Delta 1010...

Hello Gents,
Might as well get this started now than later. I've had a Delta 1010 and protoools mpowered and it works for my purposes. I recently ordered another on ebay (they are going super cheap lately for some reason!! ()
Anyway I guess with a certain driver REV you can actually get mpowered to accept more than one interface at a time. Haven't tested it out yet.

But Just want to get some feedback on what mods people have done and what they recommend. My first delta I changed caps, power supply and opamps. Sounds clearer than the other stock one I recently received, But I'm accrediting that more too new caps and upgraded power. The pain of installing new chips is not a road I want to go down again.

I am thinking of building a separate power supply to power the multiple deltas. Any other ideas? I would love to upgrade the clock, just don't know the direction to start with that.

Anyway thanks!

I have been using a couple of 1010's (synced) for some time now.with nuendo.

i guess the problem with getting them to sync is with protools though.

anyway ,i havent done any mods to it - to my ears there is no lack in definition or excessive noise or something - but if you say there is definetly an improvement swaping some caps - i'll be intrested in trying that out...

Ive been running dual Delta1010 for years, sometimes with some computers it's hard to get the internal sync to work. easiest is to just link the spdif out from the master to the spdif in on the slave. works every time.. I dont know thou if P.T. M-powered allows for all those inputs...
J

The 1010 is almost entirely the same circuit as the Digidesign 002

My thoughts or experiences in rapidly frustrating order were:

1) Replaced caps - noticed almost no change. Perhaps I missed something with this mod?
2) Replaced the op amps  - huge change - I mean this became another unit. Like blankets lifted off speakers, and infinitly "louder" sounding, whatever that can  mean. In terms of scientifics, I cant explain or justify, the unit just was louder in playback.
3) Got hold of new clock circuit - Ears noticed almost no real change here.
4) Shortened the lenght of the DB25 cable - noticed a good change here. The problem is that the clock on this card is 2 metres away (via cable) from the reast of its circuit  found inside the 1010 rackcase. Bit of jitter I guess because of the distance it has to travel or something, but my ears perceived better sounds once I shortened the cable.
5) I destroyed one delta along the way. Given its SMD basis, its not an easy task to mess with this unit.


My honest thinking is that the converters in the unit, by 2011, are now old school. Sure they dont sound bad, but with the later generation of converters being used by top end box's and going into areas like -123db headroom (i.e.Agpogee Symphony. Digidesign I/O)  why not upgrade whilst you a doing it? Agreed changing converters is a massive job, and I am not sure how interchangeable the newer chips like TI pcm4222 are (may need different power requirements etc), but if you are already going under the hood, why not consider at least?

I have tried to read as much as I could about power supplies. Apparently noisy supplies are a good deal of underwhelming performance of alot of cards.

i used to run 3 1010's and to me they definitly sounded 'dark' with lack of definition to me.

very stable units though, no problem with 3 synched using cubase.

Obviously a different price bracket but was happy when i moved to SSL Alphalink.

I'm looking at agetting a 1010 as well, I'm currently using an E-MU 1212m, which I love, and adding an adat 8ch unit (of a controversial brand name) and modding the crap out of it, but the 1010 seems like a more reliable choice for around the same price.

question: Has anybody seen anything like the "adater" adapter that lets you use the rack unit as a standalone ADA without the pci card? Is there something like it that doesn't cost almost as much as the rack unit itself?

There was this PCI to USB converter box I saw  - you would insert the PCI card into the box and there was an output USB port. From memory it did cost more than the 1010. I gave up on the idea.

I now see that delta makes (made?) a bod that does this, but can't find it for sale anywhere... the delta 1010-AI (Adat Interface). I really want to keep my 1212m, it's onboard DSP effects are fairly good and it's patch-mix software is awesome. Maybe I just need to stop being so cheap...

