KVR Audio

Lump · Post by **Lump** » Sun May 31, 2009 10:24 pm

mattvdh wrote:so are you running OS X on your PC?

Yes, Retail Mac OS X installed with Boot-132 on an Asus Intel Board with Core2Quad. The installation procedure is not trivial, but my Linux skills helps a lot. Now I have a full homebrew MacPro for 25% of the price of an Apple MacPro.

Lump · Post by **Lump** » Sun May 31, 2009 10:29 pm

glokraw wrote: Glad to hear OSX is working well for you. After a long stint with linux,
one becomes fearless of bugs and glitches, but like you say, playing music is better
than perfecting sysadmin skills I have read where WINE is working well now on OSX,
if you have tried it, a short review would be very interesting!
Cheers

No need for Darwine or some other Windows emulations. OS X is a full working OS with a lot of creative tools for music... There are tons of VST/AU plugins and a good amount of DAW software working stable with the wonderful CoreAudio.

funkadil · Post by **funkadil** » Sun May 31, 2009 10:48 pm

mattvdh wrote:
pHz wrote:

easiest to use / best distros for audio work

setup tips

things to avoid

general linux advice

relevant questions

etc

slainte rob

Hi, I've started a similar thread on gearslutz.com http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-co ... -daws.html

I've spent about a month searching for the perfect distribution for use as a DAW.

I've tried every studio based distro available and the all pretty much sucked.

In my experience the best distro(s) were Debian, FreeBSD and Puppy linux.
If I had to choose one out of them all I'd go with Debian because of how easy it is to install and uninstall applicatoins from the console up.

As far as desktop/window manager go I've tried them all...I'd recommend apt-get install kde-core...minimal install of kde. KDE is the most stable and relible. users say that enlightenment,fluxbox etc are 'so light and efficient' but they were buggy so I don't have any use for them... XFCE is in 2nd place but KDE is byfar the best.

Applications that ran SOLID and EFFICIENTLY:Pidgin,open arena,jack,ardour,audacity,abiword....I still haven't found a solid browser for linux that plays flash movies (youtube) well. Back on a slimmed down bartpe version of XP because of video issues and not being able to properly stream videos.

I am starting to become more and more convinced by Ubuntu for pretty much any desktop use. I used to be a hardcore gentoo enthusiast ( I still love it to death) but ubuntu has gotten way better about all of its bloat and not breaking things(I got really sick of compile times on gentoo). For example, you should have no problem getting a realtime kernel running under ubuntu along with JACK, its really simple at this point, no need for ubuntu studio either. Flash movies work perfect over here with firefox, just make sure you have all of the non-free repositories and install flash from aptitude. Same with acrobat reader. FreeBSD is not a linux distro by the way. It can't even really use the latest flash versions (last time I checked). FreeBSD is a whole lot of fun though, and if you want to really get hands on and learn about UNIX go for it! gentoo linux and, if you want to be really hardcore about it, slackware linux are very good if you want to build a system from the ground up and really understand how the more bloated, desktop-in-a-box distributions are put together. In fact, if I were only going to be installing audio applications, I would probably use gentoo and so I could raise it up into a nice little studio with no fuss, but if you are going to do other things, or just don't have time for nerdliness, Ubuntu is the way to go for sure. It has some of the best updating and has the largest, but perhaps not most knowledgable community.

kazakore · Post by **kazakore** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:49 pm

OK just read the rest of this thread, as promised, and it's posed a couple of questions for me.

Why the repeated recommendations of Reaper when, as far as I can see, there is no Linux versions so people are goign to have to be running it under Wine and thus seemingly negating the fact you are using a Linux machine (although my host, Renoise, has a Linux port so doesn't overly bother me.)

Is the Edirol UA-101 running stably. I have read loads of threads on it and after reading the big discussion on here about trying to get it up and links that it should be working from Alsa version (can't remember but version that included in Ubuntu Studio from 7.10 upwards) sound like it should work. The you check the Alsa Wiki it states "not fully supported; playback does not work correctly (periodic clicks)" so seems it still doesn't work correctly. If either the UA101 or the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra were proven stable in Linux I would go for one of them over the NI AK1 I am currently leaning towards quite heavily.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 2:36 am

kazakore wrote:OK just read the rest of this thread, as promised, and it's posed a couple of questions for me.

Why the repeated recommendations of Reaper when, as far as I can see, there is no Linux versions so people are goign to have to be running it under Wine and thus seemingly negating the fact you are using a Linux machine (although my host, Renoise, has a Linux port so doesn't overly bother me.)

Is the Edirol UA-101 running stably. I have read loads of threads on it and after reading the big discussion on here about trying to get it up and links that it should be working from Alsa version (can't remember but version that included in Ubuntu Studio from 7.10 upwards) sound like it should work. The you check the Alsa Wiki it states "not fully supported; playback does not work correctly (periodic clicks)" so seems it still doesn't work correctly. If either the UA101 or the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra were proven stable in Linux I would go for one of them over the NI AK1 I am currently leaning towards quite heavily.

I only mention Reaper because it works for a basic multi-track daw in linux, I can easily record audio and midi, and access enough plugins that variety is never an issue, and the Reaper forum is a good read. The advent of Rakarrack means more time will be spent
using only Zynaddsubfx and a non-wine linux environment, but there are incredible possibilities using AlgoMusics Atomic, M42, M51, Enceladus, and ElektraBass,
along with staples like Synth1, ZebraCM, Rez2, Texture, M-Theory/String-Theory, and the ubiquitous, and ever improving Wusikstation. Maybe Caleb in the eXT forum can give you the latest on his using an Edirol interface with linux.

