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LinuxDAW – Quality audio software for Linux

191 points by fractalf 3y ago

I made/released this exactly one year ago today. It's a simple webpage giving an overview over quality software that runs on Linux. It has search and filter to narrow down what you're looking for. Default sorting is latest additions so it can be used as a "news site". There is also a RSS feed available. I needed this myself, so I used it as a pet project to upgrade my knownledge from Vue2 to Vue3. Source code is ofc open and contributions/feedback is always welcome. https://codeberg.org/fractalf/linuxdaw.org https://codeberg.org/fractalf/linuxdaw.org Cheers!

amadeuspagel 3y ago
To me a DAW is a category of software[1], so I'd choose a more general name for the site. [1]: https://linuxdaw.org/?t=daw https://linuxdaw.org/?t=daw
- have_faith 3y ago
  Wouldn't the majority of this be used in conjunction with a DAW? seems in the right ballpark.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - 1920musicman 3y ago
    Mentioned in another comment. DAW is an IDE for music production. Calling Prettier extension for VSCode an IDE would be incorrect.
- henriquez 3y ago
  Right, this site seems to be showing plugins that run in a DAW. But what about Linux DAW software itself? Does anyone have recommendations? I think Renoise is nice but it’s not as easy to puts around in as things like Ableton or Reason which don’t run in Linux.
  - fractalf 3y ago
    Check out Bitwig (https://www.bitwig.com/ https://www.bitwig.com/), it's awesome (started by previous Ableton devs)
    - scns 3y ago
      Second Bitwig, it is really good!
  - p0nce 3y ago
    Notably, REAPER, Studio One (beta) and Bitwig are available on Linux.
    - bvrmn 3y ago
      Unfortunately reaper has latency and stutter issues under Linux. At least in demo.
  - kiviuq 3y ago
    https://itsfoss.com/tracktion-t7-daw/ https://itsfoss.com/tracktion-t7-daw/
- marssaxman 3y ago
  The name certainly made it harder for me to understand what I was looking at when I first clicked the link, expecting to see a Linux DAW.
- badosu 3y ago
  Well if you take it to the literal meaning of the acronym its exactly what it is a digital audio workstation focused os
kingwill101 3y ago
Thank you! As a musician I often complain about having to dual boot to get access to all the really good plugins. Mostly due to me not knowing where to find decent enough plugins without having to rely on hacky workarounds using wine
- fractalf 3y ago
  You're most welcome! Yea, I know _exactly_ how you feel. This is why I had my last Win7 partition for so long, but now it's gone as there all I really need is available on Linux. Bitwig + u-he, what more do you really need ;)
lioeters 3y ago
This looks great, I'm going to enjoy perusing the collection. Nothing by falkTX / KXStudio? https://kx.studio/ https://kx.studio/ https://github.com/falkTX https://github.com/falkTX EDIT: Oh I see there are some but they're not listed under Developer.
- fractalf 3y ago
  falkTX is a HERO, no doubt about that! Got these: https://linuxdaw.org/?q=falktx https://linuxdaw.org/?q=falktx ..kx studio is not really a "plugin" thingy (more a collection/repository) so it's hard to add that in this context. EDIT: I saw your edit :D
narag 3y ago
Useful (at least for me :)) and great interface, thank you!
dijksterhuis 3y ago
This is fantastic. Wish I knew this existed before. Already spotted a few alternatives for things that are keeping me on a dual boot.
chaosprint 3y ago
It would be great if we can submit a new entry from the webpage. Also, perhaps add a CLI format? I know some people use Glicol CLI on Linux: https://github.com/glicol/glicol-cli https://github.com/glicol/glicol-cli
p0nce 3y ago
Proud to be listed here :) Nice website.
- fractalf 3y ago
  Ofc, your stuff is awesome man :) ..thanks!
hammyhavoc 3y ago
Sweet!
karolist 3y ago
Mind blown continuously by the lazy loading which I hoped to stop at the first 10 items. There's this much DAW software for Linux nonetheless? Makes me question what other niche software fields I'm completely oblivious of.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- diggan 3y ago
  > document.querySelectorAll('.bg-card.text-center.p-2.rounded.relative.h-full') > NodeList(524) That's a lot of quality audio software for Linux :) (Edit: I realize now there is a counter in the top right... Oh well) Happy to see it, although I personally mostly use Windows for audio stuff... If Ableton worked on Linux I'd probably leave Windows behind.
