Happy geek

[mdlbear]

After beating my head against the Linux audio system for roughly a day and a half, I finally tracked the problem down to the "aux in" pushbuttons on the back of the preamp/mixer that feeds my soundcard. OK, this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be for what it does, and the buttons are obscurely labeled and around in back where I needed a flashlight to see them, but still...

Bottom line: I feel somewhat stupid, I've learned a lot about how Linux does sound, and I can (at long last) play and record 4 channels of honest CD-quality (or better) sound.

Comments

[asavitzk.livejournal.com]

How many sound cards are you using for this 4-channel setup and what kind are they?

Re:

[mdlbear]

There are two sound "cards" in the system: one is a rather ordinary via82xx on the motherboard. The other is an M-Audio Delta 66, which has 4 analog channels in, 4 out, plus another two channels of SPDIF digital audio (coax) in and out.

The Delta 66 was acquired as part of M-Audio's "Omni Studio"; the other part is a preamp/mixer/headphone box that attaches via a custom 15-pin cable. I got the Delta 66 because it had good Linux support, in addition to being about the best performance you could get for the money (about $300 if I remember correctly).