I was looking after a new USB audio interface and found this thread, i read it from the beginning to the end and it was a nice reading and i think j_e_f_f_g is right. I also do own an Audigy 2 with an EMU10k2 chipset and yes, even the hardware does support more than 48 Khz the linux emu10k2 driver does not. But, i never noticed that, this thread made me attentive to this issue, thanks for that. But i also must say, that i used my Audigy 2 only for MIDI and not for audio, except typical consumer stuff like watching videos where 48 kHz is enough for me.
But after reading this thread i want to clearfiy something:
1. This posting here:
j_e_f_f_g wrote:raboof wrote:Have you notified the ALSA devs so they can include this improvement in the next version?
I'm subscribed to the ALSA dev list, and posted a patch to the list, but I don't think the email ever got through. Not sure what happened there. Here's what I added to quirks_table.c if you want to pass it on:
Code: Select all
/* Opcode devices */
{
USB_DEVICE_VENDOR_SPEC(0x06f1, 0xb010),
.driver_info = (unsigned long) & (const struct snd_usb_audio_quirk) {
.vendor_name = "Opcode",
.product_name = "MIDIport 32",
.ifnum = QUIRK_ANY_INTERFACE,
.type = QUIRK_MIDI_FIXED_ENDPOINT,
.data = & (const struct snd_usb_midi_endpoint_info) {
.out_cables = 0x0003,
.in_cables = 0x0003
}
}
},
I just used grep over an actual kernel source looking for the USB Device Vendor String "0x06f1" and "0xb010" and to my surprise, nothing was found.
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grep --include=* -ir 0x06f1
grep --include=* -ir 0xb010
Which means, that your patch got never applied to the kernel source.
Then i tried to search for this string "0x06f1, 0xb010" with google and nothing was found, except this thread.
This means, that your eMail to the ALSA kernel-mailinglist never reached them. If it would have reached them, a google search would have definitely pointed to an entry in the ALSA kernel mailinglist archive, which is online everywhere and searched by a google search but nothing like this was found, so this is a clear evidence that your email never reached the alsa mailinglist in the past.
But this is not your fault, you already stated that the eMail you wrote probably never reached them.
But what is more disturbing is, that "raboof" complained and asked you, if you have sent the patch to the ALSA devs, but after you told him the above he had that knowledge too, but he obiously didn't bother.
If he had bothered, he would have noticed what i have noticed now, and he could had fixed this, but he didn't.
2. The ALSA wiki vs. a new wiki.
steevc wrote the following:
steevc wrote:j_e_f_f_g wrote:asbak wrote:Do we know for certain that the PCIe models don't work under Linux?
Until/unless an enduser actually tries a particular audio device, no one knows for sure. Alsa devs don't document their work, the alsa database is inaccurate/ill-maintained, and lots of questionable assumptions are made (for example one would assume a Focusrite 18i20 works because the earlier 2i4 does... but that doesn't appear to be the case).
Trust only first-hand accounts. If taking a chance on an untested item, make sure you can return it.
This was what I was trying to improve upon in the old wiki. We could be linking to reports (blog/forum etc) of working hardware and build a useful reference. We need more than just 'it works' as some devices have extra features that may not be supported, or need extra configuration. These pages got migrated to the new wiki, but that broke it a bit. I see some updates, but a lot of the links were broken. I've just fixed most of those.
http://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/hardware_matrix
It just needs people with working hardware to add anything that's missing. I count it as one of my contributions to open source
I'm a fan of wikis generally, but some people don't see the point when they can 'just Google it'. The down side of that is that you are just getting random results rather than building an actual reference.
I think this idea of adding another 1001+1 hardware wiki database to the internet for linux audio hardware support is a very stupid idea.
Instead of creating a new hw database wiki no user cares about and will get outdated soon it is be more wise to create an account at the alsa-wiki and add the information that is missing there.
http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index. ... =Main+Page
Everyone here complains about the status of the ALSA wiki, but everyone here could easily create an account at the ALSA wiki and fix what is not there.
So why do you think an new wiki is a better idea? It is a totally rubbish idea!
The ALSA wiki is old, yes, but it is the central and main starting point for everyone that is interessed in knowing if a specific audio hardware does work under linux.
And there is no alternative to ALSA, ALSA is the defacto standard audio driver architecture on Linux, so every information that is know about a specific hardware, should also go to the official alsa wiki.
Everyone who knows something, that is not in the ALSA wiki should go to the ALSA wiki, create an account and add the information he knows. It's simple as that.
I am not a ALSA dev, but at least, i DO have an account at the ALSA wiki and i did add some informations to that wiki others could might need. I did NOT start to create my own personal linux audio hardware database wiki no one cares for.
3. About PCI and new mainboards that do mainly have PCIe.
Some suggest to buy mainboards, that do also support the old PCI standard.
I say: "Don't!"
PCI does not work very well on PCIe mainboards. Even if you choose chipsets with PCI support. It is not a good idea.
Instead buy a new PCIe ONLY mainboard wihtout the old PCI slots and buy new PCIe cards. This will work much more reliable.
4. U-PHORIA UMC204 problems mentioned above
There is a new version of the UMC204 out, it is a HD version and supports 192 kHz @ 24 Bit. Maybe this is the version, that doesn't work properly as of now.
The older none UMC204 version should work, that's what i have heared here and there.
The newer UMC204HD is VERY new. It's only on the marked since a couple of weeks ago. So i think we should give the alsa devs a little time.
5. Does anyone know if the Steinberg's UR22 audio interface midi ports do work under linux?
A log in the linux kernel commits says that audio works with a quirks patch, this patch is already in the vanilla kernel sources, but the committer said, that he didn't test MIDI.
So if MIDI does work is uncertain.
It is also not clear what kind of audio mode is supported under Linux.
Does "audio works" mean only that 48 kHz is working? Or does it mean, that 192 kHz is working?
This is undefined too.
If there is someone who owns a UR22 and could clarify this, this would be great. And it would be much greater when this information would be also added to the official alsa wiki.
6. Because i am looking for a new USB audio interface with MIC and MIDI support i was thinking about one of these 3 audio interfaces:
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i4
- Focusrite Saffire 6 USB
- Steinberg UR22
Which one would you recommend?