  - fractalf 3y ago
    hehe! ..I come from Ableton on Win7. But, Bitwig (formed by ex-Ableton devs) saved the world for me as it is a) similar but better than Ableton (ofc subjective) and b) it runs on Linux! Check it out, take it for a spin!
    - diggan 3y ago
      Thanks for the recommendation! I've already tried out Bitwig (and most of the DAWs I've come across). It's just a habit thing that I still use Ableton.
CrypticShift 3y ago
Spent ages awhile back delving deep into sorting audio tools into a multi-dimensional framework, convinced that deciphering their taxonomy would unleash their full potential. It's frustrating how there are no comprehensive directories for these tools (Linux or not for that matter) I applaud your initiative and suggest you give more thought to categorization.
- fractalf 3y ago
  The good'ol "organize your stuff" problem. The problem with "categories" is that a) usually a "thing" can only belong to 1 category and b) a category often belong in a hiarchy of categories and can only be 1 place. So that is why I've used _tags_ instead, which is more of a many to many "flat" releation. Not sure I understood your comment correctly? ..I've certainly given this quite some thought already, but nothing is perfect
  - CrypticShift 3y ago
    > Nothing is perfect. I agree, and moreover, the more complex the taxonomy, the more likely you'll find people who disagree with it. So perhaps you're right that a simple tags list is the best "simple" solution, and I'm not saying your list is deficient. One thing I had in mind is allowing an "AND" operator, like searching for "vintage" AND "eq" > a) usually a "thing" can only belong to 1 category and b) a category often belong in a hiarchy of categories and can only be 1 place That's why I love hierarchical tags (where tags can have multiple parents) : You can put a "thing" under more than one category/tag while a tag can belong to more than one parent. However, it's true that this is rarely implemented.
1920musicman 3y ago
To my knowledge all VST plugins can be used on Linux (via Wine). Is that not the case? Here is a page that describes the process of using a single Wine instance to wrap all VSTs in the system: https://z-uo.medium.com/vst-and-vst3-on-linux-mint-20-with-linvst-and-linvst3-d2d0af3dd309 https://z-uo.medium.com/vst-and-vst3-on-linux-mint-20-with-l... There could possibly be a clearer name for this effort, since both Reaper and Bitwig run on Linux natively and are top notch DAWs (actual DAWs, not VST plugins). Plus VCV Rack, which is not technically a DAW but close. Linux native VST plugins is a way more precise description. DAW is a very specific software category. It's like calling Prettier extension for VSCode an IDE. Edit: seems like both linuxvst.com and linuxvst.org are available.
- squarefoot 3y ago
  > To my knowledge all VST plugins can be used on Linux (via Wine). Is that not the case? Yes, although I would recommend Yabridge rather than linvst. https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge It should be already packaged in some Linux distros, but building and installation are straightforward. Basically it installs some libraries and an executable which once called will convert a Windows plugin in .dll form to a Linux+WINE loadable .so library. You install a windows plugin through WINE the usual way: setup.exe etc (or just drop the dll if that's the way it is distributed), then once it is installed, call yabridgectl adding the path of the new plugin dll, then call yabridgectl again but this time adding the option to convert plugins (going from memory, can't test it here), then you'll have the Linux loadable .so library in the same path of the windows one. now just add the same place to your Linux DAW plugins path and it will automatically see and load the converted plugins. If you install a new windows plugin, just repeat the two above steps. One nice and often overlooked feature of loading plugins through the WINE compatibility layer is that many 15+ years old still great plugins that stopped working on Windows ages ago now are perfectly usable again on Linux, with the only problem of having to work with a much smaller GUI since they were created when 1024x768 or smaller desktops were a thing, so they can appear stamp sized on today's monitors, but size aside they work fine.
  - malermeister 3y ago
squarefoot 3y ago
