From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Mon Feb 12 02:29:34 2018 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 327AFF0D16F for ; Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:29:34 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from ralf.mardorf@rocketmail.com) Received: from sonic305-21.consmr.mail.ir2.yahoo.com (sonic305-21.consmr.mail.ir2.yahoo.com [77.238.177.83]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A1C7778777 for ; Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:29:33 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from ralf.mardorf@rocketmail.com) X-YMail-OSG: 8y6JtOQVM1kgm6JxkmfLj8qbjBGRgmkLCASzN9ERb4bMxfVM6rOgEP6ky5OG708 TQ3rhVvEEa5vDP3XDHYsTDY.DfeCAL7kbDekon6TRja4VlR69_KtPC8WDIKTKQ.uzvef0TpRe7us bFPwDu8uEmWWinsrGTDoiUoMh3nl2z8_KzW_mqA3MxaAixM2IkWHhPd6sU4a226SvAgbtCqAsT3p Pegezbo9y4TeoWMH1tOrgEzT.iYa7UYXLCS9rMb_ii8KotkmirmP1cyny7imJXk9GwK5Uqv7EMSM 97voQ9Pvg7dz54MOdIFauaKgVa_X1luNlCmQP1_dKXtgtVuItWPnDmTwJFJioqb5JVTnHE7X94Lx QS9phASBotaM57ba1TzirUFm8a1lLyI4CE_f5ex9LchHCqWkaFDbFKZR5Yawx68LEQJU46koMqth auHOp8Ief0UlCVAMw0iOSkm3UQAMC49fNHKKy96S88vt1.ePlG.l.oy3s7bKIzD2bIJFrO3oN75j mujxioTjJIiCwBnjMfmdrU_kLKq7K1T5tT9m7JouyMrpivAm6uTA- Received: from sonic.gate.mail.ne1.yahoo.com by sonic305.consmr.mail.ir2.yahoo.com with HTTP; Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:29:26 +0000 Received: from smtp161.mail.ir2.yahoo.com (EHLO archlinux.localdomain) ([46.228.39.124]) by smtp413.mail.ir2.yahoo.com (JAMES SMTP Server ) with ESMTPA ID 55f30ba5a2c68b9df3ad951e6d9a1017 for ; Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:19:14 +0000 (UTC) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2018 03:19:15 +0100 From: Ralf Mardorf To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: a rant about soundcards and its endless dead-time Message-ID: <20180212031915.4b2f6c7b@archlinux.localdomain> In-Reply-To: <20180212015652.2550d87d.freebsd@edvax.de> References: <20180212015652.2550d87d.freebsd@edvax.de> X-Mailer: Claws Mail 3.16.0git24 (GTK+ 2.24.32; x86_64-arch-linux-gnu) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.25 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:29:34 -0000 On Mon, 12 Feb 2018 01:56:52 +0100, Polytropon wrote: >On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 22:36:17 +0000, Eric Joyner wrote: >> Why not just get a PCI-E sound card in the first place? I don't know >> why someone would go out of their way to get a PCI one in 2018. > >MIDI interface? Just guessing... At least expensive PCIe cards provide MIDI, too. USB MIDI often suffers from too much jitter, indeed, my mobo still allows to use an old Envy24 PCI card + my RME PCIe card for (audio and) MIDI and I wouldn't drop them, if I should get an USB audio device for my Linux PC, but continue using them as MIDI interfaces. >Plus - they can be used on several systems without much problems, it's >as simple as "plug pull" and "plug insert". Class compliant USB audio interfaces have a few pitfalls. Before I got the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen for my iPad, I tested a Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL. It drains too much power for the iPad, so I needed to add an active USB hub, to get rid of the power issue, but then there still were issues, so I returned the Presonus to the dealer. Both USB interfaces are working with my Linux PC, but the Focusrite could be used with lower latency, than the Presonus. Another issue with class compliant interfaces could be missing features, that are only provided, if a driver for this card is available, e.g. build in effects or monitor routing. USB ports are tricky e.g. regarding shared IRQs, but usually it should be possible to find an USB port that doesn't cause issues. If so, USB 2 allows to use 18 inputs and 20 outputs, assuming the PC has the horse power to handle the DSP load. However, for audio I only will buy USB interfaces in the future, because it indeed is nearly as simple as "plug pull" and "plug insert".