Best Linux Distro For Music (Page 1 of 2)

Are you already a Linux user? How comfortable are you with tweaking distros? If you're not that good at taking care of a Linux machine then Ubuntu Studio is probably the best choice for you since it'll install a low-latency kernel and all that jazz for you. You probably want to check if your soundcard is compatible first (duh, I know.) I cannot vouch for the other one you mentioned as I don't know it at all. Good luck.

Ubuntu Studio or Puredyne would be the way to go.

I've never heard anyone rave about using Linux for audio production. I don't think I'd recommend moving over to it if you're already on Windows or Mac.

i'll recommend linux. you can run renoise greatly on it, LGPT, and another amazing well known software. but not everything. the VST's can't run natively on it, but you have options.

the weak point is that you need to deal with the configurations, and get used to other software (or way of seeing it).

for example a nice DAW is ardour, but in the plugins departament you'll find a lot of options, and the result may not be as great as you could want. I recommend invada, CALF and several LV2 plugins. i'l stick  on linux because of puredata, it works not so great in windows,

And using audio in real time with a dedicated kernel is really great. and the JACK audio software will let you "rewire" any aplications that spits audio, and do crazy stuff imposible in windows, never tried mac OS but i'm very tempted to buy me a machine.

Last edited by Analog (Jun 30, 2011 2:45 am)

Thanks for all the input!  As a Linux user I've been using Ubuntu, but my knowledge of the inner workings is limited at best, so that's why I'd like to get a system running pre-configured for smooth, optimum sailing.  I'll take a closer look at Ubuntu Studio and Puredyne.  For apps, I'll mainly be using Renoise, Ardour, various trackers, Supercollider, Csound, Mixxx, and Wine for stuff like VGM Music Maker.  I'm aware it might not be as convenient as Windows or OSX, but I doubt that is the reason most people would use Linux anyways.    I'm glad this could spark this kind of discussion though, it's certainly fascinating as far as computer music goes!

Has ardour added midi yet? I know it is due very soon.

got my saffire Le firewire soundcard configured and that was the most difficult part. (with the ffado drivers). but once you got it working, it will never fail. at least that's my experience.

with LGPT, renoise, puredata and ardour i got all my needs covered.

i've tried raster music tracker with WINE and works perfect. Not so sure about famitracker.

there is also Neil, an interesting buzz clone.

this computer i'm using for production is not new, it have four years so it's not that amazing in proccesor and hard disk access departament. So linux have really helped me to get the most out of my machine.

Right now i got  a problem with  choosing a distribution, i have installed debian but the wifi drivers are a pain to install, can't invest that time figuring that out. Pure: dyne is something i really want to try, and MUSIX is also a great distro, tried it before with good results.

Currently i'm using ubuntu 10.4 running the rt-kernel with the old firewire stack. two months ago i was in 8.4; it fucking rocks, but got a lot of dependencies problem using new versions of the programs.

In my humble opinion ubuntu isn't really mature  with the new releases (two major updates a year, sometimes dependencies are broken and what works in a previous version don't work in a new one.) the best is to try a Long term support version (LTS).

Frostbyte, what's your problem with your card? which one is it?

Last edited by Analog (Jun 30, 2011 9:00 am)