[linux-audio-user] Building a Multitrack home studio

[Florian Blaser]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently thinking about setting up a small multitrack recording 
environment in order to record my band's rehearsals and apply some effects.

Since I use linux as my main (and only... beside a little bit of MacOS X) 
operating system since a few years, I want to do this under linux and found 
out quite a lot of information about what software can be used. However, I 
wasn't able to find good and reliable information about which hardware to 
use.

Here are our requirements :
- 16 analog inputs (with a phantom power-supply and reasonable preamps)
- 8 output channels (5 "feedbacks" to the musicians, 1 stereo main output)

This is quite a big setup and I don't think it will fit in our budget, so if 
we could find a solution to buy it partially and then complete it aftewards, 
it would be perfect.(2 inputs would be fine as a start, since we can just use 
two SM57 to record all the instruments and use our existing analog system to 
amplify the instruments that need it). Also, a physical control surface would 
be a plus...

So, with what kind of hardware would you go in order to fullfill our 
requirements ? 

Also, is there a possibility to have some pedals connected to the computer in 
order to switch effects on and off while playing ?

Many thanks for your answers.

Best regards,
Florian Blaser