[linux-audio-user] Audigy 6.1 platinum and Linux

[Robert Jonsson]

Hi,

>
> Some time ago I asked for a PCI soundcard which can deal with
> *.sf(2) soundfonts and works on Linux. I was told "soundblaster live 512"
> is a good choice. But this soundcard is unknown to all resellers.
> (They know "soundblaster live 5.1", but I'm afraid it has no
> hardware MIDI synthesizer.)

To my knowledge _all_ sb-live cards are built on the emu10k chip. Hence all 
live cards support soundfonts in hardware.

>
> Now a reseller recommended "Audigy  6.1 platinum". Is there
> anybody who has experiences with this type of soundcard?
> Escpecially: Does the hardware MIDI synthesizer work on Linux?
> Can I change the orchestra using "sfxload" ?

Audigy is not a bad card if you want hardware soundfont support 
(I'm unsure how good it is supported under linux though, last time I tried 
,I've got one, it didn't work that well...)

Having said this, I should add that I own several sb-live cards in various 
configurations. These days though I almost never use the built in support for 
soundfonts. Most of the time I find it better to use Fluidsynth. The only 
concern here is that Fluidsynth will consume CPU resources which the hardware 
synth won't.

Regards,
Robert