In 2007 Digidesign released the Digi 003R. Fourteen years later it learned how to Linux.
Where to buy:
eBay
Drivers
Takashi Sakamoto maintains snd-firewire-improve and that’s what we need to get the 003R up and running. These instructions should work for modern Debian based systems.
1. Install the build dependencies.
sudo apt-get install dkms build-essential git linux-headers-$(uname -r)
2. Clone the git repository and install the kernel modules.
git clone https://github.com/takaswie/snd-firewire-improve.git cd snd-firewire-improve sudo ln -s $(pwd) /usr/src/alsa-firewire-4.17 sudo dkms install alsa-firewire/4.17
ALSA Mixer
If you want access to the controls available in alsamixer you’re going to need snd-firewire-ctl-services. It’s a bit of a pain to setup but should find its way into the kernel eventually.
Pulseaudio
The Digidesign 003R will function like any other sound device in pavucontrol.
Jack
Select the ALSA driver to connect your Digidesign 003R to the Jack server.
Round-trip Latency
While many kinds of audio latency metrics exist, one useful and well-understood metric is round-trip latency; the time it takes for an audio signal to enter the input of a device, get processed, and exit the output.
Testing setup
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 1700 |
| RAM | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB |
| Motherboard | MSI B350 Tomahawk |
| GPU | Nvidia NVS 300 |
| SSD | Samsung 840 |
| PSU: | EVGA 600 B1 |
| Firewire: | Syba SY-PEX30016 |
| Network: | Intel i350-T4 |
| OS: | Debian Bullseye |
| Kernel: | 5.10-rt-amd64 |
| Desktop: | NA |
Verdict
The Digidesign 003R is a fantastic little massive interface for the price. Four preamps, four line level inputs plus ADAT & MIDI. While the round-trip latency is a bit on the high side It’s still serviceable at higher sample rates.
Digidesign 003R
A Linux compatible audio interface from AVID.
Pros
Price.
ALSA drivers.
MIDI
Cons
2U case.
Only 4 preamps.
Round-trip latency is on the highside.
