22 ms·

FreeBSD Home Audio Studio

158 points by vermaden 4y ago

Aldipower 4y ago
Which professional sound interface to use?
- yootyootr 4y ago
  home/hobbyist: Focusrite Scarlett semi-pro/more serious: MOTU 828 pro/studio level: PRISM Sound Lyra or Titan
  - peepee1982 4y ago
    No RME for semi-pro? Any specific reason? Because they seem to have great performance and stability on Windows.
    - yootyootr 4y ago
      I'm from the UK and they're not well known here versus MOTU..
      - butterknife 4y ago
        Anecdotally, I'd like to disagree. Plenty of RME used in professional PA system industry. MOTU, not so much.
        bluGill 4y ago
        The PA market and the recording markets are different, and there is surprisingly little overlap between the people in each.
        Applejinx 4y ago
        I would note that MOTU is very solid for Mac-based studios, and I've heard that RME is comparably solid for PC-based studios.
        jasomill 4y ago
        For what it's worth, I've been using a BabyFace Pro on Mac for years, ADAT-connected to an RME rack ADC/DAC to enable all available audio channels, and it's been as rock-solid as any hardware I've ever owned. Note that, while the BabyFace Pro doesn't have native Linux or BSD drivers, it does have a USB class-compliant mode that, while feature-limited compared to the proprietary drivers, may be sufficient for DAW use — AFAIK, the primary limitation is limited control over the hardware mixer, so problematic if you need low-latency monitoring of multiple input channels simultaneously, but possibly irrelevant otherwise. There's also a full-featured iPad mixer app that works in class-compliant mode, so full control is at least theoretically possible, lack of published details notwithstanding, and there appears to be at least some support for this in the Linux kernel, https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/2eb29d59ddf02e39774abfb60b2030b0b7e27c1f/sound/usb/mixer_quirks.c#L2514 https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/2eb29d59ddf02e39774ab...
    - Aldipower 4y ago
      I have a RME and it does not work with Linux or FreeBSD, which is a bummer. So, it is fair not to list it here.
  - krossitalk 4y ago
    Focusrite makes higher grade options for the pro studio space. They offer a variety of rack mount interfaces.
  - selykg 4y ago
    I prefer the Universal Audio Volt series over the Scarlett. Plus, if you ever think of upgrading you'll have some familiarity with Universal Audio, who is a pretty big player in this area. This is coming from a guitarist perspective, in case it matters. I really like my Volt.
    - wyager 4y ago
      The all-aluminum UA volts are made in TW, aluminum-wood models are made in CN, FYI. The Volt 1 and Volt 4 are a good deal. Software is atrocious though. Their spyware DRM crashes any windows VM I try to install it on.
  - tonyarkles 4y ago
    A couple other thoughts for people who are looking around. - I had a consumer M-Audio interface that was always a bit weird. One day well outside the warranty period I popped the lid off and discovered a tombstoned resistor and two bodge wires on the PCB. I reached out to M-Audio on Twitter and the best they could do was offer me a $20 discount on another interface. Very unimpressed. - I replaced it with a Behringer UMC404HD and the very first thing I did when it arrived was pop the cover off. I'm an EE by trade and I was very impressed by the design. The board layout etc was nice, but the part that really surprised me was the pre-amps for the mic inputs. Maybe I'm weird for feeling this way, but the folks who designed it have taste. The pre-amps are designed around some NJR op-amps; NJR parts are notorious for being slew-rate-limited for a lot of applications, but to my ears they sound absolutely buttery smooth. The fact that the designers used those parts instead of some jelly-bean "flat" op-amps really made me appreciate the consideration that went into the design. Edit: and yes, I know Behringer has a bit of a reputation for being "kinda cheap and kinda crappy" but I have zero complaints and I've had this unit for a few years now.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      IIRC the UMC404 was designed just after they bought Midas, and those engineers had a lot of input. Behringer has gotten a lot better, their early days (20 year ago) they made cheap junk clones. Now they have some good gear as well. Though the company itself has other operating practices people don't like. You should for sure do your research on them. I have some of their gear, but I'm not sure I'll buy more.
  - wyager 4y ago
    What would you say are the distinguishing features between home/semi-pro/pro interfaces? Universal Audio recently released some really nice made-in-taiwan desktop interfaces in the same price range as the Scarletts. I have scarletts on my rackmount setup, UA Volt on my desk. UA's software is atrocious though. Their spyware DRM crashes any windows VM I try to install it on. Scarlett's software is relatively good by comparison, although you have to start their server by hand from the terminal if you don't want it running all the time.
    - filoleg 4y ago
