[linux-audio-user] moterhboard and sound card advise

[Daniel James]

> I am planing on putting together a rack unit to use as an effects
> processor.

> For a sound card I was thinking of 
> creative audigy2 or is this over kill?

It really depends on the kind of instrument/microphone output and 
mixer input you intend to use. You might want balanced XLR inputs and 
outputs in a rack unit, mic preamps, or 1/4" jack plugs for an 
instrument like a guitar. In that case you could use something like 
an M-Audio Delta 1010LT. A DJ could use unbalanced RCA (aka phono 
plugs) so an M-Audio Audiophile PCI would do the job. 

I figure if it's a rack unit for live use then you don't want to have 
any USB or other dongles hanging off.

> As this machine is going to spend most of it's time doing DSP, I
> figured more and high speed RAM is good and hence a faster FSB
> which I think means a faster processor as well, specially at 400Mhz
> for the FSB but is it worth it?

Depends on how many plugins you need to run at once. I can run Jack 
Rack on my PII 300MHz laptop with 160MB RAM with a couple of simple 
plugins. Your best bet is probably to prototype your selection of 
software on a desktop machine before building your rack unit - then 
you'll have an idea of the resources you'll need.
 
Cheers

Daniel