[linux-audio-user] Miscellaneous hardware/software questions

[Michael T D Nelson]

Jason White wrote:
> I am looking for suitable hardware to handle digital i/o between a Linux
> system and an RME ADI-2 ad/da converter that I just bought. I don't need lots
> of channels, but reliability of the data transfer is important, including
> jitter reduction. An RME card would be excellent but it is somewhat outside my
> budget.

Your requirements listed make me think that an RME card is definitely 
the way to go. But you say that the budget is a problem.

Now, I always wanted a nice soundcard, with lots of inputs and proper 
ALSA support. I always imagined myself getting a Delta 1010, or similar. 
I would have preferred an RME card, but it just seemed way over my budget.

However, I was casually browsing eBay one day, and ended up buying a 
second-hand RME DIGI9636 for £77 (I'm in the UK). Ok, I had to buy a 
replacement EEPROM chip for it, (to make it work with PC hardware, 
rather than MAC). But, even then, the overall cost came to less than £100.

I also had to buy a Behringer ADA-8000 to convert the ADAT lightpipe 
connections to balanced analogue. But it sounds as though you already 
have hardware to do this.

I appreciate that there are various reasons not to buy second-hand. It's 
risky - I didn't even know that the card I bought was definitely going 
to work! Also, there are no warranties, or hardware support.

For this reason, I find myself looking around for another cheap RME 
card! Firstly, I could turn that other linux box into an addition to my 
studio... Also, it's always nice to have a backup if something breaks.

I find all the software support I could ever need right here on this 
list (Thanks Paul!)

Hope this helps
Michael Nelson