Got a desktop? pick this up right now!
Pros:
-10in/out - reliable - good sound quality - cheap - capable of PCI Express
Cons:
-for desktops only - digital mixer rather than actual knobs
The Bottom Line:
If you have a desktop, this is what you need. It is comparable with interfaces triple the money.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I'm a songwriter/composer who mainly uses midi. I also use audio but only for recording one vocal and maybe one guitar. This soundcard was and still is perfect for me.
About two years ago I decided to build my own home studio. I didn't want to simply have a, "functional," one but a good one. But I also didn't want to destroy my bank account trying to do so. I purchased a mic (Shure SM57), KRK monitors, Cubase SX3, Dell Desktop, and all the accessories (cables, mic stand, etc.). I had all these goodies except all of them were useless without the heart of it all, the audio interface.
I laid eyes on the M-Audio Delta 1010lt. Not only was it from a reputable company, but had 24-bit/96kHz recording, zero latency hardware, even 10 ins/10 out including two XLR inputs with pre-amps all for $200!! There are also other features I did not list but these were my main focuses. Keep in mind that most audio-interfaces with similar specs came out to be $500 plus. The reason for the huge gap in the price was simple. It’s not an external device meaning if you plan on using it with your laptop, forget about it.
This worked out perfectly for me because I had a desktop which I was willing to dedicate fully as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) so I purchased it. Installation was a breeze. If you've installed ram on a desktop or laptop before, then this isn't any different. If you haven't then trust me, you just open up the computer and stick it in the empty slot. Just remember to ground yourself by touching something metal before. After I powered up the computer and did a simple driver installation and everything was good to go. I was a little nervous at first because the box states its compatibility with ProTools, which makes sense since M-Audio collaborated with Digidesign in the programming of ProTools. To my surprise this worked flawlessly with Cubase SX3. After setting everything up, I recorded my first song and couldn't be happier with the results. Even the built-in mic pre-amps sounded pretty good. The sound quality of my finished song came out much better than I have imagined.
There were a few minor things that bothered me about the Delta 1010lt. The instruction manual may be confusing to those who have no prior experience with DAW's. If you are plugging/unplugging cables alot then you are going to have to crawl behind the computer everytime to do so. The digital mixer forces you to stop recording in order to raise the pre-amp level (you cant do it as you are recording/editing). The digital mixer also looks very outdated. I mean it's fully functional but I wish they updated the GUI to a more modern, pleasant looking one.
I have probably made and recorded almost a hundred songs during my two years of ownership and ran into no hardware related problems or glitches.
