What audio interface do you use with Fedora18?

O

occhi

Guest
Hello,

I am a linux newbie. I am running fedora18 with kernel -3.9.9-201.fc18.x86_64

I am curious if anyone on this forum is using an audio interface with this same distro and kernel. I am looking for a 2 or 4 channel interface with MIDI in and out.

Has anyone found a manufacturer of audio interfaces that also provides a linux driver?
If not, has someone found an audio interface that works as "plug and play", or has someone created a driver for a particular interface?

Thanks,

Occhi
 


I am building a new system.

My laptop specs are:
15.6 GiB
Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz × 8
GeForce GT 650M/PCIe/SSE2
64-bit
456.1 GB
 
Your building a laptop? Have you tried the onboard sound?
 
No, I am not building a laptop. I have one already. I want to purchase a usb audio interface that is compatible with linux. Do you have an audio interface that you use with a linux distro?
 
On board sound generally work fine. Never found an integrated sound card that doesn't work. I posted that link of sound cards on the Alsa wiki. If there is a card that you are looking at buying check it out on the wiki to see if it is compatible. More then likely it is.

Maybe look at this too:
http://www.linuxstudiopro.com/#
 
Thanks for sharing those links. The studio pro site is a bit dated; due to this a lot of the devices listed are no longer available through the online dealers.

I am having trouble understanding the ALSA wiki and how to use it. There are different brands listed that make soundcards used in a variety of applications (some are internal sound cards, while others are part of external devices). When I click on a brand that I recognize as one that sells audio interfaces there are a bunch of products listed. It is not clear if all of those products are supported by the ALSA sound project. Some explicitly state that a particular sound card is not supported.

I am also finding that a lot of the products in the ALSA listings are no longer available for purchase.

In attempting to contact ALSA to ask some of my questions directly I found this question as part of their "sign-up" process:

Version of linux kernel stable (longterm) release at 2013-04-10?

I'm stumped.

Here's a link to the page:

http://www.alsa-project.org/main/in...gin&type=signup&returnto=Matrix:Vendor-Tascam

Thanks
 
No offence intended, but I think you are looking at this the wrong way. The best way to do this would be to look for a card you really like. One that has all the capabilities that you need. And then check if it is supported. Not the other way around. IS there a card you have been looking at that you really like? Are you sure the on-board sound card does not suite your needs? Do you have some very specific requirements for the card?

As for the kernel released on 04/10/13:
linux-3.2.43.tar.gz 10-Apr-2013 03:13
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/
 
Thanks a lot for your help. I appreciate your suggestions. I have identified a few different cards that would meet my needs (in some instances go well beyond what I need). Here are links to the three different cards:

http://www.amazon.com/TASCAM-US-180...d=1374302979&sr=8-10&keywords=audio+interface

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/msg/3939921970.html

http://www.zzounds.com/item--PRSAB44VSL

I don't see any of these exact models listed on the ALSA Soundcard Matrix. Although some of the brands are there. Is there another way to use the ALSA site to identify if any of the above cards would be supported?

The problem with using the internal card is that it does not have the inputs to receive xlr cables, 1/4" guitar cables and MIDI.

Thanks for the kernel information and your other help.
 
Well, now we have something to work with!;)
So, the first device. The TASCAM US-1800. As of 2012, I cannot find a working example of this with Linux. Here is a thread discussing the issues:
http://www.linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8792

The Alesis Multimix 16 USB seems to work (Starting in 2009). You can read through this site to see what you think:
http://www.ffado.org/?q=node/61

The PreSonus AudioBox 44VSL seems to be reported as working since 20111. Not entirely sure though. Many users seem to report issues with it. However, the articles I found are a couple of years old. Perhaps the issues are solved now?
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1428670

Apparently the Presonus AudioBox-1818VSL is supported. So maybe?
 
Awesome, you had success by locating discussions about specific soundcards. This is a good technique.

I found this link about the Presonus AudioBox- 1818VSL that you mentioned:
http://www.linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7543

It is a nice discussion and it seems there is success in compatibility. I did notice that none of the participants in the forum are using Fedora18. Most of them were using Ubuntu and one was using Debian. Do I need to take this into consideration? (I use Fedora) Do the ALSA drivers work consistently across all distros? Perhaps this is where I need to take the leap of faith and test for myself?
 
The Linux kernel has Alsa built in. So, if you are using the Linux kernel, ;), you have the same Alsa. So, if it works in Ubuntu, it SHOULD work. No difference when it comes to the System internals.
 

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