      > What would you say are the distinguishing features between home/semi-pro/pro interfaces? Without going into tons of nitty-gritty details, the major ones are the number of inputs/channels, size, and price. Scarlett 2i2 is more than enough for most people, with its 2 channels (both with independently controllable headphone and monitor outputs). Motu 828, the one listed as semi-pro tier, has 20 input channels. I suggest reading reviews of each of them, but basically the rule of thumb is that if the review is listing bajillion things that you have no understanding of at all, you don't need that tier and can safely move to the tier below. No shame in that at all. Even the home/hobby level of audio equipment today is functionally crazy, and priced insanely cheap compared to just a couple decades ago.
      - wyager 4y ago
        I meant more between e.g. a Scarlett 18i20 and a Motu 828. I went with the Scarlett because A) it was relatively cheap and B) it had quite good reviews, but I'm curious what I'm losing on a technical basis by going for the $500 option over the $1000 option.
  - chuchana 4y ago
    Did you have a positive experience with the 828? I've always read it worked great on Mac OS, but it never did for me (on Mac OS 9 and X).
- speed_spread 4y ago
  I use a Zoom Livetrak L-12 mixer. It's more than just an interface but it sounds great and has a excellent functionality for the price.
- eropple 4y ago
  I am not a musician, but I am a live events operator, and since almost everybody has a Zoom setup now I want to asterisk something for folks who are reading: the interfaces recommended in other comments are great interfaces if you are a musician, but for spoken word they're all overkill. If you're in the market for that, start slow. I recommend a good USB-powered dynamic microphone, such as the Samson Q2U or Samson Q9U. If you're going to buy an interface (maybe to drive some monitors as well as a microphone) and an XLR microphone for exclusively spoken-word stuff, the "buy a dynamic" advice still applies--I like the sE Dynacaster but I'm also the type to spend $300 on a microphone, you don't need to be--but you really don't need more than something like a Behringer UMC22 for an interface. Not a UM22, that's different and a bit below-the-bar, but you don't need to spend more than $60-$70 for an interface that will do everything you need. I wrote this near the start of COVID when at a previous company and my advice still holds. https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-1 https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-1 https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-2 https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-2
  - PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
    https://ardour.org/faq.html#say-no-to-usb https://ardour.org/faq.html#say-no-to-usb
    - eropple 4y ago
      Can you explain why you posted this link-and-run? Because this is not a responsive criticism to what I wrote. And, if one reads the document you linked, the authors of that document expressly do not intend it to be responsive. > If you plan to use your USB mic with its own headphone jack, then most of what is written here does not apply to you, and you can regard the microphone as a small, not particularly good, simple audio interface just like one of the boxes you might otherwise connect to you computer. Yup. This is true. I recommended the Samson Q2U or Q9U in no small part because of this. It is a single-purpose audio interface and it's fine for people who want a good-sounding Zoom presence. They are also both microphones that provide some nontrivial improvement when they are used over XLR, which can rationalize later buying an interface once you've decided that you want to do so. > If you're making a podcast, or working with some audio where the highest possible fidelity to the original sound isn't particularly important, you're probably going to be just fine with this resampling taking place. You can use your USB mic, the operating system will resample one or both audio streams, things will seem to just work, and you'll probably be happy with the results. As it happens, I agree with the general thrust of what they're saying--for music. This is a reason why I have a very large and moderately expensive digital mixer. But they themselves are not intending to cover general-purpose, spoken-word uses, like podcasts (which I think one can reasonably expand to "teleconferences"), with their criticism. So can you enlighten me as to your point?
SanjayMehta 4y ago
Sounds perfect for an old mac mini I have lying around. FreeBSD 12 should work?
- ihatepython 4y ago
  You're better off running Snow Leopard on an old mac mini for pro audio, unless you really just want to play with FreeBSD (you'll spend more time configuring your system rather than making music)
  - frankzander 4y ago
    That's often also the problem with Linux and audio. The easiest way is to connect Ardour directly through ALSA to an audio interface . The second easiest way is IMHO jackd and if you want to get in some trouble it's Pipewire (at least within the development state mar 2023).
    - jeroenhd 4y ago
      What's the current problem with Pipewire? Pulse (for simple audio stuff) and Jack (for low latency stuff) integrations both work fine for me, so I'm wondering what problems you've run into recently are.
      - bandrami 4y ago
        In my recent experience the problem isn't pipewire per se but rather how it interacts with rtkit (it's particularly bad with the FocusRite interface recommended above for home users). You can set it up to request realtime capabilities directly but you're going against the workflow and at that point you might as well use jack since you're going to be fiddling around anyways. Though honestly, on Linux I just use ALSA for everything and don't think about it after that. By definition neither Jack nor Pipewire can be faster than the ALSA they are talking to.
