Hello all, I sure hope someone can help me out here because I'm losing my hair on this one. I've got a home studio where I record using Ardour and Jack. The audio interface is a Lexicon Omega (4 capture channels, 2 playback channels via USB), which has been working perfectly through Jack via Alsa. Last weekend I picked up a Lexicon MX200 reverb/multieffect unit and a Behringer mixing console. The MX200 has a USB port, but apparently it's only for control -- the directions specify that it can be used under Windows/OSX as an external plugin via VST or AU, but that requires the USB connection as well as the audio connections to the interface. The Behringer mixer came with a 2-channel-in 2-channel out USB interface that's recognized and works under Alsa and Jack on its own. For reference, I'm running UbuntuStudio 7.10 with kernel 2.6.22-14-rt. It's the AMD 64-bit kernel so running the VST plugin via wine is not an option. What I'd like to do is to keep using the Omega as the primary input/output device but be able to simultaneously use the MX200 as a send/return loop using the USB interface that came with the mixer. As I said, both the Omega and the simple USB interface work flawlessly as long as they're on their own. So far I haven't had any luck. Jack by itself can only address a single device, and as Jack addresses Alsa, any solution will likely have to happen between Alsa and the hardware layer. I considered using PulseAudio as I read that it can merge multiple devices into a single virtual device that can be managed by Alsa, but I was told on the PulseAudio list that Jack wouldn't be able to address the virtual device. Someone on the PulseAudio list pointed me to jack_diplomat as a way of running separate jackd sessions on each device and merging them as a single session. I did manage to compile it and get the program running and syncing the cards but I haven't been able to get Ardour working in this setup. And I'm not sure that it's exactly ideal. Most of what I've read about the possibility or impossibility of running multiple cards simultaneously under Alsa has focused on the idea of merging multiple cheap cards into a single capture/playback device. The big problem as I understand is the fact that there's no way to keep the clocks synced between the devices. I understand that problem, but this isn't what I want to accomplish, and I'm not sure how a bit of clock drift would be a problem for what I'm trying to do. (I am, however, willing to accept the idea that I'm too married to the analog way of doing things and don't understand the importance of the word clock.) My goal here is to be able to use all 4 capture channels and both playback channels on the Omega for recording and monitoring in Ardour. This I can do now without problem. At the same time I'd like to be able to use the second USB interface as a send/return bus such that I can set send levels by track which would all feed into a single return bus, which would then be sent to the main mix and back out of the Omega. That is, I'd like to be able to use both devices at the same time, though they would never be operating in parallel. I guess my main question is this: Is it possible to merge these devices under Alsa such that Jack would be able to address both devices simultaneously? I wouldn't ever be using the MX200 during recording, but during mixdown I'd need to be able to send to the MX200 (secondary USB device), receive from the MX200, and send to the Omega (primary USB device). Please, please, someone tell me that what I want to do is possible. Thanks in advance for any and all advice, Dewey ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Alsa-user mailing list Alsa-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/alsa-user
