M-Audio Delta 44 Digital Audio Sound Card

The M-Audio Delta 44 is a high end 4 in, 4 out digital PCI audio interface without digital I/O.

Overall User Ratings (based on 154 ratings)
  • Overall:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Sound:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Features:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ease of Use:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Quality:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Value:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Manufacturer Support:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • The Wow Factor:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(154) (see rating details)
Submitted February 11, 2006 by a customer from hotmail.com

"You won't be sorry if you would buy this"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
It's very good! Except that you only get 4 (2 stereo) inputs, but for the price it's excellent!
Sound
The sound is really great! No noise as far as I can hear and it's clean and excellent quality
Features
The breakout box was great! They said you could record up to 4 channels at the same time, but actually that is 2 stereo channels. You get ProTools Demo with it and Live Lite, but ProTools won't work (probably like the LE version because I have Windows XP).
Quality
It looks steady and strong and it feels like that.
Value
This is the first soundcard I've seen for such a low price and such good features!
The Wow Factor
It's great! It's the best for the price!

Musical Background:

Producer/Artist

Musical Style:

Hiphop
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Submitted March 9, 2012 by Rich M in Fairmont, WV

"VERY Happy with this Interface"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
BUY THIS!!! There is a lot of talk about how the digital converters in this interface aren't on par with other nterfaces on the market. Maybe these guys are right but I can't hear it! My recordings are awesome and I'm not even using a high-end mic. (I use an AKG 990 mostly voice and acoustic guitar) And for the price you'd be crazy to try anything else. This baby does the job and does it FLAWLESSLY OUT OF THE BOX!!! My only recommendation would be to download the ASIO driver. It's a universal driver that literally REMOVES any latency. If you record multi-track audio/MIDI with a PC and you don't know about this driver-- you will! This driver should come on the driver disk from the factory! (This driver is universal for most interfaces and is not an M-Audio product). If you are recording audio into your PC based recording software, or MIDI from a MIDI controller, YOU NEED THIS DRIVER. Anyway, unless you are willing to spend about $1,000, you will not find a product on the market that will compare to this interface. I read reviews and forum threads and I read spec sheets and watched demo videos of every product of this type that I could find for over a week before I made my decision. Use all the research and homework that I've already done for you and BUY IT! I'm glad that I did! For "product support" and "Wow Factor" ratings, I gave this a three star rating because I haven't had to use product support. And as for the "wow factor," well there isn't much to it. It just WORKS! I have completely tracked and mastered two songs with this interface (nearly two weeks of work) and haven't had so much as a hiccup from it! I plan on buying a second one for a friend that is building his own PC based recording system so that he won't have to learn the lessons that I have the hard way. This interface is the way to go. I know it sounds like I must work for the company or something, I DON'T!!! I just know what it's like being a musician and being on a tight budget. You try to get by with getting the low-end stuff so you can still afford groceries and hope that it does the job- only to end up regretting it because you didn't get what you needed! Trust me, this is one of the times that you CAN buy the lower model and it actually DOES THE JOB so you don't have to eat ramen noodles for the next month! KEEP MAKING MUSIC!!!

Musical Background:

Performing/Recording/Songwriting musician for 25+ years

Musical Style:

Modern Country, Classic Country, Blues, Southern Rock, Gospel
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Submitted June 2, 2009 by a customer from yahoo.com

"No more going to the back of he computer to connect"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Great soundcard will last me a while for what I need it for,..
Sound
Sound quality is not bad as a matter a fact it's great..clear no distortion or anything of that nature..good headroom and great sound...
Features
No features simple INS and outs..comes with ableton love but don't need it....
Ease of Use
Took me like three hours to run it found out it was lose when I connected it to my PCI slot...but no headaches all at...
Quality
Everything feels well made the cable that connects the breakout box and the sound card thick and heavy..great won't break..
Value
It was worth the price mayb less
Manufacturer Support
Go to there website and get the drivers their or info u need

Musical Background:

Audio engineer

Musical Style:

Rap hip hop
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Submitted February 18, 2010 by a customer from att.net

"this pci card works great. it sounds great. it has outlasted 2 computers and is on it's 3rd.it started with win98 and is now on"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
i am going to add a delta 66 or 1010 to this one i have used for 5 years
The Wow Factor
verry good quality

Musical Background:

hobbyist

Musical Style:

rock,jazz,prog rock
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Submitted April 1, 2004 by a customer from hotmail.com

"Bad-ass card for peanuts."

