[linux-audio-user] Re: audio interface for laptop

[Pieter Palmers]

cezar at mixandgo.ro wrote:
> Frank Barknecht <fbar at footils.org> writes:
> 
>> Hallo,
>> cezar at mixandgo.ro hat gesagt: // cezar at mixandgo.ro wrote:
>>
>>>   Is there any audio interface with 8 or 10 out that works 100% with linux ?
>> For a laptop AFAIK there's only the RME PC-card interface supported
>> 100%. If you're the experimental type of user, you may also want to
>> have a look at the freebob-supported Firewire devices: 
>> http://freebob.sourceforge.net/index.php/List_of_Supported_Devices
>>
>> Ciao
>> -- 
>>  Frank Barknecht                 _ ______footils.org_ __goto10.org__
> 
> TerraTec PHASE Rack 88 FW, TerraTec EWS Mic2 / Mic8 Firewire and ESI 
> QuataFire 610 seem interesting. Could anyone post some working setups
>  with these boards, technical issues and performance obtained.

I have a phase88 rack FW and an ESI quatafire 610.

Don't get the ESI, because they don't update their firmware (they are 
still using a 2 year old firmware, while the most recent reference 
firmware dates from january). Therefore it is difficult to fully support it.

The Phase88 FW is nice. Very straightforward.

All devices you mention are BeBoB devices and are therefore supported by 
the freebob project. we are going to release a first version of the code 
really soon. This will allow you to use the BeBoB based devices with 
jackd. If you want alsa, you'll have to use the jack<->alsa plugin.

The support is not complete yet, but all the basic things are present:
- Analog I/O at all samplerates supported by the device
- Digital I/O, depending on the format and firmware config. SPDIF out 
mostly works, provided it's not AC3 passthrough.
- MIDI support through ALSA-Sequencer

Experimental support for:
- multiple devices on the bus using wordclock sync

Not supported yet:
- hardware zero-latency mixer control
- extended device configuration controls (front/back switches, sync 
modes, ...)
- native ALSA support

Roundtrip audio loopback latencies are, depending on your system, around 
5-7ms.

I think that everything you need for a basic setup is supported (except 
for the mixer maybe). The more advanced stuff is going to be supported 
in the next version. As we are cooperating with the chipset & device 
vendors, we can assure you that all features of the devices will be 
supported. It's just a matter of time.

Greets,

Pieter Palmers
freebob developer