Black Lion Audio Delta 1010 mod.

Question

well, i went away on holiday and sent my trusty old delta 1010 in to black lion audio for a pick me up. i thought i would share my preliminary impressions here with the good folk here.
first thing is; it was almost more trouble than it was worth trying to get the thing back into the country. customs incorrectly charged me VAT at the UK border, and then calculated it based on the US dollar value rather than on the converted value. so i ended up having to pay over double what i wasn't supposed to have paid at all. plus parcel force holding fees. now that's irritating.
i have not had the unit running much longer than hour so these are just very preliminary views. i have also posted a cople of cues to A/B.
well, what they said was i should notice a bit more beef in the bottom end, a little more crispness, and a wider image. and i did. to be honest, i was never really unhappy with the unit anyway, having had opportunities to compare how it went against HD rigs, MOTU, and nyquist converters and so forth. and i never really felt i was missing much. at the end of the day i am more interested in the music than i am in the technology. but i had recommended black lion as a possiblity to so many MOTU users who were dissatisfied i thought i ought to put my money where my mouth was.
so i was inclined to be skeptical, but i think for those for whom sound is really important, this has got to be a route well worth looking at. the cue i have posted is a rough draft that i quite like, and it is quite rough - but it does have elements that demonstrate the difference between before and after quite well. i am not sure how exactly i have managed to match the settings from the first version to the second, but you can hear a much more in phase bass, and a little extra sparkle in the high end.
certainly just playing back stuff recorded on the un-modified unit sounded a touch better, but i think i am going to enjoy not having to work quite so hard to clean up lower-midrange murk when it comes to mixing on the modified unit. i mix out the box so i should find a benefit going both ways.
so do i feel it was worthwhile personally? maybe. i am not overwhelmed but then i was not really that unhappy. i did feel from time to time that icould hear how the 1010's sound could be imporved, which was why i thought it might be worth a shot. and i plan to stick with the current setup for some time before making a really big change, so in the meantime i think i have given my setup a little leg-up in quality.
the cues to A/B can be found at:
www.stevenson.homechoice.co.uk/documents/
they are 'ye shanghai 2', old and new.

Answer 1

hi, Rohan,
by now, after a few days of testing, how are the BL mods?
as you are aware, this is just part of the story on the quest for a better sound.
you should hear more detail at a given SPL.
the "quicker" electronics should allow much more critical mid range detail to be heard. for instance, two different clarinet patches playing closely together should now have more detail and separate characteristics.
the troublesome 150-500cps area should be less troublesome and require less eq'ing. the fatiguing 1k - 5k area should be smoother and respond to adjustments more accurately with less eq applied.
also, any faults in your sample libs should be more apparent.
these mods would come into their own more if you do a lot of live recordings with real players.
- sample libs mixed up will be more noticable as the original ambiences will be more apparent. what you thought blended well might not be blending as well now.
anyway, maybe it's time to start earballing some new monitors. these are the most important element, except, maybe the room itself.
all the best, and look forward to less ear fatigue. david r.