        smoldesu 4y ago
jna_sh 4y ago
Contents of the article aside, I’m intrigued by that Thinkpad with what appears to be a graphics tablet in the palm rest. Anyone know what model that is?
- ianai 4y ago
  It’s labeled W701. Probably from quite a few years ago.
  - NikkiA 4y ago
    From about 16 years ago, it also has a slide-out second monitor on the side that was an interesting idea, but effectively useless. Here's an image of one with the monitor slid-out: http://www.tabletsnlaptops.com/laptop-images/lenovo-thinkPad-w701-254158q-1.jpg http://www.tabletsnlaptops.com/laptop-images/lenovo-thinkPad...
    - voxadam 4y ago
      Out of curiosity, what makes the second monitor "effectively useless"?
      - larrywright 4y ago
        It looks tiny. I would guess that it’s just not enough usable screen real estate.
    - Pfiffer 4y ago
      Thats only the DS variant of the W700/W701, some of them are just normal workstations, too.
- voytec 4y ago
  Two pairs of physical "mouse" buttons - one for the touchpad and second for trackpoint (red "dot") - look quite unusual. Especially in comparison to the new Z13 model[1] in which Lenovo has ditched buttons-buttons on top of the touchpad in favor of an area of touchpad acting as buttons for both trackpoint and touchpad. My T-series has physical buttons-buttons for the trackpoint on top of the touchpad and bottom area of the touchpad acting as buttons for the touchpad. I haven't tested neither Z13 model (not yet released) nor the old W-series but I think Z-series may be a downgrade. Seriously, the trackpoint/touchbar from MacBooks is the only thing I miss after switching to ThinkPads. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34954787 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34954787
ianai 4y ago
I’m blown away that people are still playing Urban Terror in 2023.
- merpkz 4y ago
  I still do, because there is no other game which can match the experience of jump-slide-fps action as this one does, simple as that. Sadly there are only ever two maps where people still play and neither of them roll Dust2 or Ryiadh maps, which are my fav.
  - ianai 4y ago
    True it has a golden combination of realism and quakeism.
- bit-perfect 4y ago
  With OpenArena you have that some maps still look really nice in 2023 if you set all settings to the highest settings, which any modern GPU can easily handle. Some maps are just plain super cool. So I mean some maps can give you an experience that the best commercial titles can't match right now. Urban Terror is probably similar in that it has been developed more and more over the years and has received better maps and features.
  - merpkz 4y ago
    Can you just tell which maps are those? Whenever I check OpenArena I am saddened to see that every server is empty of humans or there are just few russians arguing in regular stype maps
    - suave3 4y ago
      Yeah, nobody plays open arena. Xonotic, another open source shooter, on the other hand has a lot of players.
- numbsafari 4y ago
  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
partomniscient 4y ago
From the article: jackd_args="-r -d oss -r44000 -p1024 -n2 -w16 -i4 -o8 -C /dev/dsp0 -P /dev/dsp0" I'm presuming the rate "oss -r44000" should actually be "oss -r 44100" for normal audio (or 48000 for audio to be embedded in video output, 48000 also appears to be the default rate).
- vermaden 4y ago
  Fixed. Thanks.
grepfru_it 4y ago
I really support FreeBSD whenever I can, but not here. Linux, ubuntu specifically, out of the box can have an audio workstation ready to go within 10 minutes of installation. Not to mention you get a much larger array of software and VST plugins. When you consider hardware support, its almost a nobrainer. However FreeBSD is probably a bit more stable with jack in realtime mode. 10 years ago, I used to run Linux as my effects processor for my guitar and keyboard synth when I was in a band. That same laptop also ran projectm to display realtime visuals on our backdrop.
- bluGill 4y ago
  I have a machine running ubuntu studio. While it is easy to get up and going, the upgrades over the years have not been smooth. I'm thinking about going back to FreeBSD because long term it is easier to upgrade. pkg is an amazing system that beats dpkg or rpm (it took 10-15 years to get ahead though)
  - voytec 4y ago
    > pkg is an amazing system that beats dpkg or rpm What's your reasoning for this statement? I find poudriere[1] handy for compiling one's own packages from ports configured to fit one's goals, but I see nothing outstanding in plain pkg. It has issues when there's an IPv6 address up (even link-local) but no egress v6 routing. It would hang and wait for a timeout when an IPv6 address is selected from resolved addresses. After a timeout - pkg connects to v4 endpoint but if there's several packages to be downloaded, it can fall back to trying to connect to v6 with the next package. On the other hand, I've recently had Ubuntu 22.04 register Python-related packages which were not successfully installed, resulting in all dpkg/apt/apt-get commands failing due to py3clean script throwing tracebacks, until /var/lib/dpkg/status was edited and these packages were in fact installed and then removed. [1] https://github.com/freebsd/poudriere/wiki https://github.com/freebsd/poudriere/wiki
    - bluGill 4y ago
      That you can mix ports and pkg is a big deal. 99% of the time the default binary pkg is good enough, but that last 1% I can get the exact options I want. I haven't used IPv6 with pkg though. (stupid ISPs).
