KVR Audio

keyman_sam · Post by **keyman_sam** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:07 am

Main question for me is this :

In linux do the following VSTs work :

IK multimedia's Total Workstation bundle (ST2, SS2, Miroslav, + TRacks + CSR Reverb + Amplitube)
Fxpansion GURU
Shortcircuit by Vemberaudio
dBlue Glitch
Rubberfilter
All plugins by digitalfishphones

If these plugins work in REAPER, then I'm all set.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:19 pm

Hi, just started Reaper, and loaded a windchime .wav in shortcircuit, and sent it
to a delay in Glitch, so basic functions appear to work. Amplitube, and the Hendrix/Metal variants work, and I have a SampleTank LE that works, as well as the
freebie versiom of SS2. I use Reaper for basic multi-track recordings, with older
versions of wine and jack, and can use the native linux zynaddsubfx, creox, and others, routing them to the same audio outs that the vsts use, so it is a pretty stable and flexible environment, in PCLinuxOS 2007.

Maybe its time to upgrade, being 2009 and all

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:40 am

glokraw wrote:Hi, to err on the generous size, how about <snip>

Cheers glokraw, will digest what you suggest (wow, a rhyme!) and give it a bash.

Lost_Highway · Post by **Lost_Highway** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:22 pm

LBN wrote:http://www.fs-driver.org/

That's a driver for Windows NT4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008 that allows you to mount/read/write Linux ext2/3 partitions. I've been using it for a while now without problem. That might alleviate the need for a FAT32 partition to get data between operating systems if you dual boot.

I'd second that. I used it for years with zero problems.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:47 am

Lost_Highway wrote:
LBN wrote:http://www.fs-driver.org/

That's a driver for Windows NT4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008 that allows you to mount/read/write Linux ext2/3 partitions. I've been using it for a while now without problem. That might alleviate the need for a FAT32 partition to get data between operating systems if you dual boot.
I'd second that. I used it for years with zero problems.

If two linux guys agree about something, it must be pretty good.

so I'll have
to try it soon

The linux ntfs support seems to work in Konqueror OK, so the walls are getting
thinner and lower every month

Lost_Highway · Post by **Lost_Highway** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:27 pm

glokraw wrote:If two linux guys agree about something, it must be pretty good. so I'll have
to try it soon
The linux ntfs support seems to work in Konqueror OK, so the walls are getting
thinner and lower every month

Absolutely. On my new PC that I've had a couple of months now, the only wall is the fact that my /home is on a RAID - Linux can read the Windows partitions on the OS hard-drive fine, but Windows can't read the RAID. I've solved that by not booting into XP and having an XP virtual machine instead!

On my old PC it wasn't an issue because I didn't have a RAID so could read things both ways (thanks to the EXT2IFS driver for Windows).

LBN · Post by **LBN** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:55 pm

The contemporary ntfs driver (ntfs-3g) for Linux is very mature. They had a reputation in the past (deserved or not) as being unreliable but they are great now. I mount/read/write my ntfs partitions in Linux regularly for years now without problem. As a matter of fact, I've been able to mount and read from an ntfs partition that was so hosed in XP from a crash that it couldn't be read in XP. I was able to recover everything off the partition in Linux to another drive before reformatting.

However, IIRC, there is an ever-so-slight performance hit with the ntfs driver so it's still best to stick to ext2/3 when working directly in Linux.

Caleb · Post by **Caleb** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 7:34 am

Well - I've been going on for a long time about that new system I'm going to buy - that new laptop I'm going to buy - that new .... I'm going to buy.

Now it actually looks like I'm going to do it. I have been recently motivated to try and get out there and perform some of my music live. Nothing serious - just some open mike type venues and we'll see where it goes.

So my ailing desktop is just not going to cut it. I was thinking a reasonably spec'd laptop would probably see me through. So far the specs I seem to be leaning towards are: C2D T9400 2.53 GHz, xGb RAM, xGb Hard drive, nVidia graphics card, onboard sound (I have a USB Audio device already).

I have a feeling that should be OK power-wise - unless anyone knows anything to the contrary.

I'm a bit nervous about performing with computers and I'm thinking Linux is going to be less nerve-wracking from a stability/performance perspective.

My requirements are:
- Stability, stability, stability
- High performance
- Ability to run some Windows applications and definitely - Windows VSTis. I tend to use REAPER and XT2 more often than other hosts.

I don't really know if using Windows applications/plug-ins through WineASIO etc... causes much of a performance hit, but that could be an important factor for me. If necessary I could use my XT2 license to also install the Linux version and create special live projects with sampled instruments from my "studio" project run using XT2's sampler or LinuxSampler via Jack or something. Is this going to be likely?

I'm also thinking I might like to have all the audio (microphone, guitar - if used) to go through my laptop as well and be effected and mixed with the sequenced/performed stuff there.

