[linux-audio-user] usability of the m-audio quattro

[Patrick Shirkey]

Brian Redfern wrote:
> I know Patrick has been working with one of these, i'm curious about
> people's impressions, is it usable enough to play a gig with it, or are
> people still working on getting a lot of bugs out of the usb audio driver?
> 

Just recently the driver and associated tools have been nearly 
completely fixed. The driver works perfectly now but arecord has 
problems capturing at 24_3le.

I have been using this device almost fulltime for the past 6 weeks to 
play live gigs and can now say that it is working extremely well with 
reasonable buffers.

I tried doing some work at 44100,2,16 with 64bytes latency but it was 
too noticible for the people I was working with. Probably I need to tune 
my system for lower latency as this device shouldn't be noticible at 
64bytes per period.

Anyway I can say that it does what I need when I use it for playback or 
capture in seperate instances but as a duplex device I need to do more 
testing.

It also makes a very handy patch bay (as long as I remember to repatch 
when the machine it is connected to in not running :)

One thing you may want to take into account is that most DJ's require 6 
outputs to work effectively when running completely from software. 4 
ports for playback, 2 for cueing via headphones.

Also be aware that you cannot capture and playback through all 8 ports 
at 24bits. I didn't realise that when I bought it and was slightly 
dissapointed when I found out.

In general If I could purchase again I would go for a device with at 
least 6 outputs for DJing purposes. But that probably would require at 
least another year of debugging whereas this has been almost finished 
for the quattro.

Another thing is that I can use tX provided I have the correct settings 
for the mouse (usb or ps/2). Currently I am using

mouse speed = minimum
stop sense cycles = maximum

This gives crystal clear playback as root user. Even without lowlat on.

HTH.

-- 
Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd.
For the discerning hardware connoisseur
Http://www.boosthardware.com
Http://www.djcj.org - The Linux Audio Users guide
========================================

Being on stage with the band in front of crowds shouting, "Get off! No! 
We want normal music!", I think that was more like acting than anything 
I've ever done.

Goldie, 8 Nov, 2002
The Scotsman