[linux-audio-user] community studio gear

From: Jason Bechtel <jasonmbechtel@email-addr-hidden>
Date: Mon Sep 26 2005 - 21:17:28 EEST

Hi, everyone. This is my first time posting, so here's a quick introduction...

I've been using Linux since about 1998, but I only really started
using it on a regular basis in 2000. Since then I've been a sysadmin
and a user to varying degrees using Red Hat, then Mandrake, with a
brief (happy) stop in SUSE-land. I'm currently using Mandrake (10.1)
and I've started playing around with the friendlier Debian-derived
distros (Kubuntu, Kanotix, etc.).

Audio has never really been super-important for me, but I was always
annoyed when whatever distribution I was using failed to configure
sound properly. That hardly happens anymore, so I have very little
experience actually tweaking sound in any way. Anyhow, now not only
do I need to know Linux sound really well, but I need to be able to
construct a "pro sound" environment. It needs to be easy to use, too,
so the people running the studio don't have to think about the OS.
They just use their tools (Ardour, etc.) and get the job done. Fear
not. I'm not looking for hand-holding through the entire ordeal. I
can RTFM.

Here's the situation: I've been with the Toledo Area Linux Users
Group (http://talug.org) for several years now and some of us have
become involved with a local community effort called ToledoHipHop.org
(http://toledohiphop.org). They've already released one CD (CC
licensed, proprietary produced), but they want to put together their
own studio before starting to record the second and they want to do it
with Linux (they're philosophically down with the movement and the
freedom and all that). They've chosen a small room and there is a
team working on getting it ready. I'm on the team that is working on
the software-hardware components. We have three knowledgeable guys on
the studio recording side and a couple on the Linux side. We recently
had a visit from a nearby Linux audio guru who helped translate
between the two technical vocabularies and we're excited about getting
the project rolling. We're somewhat on our own, though.

We have a small budget (I don't know how much). The guys with studio
knowledge have looked at the linux-sound website and done some
searching and are asking whether they can use one of the following two
devices with Linux:

Tascam DM-300 (FireWire; new model)
Yamaha 01V96

So, for now all I'm looking for is advice about which device to
acquire that will give us a "pro sound" and relatively little trouble
on Linux for a meager budget.

Thanks in advance,
Jason
Received on Wed Sep 28 00:15:10 2005

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