Creative and Midi
In a small defence of Creative and Linux their older boards are fantastic if you use the likes of Ubuntu Studio. This is not Creative's doing, but the ALSA team make using the onboard hardware synth on an SB Live etc simple and satisfying. Using a midi keyboard with hardware synth is a snap.
So, if these drivers mature, I might be able to use an X-Fi to replace the SB Live in my daughter's music creation monster. I have a slight concern that the Live will eventually die and there will not be a viable alternative, apart from trawling computer markets for old Creative boards. Most of the other modern sound card makers don't think hardware synth is important. Timidity software synth just isn't the same IMHO.
I had a CMS board (Creative and the first computer sound card) in the 80s, then SB, SB16, SB32, SB64, SB128, followed by Audigy 1 and 4, but never an X-Fi because for the first time there were no Linux drivers. The M-Audio 5.1 mentioned in my previous post is my first non-Creative card since a PAS16 in the 90s.
The reality is that most good motherboards have an HDA chip that makes the addition of a sound card not worth the cost or effort unless you have a niche need, like midi, or truly Hi-Fi music tastes. Creative must get out of the sound card business - there is no real market any more.
So, to the ALSA team, this is good news and I still might pick up a cheap X-Fi at a market and wait!
In a small defence of Creative and Linux their older boards are fantastic if you use the likes of Ubuntu Studio. This is not Creative's doing, but the ALSA team make using the onboard hardware synth on an SB Live etc simple and satisfying. Using a midi keyboard with hardware synth is a snap.
So, if these drivers mature, I might be able to use an X-Fi to replace the SB Live in my daughter's music creation monster. I have a slight concern that the Live will eventually die and there will not be a viable alternative, apart from trawling computer markets for old Creative boards. Most of the other modern sound card makers don't think hardware synth is important. Timidity software synth just isn't the same IMHO.
I had a CMS board (Creative and the first computer sound card) in the 80s, then SB, SB16, SB32, SB64, SB128, followed by Audigy 1 and 4, but never an X-Fi because for the first time there were no Linux drivers. The M-Audio 5.1 mentioned in my previous post is my first non-Creative card since a PAS16 in the 90s.
The reality is that most good motherboards have an HDA chip that makes the addition of a sound card not worth the cost or effort unless you have a niche need, like midi, or truly Hi-Fi music tastes. Creative must get out of the sound card business - there is no real market any more.
So, to the ALSA team, this is good news and I still might pick up a cheap X-Fi at a market and wait!
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