On Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:42:12 +0100
Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Tue, 2013-02-05 at 10:37 -0500, Dave Phillips wrote:
> > I've found a simple metric. Just open a Sweetwater catalog to the pages
> > for computer audio interfaces and count the ones with Linux support.
>
> How do you ensure that an audio device _really_ is supported?
You plug it in and see if it works. I'm currently running an Alesis
Multimix16 Firewire, and nowhere would you have found that it supports
Linux, but when I plugged it in, it worked. I had to tweak JACK a little
on my studio machine (with a TI controller to get it stable, but it didn't
take long since I was already optimized for audio.
It took longer on my laptop (with a Ricoh controller) which was a stock
Arch installation, but once I did the optimizations, it was great. I
can now record all 18 channels (each input plus the mains out) for almost
six hours without an xrun. At that point I fill my drive!
I don't find tweaking a Linux box hard - I'd be in much more trouble
if I had a Mac or Windows box that was having problems. I know someone
who had a Mac and bought an interface (either Presonus or Saffire, I
can't remember which right now) which was never quite right for him.
He ended up selling it for something that worked better for him, and that
was after lots of tech support on a supported platform, so that's never
a guarantee of no problems.
Confusion of desktops/GUI toolkits? Puh-lease. I love the fact that I
can choose from dozens of different desktop managers and go with a real
whiz-bang GUI with lots of eye candy, or a simple, stripped down GUI
which leaves plenty of processing for audio.
I don't do synthesis with Linux so there's a lot I don't see, but with
all the recording I do, I don't feel I lack for plugins, and session
management in Ardour is fine. It sure beats the analog days!
Too many distros? too many audio distros??? Again, that's just whining
that you have to do some research and think about what you're choosing.
JACK is not a pain for me, but ask me about PulseAudio!!!
We of the LAU community are using a general purpose machine for a
very specific purpose, and some of us do so very successfully. If
someone is overwhelmed by the computer and the range of choices Linux
gives, then he or she may be better off with a specialized machine.
I find that Linux is no better or worse than PCs or Macs for a lot of
things. Many programs and pieces of gear work well right out of the
box, and the user never has to think what's under the hood. It's when
things go wrong that the underpinnings get looked at, and I'd MUCH rather
be tweaking Linux than anything else.
--
======================================================================
Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
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