[Jigglybootch]

I use Ubuntu Linux and upon initial installation, my AV-710 was automatically detected and works without any problems. I know RME cards are supposed to be well-supported under Linux, and I was just wondering if the installation of an RME card would be as simple as my AV-710 was. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[sschell]

Have you checked the ALSA card database to see if your card is supported?

 

[stiben]

Doesn't this page have everything you need?
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/linux/alsa.htm

 

[twodeko]

I have a RME Digi 8/96 Pad that I have been using with linux for quite some time, and was not hard to set up at all. With distro's that require your own alsa configuration, all you need to do is add your card like any other and voila... it works. Otherwise, with Ubuntu, I believe all the drivers are installed so its practically plug and play and you just change audio devices in the program you are using.

One suggestion I have is that when you do setup a soundcard in linux, recompile your kernel with preemption or real time preemption (CONFIG_PREEMPT) support. I had excessive clipping and/or buffer issues but when this was enabled they seemed to dissapear completely. More on this can be found at the Ubuntu DAW site http://ubuntustudio.com/wiki/index.p...tion_.26_Xruns

Sorry for the long response to a short question, but thought this info should be somewhere and you could make good use of it with an RME card and linux.

 

[CarbonTi]

I am using a RME HDSP 9632 as both a DAC source and as a bitstream source via AES/EBU to a Lavry DA10; as such my response is geared towards the HDSP cards.

As in anything Linux, getting the card to work can be easy or difficult predicated on the distro you use but the HDSP is not simply 1) plug-in 2) recompile kernel (or alsa-drivers) 3) alsaconf and 4) alsamixer. The new HDSP cards do not work without hdsploader, hdspmixer, hdspconf and the firmware for the Xylinx chip on the card - all of which are found in alsa-tools and alsa-firmware. You'll need to meet the software dependencies of the hdsp toolkit (there is some gui stuff needed) in order to compile those but once complete you should be good to go. I use Gentoo so I don't know how Ubuntu handles this.

So the short answer is : Yes the RME will probably be detected on the PCI bus, Yes the card is supported in ALSA, No the RME is not as simple as installing the Chaintech AV710. BTW I have both RME and AV710 installed in the same box.

The RME is a fantastic sounding card - if you get a chance to A-B the RME and the AV710 for fun, let us know what you think of the difference in the soundstage between the two. It only gets better from there onwards. Good luck.