It's mind blowing the number of quality, often even FOSS, Linux audio software that is appearing these days, I can't wait to try some of these on my latest music laptop installation, which is confined to my own rehearsal room and works only as a plugin host. Unfortunately I had to use Reaper (plus yabridge for Windows plugins compatibility, which works great) as a host because Carla requires Jack which defaults to non usable state at every installation and is a nightmare to set up in a reproducible way, moreover saving in Carla is broken so after an an hour of careful plugins setup one loses everything upon closing. Right now we probably need more a much simpler plugin host that does just that and just works rather than new plugins. About Jack, let me repeat this one more time Jack is not necessary at all to obtain low latency, ALSA is more than enough; if you're writing audio software, having Jack support is nice, but please don't depend on it as it just complicates things.
- amlib 3y ago
  > Carla requires Jack which defaults to non usable state at every installation and is a nightmare to set up in a reproducible way I've been using linux audio for the last 15 years and I've been trough it all. However, things have much improved since I've switched to Pipewire. No more need for a bespoke implementation of the jack daemon, it's implemented natively right there in Pipewire, vastly simplifying setup and removing any annoyances that keeping the Jack daemon working entailed. As a bonus any jack client/jack graph visualizer, including carla, gets a direct view to all Pipewire clients, not just native jack clients. You can then use Carla to route audio directly from your hardware inputs and outputs trough, for example, pulseaudio client (blissfully unaware of whats happening) and then trough as many jack clients as you wish. It's truly a magical™ piece of software. As for Carla, make sure you are in the "Multiple Clients" mode, activate the experimental features and check "Enable plugin bridges" and "Run plugins in bridge mode when possible". This seems to make it more stable and make it so that if a plugin crashes Carla will disable it and at worst you will lose the related plugin parameters. I've been running Carla with Pipewire for more then a year as my system wide DSP stack (almost like a virutal AV Reciever) and its fairly stable.
- bvrmn 3y ago
  PipeWire is an excellent Jack server BTW. So much headache was gone with exclusive card access from multiple applications.
bwanab 3y ago
I noticed that SooperLooper is missing. One of my all time favorites.
marcodiego 3y ago
Highly configurable, safe, extremely stable, very low latency, high performance and throughput and even realtime if one need or want. Pipewire put an end to the mess was the confusing ballet of pulseaudio and Jack and everything else is maturing nicely. These characteristics put (desktop) Linux on a position that the competition simply can't beat. They may have had a head start because of very popular and critical software that is un-portable, but the technical superiority is on our side. AFAIK, there have been some professional successful DAWs for Linux and I can only think it will grow over time. I saw people using OBS with a few USB cameras with reasonable quality making good quality webcasts and I'm sure that is also doable in the DAW-land. The future seems bright for musicians and recorders who can now be free from proprietary software and build a reasonable good studio at home using non-imorally-priced hardware.
- dash2 3y ago
  This optimism pairs nicely with the next post (“can anyone recommend a sound card… I couldn’t get anything working…”)
  - bvrmn 3y ago
    Next post is a clear trolling. 96 channel card user wants to migrate to Linux. Nice story bruh.
    - louthy 3y ago
      God forbid anybody who wants to use Linux in a professional setting.
    - steve1977 3y ago
      While the HDSPe MADI FX is certainly RME’s PCIe flagship, it’s not that uncommon, so why not? It could also be a HDSPe AES (32 channels) or RayDAT (72 channels). These cards are quite widely in use. Also the fact that the card supports 96 channels doesn’t mean you need to have as many A/D inputs necessarily.
- Blackthorn 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
qwertox 3y ago
I love the information density of this page. Screenshots, proper naming and ownership of the plugins with links, free vs paid including price, links to YouTube. The best site I've seen so far for this type of content.
MrDrMcCoy 3y ago
I opened an issue to get some more projects added: https://codeberg.org/fractalf/linuxdaw.org/issues/44 https://codeberg.org/fractalf/linuxdaw.org/issues/44
