Ubuntu studio audio problem

[Jay Vaughan]

> I just installed the real time kernel in L. Mint and followed a few
> Ubuntu based threads on how to set priorities, Audio User Group, blah,
> but am not seeing any improvement in latency.

You *must* build your own kernel, Dong.  And learn how to install it  
for your distro so you can boot from it.  And modules.

Because a tightly-wound kernel for the hardware you have in front of  
you, and not the thousands of other variations on beigbebox rubbish,  
definitely makes a difference.

I have my own config for my machine, just the drivers for hardware I  
have on hand, and a few other things I might be interested in.  Its  
not so hard - the distro (Ubuntu Studio) provides the source package  
for the default kernel (in my case an -rt branch, which I can easily  
derive from), then I just tweak it for my system, re-build, re- 
install, and everything goes smooth.

My current latency is 3.1ms, fully working all audio channels in my  
19" rack.

> I do find trying to configure Linux audio is a p1ss poor experience.
> Needless to say, I have managed to completely hang the OS quite a few
> times before giving up for the moment.

Its not difficult to hang a PC, you know.  :)


> When it did work, it was still in
> 20 ms territory. In Windows, I can safely use about 5ms, which is
> generally OK.
>

Try the bootable USB-distro approach for a while, give the Audio- 
specific brands a chance to impress you with how much like a  
Playstation/games-console your new-generation DAW machine can be ..


> Plus there's the problem with the MOTU XT parallel port version not
> working with Linux at all. Oh well.


MOTU support in linux really, really, really pisses me off, to be  
honest, I'll agree with you there.  Fortunately though, it costs $12  
to fix MIDI for *good* in Linux: class-compatible drivers all the way  
in the form of a USB->MIDI adapter, buy 'em in bulk.  The days of a  
19" rack for MIDI are *over*, my friend...

;
--
Jay Vaughan