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Home Studio & Linux

#61
Hey all,

I'm using Debian and Ardour together with a 2nd gen Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 interface. And since I joined wikiloops.com in February last year I've made half a dozen albums that way, all on Linux (on my side at least, but some others are using it too). In case you're interested, look at Invalid Link Removed where I linked to these albums.

Just upgraded to Debian 10 aka "Buster" on July 6th, and everything keeps running smoothly, together with the additional KXStudio repositories I had before. And yes, being at the LinuxMusicians forum and looking at LibreMusicProduction helps a lot as others have written already.

My daughter (14) plays piano and uses Ardour on her notebook with Ubuntu. She's also on Wikiloops, so even a kid can do it :)

Cheers,
Wolfgang
 
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#65
@monkeyfinger : For the last several years, I've used Mixbus &/or Mixbus 32C. I started with version 4. They have just released version 8. A couple of years ago, I added Bitwig Studio because I like the workflow for prototyping new songs, and they were having a promotion. I would not recommend it for everybody because it's pretty pricey. And as of Mixbux 8, I can use a similar workflow. So I'm probably not going to keep investing int the upgrade path for it. But that's because of the kind of music I do. For EDM and more modern music types, it's extremely powerful. Most of what I do is simple: record musicians.

And if that isn't enough. I have started using Reaper. I'm not sure I can recommend it yet, purely due to my lack of experience with it, but so far, I like it very much. It is the only one of the three (so far) that comes with native pitch correction, which I like to have available to fix (small) problems in otherwise killer vocal takes.
 
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#66
paulhenry said:
And if that isn't enough. I have started using Reaper.
Click to expand...

I've used Reaper for a long time. One thing I like is that there are builds for Windows, Mac and linux. Projects and files transfer from one OS to another. I can start a project on my Windows desktop and transfer it to my linux (Pop OS) laptop for remote recording. Now, I will admit that I don't use virtual instruments or effect plugins other than the ones supplied with Reaper, so I can't speak to 3rd-party plugins across OSes.
 
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#67
bwildt said:
I've used Reaper for a long time. One thing I like is that there are builds for Windows, Mac and linux.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that. But in the end I preferred Ardour which is also available for all major platforms (but developed mostly on Linux which is my home). For Windows I'd probably prefer Reaper, but you can exchange stems from all platforms and DAWs anyway, so it doesn't make a big difference.

What sets Ardour and partly also Mixbus apart IMO is the clever way they offer target exports, like for Apple Music (-16LUFS and -1dbTP), so if the mix is good there's not much need for mastering at all. I always export everything with these settings.
 
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#68
I prefer the workflow in Mixbus, which I'm sure you know is a customized fork of Ardour. I'm a software geek, so I get involved trying alternatives. I get entranced by all the possibilites of deep apps like Bitwig, But all I need a DAW for is recording singers and instruments. The major motivation for me to try Reaper is it's native pitch correction, which comes in handy for an occasional singer like me.
 
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#69
paulhenry said:
I prefer the workflow in Mixbus, which I'm sure you know is a customized fork of Ardour. I'm a software geek, so I get involved trying alternatives. I get entranced by all the possibilites of deep apps like Bitwig, But all I need a DAW for is recording singers and instruments. The major motivation for me to try Reaper is it's native pitch correction, which comes in handy for an occasional singer like me.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do also have both Mixbus and Reaper, and you're right about Reaper's pitch correction which is great to have.
I also do mostly audio with Ardour, basically just recording my fretless and/or upright basses, plus the occasional mix job like for my daughter who plays the piano.
For all of that, Linux and Ardour are both free as in speech and in cost, and more than good enough for me.
 
#70
[QUOTE="wjl,
For all of that, Linux and Ardour are both free as in speech and in cost, and more than good enough for me.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I don't really remember why I gravitated to Mixbus instead of just using Ardour!
I use a USB2 Class Compliant hardware interface (Roland Rubix44). Do you know anything about Linux support for USB-C or Thunderbolt? Last I looked, it was pretty thin.
 
