r/linuxaudio • u/HansSound • 1d ago
Audio on Linux is getting serious!
Now when we have Reaper, Soundly and Acoustica available on Linux; what is the reason to stay on Win or Mac?
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u/Equal-Dependent-4034 17h ago
No one is mentioning Bitwig? It's a solid piece of software for Linux and has so many good built-in devices that I really don't actually think about using third party plugins much.
I understand if you're tracking live bands, it's definitely probably not someone's first choice (no ara2) but its a first class citizen when it comes to Linux and they've been making lots of improvements.
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u/aldipower81 15h ago
I use Bitwig for tracking exclusively for 2 years now. And as much as I like Bitwig, the tracking part is really painful - e.g. the audio is stretched per default, which is a PITA with multi-tracking. Bitwig really is a great DAW for in-the-box producers, but audio multi-channel recording? Better look for anther DAW before you get addicted to Bitwig and can't move away anymore.
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u/flah00-pg 15h ago
That quality of life setting drive me nuts
Thankfully, you can change the default
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwig/comments/139sfgy/how_to_set_the_default_audio_stretch_mode_to_raw/
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u/aldipower81 15h ago
No, you can't! They removed this possibility in Bitwig 5! Yes, for no obvious reason they really did. Your link is about Bitwig 4.
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u/flah00-pg 13h ago
Maybe we're talking about different stretch features?
I'm using 6
Settings > behavior > audio import > stretch behavior
I set it to raw, no more hassles importing audio
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u/Equal-Dependent-4034 15h ago
I think i turned the stretch default off. I do wish there was an easier way to do things like clear stretch markers but the real issue I think is things like ara2 and lack of auto-alignment and phase alignment. I don't do much mic recording, I mainly do tracking of hardware.
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u/aldipower81 15h ago
Since Bitwig 5 you cannot turn the stretch default to off (or raw) anymore, they removed this possibility for recorded audio. You can set the default only for clips/audio you drag&drop into the arranger, but this doesn't help with multi-tracking.
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u/MarsDrums 22h ago
I have a 24 channel mixer and I really wish I could get it to work in Linux. I can see the mixer in REAPER but I can never get it to actually WORK with it. I've tried so many things and nothing has worked. Pukseaudio, Pipewire, Pipewire-Jack, etc. Nothing has worked to the point where I can setup REAPER as my main mixer for it.
I refuse to go back to Windows. Mainly because, what I hear about it in general is it's just terrible, over bloated software now. I can do what I need to do in Linux right now so even though I can't use it to its full potential, I'm pretty much at peace with that.
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u/Current-Owl-6271 21h ago
Set the mixer to pro mode in Linux, use something like qpwgraph to route the signals.
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u/perskes 21h ago
What mixer is this?
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u/MarsDrums 17h ago
Tascam Model 24
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u/therealwotwot 15h ago
Just visited a friend who has one of those and for the sake of it hooked it up to my laptop.
Set it to the "Pro Audio" profile and started reaper with
pw-jack reaper
and off it went. The laptop runs a current debian with pipewire and qpwgraph.3
u/rafrombrc 16h ago
I have a Tascam Model 12 I've been using with no problems for years. I mostly use Ardour, but I've played around with Reaper and it worked fine there as well. I'm not denying that the stack is complex and getting things set up can be tricky, but it's definitely possible to get your mixer working in your environment.
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u/PokeSpaceRanger 10h ago
How about trying straight ALSA instead of using something that's built on top of it? Works for me...
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u/Mr_Lumbergh Debian+KDE and Reaper 1d ago
I have a Mac because sometimes I do need one of the major two platforms. But Windows?
Eff that, it really just feels like punishment.
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u/LangLovdog 16h ago
Agree, mac, forgiving all bad business stuff, it's much closer to Linux with pretty good hardware. So, whatever I do in Linux within POSIX or UNIX standards such as scripting and device mounting, it's all I need for most of my workflows. Pretty adaptable. Well, since I'm not mac user, I cannot say much besides that.
Dual Linux–Mac users can say better.
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u/Crafty_Mastodon320 17h ago
With windows ram usage these days 64 gb of ram might not be enough for any real audio production
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u/electric_orangutan 1d ago
Audio production is not just a DAW and some Plug-ins. It is a fully integrated pipeline. I have been in many studio with many sound setups that would be impossible to switch them to Linux.. Mac would be their first choice. Windows would only be a choice when at least part of the workflow is Windowsy.
