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[to LINUX users out there] USB 2.0 external sound card (working on MacOSX)

post #1 of 5
12/19/10 at 4:51am
Thread Starter 

 Hi everybody,

I'd like to buy an USB 2.0 external sound card


So... In particular, it would be some USB-to-SPDIF 24bit/96KHz and/or USB-to-AESEBU interface. 

Now... These interfaces work with MacOSX, no-driver-required.

QUESTION: is it true that every audio interface that works on MacOSX without requiring any additional driver, will work also on Linux for sure? 
I was told so once, by a friend of mine.

Can anyone here confirm this?

Thank you very much.

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post #2 of 5
12/19/10 at 5:00am

Check the Alsa page for your soundcard.  There is no reason to assume the Linux would be tied to MacOS, esp seeing that MacOS does not even use Alsa.

 

http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main

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post #3 of 5
12/19/10 at 5:11am
Thread Starter 

Hi, that list is incomplete, since it concerns mostly soundcards which require additional drivers to run on Windows and Mac.

 

There are a lot of USB 1.0 and 2.0 devices that are not on that list and that "just work" on Linux as they "just work" on Win and Mac, completely plug&play.

 

My friend doesn't speak about drivers but "calls" to the system and the kernel for these devices. He says that Mac and Linux use the same protocol or something like that, and that therefore, when it comes to audio,  what's plug&play on MacOSX is for sure plug&play on Linux. I'd like to understand more about this thing and to know whether he's right or not. 


Edited by Edoardo - 12/19/10 at 5:13am
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post #4 of 5
12/19/10 at 5:28am

MacOS uses ??OpenAL?? for sound

 

Linux uses Alsa and PulseAudio for sound.

 

The Kernel for either can not play sound without a sound engine [OpenAL, Alsa, PulseAudio, etc]

 

Complete list or not, the only similarities in MacOS and Linux are that both are Unix based operating systems.

 

All the soundcards on the list in the Alsa page are Plug-n-Play because all the drivers for them come pre-installed with Alsa.

 

Plug-n-Play or not all sound cards need drivers, you either have to install them yourself or they come pre-installed so the user can just Plug in their card and Play.

 

Typically USB sound cards will be Plug-n-Play and will not require user installed drivers, but like I said they "just work" because the drivers are already installed not because they don't need drivers.

 

What I am saying is that you can not use MacOS as a base line to determine what will work in Linux.


Edited by Dynobot - 12/19/10 at 5:35am
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post #5 of 5
12/20/10 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 

 



the need of some kind of driver for any peripheral is crystal-clear to me.

 
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dynobot View Post

 

 

What I am saying is that you can not use MacOS as a base line to determine what will work in Linux.

I am just saying that some people (including some sound card producers) act exactly like this.

 

And I'd like to know why...

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