[linux-audio-dev] USB sound card for Mac and PC

[Clemens Ladisch]

Pamplemousse Mk2 wrote:
> > Whatever you buy, look for (how to say?), look for an indication that it
> > will work in MacOS(X) without any additional install of drivers ...
> > Which translates into that the device is "standards-compliant" and
> > *should* work out of the box with your Linux box (or for that matter,
> > any host aware of usb sound and/or midi)

Often it's called "optimized for Windows XP/OS X" or
"class-compliant".

> I am interesting about these cards:
> - M-Audio MobilePre USB

Installation is nontrivial due to the firmware loader.

> - Terratec Phase 26 USB (not tested on 2.6 kernel by Linux-USB, but
> should work fine).

Frank made the tests with both 2.4 and 2.6.

> There is the M-Audio Audiophile USB but it does not work on Gentoo (and
> of course, I use Gentoo!!).

It should work with recent driver versions.

> With one of these cards, I would be able to plug my mixer (Technics
> SH-DJ 1200) on it and make phrase and live sample.

With a mixer, you probably don't need things like a preamp or hi-Z
inputs.  Something very simple like the Edirol UA-1X might suffice.

> 1 - Is it right to consider ALSA as an ASIO-like driver for Linux?

Yes.  (Nowadays, all operating systems have built-in ASIO-like
features.)

> 2 - Is there a noticeable difference between 16bit/44kHz and 24/96KHz?
> Especially when recording from sources like records or CD?

Probably not, but it wouldn't hurt.  :-)
(And the perfect way to record CDs is to rip them digitally.)


HTH
Clemens