louthy 3y ago
O/T: Can anyone recommend a decent PCI based pro sound card with Linux (Mint, Ubuntu, Debian) support? I’m trying to de-Windows myself, but my pro-audio setup is the gap I can’t seem to fill. I currently have an RME HDSPe MADI FX [1] which allows me to bring in 96 channels of 96khz audio via 3 MADI connections. They connect to my AD/DA convertors [2]. I found source for a driver [3], but couldn’t get the thing working, and it doesn’t seem particularly well supported/documented. Moving toward Dante or AES67 is also an option (because my AD/DA convertors support those formats) if there’s any software solution that can support those formats, but there’s minimal online info. So if anyone’s gone this route I’d love to know how you got everything working! [1] https://www.rme-audio.de/hdspe-madi-fx.html https://www.rme-audio.de/hdspe-madi-fx.html [2] https://www.ferrofish.com/portfolio/a32pro-dante-converter-multimode/ https://www.ferrofish.com/portfolio/a32pro-dante-converter-m... [3] https://github.com/adiknoth/madifx https://github.com/adiknoth/madifx
- fractalf 3y ago
  Why do you want/need a PCI based card? Most audio interfaces run off USB these days and Linux supports almost all USB audio class-compliant cards.. Personally I use NI Komplete Audio 1 and Behringer UMC 1820 (yes, on Linux with pipewire and Bitwig you can use multiple cards!)
  - louthy 3y ago
    > Why do you want/need a PCI based card? Because I don’t know of any USB device that can do 96 channels of pro IO. Also, it always seemed preferable to me to avoid the issue of ‘yet another wire’ and ‘yet another source of latency’. Being attached to the PCI bus always felt like the most robust approach to getting audio in with the lowest latency (which it is on Windows). I’d probably prefer to look at Dante/AES67 before USB, unless there’s a compelling reason not to. Mostly because it gives room for future expansion where a fixed soundcard doesn’t. > yes, on Linux with pipewire and Bitwig you can use multiple cards How are you clocking the cards? If they don’t share a single clock then you’re gonna get phase issues. The idea of going back to a word-clock does not appeal to me! I’d much prefer a single device with one clock. The fewer moving parts, the better.
davidthewatson 3y ago
I've seen a lot of bad marketing copy, but this deserves to be placed on a pedestal of achievement for its tongue in cheek projection of how seriously they took the creation of such a funny thing: "The Fart Machine is not just any ordinary guitar pedal or plug-in. Using our unique rectal microphone technology, we have modeled every component of the human bowel system, and now the Fart Machine can turn any sound into flatulence. This technology provides an unprecedented level of control over your fart sounds, enabling you to create a range of unique and unforgettable sounds that will leave your audience in awe." I miss music software and its sampling and remixing culture.
kiviuq 3y ago
Clap! Clap! Clap!
fud101 3y ago
These are pretty sophisticated pieces of software. Is there anything for a rank beginner who just wants to make some nice music?
frabbit 3y ago
As an aside: can anyone recommend books/tutorials for getting started with DAWs on Linux? I was thinking of starting with Ardour¹ to get the handle on basic concepts before looking at anything else. Basic use case is being able to take input from an old MIDI keyboard and feed it into a DAW so that a simple melody can be turned into something more exciting. I would appreciate someone being able to point a complete beginner towards a path (if one exists) in which initial work getting familiar with an interface will not be wasted if more advanced functionality is desired later. I don`t mind paying for tutorials and/or books or the software (and I see Bitwig has some tutorials) but I want a rich environment that is going to reward investment of time. I would prefer something without lock-in and strongly favor FL/OSS. 1. https://manual.ardour.org/introducing-ardour/understanding-basic-concepts-and-terminology/ https://manual.ardour.org/introducing-ardour/understanding-b...
- lioeters 3y ago
  A couple of links that might lead to more information. Linux Audio Wiki - https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/start https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/start KXStudio : Documentation - https://kx.studio/Documentation https://kx.studio/Documentation

