This is just a quick follow-up to my earlier post, “Home Recording on a Raspberry Pi, How Feasible?”.
I’ve learned a few things since I wrote that, but I haven’t really done it. A move is still looming, I think. In any case, what I’ve learned is mostly from stuff I’ve found just indulging my curiosity by surfing the web.
For my purposes (probably just a podcast) I expected, based on a broad foundation of ignorance, that the free/OSS audio software would be plenty. I have learned that Audacity runs very well indeed on a Raspberry Pi 3 under Raspbian, but apparently not so well under Ubuntu. That’s not a problem for me, I’m running multiple instances of Raspbian anyway, one more doesn’t complicate life nearly as much as adding another Linux distro to the mix would.
I guess I finally hit on the right combination of key words to search on, and found this video on Youtube.
Fascinating. The only thing that I really know about Tracktion is that free download codes are offered when you register certain Behringer products- at least their USB audio interfaces. For someone who doesn’t really know what he’s doing I have an unconscionable number of these, and microphones, all picked up at steep discounts. I paid no attention to the offer because I incorrectly assumed that it was Windows or Windows/Apple software, Linux is still a bit less common.
Turns out that there is a full Linux version and they offer their older version Tracktion 5 as a free (gratis, as in beer, not libre as in freedom) public download anyway. I’m not sure exactly what’s offered as part of the Behringer deal. The deal is offered even with the lowly Behringer UCA202, which I’ve had for years (I was using it just as a DAC for a secondary stereo system). If that gets you a free download of the most recent version of Tracktion htat means that $20-25 for the USA202 gets you software that nominally costs $99. I’m not sure that’s the case, but I’ll find out soon and post it here. I also have a UMC22 and a UMC202, and a used UMC204 on the way (I said it was ridiculous). If this enables multiple downloads I’ll probably hold off on registering those for later versions.
Not only is the rep from Tracktion showing off their most recent software running on Linux on a Raspberry Pi, but apparently they have plans to more actively support the RPi, even to the extent of creating a “hat” with, he says, more sophisticated audio input (ADC) capability than common with current RPi DAC boards (of which there are many). I’ve used a number of DACs with a number of RPi’s, but I’ve tended toward USB interfaces to get the analog audio circuitry away from the electromagnetic noise of the RPi itself, which made sense at the time since I was dealing with audio output only and latency was just not an issue. Recording is another matter, and it seems that Tracktion is working to create a very affordable board to do high-quality low-latency input and output both.
Tracktion as a company seems to be not only supporting Linux and the Raspberry Pi, but quite enthusiastic about it… about “democratizing” home recording by using the latest in inexpensive tech to make it much more affordable.
So, fairly sophisticated home audio recording is perfectly feasible on a Raspberry Pi (which, among other things, solves home studio fan noise issues), and it seems to have a bright and increasingly fun future. I hope I can get started (move still pending) before I miss all the fun.
– Robert the Wombat