Some caveats: the gear described here is oriented toward musicproduction, not consumer audio requirements. However, Studio Dave ishardly what I would call a professional studio, so please understandthat when I use the term "professional", I'm referring to theequipment, not my studio's physical plant. Also, bear in mind thatfeatures common to consumer-grade devices might not be found onequipment designed for use in audio production, so if you're lookingfor the best soundcard for playing MP3s and DVD surround-sound audio,these devices are not likely to be your best solutions. I'll get intothe reasons later, but now, let's see what hardware devices I use in mystudio and how I'm using them.
Audio and MIDI Devices
Studio Dave includes two desktop machines dedicated to audio/videoproduction and a notebook for miscellaneous tasks. The desktop boxesare equipped with M-Audio Delta 66 digital I/O systems and Creative LabsSoundBlaster soundcards. The M-Audio systems are slightly differentfrom one another. One box uses a plain-vanilla Delta 66 with only theinternal card and an external break-out box that provides jacks forbalanced or unbalanced 1/4" plugs (Figure 1). The other machineincludes the same internal card, but the break-out box has beenreplaced by the M-Audio Omni I/O box (Figure 2). This unit furnishesthe same audio connectivity as the regular break-out box, addingamenities, such as a mic/line pre-amp, two headphone jacks, and avariety of controls for audio levels and effects sends.
Figure 1. The M-Audio Delta 66 System
Figure 2. The Omni I/O BoxThe plain-vanilla system requires a pre-amp in order to achievestrong and clear input levels, so I've added an M-Audio AudioBuddy(Figure 3) pre-amp to the system to boost my microphone and electricguitar signals. The pre-amp raises the output signal from a typicaldynamic microphone or electric guitar to a level better suited todigital audio recording. Some consumer-grade soundcards include a micgain channel, but inherent noise is still a significant problem withsuch devices.
Figure 3. The AudioBuddyKernel support for the M-Audio interfaces comes from the ALSAsnd-ice1712 module. Unlike consumer-grade devices, such as mySoundBlasters, the Delta cards do not include an integral mixer. TheDelta supports four channels of analog audio I/O and a stereo S/PDIFdigital I/O connection. It has no synthesizer, no MIDI or game ports,and no on-board mixer. This design is not a problem for a DAW systemcentered on JACK and Ardour, but some normal desktop audio applicationsfail to recognize a device without an integral mixer. As I said, thishardware is not designed for normal desktop audio applications.
ALSA supplies the Envy24Control mixer for systems based on theice1712 chipset (Figure 4). This utility organizes the features of theM-Audio hardware and presents them in an easy-to-understood GUI. Thealsamixer program can be employed instead, but it lacks the logicalorganization and usability of the Envy24Control software.
Figure 4. Envy24ControlThe SoundBlaster cards, a Live Value and a PCI128, are installed fortheir MIDI hardware. Thanks to ALSA's snd-emu10k1-synth driver, I canemploy the Live's on-board synthesizer, but software such as QSynth and SoundCrabhave eliminated the need for it. More important, the snd-mpu401-uartdriver enables access to the MIDI ports on the SoundBlasters. A specialcable attaches to the game port to supply two MIDI ports, one input andone output, for connection to external MIDI devices.
My current notebook claims the ubiquitous (notorious?) Intel HDA asits integrated audio chipset. Unlike my desktop machines, I've kept thechipset active, but it's hardly a useful device for serious recording.That's okay, because I don't plan to use the notebook for serious work,but I do want audio I/O superior to the HDA chip. I made some inquirieson the Linux audio usersmail-list and decided to buy an Edirol UA25, a USB audio/MIDI interface(Figure 5). I still need to lower its latency when working with JACK,but its output sound quality is much better than the on-board chipset.The device also offers variable sample rates, digital I/O ports, MIDIconnectivity, a 1/4" headphone jack and a built-in peak limiter. Linuxsupport for the UA25 comes from the snd-usb-audio module and nothingelse (that is, no firmware). The unit draws its power from the USBline; no batteries are needed, and it can be hot-plugged at will.
Figure 5. The Edirol UA25 and the MidiMan MidiSport 2x2I also have a couple items left over from the days of my now-defunctHP Omnibook. That machine was too slow to do much useful audio work onits own power, so I expanded its capabilities with a CoreSound digital audio input card and a MidiMan MidiSport 2x2(Figure 5). The CoreSound device is driven by the ALSA snd-pdaudiocfmodule, and the MidiSport requires the same snd-usb-audio module as theUA25. Alas, the CoreSound card requires a PCMCIA slot that's notavailable on my new notebook, so that device has been retired. TheMidiSport is still perfectly usable.
The MidiSport also requires firmware and a firmware loader. Thenecessary packages are available for all major distributions and mostpackage managers will provide complete installation of the software,but further action may be required. For example, the Ubuntu 8.10 systemon my notebook provides the midisport-firmware package. When I selected it for installation, the package manager also installed the fxloadutility, but I still had to edit /etc/fstab to set up the usbfs driverfor the device. On reboot, I had to unplug and reconnect the unit toactivate the firmware. After reconnection, the I/O lights flash for amoment, the USB light remains on, and at that point, the device appearsin the MIDI devices listed by QJackCtl. I searched Google for a way toactivate the unit completely on boot-up, found an excellent HOWTO onone of the Ubuntu forums, followed its directions (and added a few ofmy own), and now the unit is functional by the time startup reaches thelogin dialog. It takes some work, but I no longer need to hot-plug thedevice to get it started.
The Tranzporter
My most recent audio extender is a Frontier Tranzport (Figure 6), a wireless controller for the ArdourDAW. The Tranzport provides remote control of Ardour's record andplayback transport controls, freeing me from having to trek back andforth between the computer and my recording seat. Support for thedevice formerly depended on libusb, but recent development has produceda more stable kernel driver. Developer Mike Taht has revised hisearlier work in Ardour to support this new driver, and I'm pleased toreport that Mike's labors have resulted in perfect operation of theTranzport. A few features are still missing from his latest code, butthose items are likely to be supported by the time this article ispublished.
Figure 6. The Frontier Tranzport at Work with Ardour2
Racked Up
I have a standing rack for synthesizers and other external gear, butover time, my need for hardware synths has dwindled to naught. I havekept two pieces there: a Yamaha DMP11 mixer and a Yamaha MJC8 MIDIpatch bay (Figure 7). The DMP11 is my main system mixer; the MJC8 isconnected to every other MIDI connector in the studio. Thus, I can useany machine as a MIDI control device for the other machines, a rathernice arrangement. Yes, I know they're not really little boxes, but theyare central pieces in my system, and they are connected to some (most)of the boxes described in this article.
Figure 7. The Yamaha DMP11 and Yamaha MJC8
The Wish List
So, what hardware is coming soon to Studio Dave? Well, thanks to Dan Sawyer's excellent review of the Behringer BCF2000 (subscribers only)I'm convinced that I must have one. I refer readers to Dan's articlefor the full scoop on this neat piece. In brief, the BCF2000 is anautomatable mixer that can be controlled from a DAW, such as Ardour or QTractor. I already have a good mixer, but the BCF has motorized faders, and what could be sexier than flying faders?
I'd also like to buy a Firewire audio interface. Thanks to the FFADOProject, now I can choose from a variety of Firewire devices, and Iwant to try one. I welcome suggestions from my readers, so if you'dlike to steer me toward something or warn me off, feel free to makeyour recommendations in the Comments section.