Selecting Hardware for Music Production

[Matthew Polashek]

Sean Darby wrote:
> Hi Matt,
>
> I know you were addressing your message (below) to the other Sean,
> though I am curious about some of the things you mentioned.
>
> Do you know what equipment definitely does work with Ubuntu Studio? Or
> is there a website that lists what does work?
>
> Does USB normally present latency issues with audio/alsa?
>   
Hi!

It has been my experience, using a M-Audio MobilePre and an Event EZBus 
that there are latency problems with USB audio drivers for Linux.  
(Xruns at low latency)

> What would be a better alternative to USB?
>   

PCI seems to be the most solid most of the time.  M-Audio and RME are 
the most well supported, but EMU is right behind I believe.

> Some people have discouraged the use of firewire, though I'm not sure
> why.
>   

Firewire audio drivers are not well developed and the hardware 
manufactures have not been forthcoming with assistance.

> You mentioned RME, some others have too, what would be a particular
> model/item by RME that would be worth getting?
>   

The best IMHO is the RME Hammerfall series.  The 9652 is pretty great 
and really well supported in Linux by the manufacturer.  An RME card 
with an Apogee clock and A/D with a True Systems Mic pre is a pretty 
common find in a studio these days.

> You said RME PCI, is it just a sound card? Or is there an external
> device with it?
>   

There are RME interfaces with Breakout boxes and without.  The Multiface 
and DIGIface are good as well as the hammerfall PCI stuff.

> Thank you!
>
>
> On Thu, 2008-10-23 at 18:47 -0400, Matthew Polashek wrote:
>   
>> Hi Sean-
>>
>> I bought a Multimix 8 for a friend of mine and it works fine.  The pre's 
>> are a little crisp, but it's not terrible.  I can do a test tomorrow and 
>> see how it is with ubuntu studio and a Dell D510, but I have a strong 
>> feeling there will be latency issues as there normally are with USB 
>> audio and Alsa.
>>
>> I might suggest that you craigslist or ebay all your usb/pci/out stuff 
>> and get an RME pci with the resulting cash.  Keep the 1622.
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> Sean Edwards wrote:
>>     
>>> zZounds has an Alesis MultiMix 8 USB mixer new for $159US, and factory re-sealed for $135US.
>>>
>>> http://www.zzounds.com/item--ALEMULTIMIX8USB
>>>
>>> However, I do not know if this device works with Linux/Alsa.
>>>
>>> In addition to my multiple PCI cards and USB interfaces, I have an Alesis 1622 mixer, and a TOA 10 channel rack mounted mixer.  I can then mix, eq, and record my outboard synths, drum machine, and bass in one shot with a mixer output going into a Behringer UA202.
>>>
>>> If I want to record individual tracks simultaneously, I have 3 stereo/6 mono inputs with the pci sound cards, 2 USB inputs with the UA202, 1 stereo/2 mono inputs with the AC'97 (only if absolutely necessary), and the guitar USB interface with the Behringer UCG102.  That's a total of 11 input channels.  Once the project is captured in Rosegarden or ecasound, I can manipulate each track.  However, I never record all 11 channels at the same time.
>>>
>>> -=Sean Edwards=-
>>>
>>> <--------------------------------------->
>>>
>>> Does anybody know of a decent, probably small, Yamaha or Mackie mixer
>>> (that connects to computers) that is close to the $100 price tag?
>>>
>>> If there is a board that can either USB or firewire into the computer,
>>> then would I still need something like the EMU 1616M?
>>>
>>> Is there a less expensive variation of the EMU 1616M available?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>>     
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