Depending on where the effects are implemented (driver or FPGA), it is very unlikely that the driver source will be disclosed to create a GPL driver.
In any case, I strongly advise NOT to use USB for reliable audio.
Thanks for the input. I am glad to hear that it works. After reading the manual for that product, the reset is normal for switching between USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 for other operating systems.
The UA-101 can record 10 inputs (9 and 10 are IEC 60958, S/PDIF) at 96 kHz or below and the UA-25EX only works with 2. Neither supports Lightpipe/ADAT.
I have not found any RME USB interface that works either. In fact, the Edirol UA-101, Edirol UA-25EX, and Zoom H4n are the only analog USB 2.0 interfaces that works well with very recent Linux kernels that I know of.
The Echo AudioFire 8 is a good FireWire interface and the company has been cooperative to Linux developers. If I had the option of using FireWire, I would choose this interface to support the Linux friendly companies. See the “Thanks go out to the vendors” paragraph under “FFADO 2.0.0 Released!” at http://www.ffado.org/ . Edirol is listed there too, so I am comfortable with using their USB interface, even though I am unsure how helpful they have been with their USB products.
In my opinion, FireWire will be replaced with USB 3.0 and Light Peak will shortly replace USB 3.0, so I would not buy more than what you need for more than 4 years or so.
I am aware that the Firewire interface is better, but I have a small fanless setup that only has USB. I do not need live software monitoring, so I can just increase the buffer size for increased latency and more reliable audio.
@all
For the three Linux compatible USB 2.0 interfaces that I am aware of, I made some notes to compare them. I release the following text to the public domain if anyone wants to use it or extend it for anything.
UA-101:
There are two versions of this model with a slight difference: “EDIROL” and “Cakewalk by Roland.” The newer Cakewalk version removes the USB 1.1 switch and operates in USB 2.0 only. The Edirol version can be switched to USB 1.1 for use without special drivers on almost any modern operating system. Using USB 1.1, only two channels at 44.1 or 48 kHz can be used.
The Hi-z switch is good for input 2’s TRS connector only.
192 kHz is for up to 6 analog inputs and outputs (full duplex) only. The digital connectors are only good for up to 96 kHz.
With 8 analog outputs, you could build a 7.1 channel surround sound system if you wanted to and your software allowed you to.
The software mixer can be bypassed using buttons on the front. The mixer settings can also be cleared by using a factory reset procedure. The default monitor routing listens to all inputs.
Input S/N: 101 dB Output: 107 dB
The phantom power is DC 48V, 20mA Max.
Can be powered by 9V DC (1 A draw)
The manual is located here:
UA-25EX:
The Edirol UA-25EX only has 2 analog inputs and outputs and will max out at 96 kHz. The UA-25EX has three features that the UA-101 does not have:
- Built-in analog compressor
- Ground lift (Disconnects ground sleeve of the output. In theory, a cable can be built to serve this function as well)
- USB powered (480 mA draw)
The phantom power supplies less current than the UA-101: 48 V DC, 8 mA. This may influence the sound of your mic unless you use an external preamp.
Digital input mode is not full duplex.
Also, the Cakewalk branded version of the UA-25EX retains the ability to operate in USB 1.1 mode, unlike the UA-101 where only the Edirol brand can do that. The USB 1.1 mode does not work with 48 kHz unlike the UA-101.
Zoom H4n:
Can record without a computer
Runs from 5 volts DC, internal battery, or USB
I don’t see FireWire as an alternative. It is quickly dying out, and it has its own performance issues. At the moment the only way to get reliable performance without a high load are PCI(e) cards.