Posting this from JAD, the Suse 10.2 Audio linux I installed last night, maybe I'll review it here this weekend, so far, I like it a lot, Rakarrack, zynaddsubfx, and E17 for a window-manager is a pretty enjoyable environment
Cheers

kazakore · Post by **kazakore** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:20 pm

glokraw wrote: Posting this from JAD, the Suse 10.2 Audio linux I installed last night, maybe I'll review it here this weekend, so far, I like it a lot, Rakarrack, zynaddsubfx, and E17 for a window-manager is a pretty enjoyable environment
Cheers

I thought JAD had pretty much stopped but I may be wrong. Saying that it's still no older than the stable Ubuntu. But main reason I'm leaning the Ubuntu way is because I have a friend who uses it in basic desktop so will be the easiest for him to help me with any problems I may have

Lump · Post by **Lump** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:25 am

Yes JackLab has closed, because of not enough support from the community... the "free people" only take but never give a contribution for development or supporting a project. If there is no millionaire in the back, the small Linux projects die.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:38 pm

kazakore wrote:
glokraw wrote: Posting this from JAD, the Suse 10.2 Audio linux I installed last night, maybe I'll review it here this weekend, so far, I like it a lot, Rakarrack, zynaddsubfx, and E17 for a window-manager is a pretty enjoyable environment
Cheers

I thought JAD had pretty much stopped but I may be wrong. Saying that it's still no older than the stable Ubuntu. But main reason I'm leaning the Ubuntu way is because I have a friend who uses it in basic desktop so will be the easiest for him to help me with any problems I may have

I think 98% of linux is quite similar between distros. Default package managers, window managers, and core applications may vary, but you can usually settle for a personalized setup that you can easily replicate on most any new install. Being on dialup, I'll buy a magazine with good dvd content, so I can test fairly new releases. Ubuntu Studio 8.04 is nice, but doesn't properly support the combo of my monitors/graphics card. RPM based distros
from Suse and PCLinuxOS, and older Debian distros do.
Cheers

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:43 pm

Lump wrote:Yes JackLab has closed, because of not enough support from the community... the "free people" only take but never give a contribution for development or supporting a project. If there is no millionaire in the back, the small Linux projects die.

After all the work that became JAD, at least it is a good foundation, with lots of Suse and peripheral software that can be upgraded around it. The splash-screen with the guitar and mic always cheers me up after work

Lump · Post by **Lump** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:26 am

glokraw wrote:
After all the work that became JAD, at least it is a good foundation, with lots of Suse and peripheral software that can be upgraded around it. The splash-screen with the guitar and mic always cheers me up after work

It touches me how you describe the splash screen. Be sure that one day JAD will return. Maybe with a different name, but with the same spirit.

Thank you !

umd · Post by **umd** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:43 pm

If you know a bit about linux (compiling), I definitely recommend debian, pack it up with a rt kernel, jack, wine, wineasio, and the latest alsa drivers and it works much better than ubuntu (which is good too, but much more bloated than debian).

dover666 · Post by **dover666** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:06 pm

i am loving crunchbang linux. works great, got conky and openbox standard.... it's cyberpunk!! (#! for short!!)

Caleb · Post by **Caleb** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:01 am

glokraw wrote:Maybe Caleb in the eXT forum can give you the latest on his using an Edirol interface with linux.

I haven't been amazingly impressed with the performance of Audio on Linux using my Roland UA-101.

So far for me everything has been in reverse of what the Linux experiment was supposed to be. I came looking for a more stable music environment and found a far less stable one than Windows. However, I found a desktop environment I was quite happy with.

Shouldn't have really happened that way I guess.

I have tinkered with Jack for quite some time to get the most out of it, but the most doesn't seem to be much.

I'm not completely giving up on the idea. But going without Wine is not really an option for me. So far, I have been less than impressed with every native Linux music solution I've come across.

I draw ever closer to giving in and buying a new machine (which I think I've been talking about for a couple of years now

) - but I'm likely to give Windows 7 a go as a stable music OS as well a specially put-together variant of Puppy a go on the Linux front.

I sometimes thing when people post supernaturally amazing results in latency and stability on a Linux system they are really using the platform quite different to me.

But....Linux as a project is really fascinating to me. I find that it's not a desktop that "just works" in the same way as Windows, but I feel it encouraging me to get more involved - to do a bit of hacking - to build my own utilities etc... So far it hasn't been good at all for my music, but it has been good for my soul in some obscure way.

Regards
Caleb

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 7:54 am

My system informed me yesterday that the hardisk had not been checked in
the last 47,924 days

I'm sure I checked it the very day before the ominous message

We don't lose IQ when maintaining a linux system, but other aspects of mental health may be adveresly effected. Thanks for an honest update. I look forward to testing the latest
Puppy later this summer, but it is pretty smoothe sailing with the maudio 24/96
Cheers

kazakore · Post by **kazakore** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 9:26 am

UMD: Currently I have no experience of Linux (well beyond briefly using a few times) but I have friends who run Ubuntu which is why I've decided to go with that for the first experiment. I did once try and get Agnula/Demundi installed but couldn't get Grub to recognise both the XP installations I had as well as it's Linux install and eventually gave up. Should of removed the second XP install really as in the end I never really bothered booting into my audio specific install anyway.

Caleb: Thanks for the update. Think I'll be avoiding the UA101 then. Still arguing with myself whether I can justify getting the RME...

Glograw: WOW! You're computer is over 130 years old. Pretty antiquated machine you have there. Bet you can't have many tracks in a project

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