Linux-audio-user January 2017

linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org

61 participants
63 discussions

by Iain Mott

Hi list, I'm researching a project that requires a light-weight computer and I'm considering using something like an Intel NUC NUC5i7RYH with a low cost stereo audio interface such as a Behringer UCA222. Will there be any issues running linux audio on NUCs such as this one? All the best, Iain -- _________ Iain Mott http://escuta.org

7 years, 3 months

Re: [LAU] Sound quality of the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen

by tom haddington

Hello, Ralf-- I hoped that just the headphone amps of the Focusrite > are weak, > i have a Focusrite 2i2. A few years ago, i sat down with a salesman to audition headphones for it. i called ahead before the session to let him know what phones interested me (an expensive mixing pair), and he told me the 2i2 didn't have strong enough drivers to run them. He eventually sold me a pair of Focal Spirit Professionals, which sounded fantastic--to me, at least. They were half the price of the pair i first mentioned, too, so he's an excellent salesman. Anyway, i wouldn't have suspected the same issue with a larger model. The problem seems to run in the family, i guess. I suspect the Presonus is the better choice. > i'm not the most experienced guy for this opinion, but i have to concur. i also have to apologize for not chiming in sooner. i own the Presonus of your original posts and have had success with it--for my limited projects, anyway. It came packaged with a plugin host i bought, and the company sent the Presonus with one of these <https://www.amazon.com/CableWholesales-Speed-Desktop-Powered-Multi/dp/B003V…>. i've used it to plug the Presonus into my computer when i want to record and have never had an issue. The MIDI connections even show up in Patchage. Again, my apologies for not chiming in sooner. i don't own an iPad and didn't think i could help with that issue. Keep trying Ralf, though i won't blame you for not trying the Presonus, again. You'll come across a solution, soon. Tom

7 years, 3 months

Re: [LAU] every first startup of jackd1 with motu ultralite AVB unsuccessful

by Chris Caudle

I do not recall seeing a reply on list regarding this. On Tue, December 27, 2016 6:07 pm, Peter P. wrote: > starting jackd1 after connecting a motu ultralite AVB sound > card throws below error. The second startup attempt works then. > What could be wrong? How could I debug this further? Thanks! Peter > > 12:55:29.917 JACK was started with PID=23950. > loading driver .. > apparent rate = 44100 > creating alsa driver ... > hw:AVB|hw:AVB|64|2|44100|24|24|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit > configuring for 44100Hz, period = 64 frames (1.5 ms), buffer = > 2 periods ALSA: final selected sample format for capture: 24bit > little-endian in 3bytes format > ALSA: use 2 periods for capture > ALSA: final selected sample format for playback: 24bit > little-endian in 3bytes format > ALSA: use 2 periods for playback > ALSA: cannot set hardware parameters for playback > ALSA: cannot configure playback channel > cannot load driver module alsa Fernando at CCRMA reported a similar problem on the jackdev list, I think mentioning a similar problem even when changing sample rates. My guess is that the device has a PLL with a long time constant for locking the sampling clock, such that when you send a request for a particular sample rate the device takes many seconds to report that the requested sample rate is achieved and the device is ready to use. The solutions I can think of for a device with such behavior is to make sure the device is running at the desired sample rate before starting jackd (e.g. using an ALSA utility to setup the device first, playing something through alsaplay, etc.), just accept that you have to start jackd twice, or modify the source for jackd to wait longer or have a retry loop when a device does not report quick success for setting the ALSA parameters. -- Chris Caudle

7 years, 3 months

Sound quality of the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen

by Ralf Mardorf

Hi, first of all, with a non-rt kernel 4.8.13-1-ARCH threadirqs the Presonus worked with 256 frames/period, in this regard the Focusrite is better, it's possible to use it with 128 frames/period. I used the same Qtractor song with fluid-dssi and hexter, as I used for the Presonus. I didn't test S/PDIF. I returned the Presonus, so I can't compare the Presonus and Focusrite directly. The headphone outputs of the Focusrite are the most worse I ever heard. I made a test with 44.1 KHz. I ripped "weather with you" from a Crowded House CD. Ardour played the ripped WAV and a CD player played the original CD. A comparison with the RME HDSPe AIO's headphone output makes no sense. I hoped that just the headphone amps of the Focusrite are weak, so I compared the sound quality of the Focusrite's analog outputs with a Behringer ADA8000 connected by ADAT with the Focusrite, using the same cables and mixer channel and then by listening to the mixing console's headphone amp. After that I used the same cables to connect the Focusrite and the ADA8000 to a hifi amp, without a mixer involved. The ADA8000's sound quality always is more or less equal to a hifi CD player, the sound of the Focusrite was always vastly worse. Not only nuances are missing in the audio signal, but I have the impression that the bass is purposely boosted. Since I need a device that provides ADAT and works with my iPad, I'll continue testing, but for Linux usage only, without an ADAT device, I suspect the Presonus is the better choice. I suspect the Focusrite's headphone and analog outputs are completely unusable for home recording. At least I would send back the Focusrite, if I wouldn't need DAT for the iPad. The sound is close to a cheap no-name Walkman with a bass boost feature. Using studio headphones there anyway is some 80s Walkman headphone alike sound impression. It doesn't require blind tests to compare a telephone with a hifi amp. The Focusrite's sound is better than a telephone, but I want to make clear, that there's an audible difference compared with other gear, that doesn't require blind tests. FWIW the front is made of plastic and a countersunk bolt isn't completely countersunk, but the cross recess of the screw is damaged. It's a brand new device, not a b-stock. Regards, Ralf

