[linux-audio-user] Delta 66/new mobo question

[Mark Knecht]

Dave Phillips wrote:
> Greetings:
> 
>  Many thanks to all who responded to my orginal query. I just purchased 
> a brand new Delta 66 on eBay, for a very good price, with cables and 
> breakout box included. I'm looking forward to finally having some more 
> professional recording capability here.
> 
>  I'm still undecided about the mobo. Is it possible for me to continue 
> using an 800 MHz machine for recording ? I have 512 MB RAM, which seem 
> like it should be plenty, and I have a fair amount of free drive space. 
> Money's tight, so I'll stave off buying the mobo if my current system 
> will do for small-scale multitracking. Any & all advice will of course 
> be galactically appreciated !
> 
> Best,
> 
> dp
> 
> 
> 

Dave,
    Well, obviously an 800MHz machine will at first glance seem 
underpowered compared to all the newer stuff out there, but my thought 
is that for just recording/playback you'll probably be fine if you pay 
close attention to the rest of your hardware. Good optimization, a good 
audio drive, etc. and you'll probably be fine up to a somewhat limited 
track count. (8? 10? 12? 14? just guesses...)

    Get other people's inputs, most especially those who really depend 
on Linux, but instead of a new MB, new processor, new memory, etc., and 
all that money, consider adding a second drive (or maybe an external 
1394 hard drive) to this machine for audio. Internally it's pretty 
cheap, and for 1394 this is probably no more than $150 for a 60GB drive 
in a 1394 case. Add a 1394 adapter and off you go. It's the way I work 
on Pro Tools. Really consider 1394b if you want to protect your monetary 
investment, but be advised that there hasn't been all that much 
Linux-based 1394b testing done yet and the 2.6 series kernel support is 
very much in flux.

    When you do eventually get a new system you just plug the drive in 
and off you go, even with a new laptop should you go that way.

    Good luck whatever you do. You're an amazing credit to this whole 
Linux audio movement.

Cheers,
Mark