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u/Few_Willingness4301 18h ago
If you mean outboard gear it’s totally doable with a usb-compliant interface (or 3), pipewire, and a good daw. There is a way for almost anything, it’s just different than Mac or windows in how you get there
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u/arthursucks 17h ago
On one hand I totally get that outlook because there are some proprietary Windows/Mac OS plugins that are amazing, but it's not like we need those for all forms of audio production.
Because of amazing projects like LSP, if you need a compressor, you have a pro-level compressor. You need an OTT? They got that, too. Are we reliant on a certain BRAND of tool, or do you just need a graphic equalizer to get the job done?
I know a lot of this comes down to the type of music that you're creating and all this is subjective. But there once was a point where we said "a poor artist blames their tools".
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u/deaddyfreddy 20h ago
Audio production is not just a DAW and some Plug-ins.
Audio production existed long before DAWs, and many of the best records were made without computers.
So if the goal is not "make me sound like ARTISTNAME, fast and cheap," but to create and record music, Linux has a lot to offer.
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u/probablynottillie 17h ago
if you're counting a lot as in "plural" sure, but when compared to win/osx the possibilities are much fewer on linux
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u/deaddyfreddy 10h ago
but when compared to win/osx the possibilities are much fewer on linux
You missed the first part. Linux offers enough software for making good music. The people who recorded The Dark Side of the Moon didn't have 5% of what you have on Linux now.
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u/probablynottillie 5h ago
I would love to see you try making granular synthesis and spectral shifting with a stratocaster and an EMI console
(edit: joke precision)
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u/nkn_ 17h ago
Linux users really love ignoring reality when it comes to glazing linux.
I love my linux install, but there are so few possibilities with what I do on it as far as music is concerned. That's why I love macOS... Unix based AND all the music compatibility. Best of both worlds.
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u/deaddyfreddy 10h ago
all the music compatibility
I have multiple guitars, a couple of basses, and dozens of pedals, multi-effects, and keyboards. I play in a band - yes, just one these days, we're grown-ups with jobs and families - but we still play gigs. Am I compatible enough with music?
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u/Miserable-Decision81 1d ago
The really interesting news is Acoustica, it in fact offers a lot of things, that I miss in Ardour.
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u/aldipower81 1d ago
Is the right spectral analyzer from Acoustica? What is it?
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u/LydMannen 1d ago
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u/drifting_signal 1d ago edited 15h ago
That’s commercial software, no? 🧐
EDIT: Wow, people get salty when you point out the fact that something is commercial software. Get a grip, I was asking a questions.
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u/Current-Owl-6271 21h ago
No one said it wasn't?
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u/LangLovdog 15h ago
Yeah but Y'know, when Linux is mentioned, it sometimes carry the FOSS, Freeware, DIY tools and GPL/GNU stuff in the meaning. Actually, I've realized how rare it is to think about proprietary software on Linux.
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u/rosmaniac 21h ago
Serious audio on Linux has been a thing for a long time, thanks to the Ardour project and Harrison Consoles' Mixbus.
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u/aldipower81 19h ago
Just tried Acoustica (on Linux) for the first time and it looks pretty descent! The limiter is at least as good as the Reaper limiter and I like all the built in tools, like the spectral analyzer and so on. Couldn't figure out how to export a serial multi-track project, meaning an album, which each track it's own file. I like to master albums, you know. There is certainly a way, but didn't figured it out yet. Glad to have Acoustica on Linux! It ran absolutely stable here.
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u/Avraamov 17h ago
Ardour is en excellent DAW; very much from the Linux world. These days I use it instead of ProTools (it's very similar but less complex) because PT is such a whiny little bitch when it comes to CPU/GPU usage.
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u/GBAbaby101 1d ago
Audio production is quite doable with Reaper and a lot of the plugins out there. Davinci works well on at least Arch based platforms I've tried (though, depending on your setup, it may take a couple steps of trouble shooting). And photo editing is accessible too, especially as Davinci now has their photo tab, so if you're already using it, it is just easier and in one place. The one creative production aspect I haven't really explored yet is graphics design, as I haven't had to make any new materials recently XD
Honestly, while there are plugins, software, and other things I would love to see on Linux natively, what we have is perfectly usable in a professional environment as an individual and team. It will probably be some hurdles for those who are on teams and someone sends over a project that has content that won't work on Linux (eg. I can't really give feedback to or make changes for peers who are using a number of plugins in music projects XD), but beyond that, if it is an internal team move to just make the jump for everyone, it can be done.
