Hardware support

This page is meant to give a quick, user-friendly overview of current pro and semi-pro audio interfaces.

It should reflect the linux driver support state of the ALSA and FFADO projects with a recent, stable kernel.

Product Page - Behringer

• Supported (USB1.1 audio class compliant device)

• Featurelist

Product Page - Yamaha

• Audio-out works, audio in not tested, USB version unknown

• http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/interfaces/audiogram/audiogram3/?mode=model

• Product Page - Focusrite

• Fully supported out of the box with ALSA (snd-usb-audio module).

• Show Setup Image

• 2 IN, 2 OUT Channels
• 2 Analog XLR/TRS Inputs
• 2 Analog 1/4“ TRS Outputs
• 1 Headphone Stereo 1/4” Output
• 24-bit/96 kHz
• DSP Mixer/Router Zero-Latency

• http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2/specifications

German manufacturer ESI publishes official Linux support of many their hardware offerings. It may be stat the product page does not explicitly mention Linux support, but the knowledge base does. Many models however do not support Linux, such as the Maya. For each model they indicate whether Linuw works. Using keyword search like https://kb.esi-audio.com/?r=1&tags=Linux Linux in the knowledge base , all articles are available.

Below a summary.

Yes! U22 XT is fully class compliant and all functions can be controlled with the switches and knobs on the front panel, so it is supported by the USB audio driver from the ALSA package which is part of most Linux distributions.

U22 XT Product page

Yes! GIGAPORT eX is fully class compliant, so it is supported by the USB audio driver from the ALSA package which is part of most Linux distributions.

ESI Gigaport EX Product page

Product Page - ART

• Supported
• Works out of the box on (at least) Ubuntu 13.10-15.04, both recording and playback

• USB powered, no external power supply needed when used with a computer
• Balanced XLR or unbalanced ¼-inch Instrument inputs with switchable impedance
• Switchable low noise +48V phantom power
• Balanced ¼-inch TRS inputs for stereo or mono line-level sources
• ¼-inch TRS output jacks work with balanced or unbalanced lines
• Stereo ¼-inch TRS headphone jack with independent level control for output monitoring
• Independent controls for both sets of inputs, main output, and headphone monitor
• Green/Red LED signal/clip indicator
• Switchable assignment of USB playback to channels 2 and 3
• USB 2.0 compliant
• USB cable, AC adapter, and Audacity recording software included

• Product Page
• Note: 2×2, 16×08 and 20×20 versions are similar

• supported There is a Windows and Mac configuration program, but it doesn't control much.
• Owner's manual

• 96kHz/24-bit
• Direct monitoring function for zero-latency monitoring
• Four XLR or TRS (MIC/LINE) inputs with full +48V phantom power
• Four TRS analog balanced outputs
• Two headphone outputs – each with 45mW/ch output power

• Product Page

• supported
• (source: NI - Linux Hardware and ALSA - Vendor Matrix : NI )

• Show Setup Image

• add TODO

• Product Page - UsbPre2

• Supported in usb 1.1 mode at 48kHz, 2 channels
• Any news about USB-audio-2.0 mode ??

• Product Page - Focusrite

• work in progress. works with patch, no official ALSA support as of 1.0.25
• USB2 class compliant device, but with custom mixer interface (which is not [yet] correctly discovered by ALSA and thus the driver fails to load).
• Minimal patch (bypass mixer, full DSP support): patch on ALSA dev mailinglist.
• Full support incl. mixer, internal routing and device configuration:focusrite devel blog, git repository.

• Show Setup Image

• 18 In, 6 OUT Channels
• 6 Analog 1/4“ TRS Inputs
• 2 Analog XLR/TRS Inputs
• 1 ADAT Input
• SPDIF I/O
• 2 Analog 1/4” TRS Outputs
• 1 Headphone Stereo 1/4“ Output
• MIDI I/O
• 24-bit/96 kHz
• DSP Mixer/Router Zero-Latency

Product Page - M-Audio

• Basic support as of ALSA 1.0.23, improved support as of ALSA 1.0.24

• simultaneous 8 x 8 24-bit/96kHz audio
• DSP technology > flexible channel routing, monitor sub-mixing and effects processing
• 4 preamps

Product Page - Focusrite

• Supported.

• Key features
• Specifications

Product Page - Focusrite

• Supported, except for the DSP part.

• add TODO

Product Page - Motu

• The Mk3 (Hybrid) Ultralite is unsupported. Only the original (Firewire only) Mk1 is supported.

• add TODO

Roland - QUAD-CAPTURE | USB 2.0 Audio Interface

• doesn't work; (not yet); recognized in lsusb; does't work yet with WineAsio; works in Virtualbox (Win XP + Asio4all);

• add TODO

Roland - OCTA-CAPTURE | Hi-Speed USB Audio Interface

• unknown

• add TODO

Product Page - Presonus

• unknown

• Front
• Back

• add TODO

Product Page - M-Audio

• Works with FFADO using the old stack, full feature support except ffado mixer.

