13 Jan
2005
13 Jan
'05
2:09 p.m.
Dear Jon,
Sorry if this gets asked every five minutes. I'm
looking for a
decent quality linux-supported interface for a laptop. Low latency
is important. Should I aim for USB or Firewire? (Or PCMCIA? Do
they even make those?) 24-bit is important. 48 kHz at least, but I
guess
44.1 is acceptable. More than stereo in and out is kind of nice,
but not required. Compatibility is important. :-)
For portable low cost low-latency performance, I can recommend Echo Audio's
Indigo IO (PCMCIA). Giuliano Pochini has written a fabulous set of ALSA
drivers for Echo's cards. They deliver real-time performance at 96kHz, 24 bit
down to 32 samples. I am running the 2-in 2-out Indigo IO on an Averatec 3250
laptop, and together they make for a great mobile audio rig.
If you need more ins-and-outs, you might want to try the CardBus versions of
Layla/Darla/Gina, which reportedly also work with Giuliano's drivers.
Another promising project is FreeBob, an attempt to integrate ALSA support for
some FireWire based audio interfaces. As far as I know it's still in planning
phase, but here's a link:
http://freebob.sourceforge.net/
USB works well, but most people have to really coax it to get it working with
lower latencies. That may change with USB 2.0 support coming for new cards,
but I'd hold off for now.
Good Luck,
Mercury