I have the 1010 AI and took it out of my rig because the extra length of DB25 cable that it required made a lot of noise.
Still have it if somebody wants to purchase.
I too changed the signal path caps on mine and heard some improvement. There was a discussion about this on another thread, and we posited that this might be because the 1RU unit runs so hot, that it dried out the caps. This is backed up by the fact that many of us have also had to replace the PSU caps in ours because of heat issues, and also because mine is on almost all day, every day.
I now leave some space above and below in the rack for air cooling.
Someone here did a very nice analysis of the circuit which should be found pretty easily with the "search" function.
As OP said, I have no desire to change out the SMD opamps without the proper soldering tools.

@deuce42---Did you do the soldering to shorten the DB25 cable yourself, or did you manage to find a 3 footer somewhere? Would like to try this...

tchgtr said:

@deuce42---Did you do the soldering to shorten the DB25 cable yourself, or did you manage to find a 3 footer somewhere? Would like to try this...

Click to expand...

Had a local computer store make me one - sheer laziness as I couldn't be bothered soldering the 25 pins after exhausting myself replacing op amps on the board!

deuce42 said:

Had a local computer store make me one - sheer laziness as I couldn't be bothered soldering the 25 pins after exhausting myself replacing op amps on the board!

Click to expand...

Completely understandable. I looked for 1m versions online and there seem to be no such things.

Abechap024---in the thread I mentioned above, the author removes the switch and runs the unit only at +4. Don't know if that interests you or not, but there ya go...

Cool. Awesome stuff guys I will keep you updated on my findings...

I also used a smaller cable and you can find those cables everywhere!! The are used for old printers and stuff! Fleabay is ur friend. I found one for like 5 bucks, and didn't do a subjective test, but am quite happy with my convertors (for the price). I don't want to change the SMD stuff but maybe I will have to again......this time using better tools! (before I was using a guitar string to remove the old opamps :) Anyway make sure the cable is the correct kind...you want the cable where pin 1 goes to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2 etc I forget the technical name

For what its worth - when I say I replaced the op amps - I should qualify this with - I removed the op amps and then sought assistance from someone else to solder in new ones. SMD is a trip.  Once again, for the purpose of repetition, the new op amps made it a new unit. It seems the case that the difference between good box's and bad ones is not the converter but the analogue sections. 

Yes, I think I'll probably bite the bullet and do it.
It uses NE5532's So I'm thinking its just because they are made by Njm that they suck so bad. Usually ne5532s sound nice.... Also maybe its the underrated power supply? Well honestly last thing I want to do is mess with those SMDs again!!

Abe - SMd is a walk in the park with a hot air SMd rework station. Get one shipped from eBay for $80.

No need to be nervous.... Just need a different set of tools.

nice! thanks for the idea. looks like those are the way to do it....sure beats a soldering iron!

Ive never used one before, but the fact that they have tips that fit the footprint of smd opamps is nice!

I had a tech change some smd opamps for me before I tried it myself with the little desoldering Chip Quik kit...and a small iron tip of course. Desoldering and cleaning the pads takes only a minute or so per chip. Alignment, I find to be the hardest part, recently I used a bit of bluetak rolled out thin and placed across, perpendicular to the legs to stop it moving about. How many opamps are in the 1010, are some of them 8 pin inline?
Matt

Nice just looked at chip quik, looks like an easy fix. 20$ on the bay for a little kit. There are at least.....i'm trying to remember at least 32 chips in the whole box. options options...

32, I've done about half that amount and used maybe 5 or 10% the kit. I use liquid flux cleaner rather than the wipes in the kit. Unless you plan to replace it in the next year or two I'd say go for it. With something of low re-sale value like the 1010 who cares if the opamps aren't perfectly straight looking.  From my little experience I now try to do only 2 to 4 chips at a time before having a few minutes rest, for your eyes especially.
Matt

Well I got my other delta 1010 hooked up. Just replaced the capacitors and that actually cleaned up the sound a lot as far as I can tell. It sounds just as decent as my other heavly op-amp repleaced unit just doing some quick listens.

Cool thing is I can verify that with driver version:

Delta_WDM_5_10_00_5057v3

you can get 2 interfaces to work in Protools!

So I'm happy. At least until I can upgrade to HD