----- Original Message ----- From: lanas <lanas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Thursday, May 12, 2005 6:44 am Subject: [linux-audio-user] New hardware choice > Hi all, > > I'm plaaning to get a new home PC that could also be used (along > withsoftware development) for creating and recording music. > > What I'd like to do: sequence MIDI external sounds (synth > module(s)),add accoustic guitar and flute, record everything to wav > and/or Ogg > Vorbis formats (using original external synths sounds). > Optionally, to > be also able to choose from a palette of SoundFonts (as I did with > my current PC, using a SB Live! card and MusE). > > What I'd like to get as PC: an Athlon 64bit based mobo, 2 GB RAM, > some250 GB disk storage. graphics card not that important as it's > not used > to play games (why not on-board graphic ?). Operating system: in the > end most likely handmade Linux based on LFS (Linux From Scratch) > but for > starters SuSE 9.3 64-bit, or any other that's good enough. > > Now, is there some strong allergic reaction between a Linux Audio > setup and 64-bit CPUs ? Are 64-bits platforms recommended for audio > purposes or is it better to wait a few more years ? If it's OK, which > mobo would you recommend ? I have been using an AMD 64 3500+ on an ABIT AV8 motherboard. The system is extremely stable and very fast, and everything is supported in the distribution I am running. I am not running a 64 bit distro though, as I have not had any good luck with audio apps under a 64 bit distro. I've had very good luck with the Planet CCRMA 32 bit distribution of Fedora Core 3, using the Planet CCRMA edge kernel, and the CCRMA audio packages. > Which audio/MIDI card would you recommend for such a setup ? I am using the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 with good results. You might consider one of the M_Audio Delta series if you will be recording the guitar and flute as they have a greater variety of inputs and are not insanely expensive. None of these cards will offer zero latency, but they will offer much lower latency than your SB-Live card. With an AMD 64 chip and 2 gig of RAM, you can plenty of software synths to sequence your midi through soundfonts so you won't need the hardware player on the SB-live card. I should mention that certain soundfonts sound screwed up through one of the soundfont soft-synths I've used in Linux. Alan
