M-Audio

When the first Delta sound cards entered the market, M-Audio was a newcomer in the professional audio segment. But as these cards performed extremely well both in numbers and real life making M-Audio to considerably increase their sales in a short period of time.

The Delta 1010LT is a reworked model built after the original 1010 but integrating less I/Os than its older brother. The card comes with an extension cable on which you will find 8 analogical I/Os capable of working only in unbalanced mode . The DSP uses the same 36bit architecture as does the higher priced 1010 model.

2 preamplified microphone inputs are also available to the user and the internal clock can be syncronized with any given signal that respects the I/O limits. The software package is good and the manufacturer includes drivers for both Windows OS and Apple's iMacs.

Actually the unbalanced-only mode is a serious drawback especially if you use high-impedance outputs. However it can be corrected with the help of a proper pre-amp/amplifier setup. Aside from the I/Os you also get a S/PDIF digital I/O (coaxial) with 2-channel PCM which can come in handy if you have external devices that can work in pass-through mode.

And besides the SPDIF I/Os and the 8 analogical I/Os capable of working even in 7.1 speaker mode (if needed). Bundled with the $249 card comes the ever present Ablleton Live Lite 4 music production software. Overall this is good value for the money especially if you can get the card at the specified MRSP. However I would have liked it even more if it came with balanced I/Os instead of unbalanced ones.