The OS for Audio

[Labarum]

I see the Windows 7 bandwagon is running fast.

Does anyone know how it compares for audio use with XP, Vista, Linux and Mac.

And does anyone know what audio support Google Chrome OS will have?

[Peter Galbavy]

It depends on what you want and if you mean to use sound cards for analogue, mixing, recording etc.

I know from my peripheral involvement that there has been some considerable work done in OpenBSD to support high quality and controlable mixing on PC architectures. My personal "success" with Windows and Linux is poor, and I am going to drop OpenBSD onto this laptop when time allows to see how it works with USB audio devices.

[lovejoy]

From what I've gathered so far, having had a bit of a play with Windows 7, the audio architecture is the same as it was in Vista, so you can use WASAPI or you can still just install good ole ASIO.

It seems that W7 is the Vista look with the responsiveness of XP. I'm struggling to find any reason to move from XP.

[Themis]

I'm struggling to find any reason to move from XP.

Time needed to get the system booted and responsive.
Better driver management (and better drivers), too.

I have an Alienware gaming laptop optimized for XP, nevertheless W7 handles everything better, and is far more stable.

Back to the topic, if I remember properly Win7 has native USB audio drivers that make use of ASIO etc useless. I'll try to find the link, if needed.

[Labarum]

Back to the topic, if I remember properly Win7 has native USB audio drivers that make use of ASIO etc useless. I'll try to find the link, if needed.

Yes pleas, Themis. That alone could make the purchase of W7 (at a discounted price) worthwhile.

[lovejoy]

Again, I'm seeing nothing new. XP has native USB audio drivers...

Or are you saying that the W7 USB audio drivers will allow direct streaming without any resampling which you couldn't do without ASIO under XP?

[Themis]

Again, I'm seeing nothing new. XP has native USB audio drivers...

Or are you saying that the W7 USB audio drivers will allow direct streaming without any resampling which you couldn't do without ASIO under XP?

Yes, that's what I mean, sorry if I was not clear.
Still, I can't find the article. I will test on my PC, tonight, it will be simpler.

[Labarum]

Yes, that's what I mean, sorry if I was not clear.
Still, I can't find the article. I will test on my PC, tonight, it will be simpler.

It would be god to be able to do that in a straightforward way - it has long been maintained but the Apple-set that bit perfect output was only reliably achievable with a Mac. Of course it was never true, although a little more effort was required using XP or Vista.

I have successfully used Foobar with ASIO in XP and Foobar with ASIO and WASAPI in Vista. Both thouse methods work reliably with native drivers and a Beresford Caiman.

[Krisbee]

I see the Windows 7 bandwagon is running fast.

Does anyone know how it compares for audio use with XP, Vista, Linux and Mac.

And does anyone know what audio support Google Chrome OS will have?

Have you seen this thread about Windows 7 over at computer audiophile?

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/co...First-48-Hours

Of course, as it has already been said, choosing “the One” depends on what you you want it for and what hardware you intend to use it with.

But how many folks will have actively used a version of Windows and Linux and Mac? Devotees of MAC OS may or may not have come from Windows, and I get the impression Apple users go for a complete package and would have little further interest in Windows, if they ever did. Likewise, Linux user may or may not have converted from Windows, but those who do often keep Windows (most likely XP) on their machines for one reason or another and I don't see them upgrading to vista or Windows 7.

As a long time Linux user I have bit-perfect playback over the USB connection to my TC-7520 with little effort. The ALSA USB drivers allow any mixer to be bypassed and audio applications can be configured to stream audio to the audio device without any depth or sample rate conversion. It's no surprise I won't be shelling out £150 for Windows 7 Ultimate.

As to Google Chrome, AFAIK that remains a bit of a mystery. Is it just a web orientated UI on-top of a Linux kernel?

[Themis]

Google simply does what knows best : advertisement.

Anyway, Brien, I found the article about bit-transparency : http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/comput...usb_audio.html

It seems that there should be no problems if you choose the right bitrate.