Subject: [linux-audio-dev] linux studio news: step 1
From: Paul Barton-Davis (pbd_AT_Op.Net)
Date: ti tammi 11 2000 - 23:38:39 EST
Today, I got to install the basis for the Linux DAW that I am building
for/in a friend's recording studio. It was a long day - I never would
have imagined how long it would have taken to rearrange all the rack
bays and cables, but we got it done.
The system is currently mostly just "furniture", but over the next few
months, I will slowly be installing, writing and debugging/extending
apps for studio use. It is exciting!
For those who care, here is the system I built and installed:
Rack-mount (APPRO case) computer:
2x PII-450MHz processors
SuperMicro P6DGU motherboard (onboard Adaptec 7890 U2 SCSI)
256MB PC-100 ECC RAM
Matrox G400 AGP video card (dual headed, but not yet with XFree86)
2 RME Digi9652 Hammerfall digital audio interfaces (52 input 48KHz chns)
9.1GB IBM Speedstar U2 SCSI drive
6x4x16 Yamaha CD-R
40x Plextor UW SCSI CD-ROM
2GB Iomega Jaz
Teac floppy
Optiquest 21" .22dp monitor
Logitech cordless keyboard
Logitech Trackman+
Rack-mount (APPRO case) disk chassis
3 18GB IBM Speedstar U2 SCSI drive, mounted in removable cases
The above are installed in an ISOBOX from Sound Construction, a
beautiful piece of studio furniture that reduces fan noise to a bare
whisper (insulated glass door, acoustic foam, dual in-box fan system,
thermometer, fan power indicators). In that box are also:
CPU for Mackie Digital 8-Bus 56 input, 72 channel digital mixer
Fuhrman AR-1215 regulated power supply
On the desk, obviously, is the Mackie D8B, equipped with 3 ADAT I/O
cards, a word-clock card and one DSP/FX board (*)
We settled on the D8B because it represented great value. Many
reviewers have hinted that even the Apogee D8800's don't sound that
much better, and the whole board cost us less than $10K. By
comparison, the D8800's are $5K for just 8 channels! The D8B can also
double as a MIDI fader box too, albeit not very programmable.
Finally, we have an MT16X MIDI matrix router from MIDITEMP in Germany,
another nice piece of h/w that does arbitary MIDI routing and editing
for 16x16 MIDI ports.
Obviously, the first order of the day is to get the Hammerfall ALSA
driver working, and then I will "complete" the first phase of my HDR
program, which is now very closely modelled on the new Mackie
dedicated HDR system unveiled at AES.
I got quite a kick from reading about a system with similar (if
inferior in many respects) h/w from SpectralDesigns. These guys want
$26K for their system, which has no mixer, only 20GB of disk, limited
I/O, no D/A or A/D, no MIDI routing. It does have Windows NT plus a
bunch of their software, some of which is pretty great, I am told. The
above system cost me on the order of $18K or less, and has one of the
best "small" mixing surfaces in existence right now.
I'll keep you all posted how we get on. My main fear right now is that
my friend will soon want to run Logic or Cubase and therefore
Windows. I hope I can keep that at bay long enough that one of the
Linux wave editors evolves into something usable for studio
work. Hint. Hint :)
--regards,
--p
(*) my friend is still trying to figure out where in the D8B manual it
mentions Linux. He swears he came across it somewhere.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : pe maalis 10 2000 - 07:23:26 EST