@matt_fedora I will possibly use some of your input about ua-25ex on my blog when I get some time to write a review about it, I will notify when it’s done, until then I can only let you with the review I made of a great guitar:
http://openmindedbrain.info/24/04/2010/baton-rouge-r14ce-black/
I got Fedora 13 working with kernel 2.6.34. Because of the staging driver for my network card not being available in RPMForge, I had to built my own kernel. I documented that here, although hopefully no one else will need to use this:
http://pastebin.com/ujy8tkt2
Both of my Evoluent VerticalMouse mice had USB errors with the newer kernel. There would always be “device descriptor read/8, error -84” errors in /var/log/messages. What was odd was that the mouse would work fine until KDE loaded past a certain point. Anyway, I plugged in a different USB mouse and I just now found a potential workaround for the other mouse.
With my system running fine (for now), I will place the order for the Edirol UA-101 and test it when it gets here.
@mihai007 Thanks. My mics are here (I ordered two). A friend of mine is not satisfied with the mic setup for his guitar. I am going to let him borrow a mic to test it out.
The mkII do not work. There was a ptach that went upstream that added the identifiers, os that as USB 2.0 it is seen by the kernel, however, the driver doesn’t work with them. The audio “stream” ends up being broken. it is handled differnetly in these MKII. It could be made to work, but would require some reverse-engineering.
I had one and then ditched it for a Edirol FA-101 (firewire) with 10in/out, preamps, etc.
The only hassle was that i needed to by a firewire card for my laptop(as it only had the small firewire connection).
I can report that if using FFADO, this card is fully supported, and viable for a laptop.
I am getting a modest 1ms of latency, running lots of VSTi/VSTs and Ardour. Sometimes i record several
tracks at once both live and synthesized. works well.
So while HDSP, is probably the best option. there are others, just do some homework before you purchase.
a side note : A great MIDI controller to use with Linux is the AKAI MPK series. Although, it’s software doesn’t run on the platform.
It does provide 3 seperate midi channels, and uses the snd-usb-audio. it has transport controls, faders, and knobs they work wonderfully with Ardour. There are 8 of each (knobs,sliders,LED-buttons) with three Banks. this means 76 controls that you can assign. this is very useful for automation in Ardour and/or controlling Virtual instruments.
ninez
I use Firewire, i don’t regret my choice either.
trying to record using USB is a waste of time, especially on a laptop, where often your USB 2.0 hub is on a shared “Interrupt” (which will cause problems), and that’s if your audio interface is supported in usb2.0. if it’s USB 1.1 - which is an even bigger waste of time, not suitable for multitrack recording. Then there is PCI(e) cards, othen very expensive. or they require both the card $$$ and a breakout box $$$. niether is usually cheap.
I got a deal on my FA-101. cost me almost nothing, and performs very well. I never get xruns, unless it is a wineasio VST
plugin. the card is in FFADO’s hardware list, took no effort to setup. Has it’s own IRQ. It’s glitchy what-so-ever.
regardless of whether or not 5years from now firewire may be replaced - then how long will it be before we have support for these new interfaces in linux???
I did have to buy a firewire card (for 50bucks), but Firewire is hardly dead. It has been the only solution for me, on my laptop and
works quite well.
ninez
@Colinf:
Could you tell me how you got your UA-1000 working? I just purchased one and am having trouble getting it to work properly. Under the 2.6.33-rt kernel, i could get it running with pulseaudio, but it was very distorted and jackd would not start with it. I am now trying a 2.6.35 kernel (not rt) and it does not even appear in pulseaudio or Jack Control though it shows up in lsusb.
Are you compiling your own kernel?
I last tried an -rt kernel a few years ago, but it didn’t seem to work any better for me, so I’ve not bothered with it since. A vanilla kernel.org kernel compiled with CONFIG_PREEMPT=y has always been good enough for me for latencies down to 11.6 msec or so.
Anyway, my UA-1000 has worked OK since about kernel 2.6.13, but if you’re using 2.6.34 or later you’ll want to use the new driver for the UA-101/UA-1000 (CONFIG_SND_USB_UA101=m), since it solves the problem of the playback and capture drifting out of sync leading to randomly-varying latency and xruns.
Oh, no, I’ve never compiled my own kernel. Maybe it’s about time I try I suppose. Is there no way to do it without compiling myself?
