Ardour, Jack, ALSA and HW-Audio

[Daoist]

Dear Experts,

I am just a Newbee, trying to introduce myself to Ardour. But my problem prior getting in touch at all, is the interconnection between Ardour & Roland Studio Capture.

What I achieve is:

1. Starting Ardour --> Project Configuration
2. Defining the following:
   2.1. Audiosystem: ALSA
   2.2. Eingangsgerät: STUDIO-CAPTURE
   2.3. Ausgangsgerät: STUDIO-CAPTURE
   2.4. Samplerate: 96kHz
   2.5. Puffergröße: 4096 Samples
   2.6. Perioden: 2
3. At JACK:
   3.1. Treiber: alsa
   3.2. MIDI-Treiber: raw
   3.3. Abtastrate: 96000
   3.4. Frames/Periode: 4096
   3.5. Perioden: 2.
   => To me, this looks like:
   (a) Roland Studio Capture Interface has been recognised in general;
   (b) the above settings match.
   => Now pressing “start” at Ardour leads to one small Window:
   “Konnte Audiogerät nicht öffnen”.
   => Why?
   => What do I do wrong…?

=> Ideas? Tips? Maybe a link I didn’t find so far…?

PS!:
When I only start JACK Audio Connection Kit, it shows “Läuft – RT – 96000kHz”, and seems to run perfectly.

[paul (Paul Davis)]

You made the right choice at step 2.1 (using Ardour’s own ALSA backend).

You do not need to configure, start or use JACK at all. We recommend this now to most new users. JACK is very powerful and vital with certain complex workflows, but for most people, the steps 2.1-2.6 are all you need to do. Just skip the whole of your section 3.

[Daoist]

Dear Paul,

thank you so much for your valuable contribution!
I followed our advice and found out the following:

1. “Audiosystem = ALSA”, then the problem remains the same;
2. “Audiosystem = JACK”, “ALSA”, “STUDIO-CAPTURE” and the rest,
   then Ardour5 starts!

(Unfortunately, due to lack of time, I directly cannot verify whether I am now able to capture a true Audio Signal or not, but will soon… )

=> Thank you very much so far!!

[catopede]

I’m fine using ALSA and not Jack. The only thing, however, is that the Carla patchbay can’t seem to find Ardour if one is running ALSA, and, given that Carla is a quick and intuitive way of checking the connections, that seems a pity…?

[paul (Paul Davis)]

Carla is specifically a tool intended for use with JACK. It has no relevance for non-JACK scenarios.

When using Ardour and its ALSA backend, go to Window > Audio Connections

[x42 (Robin Gareus)]

I think you meant Catia (the JACK patchbay).

Carla is a plugin-host, and there is also a plugin version of it. You could use Carla as plugin on a track or bus in Ardour to create a modular network of pluins.

[catopede]

Thanks for those comments. I meant the Carla which can be started from Ubuntu Studio Controls. Up to a point, at least, Carla will work with ALSA, but, as I say, it doesn’t seem to see Ardour in that case. With Jack, the Carla patchbay is useful, as it sees Ardour and other stuff like Hydrogen, and makes it obvious how everything hangs together. The only problem - for me, at least - is that I can’t get Ardour to work properly with Jack (how to get the latency right, especially), so I suppose I’ll have to dispense with Carla’s pretty patchbay!