Hello world - New Delta 1010 user! Questions....

[peanutismint]

Hello community! I've just purchased a Delta 1010 PCI card and rack unit, and am hoping for a long and illustrious working relationship with it. I'm hoping to use it to record my band (BRIGHTLIGHTS) and also to play backing tracks / VSTs at our live shows.

A little interesting backstory - The unit comes to me well-used, but in good condition. It was sold to me 4th hand - the 3rd owner was my good friend, the 2nd owner was his college professer who used it to record well-known Oxford rock band 'Ride', the original owner used the unit to record the demo of none other than Miss. Kelly Clarkson! So there you go.

Anyway, enough of my anecdoting, I have a few questions that neither the manual nor Google can seem to answer, so please buzz in if you know the answer:

1. I made the cardinal error of not reading the manual first, and therefore installed the PCI card in my computer before installing the software. Still, it seems to have installed okay and is working fine (for now). Is it really a huge problem that I installed the card before the software, or is it not as big an issue as the manual suggests?!
2. In a similar manner, the manual seems really adamant that you shouldn't connect/disconnect the lead to the breakout rack while the system is powered up. Can anyone tell me what might happen if I do? I'm not planning on blatantly disobeying the rules, but if I use the unit at gigs and somebody trips over the lead / knocks it out (which could happen, seeing as I'm missing the screw-heads on the PCI card end of the lead...), would it be the end of the world, or just a large pop over the PA?
3. I bought the card just before I moved house. Over the course of the move, I seem to have misplaced the rack's AC power adapter. I know the M-Audio admins or whoever are going to INSIST on using only official M-Audio adapters, but is it at all feasible for me to use a universal power supply? And if so, what are the ratings required? I know it's 9V AC but what polarity, ampage etc...?

I'll look forward to hearing the responses of those in the know!
Thanks in advance and hello again, M-Audio Community!

[JA]

Welcome to the forums!

1. It's not really a big deal anymore. Back in the days of Windows 2000, some systems would blue screen if a driver wasn't installed first; on newer OS's it's not really an issue.

2. I'm not sure what "technically" happens, but I think worst case is you could blow out the Delta PCI card or breakout box; it shouldn't harm the computer.

3. You just need a 9V AC 3.5A power supply; a universal adapter that meets these specs should be fine.

[peanutismint]

Hey JA, thanks for the reply and the welcome :-) I've had a look and all I can find is a 9V AC but 3.2A power supply... would that be suitable? If it absolutely needs to be 3.5A then I guess I can just purchase one from M-Audio UK...

Thanks very much for your other information, it was really helpful!

[JA]

In looking over the manual, it states "It is always necessary to use a 9V AC supply, with at least 3 ampere capability." So it looks like with 3.2A you should be fine.

[peanutismint]

Cool! :-) Well I'll give it a go - guess the worst case scenario is that it doesn't power up. Thanks again for your help!