Home Studio & Linux

[ctmullins]

I know that you specified Linux, however I would suggest considering a Mac. Mac is based on UNIX and has a command line interface in the terminal. You also have the most choices for DAW’s of quality.

I have to agree with this perspective. I'm a long-time professional UNIX/Linux admin, and I've tinkered with various Linux distros at home, but honestly - my time is precious, and having hardware and software that "just work" out of the box without any tinkering is more than worth the additional cost of Apple stuff.

(Not to mention that I routinely get ten to twelve years out of a Mac, easily double what a Wintel box will do...)

 

[monkeyfinger]

I agree that the Mac model for managing audio and midi devices, including aggregate devices is very good. There are a few Linux services available for managing audio bus such as jack, pulse, and alsa. I also read about a new one coming up but I forget the name. I've only really dealt with pulse and alsa, probably because I never needed a real-time multi-plexing audio bus for my simple audio needs on linux. (I have been using linux as a development platform since 1993). I am currently using a Mac as my development box. I think linux is far better for modern application development, but I can see why someone would prefer it for audio engineering.

 

[paulhenry]

I know that you specified Linux, however I would suggest considering a Mac. Mac is based on UNIX and has a command line interface in the terminal. You also have the most choices for DAW’s of quality.

Yeah, no.

You're off topic. This thread is specifically about music and Linux. It's not a comparison of OS platforms.

 

[paulhenry]

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."

What plugins keep you from switching completely to Linux? You mentioned Revalver. Anything else? For example, what WAVES stuff is indispensable?

'Cause, now that you mention it, I have used iZotope apps & plugins on my legacy Mac for years. One of the last reasons I have for the occasional Logic Pro work is the excellent built-in pitch manipulation. I'm hoping with ReaTune I have found a Linux-based tool that will do enough to check that box.

 

[JamesDeGrandis]

What plugins keep you from switching completely to Linux? You mentioned Revalver. Anything else? For example, what WAVES stuff is indispensable?

'Cause, now that you mention it, I have used iZotope apps & plugins on my legacy Mac for years. One of the last reasons I have for the occasional Logic Pro work is the excellent built-in pitch manipulation. I'm hoping with ReaTune I have found a Linux-based tool that will do enough to check that box.

I do quite a bit of audio restoration and rerelease work. For some of the 1960s stuff I use the SSL chains, for noise removal the restoration tools (I just recently used the Clarify Vx Pro on a restoration of a PepsiCola disc from WWII when they recorded the troops going through hubs...) I have used the Abbey Road stuff on some of the 1960s demo remasters - I have pretty much every Waves plugin at my disposal. I have the Mercury + Studio classics, All the Abbey Road stuff, restoration, instrument patches, NX stuff... Basically the entire Waves line.
I think I may be missing a couple of the NX rooms and some instruments...
I have 2 modern workstations and a laptop for work, but as an IT guy in a previous life, I really wish Linux would get some support... It's pretty much relegated to my multimedia workstation and browsing on the TV.

 

[paulhenry]

Your current work sounds very interesting. My day job for my working life was IT as well (I am retired). Now I understand your difficulty. For my own part, I will probably always have a Mac machine. My other family members use it. I have Linux on my studio machine (actually a hackintosh/linux homebuilt). Once my laptop dies, I plan to replace it with a Linux box. Tho' I use an iPad for gigging. Just can't completely subvert the dominant paradigm.

 

[wjl]

There are a few Linux services available for managing audio bus such as jack, pulse, and alsa. I also read about a new one coming up but I forget the name. I've only really dealt with pulse and alsa, probably because I never needed a real-time multi-plexing audio bus for my simple audio needs on linux.

Guess you mean pipewire? Yeah, that's cool, because it's meant to replace the whole Pulse/Jack stuff and the bridging you need between them one day.

I'm currently using both Jack on my main Debian distro, but also dual-boot into Arch quite regularly, where I'm using pipewire. And yes, that *is* easier in some aspects, and in fact I've done my last few recordings that way, with Ardour 6.9 on both distros (I'm a contributor to Ardour). I haven't had enough time to change over to Arch completely, been using Debian since before our youngest was born (some 17 years ago), so experience also counts...

But anyway, these days you can use any good Linux distro to make music - in case your interface(s) is/are class compliant, and you don't need any paid or rented stuff like ProTools and the likes.

 

[seamonkey]

Somebody needs to do like Xtra-PC Xtra-PC® - Official Site
And just have thumb drive or external HD to plug into a PC and give the use of a full Unix Music computer.
Linux can do and perform much better than Windows for most standard music tasks. But people need a clickable low effort way to get there. Really simple like plug in a thumb drive.

 

[paulhenry]

Guess you mean pipewire? Yeah, that's cool, because it's meant to replace the whole Pulse/Jack stuff and the bridging you need between them one day.

I'm currently using both Jack on my main Debian distro, but also dual-boot into Arch quite regularly, where I'm using pipewire. And yes, that *is* easier in some aspects, and in fact I've done my last few recordings that way, with Ardour 6.9 on both distros (I'm a contributor to Ardour). I haven't had enough time to change over to Arch completely, been using Debian since before our youngest was born (some 17 years ago), so experience also counts...

But anyway, these days you can use any good Linux distro to make music - in case your interface(s) is/are class compliant, and you don't need any paid or rented stuff like ProTools and the likes.

Thanks for the info. Pipewire is new to me. I used to run everything on an Arch distro, but I eventually (for a variety of reasons) decided to go to Ubuntu Studio, and then straight Ubuntu with a low-latency kernel.

 

[Jack]

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.

My focusrite works great.