191 points by fractalf 3y ago

amadeuspagel 3y ago

To me a DAW is a category of software[1], so I'd choose a more general name for the site. [1]: https://linuxdaw.org/?t=daw https://linuxdaw.org/?t=daw

have_faith 3y ago
Wouldn't the majority of this be used in conjunction with a DAW? seems in the right ballpark.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- 1920musicman 3y ago
  Mentioned in another comment. DAW is an IDE for music production. Calling Prettier extension for VSCode an IDE would be incorrect.
henriquez 3y ago
Right, this site seems to be showing plugins that run in a DAW. But what about Linux DAW software itself? Does anyone have recommendations? I think Renoise is nice but it’s not as easy to puts around in as things like Ableton or Reason which don’t run in Linux.
- fractalf 3y ago
  Check out Bitwig (https://www.bitwig.com/ https://www.bitwig.com/), it's awesome (started by previous Ableton devs)
  - scns 3y ago
    Second Bitwig, it is really good!
- p0nce 3y ago
  Notably, REAPER, Studio One (beta) and Bitwig are available on Linux.
  - bvrmn 3y ago
    Unfortunately reaper has latency and stutter issues under Linux. At least in demo.
- kiviuq 3y ago
  https://itsfoss.com/tracktion-t7-daw/ https://itsfoss.com/tracktion-t7-daw/
marssaxman 3y ago
The name certainly made it harder for me to understand what I was looking at when I first clicked the link, expecting to see a Linux DAW.
badosu 3y ago
Well if you take it to the literal meaning of the acronym its exactly what it is a digital audio workstation focused os

kingwill101 3y ago

Thank you! As a musician I often complain about having to dual boot to get access to all the really good plugins. Mostly due to me not knowing where to find decent enough plugins without having to rely on hacky workarounds using wine

fractalf 3y ago
You're most welcome! Yea, I know _exactly_ how you feel. This is why I had my last Win7 partition for so long, but now it's gone as there all I really need is available on Linux. Bitwig + u-he, what more do you really need ;)

lioeters 3y ago

This looks great, I'm going to enjoy perusing the collection. Nothing by falkTX / KXStudio? https://kx.studio/ https://kx.studio/ https://github.com/falkTX https://github.com/falkTX EDIT: Oh I see there are some but they're not listed under Developer.

fractalf 3y ago
falkTX is a HERO, no doubt about that! Got these: https://linuxdaw.org/?q=falktx https://linuxdaw.org/?q=falktx ..kx studio is not really a "plugin" thingy (more a collection/repository) so it's hard to add that in this context. EDIT: I saw your edit :D

narag 3y ago

Useful (at least for me :)) and great interface, thank you!

dijksterhuis 3y ago

This is fantastic. Wish I knew this existed before. Already spotted a few alternatives for things that are keeping me on a dual boot.

chaosprint 3y ago

It would be great if we can submit a new entry from the webpage. Also, perhaps add a CLI format? I know some people use Glicol CLI on Linux: https://github.com/glicol/glicol-cli https://github.com/glicol/glicol-cli

p0nce 3y ago

Proud to be listed here :) Nice website.

fractalf 3y ago
Ofc, your stuff is awesome man :) ..thanks!

hammyhavoc 3y ago

Sweet!