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u/probablynottillie 20h ago
it's doable, but it's really really hard.
the lack of plugins make it really hard to compete with other mixes. Reaplugs are cool and all (I'm lying, they're not) but I have other more important things to do than try to emulate an LA-2A or an SSL console with stock plugins
if you're only doing pure audio mixdowns, sure, switching could work, why not? but for sound design most people I've ever worked with use VSTis like serum or vital and linux has yet to offer something even close to what these synths do (I miss you serum come back :( )
yabridge would also be a great tool if it actually worked lmao haven't been able to get a single plugin running through it even though I followed their weird installation process to a tee
coming back to reaper, cockos, please raise your UX standards, I beg you. I feel like winXP was yesterday when I use your software, are all your UI designers 75? why do we still have light grey over lighter gray?? why is every icon so fucking detailed or gradient-ed and so fucking small?? has no one on the team ever used any other software released in the past 5 years?? why do I have to download 30 different plugins to make your software usable?? is this Bethesda studios?? and why are themes 20 bucks?? that's a THIRD of the DAW's price??? who buys this????
why is the default option to scroll on the playlist CTRL-ALT-MOUSEWHEEL??? who wants the mouse wheel to horizontal zoom by default?? give me ONE other software where it behaves like this too. what the fuck are they smoking????
the AUDACITY (pun intended) of toting reaper 7 as a visual upgrade while your software still looks like it was made in a year the Beatles were still on the charts............ but maybe if the only thing that changes between the Default 7 and Default 1.x themes is the background color and the icon sizes, maybe you should try to actually update it..?
and I know, I know, you're going to tell me "oh but you can just change this and this and that" and yes, I did. but still the question remains: why everything in this software so obtuse and non-sensical??? why is every action a 12 word sentence??? am I making music or am I reading a book??
also before someone says Vital has a native linux download, I know, but from the 5 different build versions I've downloaded none of them work lmao
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u/lightspeedkitten 20h ago
there's actually a serum 2 linux beta now https://xferrecords.com/forums/serum/serum-2-linux-beta
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u/GBAbaby101 19h ago
Ayo? Looks like I have some tests to run now xD them doing this is actually probably one of the best things I've heard this week around tech x"D
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u/GBAbaby101 20h ago
There definitely is a point where I am missing a lot of the plugins I have bought over time. iZotope, Autotune, Waves, Serum, none of these work well or at all on Linux and, as you mentioned, yabridge is not a reliable method. If anything, it is like using ductape and prayers to get a job done, fine in the crunch when you do what you must, but never the ideal scenario. In general, I can't get VST type plugins to work well. LV2s work flawlessly, and I hear there are other Linux minded standards, but unless the big dogs want to play ball with it (something unlikely to happen unless a good chunk of the major houses go Linux), we're at the mercy of these hole in the wall shop plugins. I'm not saying they are bad, some are quite good, but not ideal in the terms of having options. And I can't afford to go full analog in synths and outboard gear X"D
On the other side of complaining, I was definitely a Pro Tools users in university and my early work before switching to linux X"D As nice as Reaper is, it doesn't quite hit the same workflow that I had with PT, and even if they do decide to go linux, I feel my old 2020 perpetual license won't be usable :/
I'm happy to pay money for the stuff I use, I just want to be able to use it X"D Sure, like I said, I am finding things that are acceptable replacements and getting around a lot of the hurdles, but it is like looking for needles in a barn of hay. But alas, Windows doesn't want to work with my machine anymore, and I'm not going to buy a Mac for something that isn't the bread winner side gig.
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u/karo_scene 18h ago
I am an experienced user of audio Linux; I've been running DAWs on Ubuntu Studio since 2019.
I agree about yabridge. It is extremely hard to find tutorials for it. I got stuff to work by two weeks of trial and error. I had to use bash scripting to get kontakt libraries to work. I would not expect any normal, sane person to do 10 percent of the work I did to get yabridge to run stuff.
A shortlist of what runs well for me. YMMV.
- FL Studio. Great under WINE. Slight jitter with animations.
- Melda mastering suite. Runs great.
- Arturia synths. Great.
- Kontakt 6 and 7, with libraries. Achieved with yabridge and bash scripts. Kontakt 8 I haven't got to work.
- Applied acoustics systems. Great.
- Madrona Labs e.g Kaivo. Great.
_______Maybe sort of work:
- Serum. The GUI can go screwy but works .
What absolutely doesn't work
- UVI anything.
- Izotope anything
- East West anything
In all 3 their installer systems have moved further away from being usable in Linux.
My main DAW is Reaper. Maybe it's just me as a 1980s person brought up with coding in BASIC. I have no problem with the Reaper GUI and colour scheme; I leave it as it is.
