The linux DAW thread

[glokraw]

One reason I like kde, is the ease of setting up and using multiple desktops, so the drum machine, host, fx processor, synth, and wave editor never crowd each other. As computers with 2 2ghz cores become archaic, due to dual quadcores filling the shelfspace of warehouse stores, ease of use will trump speed for a lot of people who upgrade. I really like dyne:bolic and its nest, and the default windowmaker gui is also easy to set up lots of desktops. A Puppy derivative may be the fastest audio distro by next year, hope it all comes together! Its nice to be spoiled with riches Ubuntu studio 8.04, can be made quicker for audio if you don't install all the graphics and video apps, and uninstall the audio apps you never use.

Cheers

[S-N-S]

does anyone use linux mint for audio stuff??

[LBN]

does anyone use linux mint for audio stuff??

Since Mint is simply a variant of Ubuntu I would imagine that all said about Ubuntu would apply to Mint.

[james0tucson]

I was looking through ALSA for a sound card to use and notice alot of out of produstion cards. there realy isn't any quality card drivers available aside from RME and no ASE card drivers aside from Lynx.

The best soundcards for use with Linux are the ICE1712/Envy24 devices like M-Audio, or the EMU10k1 cards like the first generation SBLive (which you can find for $5 a piece nowadays.)

With all due respect, the community that knows about Lynx -- let alone uses them -- has a tiny intersection with the Linux audio development community.

It is also often the case that a given device has no ALSA support (or any other open source driver) primarily because the manufacturer of that device is openly hostile to the very notion.

[Throbert]

Audio Science, Digigram and Mariam are llisted with Alsa and show drivers for Cards with AES and analog I/O

[Lost_Highway]

Here's a quick thought for everyone...

I bought NI B4II and Akoustik Piano a few days ago - they were going cheap (£64 each) due to being discontinued. I tried the demo of B4II and had no problems with it; I'd read stuff here and elsewhere on the net about people using both products fine with no issues with the NI Service Center activation.

I spent a lot of last night getting very frustrated not being able to activate either because I couldn't get Service Center to install properly.

What I hadn't realised was I was still using Wine from the Ubuntu repositories (and I'm still running 8.04) and didn't have the Wine repo added. Once Wine was upgraded everything worked fine, but by that time I was too tired to play properly with either instrument

So, if encountering problems, upgrading can be your friend. Or it can totally hose your system - I've done that before now

[glokraw]

I've saved time by saving/renaming the old .wine folder before upgrading, then when the
new wine is installed and winecfg and regsvr32 wineasio.dll is done, I over-write the new empty .wine with the old one, so drive_c, Reaper, Cantabile, projects, vsts, all return like magic The new wine lib and binary are safely in /usr and don't care much about the content of .wine

This sure has been a good season for bargains!
Cheers

[SE_Newbie]

gotta love linux for that. And furthermore you can just take the preceding . off the .wine name and make and keep your wine directory visible and make a symlink called .wine to replace the .wine folder you created with winecfg. a symlink (to a file that actually exists, of course) in linux is just about as good as the actual file... lets see ya try that in winblows..... if you dare

[rpm]

I just started using ubuntu (karmic koala) and it's awesome. Vista made me sick.
I keep a dual-boot so I can still use Tracktion in Vista with my Phonic Firefly USB 302 audio interface and M-Audio Key Rig.

I don't know if I can run the same system on ubuntu. I love Tracktion but willing to quit for a new linux daw.

Basically, what DAWs should I go for? Ardour? Also, Any tips on how I can run my Phonic on ubuntu?

thanks

[pHz]

ardour is pretty good for audio but i find it user-unfriendly

i was sticking with XT2 on linux but the slow pace of development has got a bit stale now (even for me) so ive stripped right back and my linux setup is now just -

renoise
the few linux VST instruments and effects out there
the standard ubuntu installation of LADSPA plugins
audacity

and occasional use of -

hydrogen (for building loops)
freecycle

slainte rob

[stanlea]

The next major evolution of Ardour will be the use of midi.
Rosegarden has just done a huge step by renewing its interface, but it's pretty unstable for now.
A good option is qtractor, support audio and midi through jack, lapsda, dssi, lv2, vst plugins. No automation yet.
Of course Renoise if you dig with trackers.

