Are you migrating?

[NWSM]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share my recent experience switching over to Linux for music production. After trying out several distributions, I finally found one that really works for me: MX Linux (KDE, Debian 12, X11). It took me about five attempts to find the right system, but this setup does what I need almost right away – and that was a big relief.

Daily use & software I run:

• - Music production: Bitwig, Renoise
  - Gaming & tools: Battle.net, Steam, BAR
  - AI experiments: Forge UI
  - Graphics/video: Blender, Krita, Kdenlive, Inkscape, Draw.io

So far, most of this runs fine. The graphics and video side takes a bit more patience, but it’s workable.

Music production & plugins:
To my surprise, the production workflow on Linux is actually very solid. The only real downside is the rather limited number of native plugins (Linux CLAP / VST3). Then again, having fewer plugins can actually make you focus more on creating music instead of endlessly browsing options.

The native Linux plugins I currently use include:

• - Synths & samplers: u-he, Vital, Surge XT, Dexed, Decent Sampler, Algonaut Atlas, TAL, Flechtwerk, SFizz,
  - Effects & Utilities: Audiothing, AudoDamage (OMG!!!) Airwindows, HY Plugins, Glitch2, LSP, KMeter, TILR, ToneBoosters, unplugred, Robert vd Helm
  - Modular/experimental: VCV Rack, Cardinal, SoundThread

Not every GUI runs perfectly smooth under X11 (even with an RTX 4070 Ti), and Bitwig itself has some minor delays here and there – but development seems to be catching up. Renoise gave me some trouble at first until I looked into realtime kernel support, and now it works very well, without RT Stuff, seems like...

Conclusion:

• - I haven’t used Windows in weeks now.
  - For me, MX Linux is the go-to system I can honestly see myself sticking with long term.
  - The learning curve: medium – not too hard, but you do need some patience. Forums are helpful, although sometimes it’s not easy to follow instructions word for word. Having an actual “Linux friend” to talk to would definitely help.

Setup: full dual-boot with Windows 10 on a separate SSD, handled via GRUB.

Overall, the switch was much smoother than I expected, and despite small challenges I’m really happy with this move to Linux.

[jamcat]

I have a 2012 Mac Mini that I have Bootcamp on and I also made an Ubuntu thumb drive I can boot it from.

Hopefully this will continue being good enough for development. I don’t really see the point in getting a new Intel machine. I don’t think x86_64 is long for this world.

[fedexnman]

I had an i7 920 Windows 7 got the free upgrade to Windows 10 .... I've dual booted and Ubuntu and Ubuntu studio over the years . I like Ardour ,Hydrogen, Renoise , Tracktion, Bitwig , Reaper ... etc etc . At the end of the day when I built a new PC AMD7600x and rx7600gpu , I just got a Windows 11 key for cheap somewhere . I like SteamOS and what Arch stuff is out there , but I don't dualboot anymore I'm all Windows 11 ... It's just easier that way .

[zerocrossing]

I need to get things done for clients, so that means working with software that’s fully supported. For me, that means Bitwig on Windows 11. It’s not perfect, but most of the time it’s fine.

[kritikon]

TPM requirement is not essential anyway. I recently got Win11 on my household desktop, which is old enough to not officially be able to get Win11. The Microsoft download thingy told me it wasn't compatible so I left it alone but recently found you can install Win11 anyway...there's a Win11 somewhere on Github that circumvents the TPM requirement. It works perfectly well on mine, it's updated to the latest versions and it's been no problem whatsoever. I guess the downside is it's not officially supported by MS, so that might be an issue for some. My music laptop was OK and accepted Win11 officially anyway. It does music the same as it ever did. So why would I migrate away from Win? TPM requirement has had absolutely no effect on anything I use my Win11 laptop for, my use is exactly the same.

Maybe I'm being dumb, but what is the issue with TPM that supposedly affects me? I haven't noticed any change in anything except a few irritating graphics changes in Win11...

[NWSM]

There is ONE Windows 11 Version outside that you can not buy, but you can Tweak a Minimal Version of Microsoft that never will drop on the Market. You need to read the Tutorial.

https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/

[legendCNCD]

For me it was Win11Pro + NTLite to remove parts completely, then GPO to set Update not to bother me at all.

[BrokenTrance]

TPM requirement is not essential anyway. I recently got Win11 on my household desktop, which is old enough to not officially be able to get Win11. The Microsoft download thingy told me it wasn't compatible so I left it alone but recently found you can install Win11 anyway...there's a Win11 somewhere on Github that circumvents the TPM requirement. It works perfectly well on mine, it's updated to the latest versions and it's been no problem whatsoever. I guess the downside is it's not officially supported by MS, so that might be an issue for some. My music laptop was OK and accepted Win11 officially anyway. It does music the same as it ever did. So why would I migrate away from Win? TPM requirement has had absolutely no effect on anything I use my Win11 laptop for, my use is exactly the same.

Maybe I'm being dumb, but what is the issue with TPM that supposedly affects me? I haven't noticed any change in anything except a few irritating graphics changes in Win11...

For me TPM 2.0 and supported cpu is about i want to make sure about compatibility along the line. Anyway.... i will probably be buying a new computer later on that is officially supported for Win 11.

