Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] sound studio setup
From: David Olofson (david_AT_gardena.net)
Date: Fri Feb 09 2001 - 04:35:01 EET
On Thursday 08 February 2001 19:05, Joe Miklojcik wrote:
[...]
> Have you considered joysticks? Go to a Video Game store or
> website. They've got some incredible control surfaces for
> relatively little money. The Linux Joystick drivers are pretty
> good.
Just make sure to stay away from the so called "game port". As some
of you probably know, the polling will break your lowlatency kernel,
so an RTLinux based hack, or an external interface with real ADCs is
required.
Most advanced joysticks use RS-232 or USB interfaces nowadays, though.
> If you must use a mouse like device to make music, use a touch pad.
>
> > a good touch-sensitive keyboard
>
> I hate those things.
I don't play anything else (except digitizer pads :-), but they have
to be hammer action. Fatar Studiologic are probably the most
affordable ones, and they still seem rigid (metal case and mechanics)
and feel pretty good. No release velocity or per-key aftertouch,
though, at least not on the SL-880...
> > a hammerfall, or other linux-compatible low latency multichannel
> > sound
>
> The RME9652 is fantastic. Don't forget to get a couple of cheap
> ADATs (LX20s are nice) and maybe a digital mixer that can read ADAT
> signals. A DAT machine (not ADAT, but DAT) is nice too, but some
> may prefer minidisc.
Note: MD compresses to some 20% of the raw data size. I have no
personal experience of the actual quality, though.
> Some kind of sound card based on the Trident 4D NX chipset makes a
> good addition to the Hammerfall. I would reccommend the Hoontech
> 4D NX, but I can't find them anymore. A lot of Linux audio
> software is still not clueful enough to deal with the relatively
> weird Hammerfall driver, so having a more usual piece of audio
> hardware in the computer is nice. Plus you get a MIDI pair and
> joystick port.
SB Live! and other cards based on the EMU10k1 have pretty good
performance (>90 dB SNR on all SB models - at least that's what they
claim), BUT - it does 48 kHz only; all other rates are converted on
the fly by the DSP, which may introduce distortion. (Not that I've
heard any, but then I haven't used an EMU10k1 together with my real
studio gear yet...)
The 64 voices are normally grouped as 32 stereo port, so you can run
32 stereo applications at once without an OS native software mixer,
which means that you can run low latency applications at the same
time as applications with more buffering. (This applies to the
Hoontech cards as well, AFAIK; that's why they're so useful.)
> > speakers, amplifier et. all
>
> I have found my Mackie HR824s to be very versatile. That is, they
> sound good a few feet from my ears and a few yards from my ears.
> This is the most important choice you will make. Everything
> happens in the speakers. Spend time at the store listening. Bring
> some CDs.
Indeed, finding speakrs that really show all details you want to hear
is hard. Besides, the listening environment affects the sound a great
deal, so you should probably try the speakers in the setting you
intend to use them if you want to be on the safe side. (However, it
seems that better speakers are generally less sensitive. Don't bet on
it, though...)
> > good studio earphones
>
> I use AKG 240M; I'm used to them and they don't tire my ears for
> some reason. Some Sony models are *much* nicer sounding (and
> correspondingly more expensive).
I tried some AKGs, but I couldn't find a pair for less than some $400
that didn't have serious problems with heavy bass... OTOH, the
midrange is incredibly well defined, and doesn't try to "invade your
brain", as it does on most headphones in the $100 range seem to do.
Guess I'll have to keep looking, or accept that I have too high
demands for the $100 class...
> > a good microphone
>
> No clue. I can't figure out what I want in a microphone.
For vocals in not-so-quiet environments, the Samson Qmic is an
incredibly affordable alternative. Then there are the Shure classics
and "remakes" of course, SM-57, SM-58 etc. A bit on the harch side
was my first impression, but you really have to take a mike home and
do some serious recording with it before you know.
If you're going to record in a quite studio, don't use dynamic
microphones for vocals, unless you're particularly fond of the sound.
Although the Qmic sounds incredibly natural for a dynamic live mike,
it still has some of that PA sound to it. And of course, any mike of
that kind has the dreaded proximity effect, which pretty much
requires multiband for compression, unless you're cutting the bass
off first.
> Do yourself a favor and worry about the acoustic properties of the
> room. If you're going to have microphones in there, you will want
> some way of controlling reflections.
Yep...
> Ignore my advice. Make your own mistakes. They are of immesurable
> value in electronic/computer music.
Indeed! The really interesting tricks are often discovered through
mistakes, rather than active experimentation. :-)
//David
.- M A I A -------------------------------------------------.
| Multimedia Application Integration Architecture |
| A Free/Open Source Plugin API for Professional Multimedia |
`----------------------> http://www.linuxaudiodev.com/maia -'
.- David Olofson -------------------------------------------.
| Audio Hacker - Open Source Advocate - Singer - Songwriter |
`--------------------------------------> david_AT_linuxdj.com -'
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