If you are serious at doing this right you definitely want to look at
semi-pro equipment. I have a TASCAM US-122 that does 2 inputs/ 2 outputs
quite well (48KHz sampling at 24 bits). The inputs can be line level or
mic level (it uses XLR inputs). The great thing about this unit is the
whole unit is powered by USB so you don't need a separate mic preamp,
which you would do for any low end usb audio units. (Believe it or not
it even provides 48V "phantom" power for powering condenser mics, all
derived from the 5V USB supply!) I would recommend using a Linux distro
that is oriented towards audio work such as Agnula or PlanetCCRMA. This
will include the apps needed but also makes sure the kernel is set for
low-latency etc. That being said, I did managed to get SuSE working
quite well as well.
The Tascam unit has to have 2 lots of firmware loaded everytime it
powers up and this took a little while to figure out. Also certain
releases of the ALSA code seemed to break support for my box. If you
need to do filtering/effects in real-time it also performs well. By
tweaking "jack" appropriately I could get it have input latency of less
than 10ms. (I used it do some nice live echo/reverb effects for my
daughter's stage performances).
Other popular units used by the Linux audio crowd include the M-Audio
Audiophile 2496 and the Edirol UA25. (There are of course many other
brands out there, with a large range of prices as well!)
If you need more than 2 inputs, all of those makers have larger units
(and of course in general you can also use multiple 2 channel units). Of
course, recording more simultaneous channels puts more strain on the
system (USB, Hard drive, etc) and you need to make sure you don't drop
samples mid-recording. It is definitely doable - Digital Audio
Workstations are definitely going to be the way forward.
As mentioned by Terry, the other alternative is to mix your multiple
mics down to just 2 channels using analog mixing equipment. Again like
the digital stuff, you get what you pay for. Cheaper equipment often is
not as robust (knobs fall off, and sliders don't feel right) or may
introduce undesirable noise.
Martin Visser, CISSP
Network and Security Consultant
Consulting & Integration
Technology Solutions Group - HP Services
410 Concord Road
Rhodes NSW 2138
Australia
Mobile: +61-411-254-513
Fax: +61-2-9022-1800
E-mail: martin.visserAThp.com
This email (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of
the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is
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recipient, please notify HP immediately by return email and then delete
the email, destroy any printed copy and do not disclose or use the
information in it.
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of James Purser
Sent: Saturday, 29 October 2005 12:51 PM
To: Sydney LUG
Subject: [SLUG] USB Audio Input Devices
I'm looking at getting a usb audio device to allow for multiple inputs
(more than one microphone, etc etc). Anybody have any suggestions?
The purpose being to allow for discussion type interviews and greater
flexibility in doing stuff like the SLUG live.
--
James Purser
Chief Talking Guy - Linux Australia Update http://k-sit.com - My Blog
http://la-pod.k-sit.com - Linux Australia Update Blog and Forums
Skype: purserj1977
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