Edit: The Edirol UA1000 sort of works under 2.6.33 but it is extremely distorted, will the new drivers fix that? I’ve tried it under windows and the signal was nice and clean.
Also, do you have any custom configuration files to get it working? or does it just work straight off?
You shouldn’t need to compile your own kernel if your distribution has got it right. What distro are you using?
I don’t know whether the new driver will fix your distortion problem, but it can’t hurt to try. The module is called snd_ua101: it should be loaded automatically when you connect the UA-1000. lsmod will show you whether it really is loaded.
I don’t have to use any custom configuration specifically for the UA-1000.
@colinf: I’m just running Ubuntu, because the repository stuff is decent and I like to be able to use my laptop for everyday use and production.
Thanks for the lsmod tip, i’ll try that out
edit:I sort of got it working by setting the periods to 3, but now it just throws out hundreds and hundreds of xruns, I don’t know what to do :S
What are your settings for jack if you don’t mind me asking?
I cannot see snd_ua101 in lsmod :S
I’m running Ubuntu 10.04 myself, but with a self-compiled 2.6.35 kernel: the 2.6.32 kernel that’s in the repository doesn’t have the snd_ua101 driver. You said you’d already tried a 2.6.35 kernel yourself: where did that come from?
I assume you’re using QJackCtl: have you got ‘Realtime’ ticked in your settings? I’ve found ‘Frames/Period’ of 256 and ‘Periods/Buffer’ of 2 to be about as low as I can go with the UA-1000, and bumping up the ‘Priority’ to 89 seems to help.
Update to the RME Babyface: I talked to one of the developers. There were several parties involved in creating the BabyFace, and not all seem to agree in releasing the driver sources to create an open source driver. So unless somebody generates a protocol description by looking at the data stream, there will be no driver for Linux.
What a waste.
SeabladeI find 700 bucks for 1 ADAT port and 2 analogue ports a bit steep anyway. You can almost get a proper sound interface for that money. And the end of proprietary interfaces is near!
@colinf:
I’ve compiled my own 2.6.35 kernel now and it’s kind of working. I can get jack running but it xruns quite a bit and in the connections it only shows 4 inputs and 4 outputs. It also doesn’t allow me to choose the sample rate, not matter what I set it to it runs it at 192000 even though the UA1000 only goes up to 92000. I have Realtime checked. snd_ua101 is now showing up in lsmod, so thats good I suppose.
edit: got it working! Thankyou so much for your help! It turned out you have to turn the device off when you want to change the sample rate, so I just turned it off, switched sample rate to 48000 then turned it on and it works! thank you so much!
That sounds like progress…
You have to switch the UA-1000 off to change the sample rate: the rate is set from the sample rate switch when the device powers up.
According to the owner’s manual, the UA-1000 supports 192 kHz 4 channel playback only. The ‘USER SET’ position of the switch defaults to this sample rate. The only way to change the ‘USER SET’ sample rate is from the Windows control panel: as far as I know, there’s no way to change this under Linux.
I’ve never tried the 192 kHz sample rate myself, so I don’t know whether the xruns will go away once you get it running at a lower rate.
[edit]
Looks like our messages crossed! Great to hear you’ve got it working: have fun!
I compared the m-audio fast track pro to the built-in Intel HDA interface in my laptop and found no significant difference. I set the alsa-mixer gains to zero and used an external mixer with preamps. I gave more details in a post on another audio interface thread.
If you only want two input channels, you might consider this option. I would be interested in knowing other peoples’ experience.
The M-Audio(Or any external interface) is the preferred solution for at least two reasons, one the AD conversion is likely to be slightly better(Though I have not measured this yet, this will be a small difference but noticable on good equipment with good ears) but the larger reason is simply because it will move the AD/DA outside of the box and be FAR less susceptible from interference from within the computer, a common source of problems.
Seablade
And I am fairly certain I am forgetting one or two reasons, of course the OP was also looking for preamps with 48v, and this thread was started nearly a year ago:)