numlock86 4y ago
Is FreeBSD bringing anything special and mention-worthy to the table here or is this just a post in the realm of "Hey, FreeBSD can do this, too!"? Not a rant (I'm working with OpenBSD and/or FreeBSD almost daily) but more of a question if I have missed anything.
- crest 4y ago
  The author is known to blog his notes using FreeBSD as a daily driver for things other than just damn fast HTTPS video streaming and ZFS file or block storage.
kamranjon 4y ago
For those that might have struggled with Ardour or were looking for something just a bit more professional on Linux, I recommend Reaper - it's a one time purchase and in my opinion about as good as it gets on Linux: https://www.reaper.fm/ https://www.reaper.fm/
- chrisjc 4y ago
  Thanks, I was recently trying to figure out what audio app use for some very amateur toying around. I used to play around with a version of Reason I had long ago and recently just started playing with Garageband. It's pretty difficult trying to understand where to get started and what to use, esp as just a hobby. Googling "reason vs X" just turned up ad-loaded drivel. Anyone know of any good guides that lay out the land? Venn diagrams of where DAWs (digital audio workstation), Mixers, etc overlap or how they relate/compare with each other?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- rhizome31 4y ago
  Also check Bitwig, Renoise, Tracktion , U-He, AudioThing... Plenty of commercial audio software running on Linux nowadays.
  - filoleg 4y ago
    Bitwig specifically is very known and exceptional. It isn't just a "daw for linux", it is a major cross-platform DAW that is being developed by a bunch of ex-Ableton people. Been following it since the initial release, and by now it became clear that they are clearly shooting (and really promisingly) for the "top DAW overall" status rather than something more narrow like "top Linux DAW".
- dizhn 4y ago
  If one is not against proprietary software, Reaper can actually be tested (for quite a while) free with all the features enabled.
pipeline_peak 4y ago
The amount of effort people will go to avoid working a job and buying a Mac or installing Windows.
- whalesalad 4y ago
  You do realize this is Hacker News right?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- jrm4 4y ago
  "Working a job?" What do you think the readers of this space do? What is your vision of this "non-working" hacker news reader? I legitimately can't imagine anything here but a 90's era stereotype.
  - pipeline_peak 4y ago
    Ride their tandem bikes around "SanFran" with raspberry pi's up their asses. Complain about how normal people don't use Firefox anymore and that it should be rewritten in Rust. Try to convert their FreeBSD thinkpads into modern DAWs.
    - nix23 4y ago
      The only person complaining here is you, oh the irony.
      - pipeline_peak 4y ago
        > Making a joke = complaining hmmm
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
huimang 4y ago
I think it's cool that people work on DAWs for *nix/*bsd, but as someone who uses linux as a daily driver, I don't really see the point. When I want to make or record music, I don't want to spend time debugging the system. I just want it to work, and I don't want have to worry if a plugin runs on my system. *nix/*bsd don't come close to achieving that, and windows is not stable enough for audio systems for my taste. IOW what is the hobby here? Making music, or tinkering with my *nix/*bsd system?
- hn8305823 4y ago
  Linux didn't get that way without people like OP helping to make things work. Many people said (and still say) the same things about Linux vs Mac for example.
- prmoustache 4y ago
  The association of using linux/bsd and spending time debugging system is getting old. Like very very old and outdated. The parent article show a small number of config files to set and a package to install. It is not more complicated than installing ASIO4ALL driver and setting it up on a windows box. And I can show you countless of threads in music forums about people asking how to solve their midi connections / sync / latency / clipping problems on macOS and windows.
  - huimang 4y ago
    "The association of using linux/bsd and spending time debugging system is getting old. Like very very old and outdated." I literally use linux every day on my pc, work laptop, and personal laptop. It's not outdated at all, it's part of using linux. Granted it's a lot better than before. MacOS having occasional issues is not comparable to having to mess around with alsa/jack/pipewire and debug linux issues in general. Obviously no system is perfect.
    - prmoustache 4y ago
      I'd be curious to know what you need to debug on a regular basis. I don't have to do anything with alsa. On pipewire I just use pulseaudio volume control to define the sound levels and codec used by the different audio devices/interfaces I plug into. This is pretty seamless. And that's it. The only things that makes me pull my hair sometimes are pairing bluetooth devices but that is regardless of the OS. It may just be that some hardware/firmwares of bluetooth devices are just shitty because it is the same misery regardless if I am on mobile, windows, linux, whatever.
ralphw 4y ago
This might be a good idea to find a more stable platform. I may start messing with GUIX to feel Lispy throughout my next computing adventures I love Linux, but feel a bit of whiplash after Ubuntu's feeping commerce creaturism, charging for things that it seems like should be in the core product. (live kernel patching, for example)

