LinuxMusicians

Hello to all,

Information on supported audio interfaces on the many Linux distributions is spread out (here, Alsa Project, distro support pages, various forums...). A single repository with a nice big reference table would be great. What works with what and in what context. Moreover, if there was a link to reliable installation, configuration and tweaking guides, that would be great. I presume the croudsourcing project aims to do just that.
If so, BRAVO ! I am in!

Personalty, after 20 years of trying to make music on Windows, a built-in obsolescence time bomb for hardware and software, I am ditching it. Linux is lean and rock solid from what I have seen in my evaluations so far, quite amazing in fact. My stumbling block is the audio interface support with my older Tascam US 144 and the Linux steep learning curve for Newbies like me. The many fixes (forcing USB to 1.1 mode) to get it partially working may have worked on older distributions of Ubuntu Studio (circa rel 16) but perhaps not the latest (19.10). Queries show the USB device but Alsa and Jack fail to see it no matter what I do. Could it be that some older drivers I need may have been ditched in the latest release? maybe I should try to find Studio 16.04 LTS (EOL) and install that and try. Any ideas about that?

This brings me to consider upgrading my audio interface. I need midi interface for older keyboards (though I could solve that with yet another piece of hardware that I have already! Grrrr.). Two devices that fit my budget appear to stand out:
M-Audio M-Track 2x2. Fully supported out of the box.
The Behringer UMC204 HD. Cheaper, appears to be of excellent value and fully supported yet not officially (appears to be some bugs, depends on what distro most likely...)
Any suggestions about this option?

Many thanks in advance to the great people in the open-source community.

Kind regards,
Paul.

Have you browsed the Linux Audio wiki? (https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/hardware)

Hello,

For the choice of new audio interface: I own Behringer UMC 404HD (the bigger brother of UMC204HD) and I use it for music production on Ubuntu studio and anything else on PopOS. Haven't seen any bugs so far.
I would suggest you get something confirmed to be working with your environment (distro etc.) as I had to go through 4 other interfaces (one working but unstable, one working only on lower bitrate/resolution, one recognized but not able to record/playback one not recognized at all) before settling down on UMC 404HD which worked out of the box.

Hope this helps.

I was just about to post a thread asking for suggestions on audio interfaces but I found your one so I'll see what suggestions you get first before starting my own thread.

Anyway, I've been using the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 for years on loads of different Ubuntu based distros and now, Manjaro. It's worked great on them all! It also has the old school midi connection. However, I don't rate the build quality that much on these things. I mean, it's really not that bad but the volume controls for the monitor and headphone outputs have always felt a bit crap. The amp seems to have been burning out too as I get a feint signal out of one monitor output channel and both volume controls have been crackly/not always making a connection properly for years.. It was good for maybe 2 years then gradually started going downhill. The thing still works but I need to replace it now as it's no longer reliable enough for mixing.

I think my 2i4 is a first gen, by the way. So the new third gen ones may be built a bit better. I'm really not sure..

There's the ALSA soundcard matrix. which has a list of soundcards and whether they are compatible or not, or partially working, or in development.

For USB there's the class compliant thing. (Hopefully @Drumfix will see this and post the correct version ). A USB device is definitely class compliant if it works with an iPad. Some devices need a 'quirk'. I think that means they're nearly class compliant but need a couple of lines of kernel code.

There's a bit of kernel code called quirks-table.h that has all the quirks :

https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/ ... ks-table.h

I think the most reliable way to find out if a soundcard works with Linux is to find someone online who has tried it.

I remember another topic about the Tascam US-144 (can't seem to find it anymore though). If I'm not mistaken then here are a few hardware revisions of it (Mark I, Mark II, etc.) that are not hardware compatible. Lots of people struggle w/ this device. Dunno if the Windows driver is still supported. A member/moderator of this forum, Autostatic, has a webpage about the Tascam US-144 Mk II: link. However, since you mention USB 1.1 I think you have an older version of this device. Is it a blue one instead of the more common black one?

Anyway, if buying the Behringer 202 is an option for you I'd do it. I've got its bigger brother (the 404) which works just fine in Linux (its class compliant).

Good luck and don't give up!


[edit] The Behringer UMC22 is only € 38.

It's a difficult topic.
There is no centralised info about which soundcard works where.
At the moment, the consensus is to use an USB interface which is class compliant. You don't have the DSP, but you've got all inputs and outputs.

Most 2 channels interfaces have a CC mode and will work with Linux.
There is also some AVB cards working natively on Linux and they use a network internal mixer. Which means you control your soundcard from your web browser.

Maybe it's time we users update the old alsa matrix, right?

The french did already list their Linux soundcards here:
http://linuxmao.org/Cartes+son+des+membres

The topic I "seemed to remember" is a topic about yet another quirky Tascam: the US-16. Link.

maybe not worth a comment. but maybe it's useful for somebody, as i couldn't find an explicit statement concerning usb-class-compliance.
since a few days i'm using an IK Multimedia iRig Pro I/O as my interface. got recognized immediately and it works stable down to 128 samples without x-runs and a reported latency of 5.33ms.
didn't test midi yet, but it shows up inside the jack-patchbay.
i think that makes up a tiny nice little interface for using it with a mobile rig.

let's see how the long term test goes along, as some users reported not that good build quality. feels nice though.

