. I will have some power sources near my comp (naturally), can they affect my recordings via unbalanced connectors ?
db, yes you are right, 44/66 have 4 inputs, but 2 if stereo pair is used.
BTW, what is this S/PDIF used for ? You guys might mention that its to connect DATs, so my followup question would be what is a DAT ? :)
Nov 30, 2005 02:24 pm Digital Audio Tape
S/PDIF is the Sony/Philips Digital Interface, just another way of sending digital data. it looks like a typical home stereo RCA jack, but it's digital and both left and right channels are in wire cable.
Nov 30, 2005 02:45 pm nisthana, the thing to avoid is having input (mic) cables running along next to AC electric cables, like the computer power cables. If you have to run them in the same area (within 1 ft or so) then cross them at right angles.
and, your computer isn't really a problem, it's the incoming cables to your mixer from the mic, and/or from the mixer to the computer. The first being much more susceptible to introduced noise than the latter, hence the balanced nature of microphones, and preamp inputs.
If you can have the cables coming from the mic to the mixer more than 2 ft away from stronger cables, then you should be good. btw, speaker cables can introduce noise into a input signal cable.
I try to keep all power cables together in a bundle, and exit the back of my desk on one side, opposite side that my signal cables come in. I also try to elevate my incoming signal cables, so they don't rest downward closer to any other strong signal cables.
examples of s/pdif are some drum machines, and some guitar processors. If the signal is digital inside of a processor, it has to convert to analog to go out the output. Then the computer has to re-convert the signal back to digital to store and manipulate it. Using spdif transfers the data as digital, thus eliminating two conversions between digital and analog.
Nov 30, 2005 02:51 pm hey guys,
I have a rather stupid question here.
Today I have a mackie mixer (VLZ pro). I have hooked up Left and Right channels from my keyboard to Left and Right channels on the mixer in order to get stereo input. However, I can accomplish this using a single channel, ie Left channel from keyboard into left channel of the mixer right ?
If above assumption is correct can I connect 4 instruments to 4 inputs of delta 44 and record 4 tracks at once ?
Nov 30, 2005 02:53 pm 4 "mono" tracks yes.
Nov 30, 2005 03:03 pm ok so if I connect two cables from kb to sound card (L and R), then will that record two separate tracks, one for left channel one for right ? sorry if these are stupid Qs
Nov 30, 2005 03:22 pm I would imagine that it depends on your recording software although I'm pretty sure that most software will work the same way. In my case, yes, each connection to the breakout box will be a separate track. In Audition I select which input I want to assign to which track.
Nov 30, 2005 03:57 pm You can also arm a track in your software as a stereo track. Then it will pull the L side from one input and the R side from another input.
For M-Audio cards, you can specify in the control panel software as to whether you want a particular input pair to be used as a stereo pair or a pair of mono inputs.
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