158 points by vermaden 4y ago

Aldipower 4y ago

Which professional sound interface to use?

yootyootr 4y ago
home/hobbyist: Focusrite Scarlett semi-pro/more serious: MOTU 828 pro/studio level: PRISM Sound Lyra or Titan
- peepee1982 4y ago
  No RME for semi-pro? Any specific reason? Because they seem to have great performance and stability on Windows.
  - yootyootr 4y ago
    I'm from the UK and they're not well known here versus MOTU..
    - butterknife 4y ago
      Anecdotally, I'd like to disagree. Plenty of RME used in professional PA system industry. MOTU, not so much.
      - bluGill 4y ago
        The PA market and the recording markets are different, and there is surprisingly little overlap between the people in each.
      - Applejinx 4y ago
        I would note that MOTU is very solid for Mac-based studios, and I've heard that RME is comparably solid for PC-based studios.
        jasomill 4y ago
        For what it's worth, I've been using a BabyFace Pro on Mac for years, ADAT-connected to an RME rack ADC/DAC to enable all available audio channels, and it's been as rock-solid as any hardware I've ever owned. Note that, while the BabyFace Pro doesn't have native Linux or BSD drivers, it does have a USB class-compliant mode that, while feature-limited compared to the proprietary drivers, may be sufficient for DAW use — AFAIK, the primary limitation is limited control over the hardware mixer, so problematic if you need low-latency monitoring of multiple input channels simultaneously, but possibly irrelevant otherwise. There's also a full-featured iPad mixer app that works in class-compliant mode, so full control is at least theoretically possible, lack of published details notwithstanding, and there appears to be at least some support for this in the Linux kernel, https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/2eb29d59ddf02e39774abfb60b2030b0b7e27c1f/sound/usb/mixer_quirks.c#L2514 https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/2eb29d59ddf02e39774ab...
  - Aldipower 4y ago
    I have a RME and it does not work with Linux or FreeBSD, which is a bummer. So, it is fair not to list it here.
- krossitalk 4y ago
  Focusrite makes higher grade options for the pro studio space. They offer a variety of rack mount interfaces.
- selykg 4y ago
  I prefer the Universal Audio Volt series over the Scarlett. Plus, if you ever think of upgrading you'll have some familiarity with Universal Audio, who is a pretty big player in this area. This is coming from a guitarist perspective, in case it matters. I really like my Volt.
  - wyager 4y ago
    The all-aluminum UA volts are made in TW, aluminum-wood models are made in CN, FYI. The Volt 1 and Volt 4 are a good deal. Software is atrocious though. Their spyware DRM crashes any windows VM I try to install it on.
- tonyarkles 4y ago
  A couple other thoughts for people who are looking around. - I had a consumer M-Audio interface that was always a bit weird. One day well outside the warranty period I popped the lid off and discovered a tombstoned resistor and two bodge wires on the PCB. I reached out to M-Audio on Twitter and the best they could do was offer me a $20 discount on another interface. Very unimpressed. - I replaced it with a Behringer UMC404HD and the very first thing I did when it arrived was pop the cover off. I'm an EE by trade and I was very impressed by the design. The board layout etc was nice, but the part that really surprised me was the pre-amps for the mic inputs. Maybe I'm weird for feeling this way, but the folks who designed it have taste. The pre-amps are designed around some NJR op-amps; NJR parts are notorious for being slew-rate-limited for a lot of applications, but to my ears they sound absolutely buttery smooth. The fact that the designers used those parts instead of some jelly-bean "flat" op-amps really made me appreciate the consideration that went into the design. Edit: and yes, I know Behringer has a bit of a reputation for being "kinda cheap and kinda crappy" but I have zero complaints and I've had this unit for a few years now.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    IIRC the UMC404 was designed just after they bought Midas, and those engineers had a lot of input. Behringer has gotten a lot better, their early days (20 year ago) they made cheap junk clones. Now they have some good gear as well. Though the company itself has other operating practices people don't like. You should for sure do your research on them. I have some of their gear, but I'm not sure I'll buy more.
- wyager 4y ago
  What would you say are the distinguishing features between home/semi-pro/pro interfaces? Universal Audio recently released some really nice made-in-taiwan desktop interfaces in the same price range as the Scarletts. I have scarletts on my rackmount setup, UA Volt on my desk. UA's software is atrocious though. Their spyware DRM crashes any windows VM I try to install it on. Scarlett's software is relatively good by comparison, although you have to start their server by hand from the terminal if you don't want it running all the time.
  - filoleg 4y ago
    > What would you say are the distinguishing features between home/semi-pro/pro interfaces? Without going into tons of nitty-gritty details, the major ones are the number of inputs/channels, size, and price. Scarlett 2i2 is more than enough for most people, with its 2 channels (both with independently controllable headphone and monitor outputs). Motu 828, the one listed as semi-pro tier, has 20 input channels. I suggest reading reviews of each of them, but basically the rule of thumb is that if the review is listing bajillion things that you have no understanding of at all, you don't need that tier and can safely move to the tier below. No shame in that at all. Even the home/hobby level of audio equipment today is functionally crazy, and priced insanely cheap compared to just a couple decades ago.
    - wyager 4y ago
      I meant more between e.g. a Scarlett 18i20 and a Motu 828. I went with the Scarlett because A) it was relatively cheap and B) it had quite good reviews, but I'm curious what I'm losing on a technical basis by going for the $500 option over the $1000 option.
- chuchana 4y ago
  Did you have a positive experience with the 828? I've always read it worked great on Mac OS, but it never did for me (on Mac OS 9 and X).
speed_spread 4y ago
I use a Zoom Livetrak L-12 mixer. It's more than just an interface but it sounds great and has a excellent functionality for the price.
eropple 4y ago
I am not a musician, but I am a live events operator, and since almost everybody has a Zoom setup now I want to asterisk something for folks who are reading: the interfaces recommended in other comments are great interfaces if you are a musician, but for spoken word they're all overkill. If you're in the market for that, start slow. I recommend a good USB-powered dynamic microphone, such as the Samson Q2U or Samson Q9U. If you're going to buy an interface (maybe to drive some monitors as well as a microphone) and an XLR microphone for exclusively spoken-word stuff, the "buy a dynamic" advice still applies--I like the sE Dynacaster but I'm also the type to spend $300 on a microphone, you don't need to be--but you really don't need more than something like a Behringer UMC22 for an interface. Not a UM22, that's different and a bit below-the-bar, but you don't need to spend more than $60-$70 for an interface that will do everything you need. I wrote this near the start of COVID when at a previous company and my advice still holds. https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-1 https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-1 https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-2 https://www.mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-2
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
  https://ardour.org/faq.html#say-no-to-usb https://ardour.org/faq.html#say-no-to-usb
  - eropple 4y ago
    Can you explain why you posted this link-and-run? Because this is not a responsive criticism to what I wrote. And, if one reads the document you linked, the authors of that document expressly do not intend it to be responsive. > If you plan to use your USB mic with its own headphone jack, then most of what is written here does not apply to you, and you can regard the microphone as a small, not particularly good, simple audio interface just like one of the boxes you might otherwise connect to you computer. Yup. This is true. I recommended the Samson Q2U or Q9U in no small part because of this. It is a single-purpose audio interface and it's fine for people who want a good-sounding Zoom presence. They are also both microphones that provide some nontrivial improvement when they are used over XLR, which can rationalize later buying an interface once you've decided that you want to do so. > If you're making a podcast, or working with some audio where the highest possible fidelity to the original sound isn't particularly important, you're probably going to be just fine with this resampling taking place. You can use your USB mic, the operating system will resample one or both audio streams, things will seem to just work, and you'll probably be happy with the results. As it happens, I agree with the general thrust of what they're saying--for music. This is a reason why I have a very large and moderately expensive digital mixer. But they themselves are not intending to cover general-purpose, spoken-word uses, like podcasts (which I think one can reasonably expand to "teleconferences"), with their criticism. So can you enlighten me as to your point?

