The reviews on Musicians Friend give some suggestions on how to work around the hum. One suggestion was that the phantom power on the pre conflicted with the phantom power on the main mixer.

Also, when I get really close to my ART tube pac unit, I hear a quiet humming from the box itself.

Fons, you're right. I'm going from the xlr out on the tube pack to one of the xlr ins on the delta 1010lt. I kindof figured that was understood since I mentioned the xlr connections, but one cannot assume. Anyway, I'll look at the jumper situation. I really don't want to take my machine apart though. :-) Do I understand correctly that set on the mic setting, the card gives the xlr ins a 60 db boost?

Also, when I get really close to my ART tube pac unit, I hear a quiet humming from the box itself. Is this normal for a piece of equipment with tubes in it? :-) Could this suggest a problem, and is this hum introducing itself in to my signal at low levels.

On Tue, August 13, 2013 8:08 am, Rusty Perez wrote: That would make sense. The more costly delta 1010, comes with a breakout box where all the inputs are balanced line level inputs. My delta 66 allows setting them to -10 or +8 (I think) through SW. The LT has unbalanced and mic. level. That is the use it is made for. I do not even know what "line level" for the LT is, but from the connector type I would think -10. Anyway, if the unit I am looking at on the ART web site is the one you have, there is also an unbalanced output. I would first try connecting that to one of the unbalanced inputs of your 1010lt. unbalanced is not all so bad as you might think so long as your cable is short and the environment is not too noisy. Remember that a lot of radio stations sit right under their transmitter tower where noise is a lot harder to deal with. Clean connecting surfaces do make a difference. Maybe maybe not, it could be a transformer. The power filtering after that could still be ok. The level difference would still be the first thing to correct. Using a mic input for line levels is never a good idea. You are adding an extra gain stage you just don't need with all problems that gives. The hum may actually be coming from the 1010 in that case. I personally think the ART USBDualTubePre (yes they push all the words together like that) is a great deal. It is USB 1.1 which means 16 bit audio, but it also means it just works. It does mean being more careful with input level to get the best out of it, but the tube compression/limiting is quite helpful for that if used gently. I found it has less noise than the cheaper ART "USB Dual Pre Project Series" and a little more gain. But the USB Dual Pre Project Series is quite good too. The USBDualTubePre does have a S/Pdif output at 24bit which I use with my delta 66. It gives me a) two more mic preamps b) a different sound from the mic preamps in my Mackie mixer. The downside is that it becomes the master clock because it has no s/pdif or clock in. That and it's 16bit-ness kind of removes it from the "pro" side of things... but then the delta series interface is mostly considered high end amateur anyway. (even though almost any 16 bit sound card out preforms any of yester-years pro tape machines.) You can make good music with only a sound blaster as input... though the SB Live! has sync problems. The Ensonq PCI is quite good though. Probably, the HDA internal audio line input with a good external mic pre would do well too.... though I have found internal audio IFs tend to have much better output quality than input. Input is kind of hit and miss. Use your ears. Start making music now with what you have. Everything you learn now will help you when you upgrade. (Len wants yet another mic :) -- Len Ovens www.OvenWerks.net

On Tue, 2013-08-13 at 16:00 -0400, Martin Peach wrote: Unlikely, even a spring reverb shouldn't vibrate caused by vibrations of a loud, but small transformer. Even a bad transformer still isn't a truck-mounted seismic vibrator, even not a massage table.

Something to watch out for though... just because your pre likes a line level of +4 or +8 doesn't mean the card can handle it, some start clipping at around -10, even with the input level turned down. If there is a gain or buffer stage before the level control, that can clip even with what looks like a low level inside the computer. That's what ears are for. No matter how good the equipment is, in the end you have to listen to it and try settings till it sounds best. Mudita24 or envy24control has lots of meters to help you set your 1010 up. They give a pretty good idea of what your card can handle.