Should I be expecting any disasters with latency etc... doing this? I don't really want to buy a whole heap of hardware at the moment as I already have on a new master keyboard controller, a new mic and the laptop as it is. So anyone have an idea how this would all work with Linux?

As for Linux distributions, I'm currently road-testing Puppy as a very lightweight base. Once I get my laptop I'll probably install JAD and 64Studio as well to try them out more thoroughly. I might also look at Arch if it makes sense.

So anybody with advice on this? Am I mad to think that I can achieve all of this stuff? If so - is anyone out there achieving this sort of stuff who can give me advice or at least confirm that it's all possible?

Regards
Caleb

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:28 am

Caleb wrote:Well - I've been going on for a long time about that new system I'm going to buy - that new laptop I'm going to buy - that new .... I'm going to buy.
Regards
Caleb

Hi, first, for your old computer, Friday I got an 8 gig Sandisk usbstick, took the SATA
hardisks out of my computer, slipped in a PCLinuxOS dvd, plugged in the Sandisk, rebooted, and installed the linux as if it were on any old hardisk. Simple, so with bios support of usb-booting, the old box could be your bass and drums machine, cheap and quiet and stable.
NEW setup, as you say, try some distros, Fedora has some great RT Kernel support
from Fernando at Stanford CCRMA. JAD has great support from guys that code instead of whining, PCLinuxOS is super stable, if a hair slower on the latest alpha packaging, as stability is their goal. Ubuntu is all over the map, 8.04 Studio is good, 8.10 has the broken RT Kernel, and Pulse Ausio seems to divide their ranks a bit, but with howto files on solutions, and quicker firmware support for brand names, than most distros.

I have a pretty old versions of wine, and jackd, yours should be better, yet Reaper is coping well with
WusikStation
AlgoMusic collection
IK Ampltube Live/Hendix/Metal/Sampletank2 LE
Zynaddsubfx
Zebra
Addictive Drums
EZDrummer
Discovery
Adonis
Genesis
Gladiator
Synplant
NI demos of FM8, Absynth, GR3 etc
Krakli S3, Stringz2 etc
Synth1 Rez2 Texture 1.2 UltraSonique Superwave P8 Crystal Abakos Chimera Triangle I/II
Phadiz, Augur, FM Heaven, latest Oatmeal, adXhip, Helix beta, SafFron, White Lightning, Cygnus, CuteHexter, M-theory,
Dualism, String Theory, AM Freehand, AM Unifier, Atlantis, Voyager, Paax2/3
GTG synths
FL Studio synth demos (didn't attemp the host itself)

I'll stop boring you now

CRASHES

I've found 3 synthedit instruments over the years that crash Reaper '...pooofff...gone'
when loading other than the default soundbank.
Cantabile is used for those few when needed.

Some complex saved projects refuse to load, or crash on the first attempt, but load fine the second time

So I name them using the key elements, just in case.

Maybe one in 2000 presets causes Reaper to simply vanish.

the GOOD NEWS

Excellent Reaper stability when actually playing, super easy system re-installs, fast reboots, live CD/Usb stick OS installs, some mix-n-match can be done with wineasio apps and native linux apps using qjackctl.

Cantabile 1.2 and 2.0 work well, have used 1.2 to live record vst output, no rendering needed, excellent feature!

LinuxSampler (giga-format sounds) and zynaddsubfx multi-timbral work together now! Hunt down those soundsets with GIGA versions included!!!

More firmware-centric hardware is getting support.

I tested Podium last week, with good results, just no time to learn a new host. The beta demo of windows eXT2.5 worked well, but some folks are having recording issues.

Ideas...ram, 4 gig minimum, 1 stick, or a guaranteed matching pair of 2 giggers
SATA drives, fast, simple connection, with a matched pair for a ready2go Ghost backed up
emergency hero, and one for recordings.
Case, Get one with EZ access,
Graphics, google nvidia model, monitor, and OS
Soundcard, be prepared to change, envy24 chips are well supported.
Cheers

Caleb · Post by **Caleb** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:45 am

Thanks for that.

With the running of various Wine/WineASIO applications do you get any problems with performance as compares to running in Windows?

With the realtime kernal - JAD comes with that yeah? I tried to create a live DVD of that and it was a failure unfortunately.

I figure as long as I can use a distribution for a while without stuffing around too much with my existing Windows stuff I'm happy.

There is that dyne:bolic but it's instructions for setting up a non-intrusive install using a floppy boot just didn't work. Puppy works very nicely but it's an absolute pain in the arse to find and install things - the puppy repositories seem to be very very limited and then you go around trying to hunt down .pet files or .pup files (whatever they are). The process has already made me want to punch someone in the face.

For the moment, I just want to get familiar with setting up everything and checking compatibility/usability so the non-realtime kernal possibly doesn't matter yet.

I'm looking at PCLinuxOS. It's web page is terrible - but if I hunt around maybe I can find some way of working with it. As a LiveCD can you actually install new software and save changes to an existing directory or USB stick for further reboots? If not - I can't really test it for the moment.