SanjayMehta 4y ago

Sounds perfect for an old mac mini I have lying around. FreeBSD 12 should work?

ihatepython 4y ago
You're better off running Snow Leopard on an old mac mini for pro audio, unless you really just want to play with FreeBSD (you'll spend more time configuring your system rather than making music)
- frankzander 4y ago
  That's often also the problem with Linux and audio. The easiest way is to connect Ardour directly through ALSA to an audio interface . The second easiest way is IMHO jackd and if you want to get in some trouble it's Pipewire (at least within the development state mar 2023).
  - jeroenhd 4y ago
    What's the current problem with Pipewire? Pulse (for simple audio stuff) and Jack (for low latency stuff) integrations both work fine for me, so I'm wondering what problems you've run into recently are.
    - bandrami 4y ago
      In my recent experience the problem isn't pipewire per se but rather how it interacts with rtkit (it's particularly bad with the FocusRite interface recommended above for home users). You can set it up to request realtime capabilities directly but you're going against the workflow and at that point you might as well use jack since you're going to be fiddling around anyways. Though honestly, on Linux I just use ALSA for everything and don't think about it after that. By definition neither Jack nor Pipewire can be faster than the ALSA they are talking to.
      - smoldesu 4y ago

jna_sh 4y ago

Contents of the article aside, I’m intrigued by that Thinkpad with what appears to be a graphics tablet in the palm rest. Anyone know what model that is?

