I must state up front that I am very new to the Linux sound system and not an advocate for either camp BUT :-)
since installing 8.10 I have not been able to record in Audacity and have had a problem shutting down my system which has been put down to network and/or ALSA problems by the forums. I followed lots of howtos re ALSA and ended up with a pulseAudio server and was still none the wiser. After finally getting Audacity working (somehow), the sound dropped halfway through side 2 of an LP I was converting to flac. I spent the rest of that day using Audacity in Windows. I have /never/ seen the drop-down input sources selector in Audacity in Intrepid. I decided /in extremis/ to revert to OSS but using the newer OSSv4 (now it has been gpl'd again). I still haven't yet got Audacity working but My computer now shuts down and the sound quality is now noticeably better! (I have always had an inferior sound on linux). At the moment I am content using an old SB Live card but next year I intend to build a sound/video studio PC incorporating multi-track RME card - from what I understand this will mean back to ALSA - is this correct? I am appalled by the state of audio on Linux - it is sooo complicated. Most of the documentation implies that OSS is deprecated in favour of ALSA with hardly a mention of the newer OSSv4. Ubuntu makes it quite difficult to use OSS (new) especially for the beginner - I used this OpenSound, <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenSound>but it doesn't explain enough about what it's doing or what the consequences are. In particular having to configure lots of apps afterwards (I still can't record from Audacity - will be using windows again), and what does this mean? "Reverting to ALSA <snip> Some users wish to revert back to ALSA to try Creative's X-fi drivers or /maintain complete Ubuntu compatibility/" (my emphasis)* *Are my upgrades now in peril - is Ubuntu likely to be unstable ?* * I think it's difficult to know whether to use ALSA or the new OSS and the implications of each choice, Ubuntu seems to make it difficult to choose OSS yet ALSA seems greatly flawed. Currently i am running OSv4 and not fully configured everything but the sound /is /better! I would like to hear a real discussion of this and the pros and cons of each on the podcast maybe with some audio cognoscenti (unless the regular members are this all ready :-) ). Audio is so important yet it seems we aren't /offered/ a choice here . Eddie -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
