Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Gentoo realtime-preempt kernel?

2005-04-22 Thread Robert G. Hays
James,
I don't have the answers that you are looking for myself, but I have a 
couple of thoughts about 'proceedurals' that you *might* not have 
thought of; please forgive my presumption if you *have* already thought 
of 'em...

Have you put together a good precis of all the info from these messages 
& posted that on LinuxQuestions.Org? There are also a number of "sound 
engineer" and musician sites out there, and it wouldn't hurt to ask 
those too. Some of the answes from these _will_ be for WhinedoZZZe &/or 
the Mac (not to mention older systems like the Yamaha & the Amiga, which 
were both VERY popular in the musician/sound area), but where there are 
answers for other systems there might also be answers for Linux & maybe 
even Gentoo, including from the software-producers themselves...  And 
remember that Gentoo _can_  import programs for other Linii.

Just a thought Just In Case you hadn't already had it!
(And I am a (more-or-less) fellow embedded programmer to your wife, so 
now you can tell her a fellow Gentoo'er also works with tiny stuff 
(8/16-bit) and said 'hi!'; she might get a kick or a grin or something 
out of that... ;) )

Good Luck, and please keep us informed of how you solve this -- some of 
us have been "lurking" with baited breath to learn from this too! :),
rgh.

James wrote:
Mark Knecht  gmail.com> writes:
 

Sounds like fun stuff.
   

He needs about 64 channels of analog(audio IO) in the form of high end
audio cards with multiple input/output channels.  
 

Probably a couple of RME HDSP 9652s sync'ed via word clock would get
you pretty close at 52 channels. I use the card and it works very well
under Linux with low latency realtime kernels.
   

Yes RME boards seem to have good support under the 2.6 linux kernel.
I definately need to research pci audio boards in more detail to decide.
I'll look into the board you have suggested. It would be good for me
to use boards that another Gentoo audiophile is using
 

Is this just for live work? Not primarily recording? 
   

Both, When you produce live music, you have to be able to patch the band
into the system, and also run DJ style tunes when the band is taking
a break, to keep the natives happy. Also, Most live events get
recorded, so the better the quality of the (multi_track) recording
you can provide, the happier everyone is.
 

If so I thinkn
you could also look into customized delay plugins to ensure that
different speak systems are in time with each other.
   

I have not purchased a mixer or other equipment for my 5kw system yet, as I
want everything to run from a gentoo portable(maybe a gentoo wireless rig)
talking to a gentoo 19" rack mount server, augmented with PCI cards.
(equipment suggestions are most welcome).
Here's a list of Doc's equipment(he knows he'll have to add more gear):
"Right now for sound card I'm using a sound blaster audigy.
It works better with the speaker measurement software than
anything else does. For mixers, I have a Stanton DJ mixer,
a Behringer UB802, an old mostly functional biamp 24 channel 
studio mixing board, and an A&H GL2200 24 channel board (almost 
brand new)."

I'll get the name of the speaker setup/measurement software he's using, plus
any other software that he's using or would like to have. Hve you seen
a large mixer board that can be controlled via Gentoo? I'm leaning towards
building the mixer functions via internal pci_buss cards, but if an
external mixer unit interfaces well with Gentoo, I'd like to read up
on those options too.
If any of the audio boards, which have a linux driver, have open source on the
DSP or other processors  it would be of keen interest. That way, we can 
modify/extend the firmware to get features we like. My wife is one
hell of a firmware developer (micro controllers, DSPs and some FPGAs)
so an open hardware/firmware approach to getting things right, would
really be the way to go If not maybe you are aware of a Development
kit with basic audio firmware from somebody like Motorola(freescale) or TI?

What I really need is a Master Audiophile
who has played with all sorts of audio gear and can provide input as to
how to architect the entire audio system for DJing, recording, and
live productions. I have an an EE that can design/fabricate anything
and a firmware engineer that can code on any type of processor.
We want to keep the power/signals betweenthe amps and the speakers 
all analog, at the present time.

Your ideas are most welcome. 

James

 

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[gentoo-user] Re: Gentoo realtime-preempt kernel?

2005-04-22 Thread James
Mark Knecht  gmail.com> writes:

> Sounds like fun stuff.
> 
> > 
> > He needs about 64 channels of analog(audio IO) in the form of high end
> > audio cards with multiple input/output channels.  
> 
> Probably a couple of RME HDSP 9652s sync'ed via word clock would get
> you pretty close at 52 channels. I use the card and it works very well
> under Linux with low latency realtime kernels.

Yes RME boards seem to have good support under the 2.6 linux kernel.
I definately need to research pci audio boards in more detail to decide.
I'll look into the board you have suggested. It would be good for me
to use boards that another Gentoo audiophile is using

> Is this just for live work? Not primarily recording? 
Both, When you produce live music, you have to be able to patch the band
into the system, and also run DJ style tunes when the band is taking
a break, to keep the natives happy. Also, Most live events get
recorded, so the better the quality of the (multi_track) recording
you can provide, the happier everyone is.