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I plan on using this card for a long, long time. The only problems I ever had were random, audible clicks at 96x24 with lots of tracks, but after upgrading from a P3 500-100 to a 750-133 (lol), they've disappeared.
Sound
Awesome fidelity for the price. No noise, no RF interference, totally clean.
Features
4-in 4-out 24b/96k, how can you beat that in this price range? I realize now what I *should* have gotten is Delta 66 for the MIDI, but I'm considering getting a 66 for the recording machine and putting the 44 in another box just for editing. For home recording, 4 is the most simultaneous inputs I'll ever use (Drums - bass (1 mic, duh), snare (top & bottom), toms (one each on top), brass (hihat, two overheads)). With a mixer that has four sub-mixes (Mackie 24x4x6), it's a perfect fit.
Quality
What can you say about a PCI card? Simpler is better. The breakout box has got 8 total 1/4" jacks, solid as a rock. The system I use is quasi-portable, plenty of re- and dis- assembly, and never a hardware problem. The cable seems plenty sturdy; standard precautions apply, of course. The ends are molded around the jacks, which use real standard 25-pin connections. No seperation of the molding or anything.
Value
Absolutely the best single piece of equipment that a home recording studio could invest in. Biggest bang for buck around; just going from 44x16 to 96x24 is a huge leap, even ignoring the quality. Multiple delta's can clock sync for sample-accurate timing. I got exactly what I expected to get for this price, a transparent interface for digitization.
Manufacturer Support
Never had to deal with them, so I can't say. The only beef I have is that the drivers don't have an installer, nor much of any instructions. Never stopped me through multiple reloads, though. Gotta love "Update driver..." in XP.
The Wow Factor
Having the 44, I think the next one will be a 66, but even putting two 44s in tandem would be sweet.

Musical Style:

Prog rock, music with actual thought included.
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Submitted February 22, 2005 by a customer from yelkcam.com

M-Audio Delta 44 Customer Review

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Sound
Much more clear and crisp than my old 16 bit soundcard.
Features
It came with two shareware audio software CD's, LIVE 6 and Reason Adapted. I never use these programs because they're too complex for me. I tried to get support for the Reason software and they made me give them tons of information and sign up and on and on...and I never got the help I needed. So in short, I think the software is useless unless you have a lot of time (days) to figure out how to use it.
Quality
Overall, very high quality. It's worked well for me. You can plug in any 1/8" jack with an 1/8" to 1/4" adapter jack (your can get them for like $1.50). I plugged my computer speakers into input one. To plug the outputs from the Delta 44 into a stereo you'll probably need a dual 1/4" to RCA adapter cable and then plug into the aux input on your stereo. One problem: When I adjust the volume on i-tunes there is a faint popping--but only when I change the volume, not during normal play.
Value
I wanted an audio card with 1/4" inputs. This is the only one that came even close to my price range. I did a lot of research and this was by far the best for the buck and my desired set up. Many audio cards have inputs for MIDI devices and such. I didn't need a MIDI device, so the Detla 44 suited me just fine. (and if I decided to buy a MIDI divice in the future I could simply buy an adapter.)
Manufacturer Support
They answered my question in about a paragraph. My question was how I should set the control panel for 1 mono input only.
The Wow Factor
Looks very nice. Small; easy to use; cool looking.

Musical Background:

Hobbyist

Musical Style:

Folk Rock/Gospel
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Submitted May 10, 2003 by a customer from juno.com

"Get this if you want a simple solution for computer recording with HIGH quality."