#73
bfields said:
Typing this on a Fedora laptop connected to external monitor, audio interface (X18 mixer), and a few other things, all via a single USB-C connector. I hadn't heard there was any problem. I bet you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

I understand that you're running over a USB-C connector. The X18 only says that it's a USB interface. But beyond the hardware spec, a USB audio interface may only run internally at USB2 speeds. What I'm interested to know is if there is Linux support for interfaces that are "pure" USBC or Thunderbolt, i.e. they run at the higher data rates.
 
#74
paulhenry said:
I understand that you're running over a USB-C connector. The X18 only says that it's a USB interface. But beyond the hardware spec, a USB audio interface may only run internally at USB2 speeds. What I'm interested to know is if there is Linux support for interfaces that are "pure" USBC or Thunderbolt, i.e. they run at the higher data rates.
Click to expand...

Oh, OK, no idea about that. If there aren't established standards for how to do that, sure, I wouldn't be surprised if support is spotty. (Though I'm kinda curious what that'd be useful for. I mean, a single channel of 16 bit 44Khz audio is 700Kbps, I'd think you could cram a few hundred of those into a ~480Mbps USB2 connection. But, I'm no expert on how that works....)
 
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#75
Reaper is getting pretty decent on Linux at this point - the main issue is the plugins. If you care, the U-phoria UMC Behringer Driver is pretty solid. I have not tried using WAVES plugins on Linux as they are not officially supported - but there is supposedly a user who has gotten Waves V13 to run on Linux. (I cannot verify this.)

Reaper with the standard JS plugin set seems pretty stable though.
YMMV
 
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#77
bfields said:
Oh, OK, no idea about that. If there aren't established standards for how to do that, sure, I wouldn't be surprised if support is spotty. (Though I'm kinda curious what that'd be useful for. I mean, a single channel of 16 bit 44Khz audio is 700Kbps, I'd think you could cram a few hundred of those into a ~480Mbps USB2 connection. But, I'm no expert on how that works....)
Click to expand...

I use a Roland Rubix 44 USB2 interface. I like it a lot, and it's fine for what I do. I'm curious about support for USB-C and Thunderbolt because: 1. It's prevalent on the Windows/MacOS side, and I'm hoping there's will be enough incentive for developers, both hardware and software, to support Linux. And: 2. Latency. I assume (and again, I'm no expert either!) that these much faster interface specifications have a lower internal latency. I also figure they could handle more of a load, but, as I've said, I only record a maximum of 4 inputs at once, so that's not my main concern.
 
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#78
JamesDeGrandis said:
Reaper is getting pretty decent on Linux at this point - the main issue is the plugins. If you care, the U-phoria UMC Behringer Driver is pretty solid. I have not tried using WAVES plugins on Linux as they are not officially supported - but there is supposedly a user who has gotten Waves V13 to run on Linux. (I cannot verify this.)

Reaper with the standard JS plugin set seems pretty stable though.
YMMV
Click to expand...

I went through the demo period with Reaper long enough to decide to buy it. The price for personal use is great. I applaud the developers for both the quality of their product and their pricing structure (and for maintaining a Linux version!). I've heard the same about the Behringer interface, but I'm happy with my Rubix. I've also read discussion threads from folks who run plugins on WINE, but have not done so myself. I try to use native Linux stuff. Life's hard enough. I use several items from the Calf Audio folks (which I think came with Mixbux, but not sure), and I bought the suite of plugins from OvertoneDSP and rely on them quite a lot. Haven't tried them in Reaper yet.
 
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#79
paulhenry said:
I went through the demo period with Reaper long enough to decide to buy it. The price for personal use is great. I applaud the developers for both the quality of their product and their pricing structure (and for maintaining a Linux version!). I've heard the same about the Behringer interface, but I'm happy with my Rubix. I've also read discussion threads from folks who run plugins on WINE, but have not done so myself. I try to use native Linux stuff. Life's hard enough. I use several items from the Calf Audio folks (which I think came with Mixbux, but not sure), and I bought the suite of plugins from OvertoneDSP and rely on them quite a lot. Haven't tried them in Reaper yet.
Click to expand...
I also bought Reaper. Even their commercial license is only a couple hundred bucks. I do wish that Waves would officially get together a version with official Linux support. I don't want to start adding more layers like WINE (I know, it's not an emulator) But I would like to have the workstation as stripped down as possible.
I also like Revalver - but also no Linux version. So for now - I'm just "playing with Linux" and "working with Windows."
 

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