• 2 XLR/TRS Octane Preamped Inputs with Phantom Power Switch
• 2 Analog TRS Inputs
• 8 Analog TRS Outputs
• MIDI I/O
• SPDIF I/O
• 2 Headphone Stereo Outputs
• Works as Standalone device as A/D - D/A Spdif Converter

Product Page - tc electronic

• unknown

• Front
• Back

• add TODO

Product Page - Cakewalk (=Edirol, =Roloand)

• Supported as of ALSA 1.0.22

• after a couple hours of use the USB led on the front goes off and stops working. Works again after switching off-on.
• driver developer thinks its hardware/firmware

• add TODO

Product Page - Cakewalk (=Edirol, =Roloand)

• full support by FFADO project

• add TODO

Product Page - Cakewalk (=Edirol, =Roloand)

• supported by ALSA

• add TODO

Product Page - Echo Audio - AudioFire4

• full support by ffado project ( http://www.ffado.org/?q=node/69 )

• add TODO

Product Page - LexiconPro

• unknown

• add TODO

Product Page - LexiconPro

• Supported

• add TODO

Product Page - Tascam

• Only works in USB1.1 mode (UHCI)
• Set-up manual

• add TODO

Product Page - Tascam

CAN BE MADE TO WORK! At least with Ardour, ALSA, and JackAudio. I haven't tested in PulseAudio because I disabled that for other reasons. Here are the steps:

• Plug into an OSX machine, and use the included software (you don't have to install it and there are no drivers) to reset the device to factory. You can also do this on a Windows machine, but that involves installing drivers, so borrow a Macbook or something.
• Even after that, plugging it in will crash many variants of the 2.6 kernel. This is a kernel interrupt-handler bug. HOWEVER! You can upgrade Linux kernels without upgrading the entire GNU/Linux OS. Directions for Ubuntu are here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds Upgrade to version 3.1.5-generic, and restart the machine.
• Plug the US-800 into an open USB port. There will be MANY complaints in syslog. That's… marginally okay. Better than crashing, anyway. We'll fix it below.
• Launch JackAudio. Go into settings panel, create a new config, based on current actual configuration. THE RESULT WILL BE WRONG, but we'll fix it.
• On the lower right there will be dropdowns for numbers of inputs and outputs. It will probably default to either 2/2 or automatic/automatic. This is wrong. Set those manually to 8/2.
• Save those changes, then stop and restart JackAudio. This is ALSO important because I think we're working around an ALSA device scanner bug where it gets the numbers of inputs wrong. (Or the hardware is buggy and Windows and OSX patch around it. One of those.)
• Go back into settings, and on the lower right, near the number-of-inputs selectors, there will be device selectors for both input and output. Do NOT pick plughw, even tho' that should totally work. Click on the little down wedge icon that brings up the physical device names, and select “us800” for both inputs and outputs.
• Save changes, stop and restart JACK server. You should now have at least all six analogue inputs, and both outputs, at least in things that talk to JackAudio. I can't validate the digital inputs because I lack the hardware.

I tested mostly with 44.1khz but in testing other bitrates worked fine too! I can't get other 24-bit to work, though. But that's ok for me, I record at 16 bit.

• Claims to be a USB Audio 2.0 compliant device; locks Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lyyx) 2.6.32-35-generic shortly after plug-in. Survival time is longer in text console than in GUI. End up with BUG: soft lockup - CPU #0 stuck for 61s! [khubd:29] errors, and then lots of tasks are blocked for 2+ minutes (like kjournald and upowerd and rsyslogd and and and).
• Appears related to this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/576496 but the noacpi workaround DOES NOT WORK. :(
• Also seen here: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1631488.html

• add TODO

Product Page - Alesis io26

• unknown

• add

Product Page - Alesis io14

• state in September 2011:
• this works: playback, recording
• this does NOT work: direct hardware monitoring, mixer (=hardware-volume-control)
• source: ffado - io14
• some technical docu: http://subversion.ffado.org/wiki/Alesis

• add TODO

Product Page - Alesis io2 Express

• WORKS completely! Tested under Linux Mint 12.

Note: The discontinued io2 (not express) had a different casing and offered digital audio out, but is probably otherwise identical and should work just as well.

• in/out MIDI connections
• 2-channel in / 2-channel out, 24-bit 48kHz audio
• hardware monitoring with full mix between direct signal or processed output
• switchable phantom power
• XLR Mic pres, Hi-Z instrument inputs, and inserts on each channel
• USB Bus Powered

Product Page - Alesis io14

• WORKS completely: Tested under Ubuntu 9.04 on an eeePC using ALSA, Jack and Ardour. Also on Linux Mint KDE 12 with KXStudio.

