Rather beginning level questions...

[john.seekins]

So I'm trying to set up a small studio with a friend and I've been tasked with the computer portion of the set up. I'm trying to set up something that could do a reasonable number of tracks simultaneously, say 8 to 16. Now, my friend (who understands things outside the computer) liked the look of this:
http://www.mackie.com/products/onyx1620/
and I was wondering if it would work properly with something like Ubuntu Studio. I'd really like to go the GNU/Linux route on the machine (both free and legal) because the software on there appears to be rather powerful. What would I need to make something along those lines work? Or is this just a pipe dream?
Conversely, what would be a recommended path to set up a decent recording environment with something around 8-16 simultaneous tracks and a GNU/Linux DAW?

[telehack]

Hi John,

The setup you propose (with a Mackie mixer) is listed as supported under ffado (see www.ffado.org). I would try to find someone who is using this setup and see what they use for hardware and what their experience has been. You might join the linux audio users mailing list - I'm sure someone there is using it. The Mackie is a pretty well-regarded mixer, but again I would try to get first hand reports of using it on linux. As an example of a pioneering linux studio see http://www.multitrack.us/linux.html. Don't forget it takes a significant amount of time to learn/tune/optimize your software (regardless of the platform) so plan for that. I use Ubuntu Studio, but there are lots of other worthy distros out there. Best of luck,

-telehack

[john.seekins]

Thanks telehack,

I'd read about Multitrack (although their specs about what they're using in the studio seem a bit vague) and I think they're part of what inspired me to go the GNU/Linux route. My friend and I both have some experience with recording software at different levels (from Audacity and Garageband to Pro-Tools), so while I'm expecting a learning curve, we at least already understand most of the concepts which should help.
Now, is there a better route to go than a mixer with firewire out? I like that that keeps it simple, but I'd really like to *know* that my system will work well.
Also, is there a good (and ideally cheap) output for numerous headphone jacks? That is, is there a good way to send the channels out to a box that you could connect numerous headphones into (for more than one person monitoring)?
Thanks again for the help.

Edit: Well...I just went and bought a Mackie Onyx 1620 with the Firewire interface. Hopefully this thing will be as bad-ass as I expect it to be...

[telehack]

Hi John,

Let us know how you get on with the Mackie. As to your question about whether there is a better way to go, I would say only if you wanted a better mixer and you'd probably have to spend a fair amount more to get a significantly better on. In that case you could get the mixer of your choice (Toft gets a lot of raves) and get a linux supported interface. Something like the Echo Audiofire 12 (or two of them linked together). For a headphone amp, tapeop have given good reviews to the SMPRO stuff. It's reasonably priced:

http://www.smproaudio.com/produkte/kopf ... erker.html

Cheers,

-telehack

[john.seekins]

Took forever to get the computer set up properly with the mixer, but it works wonderfully. The only catch with it is you need ffado 2.0 compiles and it sends channel 1 and 2 into one track on the computer. Other than that, it works basically flawlessly.