[ardour-users] New to the list with some questions.

[Andrew Johnston]

George Jones IV - Logic7 wrote:

>Thanks for the reply.
>
>"the main issue with the SB128's is whether they can be used for symmetrical
>duplex i/o (i.e. the same bit width for input and output).
>many early SB's could not do this. if not, it will be usable, but not as
>useful, even though i know you insist you never record any acoustic signals.
>you would need to use the -P flag with JACK so that the card is used for
>playback only (if it cannot do symmetrical duplex)."
>
>It can do full duplex without a hitch. The AWE32 and 64 both had the issue
>you're speaking of. They drop to 8 bit playback while recording at 16 bit.
>Sounded pretty nasty. 
>
>"a P3-550 is a pretty underpowered machine for s/w synthesis these days.
>i have a dual PII-400, and its useful for audio recording, mixing etc., but
>i can't run more than 1 or 2 powerhouse synths at a time."
>
>Interesting. I was using this machine as my primary recording machine for
>some time with Cubase VST 5.1R2, Rebirth, FM7, Pro 52, Reaktor 3, Absynth,
>and Attack. Never had any real issues with multiple synths unless it was
>something wild I created with Reaktor. My current DAW machine is only a
>P3-700 and it runs nicely. 
>
>"Rewire does not exist on Linux - it is a proprietary system. We have
>something that is better in almost every way - JACK - which does the same
>thing. You cannot use Reason or Rebirth with Ardour - these are Windows
>programs and will not run on Linux even under Wine. "
>
>I got Rebirth to run partially with Wine years ago (2001 in fact). It was
>already installed on a Win98SE partition on my old dual-boot box (P3-450).
>It would launch, but was pretty unuseable. It might be better now. I may try
>it one day and let you know the results.
>
>"you will not. you cannot use any plugins that use PACE iLock copy
>protection on linux, which rules out all waves plugins unless you plan to
>use cracked copies. i don't know for sure what TC is using. you should not
>plan on using ardour if your basic plan is to continue using a set of
>windows-based tools. this just isn't going to work. we have done, and will
>continue to do some work on extending the possibilities in this area, but we
>have some awesome tools available on linux, and in the end there just isn't
>enough time in the day to deal with all the hacks required to run win32
>software on linux."
>
>As I stated later in my post, I'm not opposed to trying to make some music
>using Linux tools. I try to keep up with Linux midi/audio tools to some
>degree but apparently not enough since Rosegarden completely slipped by me.
>I'll check it all out and hopefully I can squeeze some good results out of
>it.
>
>  
>
I agree with Paul.  I was doing very much the same thing as you.  Using 
FL, Reason and Pro-tools and CoolEdit to make electronic software synth 
based music as well.  There is nothing at this moment in time that can 
give you the felxibility, functionality and usability that FL and reason 
can.  They simply are phenomenal and really well geared to musicians, 
and the onset of VST(i) support has really made it incredibly easy to 
make good music with minimal mucking around.  Ardour for my money comes 
a very close second to Pro-tools, it is fantastic for DAW and using with 
JACK.  Hydrogen is an absolutely brilliant drum machine, and is worth 
getting.  The thing I'm most frustrated with is having so many seperate 
programs to switch between and save, and finding a user friendly and 
powerful softsynth akin to WASP or VIRUS or SimSynth.  Zynaddsubfx is 
amazing in it's scope, almost to many options to configure, and so it 
does take a lot of time to pull a soundfount that you're after.  I find 
somethings in Muse are good, and I haven't tried Rosegarden yet.  I 
would use BEAST if it had a JACK plugin....please tell me anybody if 
there is, cause I haven't found it!  BEAST seems to be going somewhere 
along the same track as reason in it's own way....but for my liking 
still asking me to spend to much time programming a soundfount instead 
of tweaking knobs and getting the sound I'm after =)  If I were a 
programmer I would be grabbing the best bits from all these and putting 
it into a composition software program just like Reason or FL.  Built in 
soft synths, sampler, Sequencer, pattern editor/piano roll, drum 
machine, VST/LADSPA effects -- anybody keen?

Anyway, I use Linux and refuse to go back to Microsoft despite it 
meaning my music making has taken a backward step and I've had to start 
up a new learning curve.  I look forward to seeing audio develop in 
Linux, and am thankful that people like Paul have spent their time to 
develop solid and professional produtcs like JACK and Ardour -- despite 
the downsides, I'll be sticking with it.