Note: Audio seems to run only at 44.1kHz, not 48kHz. The io4 is essentially identical to the io2 express (above) but with two additional channels for 4-channel operation in 16-bit mode, and unlike the io2, the io4 is not bus powered.

• in/out MIDI connections
• 24-bit for 2-channel in and 2-channel out, 16-bit for four channel in and four channel out
• hardware monitoring with full mix between direct signal or processed output
• phantom power switchable for channels 1/2 and channels 3/4
• XLR, Hi-Z instrument inputs, and inserts on all four channels

* Only 2 channel in and 2 channel out with jack with Ubuntu 12.04 (mode USB 1.0)

Listed on lsusb (Ubuntu 12.04)

Bus 001 Device 007: ID 08bb:29b0 Texas Instruments Japan PCM2900B Audio CODEC

with aplay -l

carte 1: CODEC [USB Audio CODEC], périphérique 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Sous-périphériques: 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0: subdevice #0

with cat /proc/asound/cards

 0 [....
 1 [CODEC          ]: USB-Audio - USB Audio CODEC
                      Burr-Brown from TI USB Audio CODEC at usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.1.4, full speed

• add TODO

Product Page - Alesis

• not supported
• Don't work at all with Ubuntu 11.10 Kernel 3.0.0-15-generic and Alesis Multimix 8 USB 2.0 FX - Ver1.0

• add TODO

Product Page - Avid

• unknown

• add TODO

Product Page - Echo Audio

• Supported

• add TODO

Product Page - Focusrite

• Supported

• Key features
• Specifications

Product Page - Presonus.com

• Supported

I'm very happy with the VSL1818. It is class-compliant and works OOTB
with all versions of Linux >= 2.6.22 and provides stable low-latency I/O
with JACK. (I'm running debian Linux 3.2.0-2-rt-686-pae #1 SMP PREEMPT RT).

Kees van Veen mentioned that it works on vanilla Ubuntu 12.04 but to get
down to -p64 -n2 he needs the lowlatency kernel or jack produces xruns.

The preamps are good. They are less noisy than the UA-25 – but I've
only measured them with jnoisemeter and don't have any absolute
reference point to calibrate the measurement.

Possible disadvantages: It does not have a built-in mixer that'd allow
to direct [zero-latency] monitoring. There is no optical S/PDIF. The
Optical I/O is ADAT. There's no word-clock input.

Brian reports that his device sometimes powers on with sync set to
external (S/PDIF). Kees and I don't have this problem. I hazard a guess
that the OSX/Win32 driver has means to store state on the device. Brian
uses it on those OSes,too. Kees and me don't.

Under GNU/Linux the sync-settings can be configured with alsamixer.
Brian uses a simple amixer script triggered on device-connect.

With Jackd-1.9.9 the device even survives suspend/resume cycles!
Audio-I/O continues, but the MIDI-I/O is gone on resume and requires
re-plugging the device.

The most annoying thing is that it produces a rather loud click on my
monitor-speakers when I flick the 1818VSL's power-switch. My solution: I
don't power it down and only unplug the USB – or turn off the speakers
first.

see also LinuxMusicians Forum

• 2 dual-purpose mic/instrument inputs + 6 dual-purpose, mic/line inputs
• 8 balanced line outputs
• 2 balanced main (L/R) line outputs with level confrol (channel 1/2)
• 1 dedicated stereo headphone output with level control (channel 7/8)
• 8 channels ADAT optical input and output
• 2 channels S/PDIF coaxial input and output
• 1 BNC word-clock output
• MIDI In/Out
• +48V phantom power
• 24-bit resolution and 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz sampling rate
• 1U rack-mountable

• ABC-PCB - Edel USB-to-I2S/SPDIF interface
• ExaDevices ExaU2I
• XMOS UsbAudio2mc

• USB Audio-Device-Class 1.0 and 2.0 - Specification at usb.org
• USB MIDI-Device-Class 1.0 - Specification at usb.org

• Linux FFADO Documentation Page
• FireWire (IEEE-1394) Reference Platform 2.0 by apple.com
• IEEE-1394-2008-Standard Working Group at ieee.org
• FireWire Reference Tutorial and Design Guide at 1394ta.org
• Audio and Music Data Transmission Protocol 2.2 Rev1.0 (doc:2009013) at 1394ta.org

• FFADO - for FireWire Devices (IEEE-1394)
• ALSA - for PCI,ISA,USB-1,USB-2,USB-3(?) devices
• OSS - driver system (open sound system) by 4front technologies

• This page could also indicate, if a firmware is required for a device, if so.

This section lists hardware companies , which are known to either offer free, libre, open-source drivers for their hardware, OR provide enough information and specification for a developer to implement full device support .

Please add hardware companies - you know about - supporting FLOSS. Thank you.

• EchoAudio.com (Discontinued)