> How difficult or even possible is it to start with a server core system > and make it useable for a audio?

Very difficult. I guess, the advantage in speed one may get from an custom-build minimalist system would need some 10 years to collect enough seconds to bring back the time it takes to build the system in the first place.

Why not just install a major distro plus audio-layer and run it with Fluxbox or E or on tty? If I compare the performance of heavy audio-setups under KDE4 and under Fluxbox on the same system I find it hard to see any difference...

> I don't need a GUI/desktop for this. > I installed Lubuntu server core to a usb flash drive. I added myself to > the audio group, but my usb Audiobox does not seem to be working, > although it is recognised with aplay -l. Should it work without any > additional steps? > I suppose I could build an Arch system, but I was pleasantly surprised > by the performance of Ubuntu 12.04 (desktop) with the particular > software I want to run and thought I would try an even more basic > setup. Thanks!