7 years, 4 months

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen

by Ralf Mardorf

Hi, Linux tests and more iPad tests coming soon. Today I got the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen. The iPad shows 20 output channels. Connecting to my iPad works without an active hub. Channel 7 and 8 are for headphone output 1, channels 9 and 10 are for headphone output 2. Both work when connected to the iPad. Until now I didn't check more, but I had time to repair and clean some of my equipment, so it might be possible, to comment the audio quality, too. I can't take a look at the Windows mixer, since for testing purpose only Windows XP is available, but Windows 7 or a more recent Windows is required. To be continued... Regards, Ralf

7 years, 4 months

Calf ladspa status?

by Lorenzo Sutton

Hi list, It seems that the latest (packaged see below) ladspa version of the Calf plugins is not working with the main applications I use which still use ladspa: Rosegarden, jack-rack and Ardour. The former two provide some clues about errors happening when trying to load calf.so (which is a symbolic link in /usr/lib64/ladspa/calf.so pointing to /usr/lib64/calf/calf.so). Ardour seems to silently "ignore" all of the ladspa versions of Calf (but I may be missing error messages/clues...). I am on Fedora 24 and the distribution does provide a ladspa-calf-plugins package to which I already filed a bug report. Interestingly if I use the calf.so file compiled with the latest git version of LMMS [1] (where the provided version of Calf seems to date back at least 8 month, but even 2 or 3 years for most source files) the plug ins are visible and usable. Any info would be interesting, and *maybe* someone is also using ladspa (for me this especially relevant for existing versions of files I have using these plugins) Side note... Plugin "binary-dependency" in the light of longer term archiving is probably an unsolvable problem whichever the format :) Lorenzo. [1] https://github.com/LMMS/lmms/tree/master/plugins/LadspaEffect/calf

7 years, 4 months

Linux audio Berlin meeting

by Daniel Swärd

Hi . I hope to see some of you at the meeting at c-base tomorrow from 20:00. Cheers! /Daniel

7 years, 4 months

Fwd: Default (instrument plugins) tuning frequency

by Robert Edge

On Mon, Jan 2, 2017 at 6:02 AM, Jeanette C. <julien(a)mail.upb.de> wrote: > Jan 2 2017, Yassin Philip has written: > ... > >> Is there such thing as a default tuning "norm" or (most probably) does >> every plugin do what it wants to do? >> > The default or standard tuning for typical western musical instruments > is at 440Hz. There are variations, when it comes to concert pitch. I > believe that the Americans sometimes choose 441 or 442Hz. But every > hardware synth - that I know of - is tuned to 440Hz with a well-tempered > scale. > Equal tempered. I've never seen a software synth or modern tuner that uses one of the well tempered systems. 12 equal tones to the octave with the A above middle C tuned to 440Hz is the standard. MIDI pitch to Hz can be calculated with the formula: 440 ^ (2 * ( (x - 69) / 12))

7 years, 4 months

Default (instrument plugins) tuning frequency

by Yassin Philip

When I install, say ZASFX, and press the A2 key, is it a 441Hz A, or a 440..? Is there such thing as a default tuning "norm" or (most probably) does every plugin do what it wants to do? How can I know the real tuning of a given instrument plugin, apart from playing it through a tuner, which is very hard to do on some patches..? Is there a general rule (like tune your acoustic instruments to 441 and you'll be fine)? Happy new year? :) yPhil -- Yassin Philip - New album out NOW http://yassinphilip.bitbucket.org

7 years, 4 months

Music: first (long) track of the year: jiji

by jonetsu

Best wishes to everyone ! The first track of the year is a long, 12-minutes trance-type travel that could perhaps be best enjoyed as a background music while doing something else. Basses should be plentiful on systems that can support them, while some care was also taken to have them represented in a higher audio range. I 'discovered' this 'old' track recently. Its original name was jam8 while the current jam number is at 85. I guess that qualifies as 'old'. I renamed it 'Jiji' for the playful sounds of the name as well as for the meaning of the yi jing hexagram 既济 of, say, 'feeling good having achieved coming to shore while knowing that there will be other things to face on the land itself'. Or something like that. Which can also represent in a way having finished a year and starting another one. Jiji. It's a strange track in the sense that it can be listened-to easily I find. While not being muzak. https://soundcloud.com/nominal6/jiji As always, comments are welcomed. Cheers.

7 years, 4 months

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Linux-audio-user January 2017