I don't really understand what you are saying here. I checked the meaning of paradigm at http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/paradigm.html in case I had misunderstood but I still don't know what you mean by "namesake". Please excuse me if I haven't caught your drift.
Are you basically saying "you get what you pay for"?
The audiophile is a cut-down from the Delta series, and like most things is probably made to maximise profit - hence no analog line volume control as this would have probably added to development costs. It probably was produced to a specific pricepoint rather than a highpoint of technical perfection.
I still find this soundcard usable and it does what I bought it for at a level of performance with which I am content. If I had had more money I would have bought a superior card, but I am happy the Audiophile 2496 existed at its price point because otherwise I might have had to use an alternative soundcard with which I might have been disappointed.
The Audiophile is quite old now and it is probably not the best budget soundcard for recording vinyl any more (assuming it ever was) - hence its falling price.
I would be interested in hearing about superior alternatives - I am open to the idea they exist! (Becoming emotionally attached to a circuitboard is a bit sad (grin)) Whether I will go out and buy a better soundcard will depend on whether they do enough of a better job to warrant the new investment. I have to weigh up whether the money might be spent better in upgrading my record deck, cartridge/stylus or computer. For the moment, for what I can afford (Project III deck, Prestige Black cartridge, Clean Plus! pre-amp) I am happy with the balance. Anyway I would rather other people spend their money as early-adopters of new kit and find out and report what is wrong with it, seeing as I now live on a pension and have finally given up trying to be hip. New technology carries a considerable pricepoint premium.
Having just spent a week of evenings digitising Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same" only to find I could have bought the CD for £5.99 in HMV sale, I sometimes wonder why I bother digitising anything - and the reason is because I enjoy doing it as much as to save money. And I can't always replace a particular piece of vinyl.
If I was rich and had a big house I would probably keep my vinyl and enjoy it, but I am slowly being crowded out of my flat and something has to go! Much of my vinyl is now digitised to hard disk and DVDR which is a much more efficient use of space and doesn't have the sulphorous smell of aging cardboard.
Without the Audiophile card at its original price point I might have just had to sell the vinyl and permanently lose something that gave me a lot of pleasure in younger days (i.e. the music not the medium). So I guess I'm a happy customer.
It really would be interesting to have people post information about alternative soundcards with opinions, experiences and links to reviews.
I would particularly like to hear about the "balance of quality" of people's set-ups - which decks and cartridges and phono-preamps are appropriate for which soundcards and so forth. What other software than Wave Corrector do people use to compliment it, and so on.