17 May
2006
17 May
'06
4:06 a.m.
Quoting jan <jan(a)talentex.demon.co.uk>uk>:
I'm looking to buy some sound recording equipment
for my computer, but
what should I get? The shop I went to recommended Motu Ultralite, Motu
828 MKII, Edirol FA101 or Focusrite Sapphire, all of which look fairly
nice. But how about support for them in Linux?
To get an audio device to work with all software under linux, you need ALSA
support. See http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/ for a complete list.
None of the above are supported by ALSA.
Firewire device support currently relies on the freebob project. Freebob
doesn't currently provide an ALSA driver, but jackd includes a freebob
backend. This means, that while you can't use normal consumer audio software
(typical mp3 players, flashplugin, etc), you can use a firewire device with
software using jackd. (Some mp3 players, etc. also support jackd). Freebob
is aiming for proper ALSA support, but they aren't there yet.
For which devices freebob supports, see:
http://freebob.sourceforge.net/index.php/List_of_Supported_Devices
From your list, the FA101 and the Focusrite Saffire are
supported. At the
moment it looks like MOTU devices will never get support, as MOTU
is
refusing to release specifications. The same goes (sadly) for the RME fireface.
Sampo