@th3j35t3r does CoSo Call do video chat? How’s the latency? There’s plenty of musicians around here for a jam session/open stage.
@CanisPundit
Web chat platforms generally do not have low enough latency for remote ensemble performance. You need a specialized solution like https://www.jacktrip.com for that, and everyone should be on wired ethernet, using high quality external audio interfaces with direct kernel data streaming and wired headphones.
@CanisPundit
Any system where you have more than about 30 ms round trip latency between collaborators doesn't work for remote ensembles. Jitter and packet loss play a part too, but the latency is most of the battle.
Thank you @voltronic! I’ve seen those web solutions. I was wondering about something CoSo-centric.
Any suggestions for such an audio interface that would play nice with Linux Mint (Ubuntu based)?
@CanisPundit
You just touched on one of the reasons I still use Windows: Pretty much none of these have native Linux support. Many of these devices are class-compliant, but you may only have partial functionality compared to running on Win or Mac. You'll need to use JACK for low-latency performance. More info:
https://www.creatorbeat.com/audio/audio-interfaces/choosing-an-audio-interface-for-linux/
My recommendation for a great inexpensive interface is MOTU M2. Again, no official Linux support but some have gotten it to work.
@voltronic thanks for the tips. I use a Prosonus AudioBox with Windows, but have an old desktop that would be a great Linux box, but haven’t dug to deep as I’ve seen what you described; no perfect turnkey solutions for hobbyists.
@CanisPundit
I know that one. The MOTU and Focusrite interfaces, even the cheaper lines, have far better performance. But the struggles of getting any of them to function fully on Linux remain.
@CanisPundit
All of us who taught music through the lockdowns tried all of the other options, and unless every single person is doing what I described above, it doesn't work. All it takes is one person to be using Bluetooth headphones and they are out of time with the group.
@th3j35t3r