With your reference to the envy integrated soundcard - are you saying that I'm going to have issues with other integrated sound cards? There really aren't options to change integrated soundcards and I've never seen that name in reference to any onboard sound for the laptops I've looked at so I doubt I'm going to end up with that. Just need to know if I'm going to be facing issues because of this. I do have an Edirol UA101 USB audio for the serious stuff, but I will still want to use the integrated card for mobile composing etc..

Are you aware of any integrated sound cards/chips that are actually problematic?

Regards
Caleb

umd · Post by **umd** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:53 am

Imho, if you know a bit about compiling stuff in linux, you should try debian, it's great.

Compiling one of the latest kernels with the timer set to 1000hz and the scheduling set to low-latency desktop is enough, from my experiments. At least in my machines, there's no performance difference to the RT kernels.

This is some of the stuff I have been able to run:

http://jstuff.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/ ... pen-drive/

Regarding hosts, energyXT's windows versions run great.

Caleb · Post by **Caleb** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:25 am

Linux in a pen drive definitely sounds like what I want to do at least for experimenting. But I can't boot from a USB stick on my computer - too damn old.

Is there a way to get around that?

Regards
Caleb

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:08 am

Caleb wrote:Linux in a pen drive definitely sounds like what I want to do at least for experimenting. But I can't boot from a USB stick on my computer - too damn old.

Is there a way to get around that?
Regards
Caleb

Hi, possibly sbm 'smart boot manager', a tiny live cd that was designed to bypass absentees in the many bios setups, point to alternate boot devices, and proceed with the chosen linux. Worth a quick google! It's on every Linux Format Magazine dvd

wubi

as advertised, it really installs ubuntu just like any old windows app, a couple mouseclicks! no partitioning needed, reboot, and its an extra option on the screen, windows, or ubuntu. Uninstall with another couple of mouseclicks. I tried it
with 8.04, and 8.10, worked fine, but bid not detect my old monitors 1064x768 for some reason, so when the mobo for my new graphics card arrives, I'll use wubi 8.04 Ubuntu Studio for somethings for sure!

I don't use windows except for ProteusX2, and UVI Workstation, on the fourth thursday, but I would assume
linux to be slightly faster, more secure, but with more crashes during complex arrangements, and with a very short, but capable
list of usable vst hosts. Mine are all
pretty simple setups, 8 or fewer instruments, rare crashes usually inspired by my inexperience, bizarre concoctions, and a level 3 tweak addiction.
I close Reaper with a an empty 6-track project, which it cleanly restarts with, then I choose other projects as desired.

Most motherboard soundsets work, envy24 products are just very well supported, should you need something.

www.jacklab.net forum is good folks, likely to send you a dvd if you ask. Its good to burn it at 8X or 4X or was it
a start-up issue? There are commands you can issue at boot time to bypass acpi, default graphics, etc and turning off all but the core hardware in the bios can help. Watch for
keypress alternatives during the boot sequence.

Dynebolic...burn the cd, boot it, and you just drag its 'nest' to any win or lin root partition, and reboot. The CD launches, discovers the nest, and is no longer needed, freeing up the cd-drive, and then speeding up the live experience.

Knoppix is king of live cds, and allows you to specify a size for a hardfile within windows, to save your eyecandy,
settings, and data for your next visit. It makes for an excellent debian installation, options in the Knoppix system menus.

PCLinuxOS, probably the easiest and most stable linux, I'm pretty sure the remasterme script is intended to
allow custom live media, within the confines of media size.
Using synaptic, go to the Settings --> Repositories menu/panel, one repository should already be chosen, in the last line at the bottom of the panel, it has 4 repository categories, main extra nonfree kde add 'testing' to this list
main extra nonfree kde testing

(all debian/ubuntu/studio64 synaptic setups are similar)

This testing repository should be where the realtime kernel and its separate headers package are, and where the latest audio software updates would be. Close the panel, hit the reload button on the main synaptic gui, and the repos are checked (if you are online) for all available files, the file lists can
be displayed as all, installed, installed but upgradable, not installed, or new in repository. These options save lots of time when looking for new updates, or weeding out the fluff!
There are a couple user forums for extra tutorials and tips, www.mypclinuxos.com, is one of them

For Suse, 10.2 is very stable, the basis for the JAD
Ubuntu Studio 8.04, Studio64, and Fedora Core 10(?) are also stable.
Cheers

Caleb · Post by **Caleb** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:39 am

Working on dyne:bolic at the moment.
Got it up and running - now just trying to find the necessary software to add - namely WineASIO.

Regards
Caleb

Doug B · Post by **Doug B** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:36 pm

Caleb wrote:Working on dyne:bolic at the moment.
Got it up and running - now just trying to find the necessary software to add - namely WineASIO.

Regards
Caleb

http://sourceforge.net/projects/wineasio

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