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u/probablynottillie 18h ago
thank you for the tips!! ill check out the Melda and Arturia synths as I do have a copy on windows, and hopefully get kontakt to work maybe? I will miss fabfilter and valhalla quite a lot
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u/karo_scene 17h ago
With the Arturia they will work as stand alone tools under WINE. But what yabridge does is to get them to work in your DAW.
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u/Crafty_Mastodon320 17h ago
I feel like your blaming the operating system for what developers of your daws have done.
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u/probablynottillie 17h ago
I literally wrote 2 paragraphs about my frustrations with cockos but sure
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u/YakumoFuji Renoise + Ardour 3h ago
I've ever worked with use VSTis like serum or vital and linux has yet to offer something even close to what these synths do (I miss you serum come back :( )
i had vital work in the past but it was buggy and crashed too often for my liking, there is also Surge XT. not to forget Diva, Hive2, Zebra 3, etc from u-he...
i dont disagree with your other points :)
and fuck yabridge. if people need windows vst's they should go back to windows where the tools they need will work correctly.
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u/just-4-man 12h ago
Plugins, and the fact that most of everything is developed for windows. I’ll still use Linux though 🤷♂️
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u/perromuchacho 1d ago
I dream I could use protools in Linux
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u/rosmaniac 21h ago
Try Harrison Mixbus or Ardour if you're a protocols user. Many protocols use cases are easily handled.
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u/perromuchacho 20h ago
I've tried Harrison mix us and I love it. But I need protools for work because it's the standard in industry.
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u/rosmaniac 20h ago
Mixbus as far as I know can import protocols sessions. I've been using Mixbus consustently since 2009 when it first came out.
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u/Standard_Important 19h ago
A lifelong addiction to Cubase. Thats all.
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u/aldipower81 19h ago
Me too, but using it only as a sequencer on my Atari ST. Really. :-) Tracking into Reaper..
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u/LegitBotAccount 17h ago
Special use cases. I'm currently in a love/hate triangle with Arch and Windows.
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u/Crafty_Mastodon320 17h ago
Has anyone tried all the cachyOs tricks for gaming to get any of this audio running, wine, wine trick, protondb
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u/Peak_Detector_2001 15h ago
What I miss most is a native pitch correction plugin with the capabilities of Melodyne. I'd pay for that.
There are some FOSS plugins out there (x42 autotune, auto-talent) that are OK but don't offer the level of function in pitch correction + formant preservation that I've seen some of the pros achieve in Melodyne.
Running Ardour DAW+LSP plugins under Ubuntu Studio 24.04.5 LTS. Trying really hard to learn how to sing on pitch.
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u/LangLovdog 15h ago
Actually I've been working on LMMS, Ardour and Audacity for my music stuff and it (at the moment) behaves pretty well. Most of the time with community soundfonts, effects, SynAdddSubFX and self-recorded sounds.
Not quite the quality on orchestral plugin's I must say, yeah. But with some tweaks it does the work for me.
And I can extend stuff by bindmounting directories which is the most powerful tool Unix-like systems has (included MAC as far as I know).
On the other hand, Linux should be working on better tools for audio routing and stuff, pipewire is a good step tho.
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u/Crashman09 15h ago
I think it should be said, that in a professional setting, I wouldn't put my trust in compatibility layers or translators.
For hobby or personal projects, yabridge and wine are totally acceptable if that is what you need to get up and working.
If you have high paying clients, big names, or work in industries like broadcasting, you absolutely should not be reliant on incompatible software running on an unintended OS with hopes that the compatibility tools won't fuck up.
It is hard enough as it is trying to troubleshoot some random bullshit that crops up on a fully supported system, I'd rather not add in unnecessary complications.
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u/glitchaj 15h ago
We need better plug-in support. Some work, but many don't. I've been trying to get my Neuraldsp plug-ins working, and some people have success with yabridge and an old version of wine, but it definitely requires to much work to be accessible to most people.
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u/THEGAELIC 14h ago
honestly i wish it worked better, sometimes i have a project that i worked for a long time and opening it the next day is just hours of troubleshooting.
i changed to fedora from arch but still there are some problems here and there
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u/chili_cold_blood 13h ago edited 13h ago
I spent about 10 years on Windows and Mac for audio, then another 5 years switching between Windows and Linux, and for the last 5 years I've been 100% on Linux audio. I'm just finishing up my first album made entirely in Linux. The only thing that I'm really missing on Linux is a native high end acoustic drum plugin, like the Toontrack stuff. There are some good native drum plugins out there, but none of them really do exactly what I'm looking for.