karolist 3y ago

Mind blown continuously by the lazy loading which I hoped to stop at the first 10 items. There's this much DAW software for Linux nonetheless? Makes me question what other niche software fields I'm completely oblivious of.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
diggan 3y ago
> document.querySelectorAll('.bg-card.text-center.p-2.rounded.relative.h-full') > NodeList(524) That's a lot of quality audio software for Linux :) (Edit: I realize now there is a counter in the top right... Oh well) Happy to see it, although I personally mostly use Windows for audio stuff... If Ableton worked on Linux I'd probably leave Windows behind.
- fractalf 3y ago
  hehe! ..I come from Ableton on Win7. But, Bitwig (formed by ex-Ableton devs) saved the world for me as it is a) similar but better than Ableton (ofc subjective) and b) it runs on Linux! Check it out, take it for a spin!
  - diggan 3y ago
    Thanks for the recommendation! I've already tried out Bitwig (and most of the DAWs I've come across). It's just a habit thing that I still use Ableton.

CrypticShift 3y ago

Spent ages awhile back delving deep into sorting audio tools into a multi-dimensional framework, convinced that deciphering their taxonomy would unleash their full potential. It's frustrating how there are no comprehensive directories for these tools (Linux or not for that matter) I applaud your initiative and suggest you give more thought to categorization.

fractalf 3y ago
The good'ol "organize your stuff" problem. The problem with "categories" is that a) usually a "thing" can only belong to 1 category and b) a category often belong in a hiarchy of categories and can only be 1 place. So that is why I've used _tags_ instead, which is more of a many to many "flat" releation. Not sure I understood your comment correctly? ..I've certainly given this quite some thought already, but nothing is perfect
- CrypticShift 3y ago
  > Nothing is perfect. I agree, and moreover, the more complex the taxonomy, the more likely you'll find people who disagree with it. So perhaps you're right that a simple tags list is the best "simple" solution, and I'm not saying your list is deficient. One thing I had in mind is allowing an "AND" operator, like searching for "vintage" AND "eq" > a) usually a "thing" can only belong to 1 category and b) a category often belong in a hiarchy of categories and can only be 1 place That's why I love hierarchical tags (where tags can have multiple parents) : You can put a "thing" under more than one category/tag while a tag can belong to more than one parent. However, it's true that this is rarely implemented.

1920musicman 3y ago

To my knowledge all VST plugins can be used on Linux (via Wine). Is that not the case? Here is a page that describes the process of using a single Wine instance to wrap all VSTs in the system: https://z-uo.medium.com/vst-and-vst3-on-linux-mint-20-with-linvst-and-linvst3-d2d0af3dd309 https://z-uo.medium.com/vst-and-vst3-on-linux-mint-20-with-l... There could possibly be a clearer name for this effort, since both Reaper and Bitwig run on Linux natively and are top notch DAWs (actual DAWs, not VST plugins). Plus VCV Rack, which is not technically a DAW but close. Linux native VST plugins is a way more precise description. DAW is a very specific software category. It's like calling Prettier extension for VSCode an IDE. Edit: seems like both linuxvst.com and linuxvst.org are available.

squarefoot 3y ago
> To my knowledge all VST plugins can be used on Linux (via Wine). Is that not the case? Yes, although I would recommend Yabridge rather than linvst. https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge It should be already packaged in some Linux distros, but building and installation are straightforward. Basically it installs some libraries and an executable which once called will convert a Windows plugin in .dll form to a Linux+WINE loadable .so library. You install a windows plugin through WINE the usual way: setup.exe etc (or just drop the dll if that's the way it is distributed), then once it is installed, call yabridgectl adding the path of the new plugin dll, then call yabridgectl again but this time adding the option to convert plugins (going from memory, can't test it here), then you'll have the Linux loadable .so library in the same path of the windows one. now just add the same place to your Linux DAW plugins path and it will automatically see and load the converted plugins. If you install a new windows plugin, just repeat the two above steps. One nice and often overlooked feature of loading plugins through the WINE compatibility layer is that many 15+ years old still great plugins that stopped working on Windows ages ago now are perfectly usable again on Linux, with the only problem of having to work with a much smaller GUI since they were created when 1024x768 or smaller desktops were a thing, so they can appear stamp sized on today's monitors, but size aside they work fine.
- malermeister 3y ago