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I'll be getting another.. or perhaps going to another Delta with s/pdif or optical I/O
Sound
The detail that I'm now able to get is amazing. My old sound card was a Core, from Lexicon and the Delta 44 blows it away. One thing I did notice though is you have to be careful about ambient noise; this card will record it ALL if you are using condenser mics. It has great detail when using the full 24/96 settings, and that really makes a difference when you are mixing 16+ tracks. I've tried it with Behringer Ultra Voice Pro, and Ultragain Tube preamps and both work well.
Features
Admitedly, I didn't buy this for the features. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It's simply a great way to get analog turned into digital, then into your computer. If you need all the fancy stuff, move up to one of the other M Audio products like the Delta 66 or the 10/10.
Quality
It sure would be nice if the guys who designed this made a rack sized faceplate that would allow multiple units to fit in a rack. It's kind of inconvenient having the breakout box flopping around when you are putting cables in and out.
Value
Lotsa bang for very little bucks.
Manufacturer Support
It's so foolproof, (read the manual if you have problems) that I havn't needed any support.

Musical Style:

Rock - Country
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Submitted June 4, 2003 by a customer from netzero.com

"Delta 44 rocks... as long as the rest of your system is up to par."

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Sound
I don't need sound quality better than this!
Features
They shipped the correct drivers with the product (I'm using Win 98 SE). The only feature that really matters, for me, is the monitoring feature where the inputs 1 & 2 are routed into the application and directly to outputs 1 & 2 so that latency is irrelevant (you're listening to the input in real-time and the recording application processes the input however it would like).
Quality
This box is very well made. It's a very nice addition to the rig.
Value
The $$ is just right. Inexpensive but delivers absolute noise-free digital quality - as a guitar player, I recommend using a preamp or preamp/effect unit but ditch the amplifiers (don't use the line out).
Manufacturer Support
M-Audio has provided excellent phone support; very personable and sincere (pacific standard time, though).
The Wow Factor
I can't see any reason to buy anything else. Between this 4in/4out audio interface and my Midisport 4x4 (about $400 for both), we're flying high - I'm constantly reading the newsgroups about the problems folks are having with their equipment; it's not the M-Audio equipment, it's that the rest of the system is not good enough for hard disk recording.

Musical Style:

Steve Morse/Dream Theater-ish
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Submitted June 15, 2005

"Simple as it gets without sound sacrafice"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
I'm happy with this thing. I'm gonna order three more!
Sound
very low noise floor. No dissapointment here.
Features
very flexible and simple. I like it this way. I'm going to add three more cards to total 16 channels. The breakout box is a metal casing and very rigid. Feels like studio quality.
Quality
simple and durable.
Value
I think this is definetly worth the money. The balanced I/O is what really got me to look.
Manufacturer Support
never asked for them.
The Wow Factor
looks like a pro. Actually a rack faceplate option would've been nice

Musical Background:

Recording amatuer

Musical Style:

Jazz
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"For a small band (4 instruments or so), Delta 44 is your perfect choice for seting your home recording studio with VERY little m"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
i will keep it for a long time, it is perfect for my home studio
Sound
great sound, dynamic is excellent, I did microfon recording without a special pre-amp, the sound is excellent !!!, no noise, clipping/chopping. And this was with a PII 266MH machine...The inputs for keyboard does not require an additional preamp, however, if a guitar is used, a pre-amp may be desired. You can also get extra gain by going into the mixer software and set the input to -10dB rather than the +4dB default. There is no MIDI in-out but that can be easily achieved by buying an extra MIDIUno interface for $49 that works via USB.
Features
The product icludes enough accessories for initial set-up. External instrument cables to be procured separately. The manual is pretty explicit, although I had to create my own LOGICAL diagram to determine the connectivity between the Delta 44 mixer, Cakewalk recording software and Reason.
Quality
great sound for the money robust product the box(input/output controller)offers elegant instrument connectivity avoids cables hanging
Value
i am not familiar with other products but I would most likely preffere it over the Prodigy Pro (similar features) audio card.
Manufacturer Support
very professional, you must know a little bit what you are talking about otherwise, the risk is you loose their attention
The Wow Factor
although that would be overdesigned, a 19" rack mounting type design with some control leds on the front pannels and gain knobs would make the product more appealing.

Musical Style:

jazz, synth, soft rock
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