ianai 4y ago
It’s labeled W701. Probably from quite a few years ago.
- NikkiA 4y ago
  From about 16 years ago, it also has a slide-out second monitor on the side that was an interesting idea, but effectively useless. Here's an image of one with the monitor slid-out: http://www.tabletsnlaptops.com/laptop-images/lenovo-thinkPad-w701-254158q-1.jpg http://www.tabletsnlaptops.com/laptop-images/lenovo-thinkPad...
  - voxadam 4y ago
    Out of curiosity, what makes the second monitor "effectively useless"?
    - larrywright 4y ago
      It looks tiny. I would guess that it’s just not enough usable screen real estate.
  - Pfiffer 4y ago
    Thats only the DS variant of the W700/W701, some of them are just normal workstations, too.
voytec 4y ago
Two pairs of physical "mouse" buttons - one for the touchpad and second for trackpoint (red "dot") - look quite unusual. Especially in comparison to the new Z13 model[1] in which Lenovo has ditched buttons-buttons on top of the touchpad in favor of an area of touchpad acting as buttons for both trackpoint and touchpad. My T-series has physical buttons-buttons for the trackpoint on top of the touchpad and bottom area of the touchpad acting as buttons for the touchpad. I haven't tested neither Z13 model (not yet released) nor the old W-series but I think Z-series may be a downgrade. Seriously, the trackpoint/touchbar from MacBooks is the only thing I miss after switching to ThinkPads. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34954787 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34954787

ianai 4y ago

I’m blown away that people are still playing Urban Terror in 2023.

merpkz 4y ago
I still do, because there is no other game which can match the experience of jump-slide-fps action as this one does, simple as that. Sadly there are only ever two maps where people still play and neither of them roll Dust2 or Ryiadh maps, which are my fav.
- ianai 4y ago
  True it has a golden combination of realism and quakeism.
bit-perfect 4y ago
With OpenArena you have that some maps still look really nice in 2023 if you set all settings to the highest settings, which any modern GPU can easily handle. Some maps are just plain super cool. So I mean some maps can give you an experience that the best commercial titles can't match right now. Urban Terror is probably similar in that it has been developed more and more over the years and has received better maps and features.
- merpkz 4y ago
  Can you just tell which maps are those? Whenever I check OpenArena I am saddened to see that every server is empty of humans or there are just few russians arguing in regular stype maps
  - suave3 4y ago
    Yeah, nobody plays open arena. Xonotic, another open source shooter, on the other hand has a lot of players.
numbsafari 4y ago
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

partomniscient 4y ago

From the article: jackd_args="-r -d oss -r44000 -p1024 -n2 -w16 -i4 -o8 -C /dev/dsp0 -P /dev/dsp0" I'm presuming the rate "oss -r44000" should actually be "oss -r 44100" for normal audio (or 48000 for audio to be embedded in video output, 48000 also appears to be the default rate).

vermaden 4y ago
Fixed. Thanks.

grepfru_it 4y ago

I really support FreeBSD whenever I can, but not here. Linux, ubuntu specifically, out of the box can have an audio workstation ready to go within 10 minutes of installation. Not to mention you get a much larger array of software and VST plugins. When you consider hardware support, its almost a nobrainer. However FreeBSD is probably a bit more stable with jack in realtime mode. 10 years ago, I used to run Linux as my effects processor for my guitar and keyboard synth when I was in a band. That same laptop also ran projectm to display realtime visuals on our backdrop.

bluGill 4y ago
I have a machine running ubuntu studio. While it is easy to get up and going, the upgrades over the years have not been smooth. I'm thinking about going back to FreeBSD because long term it is easier to upgrade. pkg is an amazing system that beats dpkg or rpm (it took 10-15 years to get ahead though)
- voytec 4y ago
  > pkg is an amazing system that beats dpkg or rpm What's your reasoning for this statement? I find poudriere[1] handy for compiling one's own packages from ports configured to fit one's goals, but I see nothing outstanding in plain pkg. It has issues when there's an IPv6 address up (even link-local) but no egress v6 routing. It would hang and wait for a timeout when an IPv6 address is selected from resolved addresses. After a timeout - pkg connects to v4 endpoint but if there's several packages to be downloaded, it can fall back to trying to connect to v6 with the next package. On the other hand, I've recently had Ubuntu 22.04 register Python-related packages which were not successfully installed, resulting in all dpkg/apt/apt-get commands failing due to py3clean script throwing tracebacks, until /var/lib/dpkg/status was edited and these packages were in fact installed and then removed. [1] https://github.com/freebsd/poudriere/wiki https://github.com/freebsd/poudriere/wiki
  - bluGill 4y ago
    That you can mix ports and pkg is a big deal. 99% of the time the default binary pkg is good enough, but that last 1% I can get the exact options I want. I haven't used IPv6 with pkg though. (stupid ISPs).