Hey @TheYke >> how has your experience so far been with the iRig Pro?
I'm thinking of getting one... I'm running Kubuntu 20.04 and looking for a nice super-portable interface.

What do you think?

Hello to all,

I am not new to Linux but still newbie Thanks for your patience.

My FOCUSRITE Scarlett 4i4 was working fine in Linux but is now toast. A few days past warranty, repair will cost more than the device, so I am seeking a new one. This most popular brand is off my list.

In reviewing the specs, I have shortlisted to two devices according to many personal criteria, notably noise soundfloor, dynamic range, gain, features and MIDI input.

My first choice would be ARTURIA Minifuse 2. A great little package with great specs, no frivolous features. A 5 year guarantee and a great price. But little is known about LINUX COMPATIBILITY. Is it fully USB Class Compliant? Has anyone tried this one in LINUX? I have written to ARTURIA and hoping for an answer.

The MOTU M2 would be my second choice due to the fact there is no direct auditioning mixer and a bit more expensive. It has nice VU meters and great specs. Is this MOTU device fully USB Class Compliant and useable in LINUX?

I know that M-Audio and Behringer are PNP in Linux and are very popular in the community. however they do not correspond to my personal criteria.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you all !

Paul
Ex.Win10, now Ubuntu Studio 20.04,
Ardour, Reaper, LMMS,..

Oops, I guess the MOTU is not a good choice
viewtopic.php?t=20936

Are there other audio interfaces that have high quality preamps and great LINUX compatibility that I may have missed?
Universal Audio VOLT 2 is very recent and also has great specs. A little too much "vintage" marketing sauce for my liking tho

Paul.

High quality preamps is a bit hard to nail down as there are very different opinions on what constitutes high quality. Generally high quality preamps come as a stand alone solution where you have analogue in and analogue out. The can be in a dedicated unit or 500 series rack mount. From there any decent interface for the computer with balanced line in will get you a nice signal. There are a few mixers with multitrack USB IO. RME cards can be a good deal used if you have PCI slots available. I actually really like my old M-Audio Delta PCI card. There are usually a few kicking around on ebay.

For integrated units Black Lion Audio has had some good reviews and the Revolution 2x2 lists as class compliant.

JaRue wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:06 pm Hey @TheYke >> how has your experience so far been with the iRig Pro?
I'm thinking of getting one... I'm running Kubuntu 20.04 and looking for a nice super-portable interface.

What do you think?

Hi, just finished my degree in sound design. did all my assessments with my linux laptop and the iRig Pro I/O. No issues here. I don't get super low buffers like 64 samples to run, but other than that: it's fine. (this is with debian bookworm, liquorix kernel, plain ALSA for audio-work in Bitwig)

My Steinberg UR22 Mk2 on the other hand has some problems, as you may have read. Didn't have the time yet to investigate it with another distro/file a bug report.

EDIT: typos

Thank you for the feedback!
I agree that specs are numbers and reality in use can be something else.
My biggest beef has always been noise floor in capturing delicate acoustic instruments.

FYI, I wrote to ARTURIA.

MY SUPPORT REQUEST:

We are several Linux musicians wanting to purchase your Minifuse 2 audio interface because of the exceptional quality of the design and preamps.

We have tried in vain to know if it is:
- Recognized and fully functional by LINUX. We have not found any information about this.
- Truly USB Class Compliant. If so, it should work fine in LINUX.
- PNP on MAC_OS (Core Audio). If so, it should work fine in LINUX.

We are interested mostly in the hardware. We know that the bundled software may have OS requirements, not an issue for us.

If you have tested your interface in LINUX, or know of Linux musicians who are using it, this is all we need to know and we would be most thankful. We can proceed with our purchases in confidence.

Failing that, we will have to chose other interfaces that are LINUX compatible, that are either more expensive, or of a lesser sound quality. That would be a shame for all.

If you Minifuse 2 is Linux compatible, rest assured, we will share this important information to our community that would love to purchase and use your excellent products.

Thank you.


REPLY FROM ARTURIA SUPPORT:

Hi Paul,

Thank you for reaching out,

We unfortunately didn't proceeded with any internal compatibility tests with Linux so it's quite hard to definitely confirm how it will behave and if any problem could be possibly encountered during use.

The MiniFuse 2 being however class compliant (even if not mentioned, i'll see also with my colleagues if this could added) it should normally work and you should be able to access its input and outputs.

I can at least tell that based on a few feedbacks we received until now that it seems to work fine, but still as nothing has been internally tested, confirmed and fully validated we cannot on our side provide clear and definitive guarantees and the best would be i suppose to give it a try on your side with one unit to definitely confirm how it goes and if it allows you to achieve what you were precisely looking for.

Sorry for not being able to tell you much more in this matter at the moment.

Indeed, let me know if i can be of any further help !

Kindest regards,

Arturia Support


************(WOW!)******************

Contrary to FOCUSRITE that sends a copy/paste "official corporate denial" of any form of LINUX support, ARTURIA answered, in depth.
This for me is the mark of a great company, one that I want to buy from.

(Note: I read that FOCUSRITE programmers helped with the development of Linux drivers by the community).
FOCUSRITE is a great product, it's great popularity attesting to that. I am just an unlucky scalded cat

****************************************
I will most likely proceed with a conditional purchase (returnable if not LINUX compliant).
We are getting at least 2, so I can perhaps negotiate that with my local retailer.

I will post the results so that others can benefit from this effort and quality equipment (I hope .