Re: [linux-audio-user] community studio gear

On Mon, Sep 26, 2005 at 02:17:28PM -0400, Jason Bechtel wrote:
> Fear not. I'm not looking for hand-holding through the entire ordeal. I
> can RTFM.

Actually, I'd be worried that what's going to bite you is the kind of
stuff that you can't put in the FM.

Here are some random suggestions from my experience that may or may
not be in some document somewhere, but are my take on building a
quality free software studio at a reasonable cost:

1) Hardware specs are important, but not that important. I mean, be
smart about buying a fast computer. Get a big fast disk, but don't
pay a premium for the best - remember that you care most about the
sound. The number and quality of your channels is a much better
place to spend the dough. Audio can be taxing, but don't drop an
extra $200 on a workstation with a 5% faster CPU. That $200 will
buy you an RNC!

2) Speaking of RNC, if you don't know about fmraudio.com, check them
out. They make some killer gear for cheap.

3) If possible stick to a 2.4 version kernel. While others have
probably found ways to totally trick-out 2.6 into being
smoother-faster-awesomer, I'll guarantee that it was much more of a
headache. Get a 2.4 kernel with the low latency patch and forget
about it.

4) Experiment with different software! There's a lot of really cool
software out there. I'm the kinda person that gets in a rut kind of
easily. But anytime I look around, I find some pretty neat things.
linux-sound.org is a great list.

5) If you don't have pretty decent Unix-like OS skills, and
specifically, GNU/Linux knowledge, it will be hard. If you're off
running when someone suggests (for example) you reload your ALSA
modules with a few tweaks, you'll be much happier than if you need an
explanation of how driver modules work, how to interact with them,
etc, etc.

6) Have some kind of redundancy plan in place for the data. A tracked
session cannot be easily reproduced if it's accidently deleted, lost
in a fire, or sacrificed to the disk-death gods. The ability to
backup large audio sessions will probably be out of your price range,
so you might be looking at buying an extra disk to store backups, or
maybe a DVD burner.

-- 
Ross Vandegrift
ross@email-addr-hidden
"The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who
make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians
have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine
man in the bonds of Hell."
	--St. Augustine, De Genesi ad Litteram, Book II, xviii, 37