 

[lucas303]

I'm just popping in to say that I'm strongly considering a move to Linux and the discussion here is helpful. Currently the computer I use for my audio stuff is running Windows 7, and it's showing its age. I very much dislike the direction Windows has taken since 7 (I have to use updated versions of Windows for work), and I have a number of reasons to not even consider Apple. I use Reaper as my DAW so that seems like it won't be an issue for moving to Linux. I'd be using the computer for the DAW, and also for run of the mill web browsing and music listening. Can anyone suggest specific distros I should check out? I'd prefer to not have to spend too much of my limited free time learning how to compile and what-not so the more user-friendly the better (as long as the functionality I need doesn't suffer).

 

[paulhenry]

Can anyone suggest specific distros I should check out? I'd prefer to not have to spend too much of my limited free time learning how to compile and what-not so the more user-friendly the better (as long as the functionality I need doesn't suffer).

Oh boy, did YOU open a can of worms. Linux users always have a lot to say about various distros so the replies to your post may go on For-e-verrrrr.

Happy to start. My suggestion is to start with Ubuntu Studio, because it's a turnkey solution that does all the tweaks for you. You don't have to think much about it. I have also found that when you go looking for any 3rd party software (say for example, Bitwig Studio), they will almost always specifically support Ubuntu.

If you want to think and tweak a bit more, try AV_Linux, which is designed also to be a turnkey solution. I have not used it, so maybe someone else could chime in.

 

[Jack]

I'm just popping in to say that I'm strongly considering a move to Linux and the discussion here is helpful. Currently the computer I use for my audio stuff is running Windows 7, and it's showing its age. I very much dislike the direction Windows has taken since 7 (I have to use updated versions of Windows for work), and I have a number of reasons to not even consider Apple. I use Reaper as my DAW so that seems like it won't be an issue for moving to Linux. I'd be using the computer for the DAW, and also for run of the mill web browsing and music listening. Can anyone suggest specific distros I should check out? I'd prefer to not have to spend too much of my limited free time learning how to compile and what-not so the more user-friendly the better (as long as the functionality I need doesn't suffer).

If it's specifically for music then I can recommend Ubuntu Studio, it's what's on my laptop and it works really well. More generally I run Mint on my pc and Debian on my servers, all with cinnamon.

I've been Windows-free since 2006. Do it!

 

[Mcgiver69]

If you want to think and tweak a bit more, try AV_Linux, which is designed also to be a turnkey solution. I have not used it, so maybe someone else could chime in.

On the contrary AV-Linux involves even less tweaking, it comes pre-configured for audio and video work. I would say it is a better option for beginners. I've been running AV-Linux for 5 years after trying various distros (Ubuntu Studio, KX Studio, Arch and Mint).

 

[lucas303]

If it helps, I'm not a complete beginner to Linux. I've tried it several times in the past, sometimes for months at a time, but I've always come crawling back to Windows with my tail between my legs. I never felt like a I really learned it though, if that makes any sense.

 

[Mcgiver69]

I'm just popping in to say that I'm strongly considering a move to Linux and the discussion here is helpful. Currently the computer I use for my audio stuff is running Windows 7, and it's showing its age. I very much dislike the direction Windows has taken since 7 (I have to use updated versions of Windows for work), and I have a number of reasons to not even consider Apple. I use Reaper as my DAW so that seems like it won't be an issue for moving to Linux. I'd be using the computer for the DAW, and also for run of the mill web browsing and music listening. Can anyone suggest specific distros I should check out? I'd prefer to not have to spend too much of my limited free time learning how to compile and what-not so the more user-friendly the better (as long as the functionality I need doesn't suffer).

If you are planning to give Linux a try I would recommend to join the Linux sub-forum in Reaper. There are lots of information and people willing to help you in your journey. There's a whole Manjaro Setup section with a proper step by step setup process. In my case I use AV-Linux which comes pre-configured for audio and video production. I'm using a ton of Windows plugins (Sorry no Waves or iLok plugins so far) and so far I'm doing quite well. Come along and have a look.

 

[13bass]

This a great, if old topic, but good info! I am fairly new to linux and have a Purism linux laptop running PureOS, and looking at DAWs now, so this is timely for me. I do have an old (2012) macbook, but so old it won't allow me to load garageband anymore

Anyway, I'm looking at Reaper, Ardour, and now some others mentioned here, and maybe an inexpensive Behringer interface to record bass tracks.

 

[johnh89]

12 year old ex windows laptop . Now has Lubuntu 22.04 LTS . Audacity DAW . Focusrite solo . All worked out of the box . I have been a linux user for years but I am no expert . Lubuntu is a light version of Ubuntu that works perfectly on older base model laptops .

 

[paulhenry]

On the contrary AV-Linux involves even less tweaking, it comes pre-configured for audio and video work. I would say it is a better option for beginners. I've been running AV-Linux for 5 years after trying various distros (Ubuntu Studio, KX Studio, Arch and Mint).

Thanks for filling in the gaps in my understanding. The reason I mentioned it requiring a bit more "tweaking" and "thinking" was that I remember needing to go over the hardware requirements and installation process more carefully than I needed to do with Ubuntu Studio. If that's changed since I looked, that's good to know.

 

[paulhenry]

This a great, if old topic, but good info! I am fairly new to linux and have a Purism linux laptop running PureOS, and looking at DAWs now, so this is timely for me. I do have an old (2012) macbook, but so old it won't allow me to load garageband anymore

Anyway, I'm looking at Reaper, Ardour, and now some others mentioned here, and maybe an inexpensive Behringer interface to record bass tracks.

If you go with the Behringer interface, let us know how you like it. I've been curious about their hardware. I use some Behringer equipment, but I've had mixed results with their quality out of the box.