squarefoot 3y ago

It's mind blowing the number of quality, often even FOSS, Linux audio software that is appearing these days, I can't wait to try some of these on my latest music laptop installation, which is confined to my own rehearsal room and works only as a plugin host. Unfortunately I had to use Reaper (plus yabridge for Windows plugins compatibility, which works great) as a host because Carla requires Jack which defaults to non usable state at every installation and is a nightmare to set up in a reproducible way, moreover saving in Carla is broken so after an an hour of careful plugins setup one loses everything upon closing. Right now we probably need more a much simpler plugin host that does just that and just works rather than new plugins. About Jack, let me repeat this one more time Jack is not necessary at all to obtain low latency, ALSA is more than enough; if you're writing audio software, having Jack support is nice, but please don't depend on it as it just complicates things.

amlib 3y ago
> Carla requires Jack which defaults to non usable state at every installation and is a nightmare to set up in a reproducible way I've been using linux audio for the last 15 years and I've been trough it all. However, things have much improved since I've switched to Pipewire. No more need for a bespoke implementation of the jack daemon, it's implemented natively right there in Pipewire, vastly simplifying setup and removing any annoyances that keeping the Jack daemon working entailed. As a bonus any jack client/jack graph visualizer, including carla, gets a direct view to all Pipewire clients, not just native jack clients. You can then use Carla to route audio directly from your hardware inputs and outputs trough, for example, pulseaudio client (blissfully unaware of whats happening) and then trough as many jack clients as you wish. It's truly a magical™ piece of software. As for Carla, make sure you are in the "Multiple Clients" mode, activate the experimental features and check "Enable plugin bridges" and "Run plugins in bridge mode when possible". This seems to make it more stable and make it so that if a plugin crashes Carla will disable it and at worst you will lose the related plugin parameters. I've been running Carla with Pipewire for more then a year as my system wide DSP stack (almost like a virutal AV Reciever) and its fairly stable.
bvrmn 3y ago
PipeWire is an excellent Jack server BTW. So much headache was gone with exclusive card access from multiple applications.

bwanab 3y ago

I noticed that SooperLooper is missing. One of my all time favorites.

marcodiego 3y ago

Highly configurable, safe, extremely stable, very low latency, high performance and throughput and even realtime if one need or want. Pipewire put an end to the mess was the confusing ballet of pulseaudio and Jack and everything else is maturing nicely. These characteristics put (desktop) Linux on a position that the competition simply can't beat. They may have had a head start because of very popular and critical software that is un-portable, but the technical superiority is on our side. AFAIK, there have been some professional successful DAWs for Linux and I can only think it will grow over time. I saw people using OBS with a few USB cameras with reasonable quality making good quality webcasts and I'm sure that is also doable in the DAW-land. The future seems bright for musicians and recorders who can now be free from proprietary software and build a reasonable good studio at home using non-imorally-priced hardware.

dash2 3y ago
This optimism pairs nicely with the next post (“can anyone recommend a sound card… I couldn’t get anything working…”)
- bvrmn 3y ago
  Next post is a clear trolling. 96 channel card user wants to migrate to Linux. Nice story bruh.
  - louthy 3y ago
    God forbid anybody who wants to use Linux in a professional setting.
  - steve1977 3y ago
    While the HDSPe MADI FX is certainly RME’s PCIe flagship, it’s not that uncommon, so why not? It could also be a HDSPe AES (32 channels) or RayDAT (72 channels). These cards are quite widely in use. Also the fact that the card supports 96 channels doesn’t mean you need to have as many A/D inputs necessarily.
Blackthorn 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

qwertox 3y ago

I love the information density of this page. Screenshots, proper naming and ownership of the plugins with links, free vs paid including price, links to YouTube. The best site I've seen so far for this type of content.

