26 Feb
2003
26 Feb
'03
5:18 p.m.
yes, you can move audio over USB. the question is not
whether you can,
but whether you should, and my feeling is that professional or
semi-professional users should avoid it completely, regardless of what
Yamaha, Tascam, Edirol and others who want to provide *cheap*
connectivity to home studio users say in the advertisements.
Actually they're not cheap at all. The main benefit of usb audio devices
is the portability. However, now that firewire is becoming a much
cheaper alternative usb devices are probably going to become obsolete
like the Laser disc has.
But it would be very nice if I could use my usb quattro to manipulate
the sounds of my bandmates in realtime at lowlatency. I tried with ssm
at 64 bytes and there was noticible lag so we couldn't do anything live.
The best I can get out of jack is 1024 but 2048 is more reliable.
Having to use PCI devices is a PITA when you are trying to gig at
different venues as they require a lot more space. There is also
something elegant about being able to instantly connect your setup to a
different computer by simply moving the USB cable.
However, it could be said that any sound device running on a PC is a
waste of time for serious musos as you cannot beat the sound quality
from a top of the line recording studio.
Each to their own but I would just like to be able to show people the
true potential of Linux Audio and currently I cannot unless I get a PCI
device. That, IMO, is what really sucks.
--
Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd.
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
26 Feb
26 Feb
5:41 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-dev] BruteFIR + jack = crackling noise?
On Thu, 27 Feb 2003, Patrick Shirkey wrote:
But it would be very nice if I could use my usb
quattro to manipulate
the sounds of my bandmates in realtime at lowlatency. I tried with ssm
at 64 bytes and there was noticible lag so we couldn't do anything live.
[...]
The best I can get out of jack is 1024 but 2048 is
more reliable.
Hmm, that sounds strange. How long is a noticable lag? :) Have you tried
with ecasound? I've personally tried a few USB audio devices and didn't
experience any unusual latency problems. Something like "ecasound -b:256
-z:nointbuf -i alsa -o alsa" should be enough for effect-box type
real-time processing. Maybe I should test that again...
PS Although I must say, due to old USB-related work projects, I have a
real love-hate relationship with USB. Nowadays whenever I see someone
(un)plugging a USB-device, I automatically expect the machine to halt
completely or plain just not work. :) Fortunately there are exceptions,
my Rio500 and Midisport2x2 have almost changed my mind.. they actually
do work. :) But, but... don't take these words too seriously.
--
http://www.eca.cx
Audio software for Linux!
27 Feb
27 Feb
6:57 a.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-dev] BruteFIR + jack = crackling noise?
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
Umm, I've been shopping for an audio interface for a laptop I hope to
purchase within the next few months. USB audio devices start around
$200 US. I haven't seen FireWire for under $500 US. If anyone knows of
a cheaper FireWire card, I need to know about it.
Yes, I know USB is pretty much broken for audio. But my main desptop
box can handle most of the serious duties (it's got a Delta 1010) - I
just need something cheap, portable, and stereo for gigs with the
laptop. From what I've seen and read, USB does perform this task
adequately, even if it does require ugly driver hacks.
-dgm
yes, you can
move audio over USB. the question is not whether you can,
but whether you should, and my feeling is that professional or
semi-professional users should avoid it completely, regardless of what
Yamaha, Tascam, Edirol and others who want to provide *cheap*
connectivity to home studio users say in the advertisements.
Actually they're not cheap at all. The main benefit of usb audio
devices is the portability. However, now that firewire is becoming a
much cheaper alternative usb devices are probably going to become
obsolete like the Laser disc has.
But it would be very nice if I could use my usb quattro to manipulate
the sounds of my bandmates in realtime at lowlatency. I tried with ssm
at 64 bytes and there was noticible lag so we couldn't do anything live.
The best I can get out of jack is 1024 but 2048 is more reliable.
Having to use PCI devices is a PITA when you are trying to gig at
different venues as they require a lot more space. There is also
something elegant about being able to instantly connect your setup to
a different computer by simply moving the USB cable.
However, it could be said that any sound device running on a PC is a
waste of time for serious musos as you cannot beat the sound quality
from a top of the line recording studio.
Each to their own but I would just like to be able to show people the
true potential of Linux Audio and currently I cannot unless I get a
PCI device. That, IMO, is what really sucks.
7:08 a.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-dev] BruteFIR + jack = crackling noise?
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
Umm, I've been shopping for an audio interface for a laptop I hope to
purchase within the next few months. USB audio devices start around
$200 US. I haven't seen FireWire for under $500 US. If anyone knows of
a cheaper FireWire card, I need to know about it.
you need to understand that this state of affairs is caused by
misleading advertising and marketing. firewire cards cost $50 and can
handle about 100 channels of decent quality audio. but ... there is no
widely used protocol for handling audio distribution and connection
management over IEEE1394.
as a result, the "firewire" cards you are seeing are actually
proprietary uses of an extraordinarily cheap technology. the MOTU
stuff is one example, the RME HDSP series is another. there is no deep
technical reason why these devices could not have been implemented as
external devices that send data to a generic 1394 card, handled by a
generic 1394/audio driver. but this would require an agreed upon
protocol, and would make it clear that the cost of these devices is
too high by a factor of 2-5. consequently, we are currently stuck with
these so-called "firewire" interfaces in which the fact that they use
1394 is about as relevant as the color of the packing they use.
--p
yes, you
can move audio over USB. the question is not whether you can,
but whether you should, and my feeling is that professional or
semi-professional users should avoid it completely, regardless of what
Yamaha, Tascam, Edirol and others who want to provide *cheap*
connectivity to home studio users say in the advertisements.
Actually they're not cheap at all. The main benefit of usb audio
devices is the portability. However, now that firewire is becoming a
much cheaper alternative usb devices are probably going to become
obsolete like the Laser disc has. 
7:45 a.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-dev] BruteFIR + jack = crackling noise?
On Thu, Feb 27, 2003 at 07:03:07 -0500, Paul Davis wrote:
you need to understand that this state of affairs is
caused by
misleading advertising and marketing. firewire cards cost $50 and can
Actually, in europe at least firewire cards are < $20. The abundance of DV
camcorders has pushed the price down.
as a result, the "firewire" cards you are
seeing are actually
proprietary uses of an extraordinarily cheap technology. the MOTU
stuff is one example, the RME HDSP series is another. there is no deep
technical reason why these devices could not have been implemented as
external devices that send data to a generic 1394 card, handled by a
generic 1394/audio driver. but this would require an agreed upon
protocol, and would make it clear that the cost of these devices is
too high by a factor of 2-5. consequently, we are currently stuck with
these so-called "firewire" interfaces in which the fact that they use
1394 is about as relevant as the color of the packing they use.
I was under the impression that the HDSP used the firewire physical layer,
but not the signalling technology, but I could be wrong about that, you'd
be the person to know I guess...
The other 1394 devices do at least work with generic cards, even if they
dont use a standard protocol.
- Steve
7735
days inactive
7736
days old
linux-audio-dev@lists.linuxaudio.org
4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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David Gerard Matthews -
Kai Vehmanen -
Patrick Shirkey -
Paul Davis -
Steve Harris