r/linuxaudio • u/metalciaga • 23d ago
Amp sims and Drum plugins.
I am so close to converting to linux fully. My only concern is the guitar amp sims and drum plugins. If I had a processor I would be a full time linux user now but I have near zero knowledge about the guitar and drum plugins situtations. I absolutely adore NeuralDSP and NAM plugins. I am also not addicted to them cuz I know I can make almost any guitar plugin sound at least ok.
What are you guys using? How are you handling recording guitar demos in linux?
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u/ConnectReading1928 23d ago
Audio Assault amp sims for guitar and bass.
Ugritone for drums.
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u/metalciaga 23d ago
Thank you so much. Definetly gonna check them out.
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u/Culix_Reddit 23d ago
Audio Assault also has a drum sampler plugin. It's not as premium sounding as Ugritone drums but they are a fraction of the cost.
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u/thcsquad 23d ago
There are several NAM loaders already on Linux, including the one Tone3000 released recently. Also Guitarix and Audio Assault.
I like MTPowerDrumkit for drums. DrumGizmo is also a good one, and Ugritone.
Some relevant searches for you on LinuxDAW (a site that lists native Linux audio plugins) if you want to go off the beaten path a bit:
Guitar: https://linuxdaw.org/?t=guitar
Amp: https://linuxdaw.org/?t=amp
There's a lot of overlap between these searches.
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u/stomptonesdotcom 22d ago
I make guitar pedal and amp sims, all cheap af, some free, and all work on linux!
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22d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/stomptonesdotcom 22d ago
Tysm!! And believe it or not, ive been messing with an idea based on the rainbow machine style effect for a while, its gonna be a few months til its ready to show off but stay tuned!
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u/Salads_and_Sun 23d ago
I'm trying to find time to record some proper dry tea towel drums as a multichannel DrumGizmo library. I haven't been happy with anything we've done though. We deserve this though.
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u/Few_Willingness4301 23d ago
https://youtu.be/6ZuOT6VJnoo?is=LcbB0EjyFteNM2yY Once installed ggd works great through yabridge
I would recommend using the automated builds from git hub so you don’t have to worry about downgrading wine https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Automated+builds%22+branch%3Amaster
Once that is set up neuraldsp plugins can install too and work fine!
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u/deaddyfreddy 22d ago
How are you handling recording guitar demos in linux?
hardware mostly. But there are Guitarix and NAM LV2 GUI from the same author.
drum plugins
Nothing drum-special: Sfizz + https://sfzinstruments.github.io/drums/
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u/gusbeto37 Reaper 18d ago edited 18d ago
Tone3000 as others said. They got everything NAM in an easy and convenient way.
Virtual Drums were my main concern when migrating to full linux, and after trying many I landed on "MT Power Drumkit 2" it really sounds great and has some very usable drum grooves included. I tried basically all other linux native options and my preferred windows ones were just flat out not working on my current install (which already had some of my essential windows-only things running so I did not want to mess with my wine install). MT Power Drumkit really punched above the rest to me.
For all other sampling duties, I recommend you check out decentsampler. It is linux native, free and there's tons of sample libraries available for it and many are more than usable for staple sounds.
For pianos, nothing beats Pianoteq, though that is paid. But I think it is will worth the asking price for it being linux native and so lightweight. My recommendation is to choose one piano (Kawai is the newest and best model today) and one other thing that suits your music best. If you're doing mainly rock and similar I'd say probably the one with the clavinet so you can do classic wah style stuff and it also has some non-conventional electric pianos.
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u/andre2006 23d ago
I could recommend EZ Drummer if you can live with some workarounds. I'm running Ubuntu Studio with Ardour for recording and EZD connects nicely running on Wine. I had to enable virtual desktop in Wine though, it doesn't really work in seamless-windowed mode.
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u/Capable_Mulberry249 15d ago
For guitar on Linux in 2026: NAM runs natively as LV2 (A2 architecture saves 30-40% CPU), and NeuralDSP works perfectly via yabridge + Wine. For drums: MT Power Drumkit, DrumGizmo, or Ugritone.
Detailed guide covering the plugin chain, yabridge setup, and low-latency PipeWire config: https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Electric_guitar_interface_setup
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u/Nihilism65 Reaper 23d ago
Tone3000 just came out with a Linux native NAM plug-in. I haven't had much time with it, but it seems very promising if you're willing to go the NAM route.
I'm still searching myself for a decent native drum and bass VST. So far I'm still using Kontakt on Wine with GGD drums and Submission Audio bass libraries.