[TexasFury]

So what's the state of the Linux DAW? Would you trust YOUR business' success and family's survival to depend on using a Linux DAW? Or is it still relegated to masochists and those insisting on making some anti-Redmond stand?

[pljones]

Anyone interested in giving a new and potentially seriously broken version wineasio a test, I've just published it to sourceforge SVN:
http://sf.net/scm/?type=svn&group_id=222369
Comments/patches back to my Sourceforge email address, please or the project's forums.

[glokraw]

So what's the state of the Linux DAW? Would you trust YOUR business' success and family's survival to depend on using a Linux DAW? Or is it still relegated to masochists and those insisting on making some anti-Redmond stand?

Hi, this is posted from Ubuntu Studio Puppy Linux V3, came as a 458 meg iso image,
burn it, rebooted from the CD, configured some things, rebooted, at first reboot, you
are prompted to have a config file saved for your next sessions, and a spot on the hardisk
for saving future work, and data, with size options. When this is engaged, the CD is no longer needed for that session. A usb-stick is another install option.

Anyway, boring, so configured wine and the included reaper for my soundcard, and mounted a
partition full of vsts, and copied over the ones I actually use. I used reaper output sent
to linux Rakarrack multifx, made some wild Nolwenn Voyager leads appropriately wilder, copied over my custom Hydrogen drumkits, and fired up a beat, loaded 4 patches in zynaddsubfx and sent them to Rakarrack, recorded with timemachine, then configured this connection, 2 or 3 mouseclicks, all in all, a great session. Realtime kernel is default,
all the main apps have desktop icons, reaper among them, its the fastest linux DAW I have used. I put V 2 on a usbstick, this one may get its own new hard-disk, or dethrone the linux I've been using.

To answer your question, I would say yes, but its a trick question, since there is no linux DAW. The OS is the DAW, as opposed to windows, where the OS is the problem, and
DAW coders must solve that problem before making tunes.
(yeah Balmerville, I'm talkin' about ya! )

Play your cards on their strength, and don't limit your options. Business of any kind needs the best tools they can afford, and music is no different. In a linux setup, you need to buy or have an adequately supported soundcard for your business needs, and use reaper for host, and get by with plugins without dongles, pace, ilok etc. Zebra, Wusik, Native Instruments, Alchemy, AlgoMusic, UGO, Cobalt, all work here for basic reaper projects. I have briefly tested MUlab and Podium as hosts, both started OK and loaded plugins, Cantabile I use more often as second choice host. Several people are now using FLS9 in Ubuntu Studio. I got the Reason demo loaded, playing and editing the default project. And firewire support is gaining from the ffado project. So the future is not totally apocalyptic yet
There are a dozen or so linux audio apps that I know are great, and many ones I have yet to try, or even hear about. I'm delighted with this puppy version of
Ubuntu Studio, its very well suited to both newcomers, and grizzled old linux grinders living in quonset huts north of the arctic circle, dining on penguin hotwings
(oh the irony!)

[StudioDave]

So what's the state of the Linux DAW? Would you trust YOUR business' success and family's survival to depend on using a Linux DAW? Or is it still relegated to masochists and those insisting on making some anti-Redmond stand?

http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analy ... d-decision

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb04/a ... rimage.htm

Well, two examples isn't exactly a raving recommendation, but at least those guys have an answer to your question.

FWIW, I make my living as a musician, writer, and teacher. My studio and my business are all-Linux, all the time. I pay the rent, buy groceries, pay insurance, etc., all from the money I make with Linux software tools.

Best,

dp