[linux-audio-user] M-audio delta 66

Hi, I am a fairly recent home user of Linux - I installed Mandrake 9.2 for the first time successfully on one of my PCs last week. It includes an M-Audio delta 66 soundcard, which I would like to use for recording. The Mandrake installer detected the card and installed the Envy24 ./ ice1712 driver. However, I am unable to do much with the card. I tried a CD player application that came with mandrake - I can't recall the name right now - and i played the CD, but the sound was very choppy, and the volume extremely low through the SPDIF output. I had to turn my 100W amp all the way up to hear anything ! Under normal circumstances that sound level would be unbearable. Is anyone else using this soundcard successfully under Linux ? I would like to use it do some recordings and edits. I am also looking for a good application to use with the card. While I'm new to Linux, I am very experienced with audio - I have been writing audio programs for DOS and OS/2 since 1989. And I may do so for Linux as well, but first I need to get started as a user to see what works and what does not. I am not really new to Linux as I have been writing server code for it for years for my employer, but I never used Linux on a desktop machine yet. Thanks, Julien