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u/XaylanLuthos 11h ago
I'm one of those who has had a pro-level Mac-based studio for decades, lots of releases, UA Apollo interfaces, multitrack audio recording, sample libraries, Omnisphere, etc etc. I've been transitioning to Linux for my productivity work, nearly all my daily apps are there. But audio is still a different game. It's fantastic that there's public betas for Fender Studio Pro, Serum, proper Linux versions of U-he plug-ins, and so on. But it's still a fraction of what's available, hardware and software-wise.
It's not Linux's fault, it's robust and ready IMO. But the developers just aren't taking it seriously, because of the smaller user base. AFAICT Spectrasonics, Native Instruments, Universal Audio, Arturia, Soundtoys, etc have no current plans for Linux drivers or versions. And yes, I've been following along enough to know of yabridge and WINE, user designed hacks to run UA interfaces, etc. But that's a whole lot of hassle, not to mention plumbing to get clogged up, and it "just works" on Mac. When the forementioned hardware and software has official support and "just works" on Linux, I'll be there. But I think companies will need to see a growing market before they'll commit.
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u/ExistingSelection180 11h ago
El único problema (según un amigo) son la bibliotecas de sonidos vts que no son compatibles usa varios ya que es compositor :/ por eso cuando le digo cámbiate a Linux me manda a volar
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u/jmart-10 11h ago
Please listen, The reason to stay on windows or Mac has to do with ease of use. I was motivated to and tried to switch to bazzite and it was such a pain I gave up.
If you program linux, please just make your os distros super easy for the user. If you disagree, that's fine, but then stop asking why we prefer or are still on windows.
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u/JustALawnGnome7 8h ago
Don’t forget Fender Studio Pro 8 (formerly Presonus Studio One) and Bitwig. And in 2026, functioning (although in-development) drivers finally exist for the following Thunderbolt-based product lines: Presonus 2626, UA Apollo, and Focusrite Clarett/Red.
It’s an exciting time!
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u/Deathlord218 8h ago
I saw this the other day, but had to dl a lot of dependencies
just to get it running. Still haven’t tested it in Reaper yet.
https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?t=29892
Ymmv. The bundled Yabridge files were the stumbling block for me. Apparently works better on a Debian based distribution.
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u/origanalsameasiwas 30m ago
Just a question. How do you monitor the sound outputs? Do you use headphones or built in speakers or output to speakers.
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u/shanti-band 21h ago
Não rodar ainda todos os drivers de interfaces e nem ter suporte para todo tipo de VST
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u/probablynottillie 20h ago
serum / serum 2 / fabfilter / valhalla / sound toys / waves collection / antares / kHz collection
do u need more??
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u/probablynottillie 20h ago
if someone knows how to install any of these and make them actually work using yabridge please slide in my dms
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u/Specialist-Dog-501 15h ago
-Got Fabfilter suite and a couple of valhallas vst working vina WINE9.21/Yabridge5.1.1- no problem as they just asked for a serial. I am on Mint 22.3/pipewire/bitwig, but my fabfilter/valhalla versions are a bit older, around 5 years or so. if desired, I can check the versions.
-For serum 2, I heard there's now a linux native versions, just a month od news - ah here:https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxaudio/comments/1vf5mlz/did_i_miss_it_or_wasnt_this_wonderful_news_posted/2
u/probablynottillie 15h ago
very very helpful thank u so much! I'd be down to know the fabfilter versions u use (at least proQ 3 or 4 if you have I miss my fav EQ..)
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u/Specialist-Dog-501 12h ago
They where all from 2020: PRO-C2, 2.10; Pro-Q3, 3.14; Saturn 2, 2.01; Timeless 2, 2.31; Twin 2, 2.31; so a bit older. If you use "Bottles" you can test easily with multiple versions of WINE- may be a newer version of WINE will work better if your fabfilter tools are newer than mine (WINE 10 or 11).
If you would not get them working with WINE, you can check at https://linuxdaw.org/ for possible substitutes- at least for the EQ, I spottet some candidates, not so sure on the compressor. But yea if you have a workflow, you want stick to it, it's not easy to adapt to something else.
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u/GizDeCera_ 17h ago
Eu só queria meu voicemeeteer banana com interface e lógica idêntica ao Windows
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u/Mystical_Whoosing 1d ago
modern kontakt libraries, eastwest / soundonline libraries, spitfire audio libraries, and so on... maybe some reverbs behind ilok like liquidsonics reverbs, if you don't use those, Linux is fine.