> If so I thinkn
> you could also look into customized delay plugins to ensure that
> different speak systems are in time with each other.

I have not purchased a mixer or other equipment for my 5kw system yet, as I
want everything to run from a gentoo portable(maybe a gentoo wireless rig)
talking to a gentoo 19" rack mount server, augmented with PCI cards.
(equipment suggestions are most welcome).

Here's a list of Doc's equipment(he knows he'll have to add more gear):
"Right now for sound card I'm using a sound blaster audigy.
It works better with the speaker measurement software than
anything else does. For mixers, I have a Stanton DJ mixer,
a Behringer UB802, an old mostly functional biamp 24 channel 
studio mixing board, and an A&H GL2200 24 channel board (almost 
brand new)."

I'll get the name of the speaker setup/measurement software he's using, plus
any other software that he's using or would like to have. Hve you seen
a large mixer board that can be controlled via Gentoo? I'm leaning towards
building the mixer functions via internal pci_buss cards, but if an
external mixer unit interfaces well with Gentoo, I'd like to read up
on those options too.

If any of the audio boards, which have a linux driver, have open source on the
DSP or other processors  it would be of keen interest. That way, we can 
modify/extend the firmware to get features we like. My wife is one
hell of a firmware developer (micro controllers, DSPs and some FPGAs)
so an open hardware/firmware approach to getting things right, would
really be the way to go If not maybe you are aware of a Development
kit with basic audio firmware from somebody like Motorola(freescale) or TI?

What I really need is a Master Audiophile
who has played with all sorts of audio gear and can provide input as to
how to architect the entire audio system for DJing, recording, and
live productions. I have an an EE that can design/fabricate anything
and a firmware engineer that can code on any type of processor.
We want to keep the power/signals betweenthe amps and the speakers 
all analog, at the present time.

Your ideas are most welcome. 

James



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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Gentoo realtime-preempt kernel?

2005-04-21 Thread Mark Knecht
On 4/21/05, James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Mark Knecht  gmail.com> writes:
> 
> >Are there enough people using Gentoo for realtime audio that it
> > would warrent some sorrt of specialized kernel project? I expect so.
> > Is there interest? How do we start one?
> 
> YES, I'm extremely interested in RT for audio on Gentoo. I have an
> EE buddy that is building Audio Productions systems (speakers and custom
> amplifiers, for a 50,000 Watt outdoor audio system. He's manually controlling
> everything now, and using bits of a windows software which is expensive
> and problematic. He'd love the ability to use Linux (gentoo). I've promised
> to set up a Gentoo system for him to house the pci audio cards
> and controls his gear/audio streams.
> 
> I've got a 5,000 watt system, I'm building up to DJ weddings and
> parites.I waiting  Doc to finish my  Custom built Subwoofers that go
> down to 14 Hz, and Subwoofer amps that have a very clean low_pass
> filter to drive those subs!

Sounds like fun stuff.

> 
> He needs about 64 channels of analog(audio IO) in the form of high end
> audio cards with multiple input/output channels.  

Probably a couple of RME HDSP 9652s sync'ed via word clock would get
you pretty close at 52 channels. I use the card and it works very well
under Linux with low latency realtime kernels.

Is this just for live work? Not primarily recording? If si I thinkn
you could also look into customized delay plugins to ensure that
different speak systems are in time with each other.

Anyway, fun stuff.

Cheers,
Mark

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[gentoo-user] Re: Gentoo realtime-preempt kernel?

2005-04-21 Thread James
Mark Knecht  gmail.com> writes:


>Are there enough people using Gentoo for realtime audio that it
> would warrent some sorrt of specialized kernel project? I expect so.
> Is there interest? How do we start one?


YES, I'm extremely interested in RT for audio on Gentoo. I have an
EE buddy that is building Audio Productions systems (speakers and custom
amplifiers, for a 50,000 Watt outdoor audio system. He's manually controlling
everything now, and using bits of a windows software which is expensive
and problematic. He'd love the ability to use Linux (gentoo). I've promised
to set up a Gentoo system for him to house the pci audio cards
and controls his gear/audio streams.

I've got a 5,000 watt system, I'm building up to DJ weddings and 
parites.I waiting  Doc to finish my  Custom built Subwoofers that go
down to 14 Hz, and Subwoofer amps that have a very clean low_pass 
filter to drive those subs!

He needs about 64 channels of analog(audio IO) in the form of high end
audio cards with multiple input/output channels.  If you like,
I can send pictures of the speakers stacks (quite impressive), and
some AMPS. Recording and the ability to play anything from mp3 to wav 
files is necessary. Deterministic(RT) control would be great.

Putting the instruments, from a Band (live performance), on MIDI, or whatever
would be an added bonus.

Since he does a lot of outdoor DJ parties, we had fouund an excellent
audio package called 'mixxx' which is in portage:
media-sound/mixxx
  Latest version available: 1.4.2


He is a savant Rf chip designer; hi_power, hi_quality audio hardware
is his hobby. I'd love to get his hardware running and controlled 
via Gentoo.


James



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