What Parts of Linux Audio Simply Work Great? (was Re: [linux-audio-dev] Best-performing Linux-friendly MIDI interfaces?)

[Christoph Eckert]

> it would be great to counter the jwz diatribe with a mass
> of 'well, sound works just fine for me' posts from those
> who do have, and use daily, a working audio sub-system
> under linux..

We aren't there - not yet.

[...]

> i'm sure there are LAD'ers whose systems are superlative
> examples of well-oiled, finely maintained, working audio
> workstations.  what are your configs?  what distro are you
> using?  what do you do to get it going?

Still it's a bit difficult to set up a pro audio system 
because it needs kernel patching and various configuration 
work.

As for the kernel patches we're optimistic to get a realtime 
patch in the vanilla kernel sooner or later.

As for the configuration work we could need a replacement for 
alsaconf (which has done a great job in the past) called 
audioconf to configure cards, realtime patches and creating a 
JACK configuration file.

> maybe the fact is: linux audio is in far better state than
> most people think,

It is.

> its just that hardly enough of the right 
> kinds of people know about it. 

I know about it, that's enough for me :) .

> my latest distro-de-jour is MEPIS.  it gives me a boot-up
> chime on my DELL Inspiron 8200, whose sound-card 'just
> works', tho' i have to be sure not to have any MIDI
> interfaces or USB Audio gear plugged in until after KDE
> gets loaded, or things get numbered incorrectly and it
> moans about not knowing where its audio device is any more.

I also use the i82k. As for the USB card numbering, you can 
index your card. What's missing is auto-configuration to 
avoid manual work for common users, or at least a 
configuration help for unexperienced users, may it be CLI or 
GUI. You're invited to contribute ;-) .

> as i've only really been very peripherally involved in LAD
> development (lurk), i'd be quite happy to volunteer to
> collate all the successes and come up with a summary of
> 'what works well' to pimp around the neighborhood.

If I were you I'd cancel this offer. Otherwise we'll meet 
again in five years and you will not be finished yet ;-) .

Frankly, save your time and better help us improving linux 
audio if you like. We have addressed several weak points in 
this thread, so there are many good starting points. 
Otherwise, all the characters of this thread have been temps 
perdu.

[...]

> so, the question i have is: what are the shining examples
> of audio setups in linux which work well?  might it be
> something we can make a list out of, and pimp far and wide?
>  who has some interesting "Known Working Config" details to
> provide a counter-example to the jwz mess?

* Take a Distro (I use Gentoo and I'm just happy with it)
* Stop all desktop soundservers
* Start JACK
* Start [Rosegarden|Hydrogen|ams|Zyn|Ardour|any other fun toy] 
* Enjoy


Best regards


    ce