MrDrMcCoy 3y ago

I opened an issue to get some more projects added: https://codeberg.org/fractalf/linuxdaw.org/issues/44 https://codeberg.org/fractalf/linuxdaw.org/issues/44

louthy 3y ago

O/T: Can anyone recommend a decent PCI based pro sound card with Linux (Mint, Ubuntu, Debian) support? I’m trying to de-Windows myself, but my pro-audio setup is the gap I can’t seem to fill. I currently have an RME HDSPe MADI FX [1] which allows me to bring in 96 channels of 96khz audio via 3 MADI connections. They connect to my AD/DA convertors [2]. I found source for a driver [3], but couldn’t get the thing working, and it doesn’t seem particularly well supported/documented. Moving toward Dante or AES67 is also an option (because my AD/DA convertors support those formats) if there’s any software solution that can support those formats, but there’s minimal online info. So if anyone’s gone this route I’d love to know how you got everything working! [1] https://www.rme-audio.de/hdspe-madi-fx.html https://www.rme-audio.de/hdspe-madi-fx.html [2] https://www.ferrofish.com/portfolio/a32pro-dante-converter-multimode/ https://www.ferrofish.com/portfolio/a32pro-dante-converter-m... [3] https://github.com/adiknoth/madifx https://github.com/adiknoth/madifx

fractalf 3y ago
Why do you want/need a PCI based card? Most audio interfaces run off USB these days and Linux supports almost all USB audio class-compliant cards.. Personally I use NI Komplete Audio 1 and Behringer UMC 1820 (yes, on Linux with pipewire and Bitwig you can use multiple cards!)
- louthy 3y ago
  > Why do you want/need a PCI based card? Because I don’t know of any USB device that can do 96 channels of pro IO. Also, it always seemed preferable to me to avoid the issue of ‘yet another wire’ and ‘yet another source of latency’. Being attached to the PCI bus always felt like the most robust approach to getting audio in with the lowest latency (which it is on Windows). I’d probably prefer to look at Dante/AES67 before USB, unless there’s a compelling reason not to. Mostly because it gives room for future expansion where a fixed soundcard doesn’t. > yes, on Linux with pipewire and Bitwig you can use multiple cards How are you clocking the cards? If they don’t share a single clock then you’re gonna get phase issues. The idea of going back to a word-clock does not appeal to me! I’d much prefer a single device with one clock. The fewer moving parts, the better.

davidthewatson 3y ago

I've seen a lot of bad marketing copy, but this deserves to be placed on a pedestal of achievement for its tongue in cheek projection of how seriously they took the creation of such a funny thing: "The Fart Machine is not just any ordinary guitar pedal or plug-in. Using our unique rectal microphone technology, we have modeled every component of the human bowel system, and now the Fart Machine can turn any sound into flatulence. This technology provides an unprecedented level of control over your fart sounds, enabling you to create a range of unique and unforgettable sounds that will leave your audience in awe." I miss music software and its sampling and remixing culture.

kiviuq 3y ago

Clap! Clap! Clap!

fud101 3y ago

These are pretty sophisticated pieces of software. Is there anything for a rank beginner who just wants to make some nice music?

frabbit 3y ago

As an aside: can anyone recommend books/tutorials for getting started with DAWs on Linux? I was thinking of starting with Ardour¹ to get the handle on basic concepts before looking at anything else. Basic use case is being able to take input from an old MIDI keyboard and feed it into a DAW so that a simple melody can be turned into something more exciting. I would appreciate someone being able to point a complete beginner towards a path (if one exists) in which initial work getting familiar with an interface will not be wasted if more advanced functionality is desired later. I don`t mind paying for tutorials and/or books or the software (and I see Bitwig has some tutorials) but I want a rich environment that is going to reward investment of time. I would prefer something without lock-in and strongly favor FL/OSS. 1. https://manual.ardour.org/introducing-ardour/understanding-basic-concepts-and-terminology/ https://manual.ardour.org/introducing-ardour/understanding-b...

lioeters 3y ago
A couple of links that might lead to more information. Linux Audio Wiki - https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/start https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/start KXStudio : Documentation - https://kx.studio/Documentation https://kx.studio/Documentation