New here, Distro suggestions?

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hucasys
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New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by hucasys »

Hi all, I'm new here and posted in the distro section because I'm having a bit of trouble with my KXstudio and would like to find options. More details onj the post, thanks all in advance!.

Btw: I am guitarist/composer.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by English Guy »

I use Debian stable which is rock solid and has a long shelf life. I use the KXStudio repositories to get the latest and greatest audio software and also get a good performance with the Liquorix kernel. Like you I am a guitarist and writer; I work mainly with ardour and hydrogen. My setup is good for someone who wants to work with their system rather than play with it.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by MattKingUSA »

I am running ubuntu studio.

-Matt :D

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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by Luc »

hucasys wrote:Hi all, I'm new here and posted in the distro section because I'm having a bit of trouble with my KXstudio and would like to find options.
What distro do you currently use, and what kind of trouble are you having?
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by sysrqer »

I've used xubuntu, manjaro, arch, funtoo, kubuntu, and I'm currently running neon. I loved funtoo but compiling everything on an old laptop in the tropics is too hot.

You can make music on pretty much any distro. For easy of use just pick something that can use the kxstudio repos, doesn't make much difference which. They are all the same underneath, more or less, so just pick one with a release system that suits you (rolling like arch or LTS like ubuntu) and that has what you need in its repositories. If you are inclined towards Freedom side of things then you might take that in to consideration.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by sysrqer »

beck wrote:
sysrqer wrote:You can make music on pretty much any distro.
Is that totaly true? For all software?
While for instance a program like Mixxx (with full jack connection) is only made for Ubuntu. Tried it under Lubuntu and indeed didn't work.
Too bad while with mixxx you can make nice loops.
Yes, there's nothing special about ubuntu. I compiled and used mixxx when I was using funtoo.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by Luc »

beck wrote:While for instance a program like Mixxx (with full jack connection) is only made for Ubuntu. Tried it under Lubuntu and indeed didn't work.
Too bad while with mixxx you can make nice loops.
Mixxx works for me on pure Debian with LXDE/Openbox.

But if it's loopity loops that you want, I've seen people rave about this very simple plugin called Instalooper:
http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?pl ... er&id=2528

Don't ask me, I don't understand. I personally find this one more interesting:
http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?pl ... en&id=2096

Of course, it's for Windows, but runs on Linux over a bridge. There are many more where those came from:
http://www.vst4free.com/index.php?plug-ins=Loop/Scratch

Of course, there is also Superlooper on the KX Studio repository.

Happy looping.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by Luc »

2.3. Installation on GNU/Linux
Official packages of Mixxx are only offered for Ubuntu Linux. However, Mixxx can build on almost any Linux distribution. (emphasis mine)

https://packages.debian.org/jessie/sound/mixxx

Synaptic:
Image
Last edited by Luc on Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hucasys
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by hucasys »

Hi all, great input! Sorry to reply so late, I'm currently on KXstudio 14.04 and have had a few issues with updates but not bad.
What I am most interested in solving is the latency issues and for that I have thought of working with a RT kernel, so that's why I was wondering which distro to switch too , if any, for that.

Regarding software I am usinf FL Studio on Wine, and also have Studio One, and running a Presonus Audiovox 44VSL through Jack, and I'm on 64bit.

So the point would be to find a distro to use with RT Kernel and the above setup.

cheers
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by English Guy »

hucasys wrote: What I am most interested in solving is the latency issues and for that I have thought of working with a RT kernel, so that's why I was wondering which distro to switch too , if any, for that.

cheers
You do need to try low latency or an RT kernels, they may already be in your repositories. I use the Liquorix kernel on Debian stable and found that performed even better. I do not know if it will work with your distro or not: https://liquorix.net/
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by English Guy »

beck wrote: What is that always with that latency issue? Is that real? I thought this was mostly a W issue.
I myself for my studio use an old Pentium 4 computer with regular ubuntu (12) and recordingsoftware (ardour). Recording in 24bits/48khz and editting en mastering that.. So quite high performances on an actualy to slow computer.
Latency ain't an issue for me. I don't understand...
You may already have a kernel that can do real time and/ or be lucky enough to have gear that does not have issues.

It is also more of an issue if you use outboard midi gear or are processing the instruments with fx as you record in real time . Poor latency means a delay between playing and the event happening. Vanilla audio recording does not require such a highly tuned setup.

My setup had problems with x-runs and a better kernel sorted that.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by bjboyd »

I've been using Ardour for recording guitar and it recognizes my Steinberg interface with no problems. For guitar effects I'm using pedals and for plugins I've installed Calf. I was recently using Linux Mint as my distro but have just gone to Korora as it has a more up to date version of Ardour (and heaps of other apps). Having used Ableton Live (which was always disappointing for guitar) and Logic Pro (which I found unreliable), Ardour is working a treat and I find it easy to work with.
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by English Guy »

beck wrote:@English Guy.
Perhaps it's because i mostly play and record core analog? That's mic, guitar, percussion, other instruments. All recorded digital but through an analog mixer. The digital i use is lmms and hydrogen exports in wav imported in ardour, and no midi. So all analog untill the actual recording and mixing.
So then i think, less digital gear, so less risk for (digital??) latency problems? Latency = digital problem? Could explain it.
There is also the luck of the draw. Some systems have problems with USB. If you are lucky enough to have a decent internal soundcard of course you skip that. Certainly a simple recording only setup is easier. The better your takes the less post processing they need which is also better. X runs can cause crackle on your tracks so the best tuned system you can manage is good :)
Last edited by English Guy on Wed Oct 05, 2016 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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hucasys
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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by hucasys »

Hi again all.

Regarding my latency issues it affects for example overdubbing live guitars. I am going through a Presonus Audiobox 44vsl. As I also mentioned I am working a lot with FL Studio through WINE, Asio, etc. I don't know if this could be part of the problem, though it shouldn't (...).

I am using Cadence as my Jack manager and it sometimes shows a latency of 23ms, totally unacceptable, if not for other reasons, because I can hear it and can't play like that :p , this is when setting Cadence with a buffer size of 1024 and 44.100hz, which was necessary to work on a mix I have with multiple tracks inbcluding audio clips, midi and VST, so I would have less xruns and not hear clipping and such. So this setting is good for that but not for recording live, where a setting of 512/44100 does allow me to record with no (audible) latency.

So the solution I am looking for was not having to change these settings and use one for all instances of work.

I was looking at the Presonus website and found this article which explains latency very clearly, (for those who were asking), the Rush reference is hilarious!
http://www.presonus.com/community/Learn ... io-Latency

I have still to try the solution they comment using Vistual Studio Live, which I didn't even install when I bought my interface (never needed it).

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Re: New here, Distro suggestions?

Post by Pablo »

I am using Cadence as my Jack manager and it sometimes shows a latency of 23ms, totally unacceptable, if not for other reasons, because I can hear it and can't play like that :p , this is when setting Cadence with a buffer size of 1024 and 44.100hz, which was necessary to work on a mix I have with multiple tracks inbcluding audio clips, midi and VST, so I would have less xruns and not hear clipping and such. So this setting is good for that but not for recording live, where a setting of 512/44100 does allow me to record with no (audible) latency.

So the solution I am looking for was not having to change these settings and use one for all instances of work.
It is convenient that the buffer size can be changed on the fly. For example, you start jack with 1024/44100 for editing/mixing and later you need to reduce latency for recording live. So you just type in a terminal window:

jack_bufsize 512

You record whatever, and later you do:

jack_bufsize 1024

to resume the mixing tasks

Admittedly, I don't use this because I don't do software monitoring but I just made a test and it seems to work.
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