numlock86 4y ago

Is FreeBSD bringing anything special and mention-worthy to the table here or is this just a post in the realm of "Hey, FreeBSD can do this, too!"? Not a rant (I'm working with OpenBSD and/or FreeBSD almost daily) but more of a question if I have missed anything.

crest 4y ago
The author is known to blog his notes using FreeBSD as a daily driver for things other than just damn fast HTTPS video streaming and ZFS file or block storage.

kamranjon 4y ago

For those that might have struggled with Ardour or were looking for something just a bit more professional on Linux, I recommend Reaper - it's a one time purchase and in my opinion about as good as it gets on Linux: https://www.reaper.fm/ https://www.reaper.fm/

chrisjc 4y ago
Thanks, I was recently trying to figure out what audio app use for some very amateur toying around. I used to play around with a version of Reason I had long ago and recently just started playing with Garageband. It's pretty difficult trying to understand where to get started and what to use, esp as just a hobby. Googling "reason vs X" just turned up ad-loaded drivel. Anyone know of any good guides that lay out the land? Venn diagrams of where DAWs (digital audio workstation), Mixers, etc overlap or how they relate/compare with each other?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
rhizome31 4y ago
Also check Bitwig, Renoise, Tracktion , U-He, AudioThing... Plenty of commercial audio software running on Linux nowadays.
- filoleg 4y ago
  Bitwig specifically is very known and exceptional. It isn't just a "daw for linux", it is a major cross-platform DAW that is being developed by a bunch of ex-Ableton people. Been following it since the initial release, and by now it became clear that they are clearly shooting (and really promisingly) for the "top DAW overall" status rather than something more narrow like "top Linux DAW".
dizhn 4y ago
If one is not against proprietary software, Reaper can actually be tested (for quite a while) free with all the features enabled.

pipeline_peak 4y ago

The amount of effort people will go to avoid working a job and buying a Mac or installing Windows.

whalesalad 4y ago
You do realize this is Hacker News right?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jrm4 4y ago
"Working a job?" What do you think the readers of this space do? What is your vision of this "non-working" hacker news reader? I legitimately can't imagine anything here but a 90's era stereotype.
- pipeline_peak 4y ago
  Ride their tandem bikes around "SanFran" with raspberry pi's up their asses. Complain about how normal people don't use Firefox anymore and that it should be rewritten in Rust. Try to convert their FreeBSD thinkpads into modern DAWs.
  - nix23 4y ago
    The only person complaining here is you, oh the irony.
    - pipeline_peak 4y ago
      > Making a joke = complaining hmmm
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]

huimang 4y ago

I think it's cool that people work on DAWs for *nix/*bsd, but as someone who uses linux as a daily driver, I don't really see the point. When I want to make or record music, I don't want to spend time debugging the system. I just want it to work, and I don't want have to worry if a plugin runs on my system. *nix/*bsd don't come close to achieving that, and windows is not stable enough for audio systems for my taste. IOW what is the hobby here? Making music, or tinkering with my *nix/*bsd system?

hn8305823 4y ago
Linux didn't get that way without people like OP helping to make things work. Many people said (and still say) the same things about Linux vs Mac for example.
prmoustache 4y ago
The association of using linux/bsd and spending time debugging system is getting old. Like very very old and outdated. The parent article show a small number of config files to set and a package to install. It is not more complicated than installing ASIO4ALL driver and setting it up on a windows box. And I can show you countless of threads in music forums about people asking how to solve their midi connections / sync / latency / clipping problems on macOS and windows.
- huimang 4y ago
  "The association of using linux/bsd and spending time debugging system is getting old. Like very very old and outdated." I literally use linux every day on my pc, work laptop, and personal laptop. It's not outdated at all, it's part of using linux. Granted it's a lot better than before. MacOS having occasional issues is not comparable to having to mess around with alsa/jack/pipewire and debug linux issues in general. Obviously no system is perfect.
  - prmoustache 4y ago
    I'd be curious to know what you need to debug on a regular basis. I don't have to do anything with alsa. On pipewire I just use pulseaudio volume control to define the sound levels and codec used by the different audio devices/interfaces I plug into. This is pretty seamless. And that's it. The only things that makes me pull my hair sometimes are pairing bluetooth devices but that is regardless of the OS. It may just be that some hardware/firmwares of bluetooth devices are just shitty because it is the same misery regardless if I am on mobile, windows, linux, whatever.

ralphw 4y ago

This might be a good idea to find a more stable platform. I may start messing with GUIX to feel Lispy throughout my next computing adventures I love Linux, but feel a bit of whiplash after Ubuntu's feeping commerce creaturism, charging for things that it seems like should be in the core product. (live kernel patching, for example)