My music computer (XP-SP3, 2 G RAM, Intel Core 2 CPU, 2.13 GHz) worked fine for over a year with a Delta 44 card. The Delta developed a problem which, I hope M-Audio is diagnosing, but in the meantime, to get any sound, I have to rely on a built-in Realtek HD Audio card. WAV or mp3 files played through Winamp and Audacity are OK but SHS6XL sound is so bad I can't believe it. After enabling the Realtek and loading SHS6, I switched driver mode from the ASIO I was using with the Delta to MME, then WDM. Both give terrible sound routing a midi track through TTS-1 soft-synth. A track bounced to audio sounds just as bad. If I export the bounced track and listen to it in Audacity though, it sounds OK. Any ideas? BTW, anyone who wants to chip in on solving the Delta problem is certainly welcome to do so.

No feedback yet on using the Realtek card so maybe one of the experts can render an opinion on the Delta 44. I have physically removed the card from the computer, put it back in, uninstalled the software, reinstalled it using the latest drivers downloaded from the M-Audio website, and all I get is a notification that there is new audio hardware installed. The Delta 44 icon shows up in the systray but right clicking on it brings up the message "dpInitInterfaceFailed". In Device Manager, under Sound Contollers, there is an M-Audio icon with a yellow dot with "!" in it. Right clicking this and selecting Properties, it says "This device cannot start (Code 10)".

Now for the question: do any of the experts think this is a hardware problem with the card in the computer? I'm looking for a quick response because someone is selling a card (without the connecting cable and breakout box which I wouldn't need) on eBay and I could replace just the card and get on with life.

I couldn't say if it's a hardware problem or a software problem, but if it was running for over a year before it stopped, then I would think hardware. what happened initially when you started having a problem with it?

as far as your realtek - after changing to MME driver mode (you'll likely need to use MME and not WDM, although it's possible), did you restart SHS and run the wave profiler? if so, go check these places:
OPTIONS>AUDIO>DRIVERS
and make sure the realtek is the only thing selectedfor INPUT and OUTPUT
OPTIONS>AUDIO>GENERAL
and make sure the realtek is the only thing selected for the PLAYBACK and RECORDING TIMING MASTER

I knew I could count on Beagle to "bird-dog" this one.

Delta 44 - the problem occurred about a month ago and I don't remember the details. I think I got a message that the M-Audio wasn't functioning or something like that. At that time, I downloaded the latest drivers from the M-Audio website to no avail. I've done all the standard things to bring the Delta back up but all I get are messages to install the drivers from disk when the program can't find what it is looking for. When I override that and select the downloaded driver, I get the "Code 10" message.

In Control Panel, the driver details listed are: dated 1/9/2006, ver. 5.10.0.5057. In the Delta 44 properties box, it says "Driver is enabled and functioning properly." All this leads me to conclude that it is a hardware problem.

Realtek - I think I did what you recommended but I'll go back and give it another shot. Meanwhile, I think I'll go back to eBay and take action on the card listed there.

Thanks.

It does kind of sound like it's a possibility that's it's hardware, but I'd be misleading you if I said I was sure. You might try changing the card to a different PCI slot if you have one available. Don't forget that even if it is a hardware problem, it might NOT be the card itself, but something on the motherboard!

your driver date is kind of bothersome, tho. I know that m-audio has released drivers for XP AND Vista in 2008 for the D44. the 1/9/2006 shows you're using older drivers. are you SURE you got the latest ones? I'll have to check my version number when I get home.

My Delta 44 has been rock solid in 3 different computer systems now for nearly 4 years.

My computer has 2 slots: one has the Delta card and the other a wireless transmitter card that works through my Linksys router to connect to the net. I swapped them (and then had to talk to my ISP to get the wireless card talking to the router again) but there was no change. One thing that is different, however, is when I rebooted, I don't see any indication that the computer sees an M-Audio card. This used to appear under controllers in device manager as an M-Audio device but had a yellow dot with an exclamation point. Now, there is a new top level icon called "Other devices" and Multimedia Audio Controller shows up there with a question mark over it.

Does this provide any insight?

that might be a more positive indicator that it's a hardware problem, then, but again, I'm not going to commit to it! You're not going to blame me if it's NOT hardware!!! LOL!

As a retired engineer myself, I know how important it is to leave yourself a little wiggle room. I value your opinion and expertise. For $49, I think I'll go for the replacement card and if it doesn't work, I'll blame M-Audio for not responding to my plea for help at their website.

Thanks.

That's exactly right! you won't catch me saying I'm 100% positive about ANYTHING!!!! LOL! Engineers KNOW there's always a reason to leave at least a 0.1% (and usually more!) chance that something can go wrong!

good luck with the other card. let us know how it goes.

Nope... that's the same drivers I'm using (although I'm using XP SP2). The only newer drivers would be for Vista.