$ .02

repeat after me....cumzoutas.... gozintas.... cumzouta this and gozinta that you'll never go wrong....that being said i dont know that mixer so it's not an amplified output is it??? (made to drive speakers) are the drivers for the soundcard properly installed???? do you see them in device manager???

Yeah, demented has it. You wouldn't run a hose from the spigot in the front yard to the spigot in the backyard and turn them both on, would you? The answer is no. It may help you to diagram everything out. Long ago this was a huge help to me, even though I didn't have much gear. Hmm, where is that pic...?

Don't forget the little arrows. Also ask yourself what you will accomplish either way. And never think of ins "going" to outs. Think like water. Yesss. The water, my friend. Out from and in to.

(EDITED that ridiculously large pic)

To answer your question quickly:
Anything is possible, but you're probably okay. Most of that stuff is low level, and as much as you don't want to short things out... it usually isn't a disaster.
Yea, you want to unhook it as soon as you know it's not right... but I doubt you blew anything up.

When there's phantom power or speaker level signals involved, pay extra close attention to what's being hooked together.

Good luck smokey.

A few years ago when I was fresh outta highschool with my first soundblaster 16 and an SWR Bass 350 I ran the speaker out via adapter into the line in. Heck, that SWR even had an xlr out, but I didn't know jack at the time. When I heard an audible pop accompanied by some minor electrical burn smell, I knew something was awry. Don't let the smoke out. :)

Luke what software are you using? Are you using windows? If you are in windows, you need to make sure that you have the proper recording device enabled. Right click the speaker icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen/adjust audio properties/audio tab/ make sure that m-audio delta is the default recording device. If you want, select the "Use only Default playback device" check box. Now double click the speaker icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen/options/ properties/recording/you will see a list of possible input devices in a menu box. Make sure that m-audio delta is selected and click ok./ Now you will see a mixer screen. Make sure that only the M-audio delta device is selected as input. (all other options should be greyed out.). Now you need to make sure that your software is set to use your M-audio device. For example in cubase you need to set up your "vst inputs". That should do it. Oh yes and to be positive, out from mixer to input on the delta 44 and vice versa.