[linux-audio-user] Newbie checks in

[Jos Laake]

Hey!  Thanks for all the great responses!  This is my kind
of mailing list! :-)  Okay, I'm really serious about making
some hellacious new music, so I'm diving into this...  Here
are some questions leading off the new info...

R Parker wrote:
> Hi Jos,
> There are numerous options but have a look at
> http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/. It
> works. I think you'll find what want.

Wow.  CCRMA...seems like some amazing work going on
there.  Okay, so I downloaded and installed the latest
CCRMA kernel and the matching ALSA support.  So far,
it all seems to be working.  The new kernel runs like a
charm (2.4.26-1.11).  Low latency is on.  Things still work.

So, now I have a tuned kernel and ALSA.  Next...

eviltwin69 at cableone.net wrote:
 > Welcome back!  Check out my web site:
 > http://myweb.cableone.net/eviltwin69/ALSA_JACK_ARDOUR.html
 >
 > Ardour is the best multitrack available but it takes some setup
 > to get running.
 > I've documented the scratch setup on my web site (since you
 > already know your way around Linux this shouldn't be a problem).

So, I went to the Ardour website and checked it out.  Seems like
ALSA/JACK/Ardour is a pretty good combination.  But I'd like a
little more input from folks who have tried this stuff.  Any
comparison tests out there among the various attempts at developing
a Digital Audio Workstation?  Ardour seems more robust than Audacity,
yet Audacity seems easier to use.  Is this just my newbie sense leading
me astray or is my intuition telling me something?

 > Don't forget to check out JAMIn for
 > mastering (http://jamin.sourceforge.net/).

I'll get to this a little bit later... ;-)


Pete Bessman wrote:

 > I don't have experience with the audio hardware you describe, but it's
 > not known for pro-quality in the Window's world, so I don't see why it
 > would be any different on Linux.  Your other hardware specs sound to
 > be much more than sufficient.
 >
 > If you're interested in getting a new sound card, I'd recommend coming
 > up with a few candidates and then asking the list what they think of
 > them.

So how about this one? - Creative Labs SoundBlaster MP3+ USB Audio unit
Yeah, it's a cheapo, about 40 bucks at Fry's.  Anybody using consumer
grade stuff and getting decent (demo qulity) results?  Or are the stock
soundcards and/or motherboard sound units all crap?  Remember, my last
recordings were on reel-to-reel tape.  I'm not looking for pro-studio
2-track ulti-bit quality here.  I just wanna make cool music that
sounds clean enough for my friends and fans to play in their car stereos
and MP players.

Okay, I'll bust it up and keep this short.  I suppose I should pop over
to Linux Audio *Developers* to ask about fine-tuning hard drives and
interrupts, eh? ;-)

Thanks for the quick feedback and input, y'all!

~Jos~