In all our discussions in the past on audio over IP we have identified the need for some simple units that just had a mic preamp and a headphones amp. Our friends at Aspen Media pointed out the DELEC NIO-02024 and its little brother the DELEC DIO which we have covered on the site. Since then we have wanted to review both units to see if they would meet the requirements for adding a simple mic preamp and headphone in a voiceover booth with nothing more than an Ethernet connection. 

• In part 1 of this two part review, we worked through the setting up of the Dante Network covering some of the do's and dont's of audio over IP with Dante.
• Now in this second part we will take a much closer look at the two DELEC units, both physically and virtually. 

Overview

The units are basically extruded aluminium boxes with connectors to handle the I/O. There are no user controls on them except for the headphone control and even that is configured by software.

Both units are configured using nothing more than a web browser. Once I had identified the IP address of each unit from the Dante Controller software then all I needed to do was to log into the device and use the web browser to access the appropriate pages of the unit's own 'web site'. Both units advised me to save the configuration as soon as I made any changes. That way my settings would not be lost even if the power is turned off.

DELEC NIO-0204

The NIO-0204, for its part, has been designed for monitoring applications as well as editorial workstations in a Dante environment. It features a multitude of conventional audio interfaces equipped with XLR connectors. 

• ½ 19“/1U enclosure
• Four 1GB Ethernet ports (3x RJ45 and 1x SFP)
• 2 AES/EBU inputs and outputs
• High-quality 32-bit stereo microphone preamp
• Stereo line input and output
• Stereo headphone amplifier
• Built-in audio mixer
• Powered by the internal PSU and/or via POE (Power Over Ethernet)
• UK price £1415.00 ex vat and delivery

The preamps were very good quality and low noise as they had no trouble handling my Shure SM7b. The routing and mixer pages for each output make this unit incredibly versatile and make it way more than a couple of mic preamps and a headphone amp. DELEC didn't have to make the routing as comprehensive as they did, a basic routing matrix to enable you to determine which input and outputs were route to which Dante ports would have been enough but the mixer pages for each output mean you can configure really complex cleans feeds etc.

DELEC DIO

Short for “Dante Input Output”, the DIO provides a more restricted range of interfaces and conversion options for installation scenarios.

• Compact footprint
• Two 1GB Ethernet ports (1x RJ45 and 1x SFP)
• AES/EBU input and output
• Microphone preamp
• Stereo line input and output
• Stereo headphone amplifier
• 2 GPIOs
• Powered by an external PSU and/or via POE (Power Over Ethernet)
• UK price £530 ex vat and delivery

There is only one mic preamp in this unit, but for a small voiceover booth that would be enough. However the mic preamp in this unit is not as good as the ones in the NIO-0204 and although it had enough gain to handle my Shure SM7b it was too noisy to use. I guess the fact that the mic preamp was presented as a screw terminal connector should have alerted me to this. However when used with a condenser mic, and yes it does offer phantom power, the mic preamp on lower gain settings is absolutely fine, so as long as you plan to use a condenser mic with this unit you will be fine.

The routing in this unit is adequate, but no mixer pages as there are in its bigger and more expensive cousin.  The audio I/O (except for the mic input is presented on a 25 pin Dsub and the review model came with a break out cable offering the audio I/O and there is also a small box with a 5 pin XLR on one end and a headphone socket on the other with a volume control, the range of which can be set via the web browser.

Conclusion

There you have it. 2 units, which although they are not going to win any design awards for looks or ergonomics, are both in their own way flexible and versatile little units and if you are looking to equip a facility and use Dante to get your audio around the facility, you should take a close look as these two units from DELEC.

Thanks to Focusrite for lending us a Focusrite RedNet 5 to make this review possible.

If you are going to be at BVE in London this week then do check these out at the Aspen Media stand.