[tapper mike]

I've got an older Win 10 pro machine that originally Microsoft said was too old to migrate to 11. It has been collecting dust for over a year now. What happens if I simply don't connect to the internet and turn it on anyway? I don't want new build updates for software and I'll prolly run some older titles that I barely used. If I want to transfer files I'll just use usb memory sticks.

[legendCNCD]

I've got an older Win 10 pro machine that originally Microsoft said was too old to migrate to 11. It has been collecting dust for over a year now. What happens if I simply don't connect to the internet and turn it on anyway? I don't want new build updates for software and I'll prolly run some older titles that I barely used. If I want to transfer files I'll just use usb memory sticks.

It runs just fine in my experience and that is how a lot of people ran their rigs back in the day.

[tapper mike]

I've got an older Win 10 pro machine that originally Microsoft said was too old to migrate to 11. It has been collecting dust for over a year now. What happens if I simply don't connect to the internet and turn it on anyway? I don't want new build updates for software and I'll prolly run some older titles that I barely used. If I want to transfer files I'll just use usb memory sticks.

It runs just fine in my experience and that is how a lot of people ran their rigs back in the day.

Thanks for that....
I was afraid it would give me BSOD if it didn't receive a connection.

A few years ago during Covid my aunt asked me to update her windows machine. It was me and it was taking no updates for anything.

[eLawnMust]

I had a windows 10 machine given to me by a neighbor I used to do favors for while they were gone... it was like new & used it for 3 years offline with never a problem, worked perfect... Then Wife's machine was going south so I gave it to her which immediately went online... Became slow & lumbering with settings changing with constant updating which really isn't updating it's spying & copying files then 4 months later SSD goes out... Replaced it good for a few days then slow-slow again...

All I use is XP it is fast & zippy on a fraction of resources the old stuff sounds just as good as anything...

[BrokenTrance]

I had a windows 10 machine given to me by a neighbor I used to do favors for while they were gone... it was like new & used it for 3 years offline with never a problem, worked perfect... Then Wife's machine was going south so I gave it to her which immediately went online... Became slow & lumbering with settings changing with constant updating which really isn't updating it's spying & copying files then 4 months later SSD goes out... Replaced it good for a few days then slow-slow again...

All I use is XP it is fast & zippy on a fraction of resources the old stuff sounds just as good as anything...

[BrokenTrance]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share my recent experience switching over to Linux for music production. After trying out several distributions, I finally found one that really works for me: MX Linux (KDE, Debian 12, X11). It took me about five attempts to find the right system, but this setup does what I need almost right away – and that was a big relief.

Daily use & software I run:

• - Music production: Bitwig, Renoise
  - Gaming & tools: Battle.net, Steam, BAR
  - AI experiments: Forge UI
  - Graphics/video: Blender, Krita, Kdenlive, Inkscape, Draw.io

So far, most of this runs fine. The graphics and video side takes a bit more patience, but it’s workable.

Music production & plugins:
To my surprise, the production workflow on Linux is actually very solid. The only real downside is the rather limited number of native plugins (Linux CLAP / VST3). Then again, having fewer plugins can actually make you focus more on creating music instead of endlessly browsing options.

The native Linux plugins I currently use include:

• - Synths & samplers: u-he, Vital, Surge XT, Dexed, Decent Sampler, Algonaut Atlas, TAL, Flechtwerk, SFizz,
  - Effects & Utilities: Audiothing, AudoDamage (OMG!!!) Airwindows, HY Plugins, Glitch2, LSP, KMeter, TILR, ToneBoosters, unplugred, Robert vd Helm
  - Modular/experimental: VCV Rack, Cardinal, SoundThread

Not every GUI runs perfectly smooth under X11 (even with an RTX 4070 Ti), and Bitwig itself has some minor delays here and there – but development seems to be catching up. Renoise gave me some trouble at first until I looked into realtime kernel support, and now it works very well, without RT Stuff, seems like...

Conclusion:

• - I haven’t used Windows in weeks now.
  - For me, MX Linux is the go-to system I can honestly see myself sticking with long term.
  - The learning curve: medium – not too hard, but you do need some patience. Forums are helpful, although sometimes it’s not easy to follow instructions word for word. Having an actual “Linux friend” to talk to would definitely help.

Setup: full dual-boot with Windows 10 on a separate SSD, handled via GRUB.

Overall, the switch was much smoother than I expected, and despite small challenges I’m really happy with this move to Linux.

Thanks, great post

[El°HYM]

I had a windows 10 machine given to me by a neighbor I used to do favors for while they were gone... it was like new & used it for 3 years offline with never a problem, worked perfect... Then Wife's machine was going south so I gave it to her which immediately went online... Became slow & lumbering with settings changing with constant updating which really isn't updating it's spying & copying files then 4 months later SSD goes out... Replaced it good for a few days then slow-slow again...

All I use is XP it is fast & zippy on a fraction of resources the old stuff sounds just as good as anything...

I recently migrated from Windows 2000, which I kept offline since 1984, to the more recent XP and must say the performance and overall snappiness is just phenomenal. Synth1 is running perfectly fine and I am also glad that VoS is still offering their VST2 versions to those who know.











Kidding aside; just setting up a LINUX Mint machine, which will have the Studio/Audio related stuff installed on top. Many thanks to Taktik for the recent Renoise Update. I have also heard some rumors, there wouldnt be enough native plugins around.

https://linuxdaw.org/