[cma-l] Raspberry Pi in the studio

Tue Jan 21 17:42:19 GMT 2014

Thanks for all your responses, it's given me plenty of food for thought. I
actually didn't know these USB-XLR/Jack converters existed. Amazing what
you can do... now all I need is a way to connect it all to my toaster and I
can wake up a-la Wallace & Gromit! I'm sure someone's already come up with
a USB-toaster interface!

Old computers are okay if you have a back room, and I have one or two not
being used, but I banished them all when I built new, (4 years ago now)
silent PC's because I couldn't stand the sound of all those computer fans
after so carefully building a lovely recording environment. And I didn't
want to drill a hole through the wall to put leads through, since it isn't
my wall. (and the wall is concrete about 60 years old, so might as well be
solid diamond)

Might be a case of rigging up an ultra-simple quiet computer. I have an old
soundcard hanging around, and I *really* like the look of those leads!

Onwards and upwards!

Peter

On 21 January 2014 16:41, Bruce Rodger <bruce.rodger at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd agree with Alex - those USB 2 in 2 out 3m leads are great. Cheap as
> chips, and don't need any special drivers, for windows or Linux.
>
> HOWEVER, I'd recommend getting the version with balanced jack connections
> rather than the XLR one. Electronically they're identical, but you're less
> likely to destroy it in the way I destroyed mine....
>
> Don't plug the XLR outputs into a mic input if phantom is enabled. As
> corporal Jones would say "they don't like it up 'em..."
>
> I have a fried unit to prove this.
>
> Bruce.
>
>
>
>
> On 21 January 2014 13:30, Two Lochs Radio <tlr at gairloch.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>  I believe Black Diamond FM (Edinburgh) is using one to create its
>> online stream feed.
>>
>> We have looked at a few uses, including acting as the encoding front ends
>> for a DAB service and streaming, but I ten to agree with what Andy said -
>> we use a couple of old (ancient) PCs in the back room running a multitude
>> of rote tasks such as generating our streeam, off-air logging, automatic
>> restarting of Sky satellite receives and channel switching on the Sky
>> boxes, running our online weather station feed, and generating a couple of
>> extra low bitrate streams for our private monitoring of audio. Even an old
>> Pentium running XP can handle that lot no bother.
>>
>> Another good solution (we use for a back up short-term hi-fi logger in
>> case of wanting to re-use something broadcast live) is to use cheap laptops
>> (eg Dell ex-business ones, around £100) - you can keep one in use and one
>> identically configure as a hot standby - or just get an additional 2.5"
>> disk ready to push in should the need arise (it never has yet for us!).
>>
>> For audio in and out I haven't found anything to beat the convenience of
>> the USB-to-XLR 2-in 2-out 3-metre leads - the leads include a decent USB
>> audio convertor in a small module on the lead. Around £40. (There's also a
>> mic version for half the price, but I haven't tried it - for plugging a
>> standard dynamic mic into USB.) Haven't tried them on Linux, but they ought
>> to work okay.
>>
>> For lower demands/unbalanced needs, such as streaming and logging, or
>> optical SP/DIF connection, the Behringer UCA202 is also excellent value at
>> about £25 - we have several of these for years and none has ever given any
>> bother or concern over sound quality for radio purposes. The newer
>> UCA222 doesn't appear to have any advantage except being red instead of
>> silver, if you prefer that! It claims lower latency, but I'm not convinced,
>> certainly heard no significant difference and a few millisecinds of latency
>> is unimportant for streaming. They work well with Linux (as per RasbPi).
>>
>> Off-topic from RasbPi, theu USB-XLR or phone leads are extremely handy
>> items to keep in the cupboard for times when someone turns up with a laptop
>> that has poor quality 3.55mm jack audio.
>>
>> Alex
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* London Chinese Radio <admin at londonhuayu.co.uk>
>> *To:* cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
>> *Sent:* Monday, January 20, 2014 11:13 PM
>> *Subject:* [cma-l] Raspberry Pi in the studio
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Just wondering if anybody has experience of using a Raspberry Pi in the
>> studio for dedicated jobs. For example as an audio logger or programme
>> recorder, I thought it would be cheaper to get one of these to do what is a
>> simple job, instead of paying for a whole PC to do it...
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Peter VAUTIER
>> London Chinese Radio
>>
>>
>> --
>> 野火烧不尽，春风吹又生
>> Website: http://www.londonhuayu.co.uk/
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-- 
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Website: http://www.londonhuayu.co.uk/
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/londonchineseradio
Weibo: http://e.weibo.com/londonhuayu/profile
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