[PlanetCCRMA] Audiophile 2496 input, Nvidia nforce4 output, and xruns?

[Bob Wilkinson]

Most electronics stores sell 3.5mm to RCA adapters - they are used all the time to connect MP3 players and the like to stereos.  That may be your least expensive route for now.

Then again, after spending the money on a really nice set of near-field monitors (and a few nights in the doghouse from the wife), it's tough to go back....


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Wade Nelson" <hollywoodb+ccrma@fastmail.fm>
> On Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:27:21 -0800, "Fernando Lopez-Lezcano"
> <nando@ccrma.Stanford.EDU> said:
> > On Thu, 2008-02-07 at 19:56 -0600, Wade Nelson wrote:
> > > I'm using an m-audio audiophile 2496 for input from a mixer (using the
> > > RCAs on the back) and the onboard nforce4 audio on my box for output to
> > > my 5.1 speaker system.  I'm getting a lot of xruns, especially with a
> > > couple apps running like ardour and hydrogen, but I can get xruns with
> > > nothing but the jack server running as well.
> > > 
> > > I'm using qjackctl to set up the server, I've set the audiophile for
> > > input, the nvidia for output... rate at 96khz, and the samples per
> > > period (or whatever that setting is) down low enough that I get about
> > > 5.3 msec latency.  However even at a very conservative setting where I
> > > get 21.7 msec latency I'm still getting xruns.
> > > 
> > > Is the problem using two separate cards for input/output, or is there
> > > something I need to do to get the xruns down?  When I was just using the
> > > nvidia for input & output I was able to run at about 5.3 msec latency
> > > 48khz and never saw a single xrun.  Seems awfully strange that I can't
> > > seem to find any settings using the audiophile that don't result in a
> > > bunch of xruns.
> > 
> > Jack can't use two soundcards at the same time unless they are
> > synchronized. Otherwise the two clocks are going to be slightly
> > different and the cards will drift apart until one of them will have to
> > miss a period and you will get an xrun... Jack can't sync them, it has
> > to be done at the hardware level. 
> > 
> > -- Fernando
> 
> Makes sense... is there a good way to use the audiophile to drive the
> speakers, or would something like the M-Audio Revolution work for audio
> output?  Or would it just be better to get a decent stereo system to
> hook up to the Audiophile's RCA/Line-outs?  The speaker system I have
> now is a standard 3.5mm Green/Orange/Black setup, so it really isn't
> suited to the Audiophile's output in any way that I'm aware of. 
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------
> Wade Nelson
> hollywoodb@fastmail.fm
> "I may have to share this planet with animals, 
> but I'm doing my damn best to eat every last one of them."
> 
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