Why I Use Linux for Audio Production

I was originally producing a long video about all the different Linux-native DAW choices available, but ultimately, my "why" for using Linux for audio production has very little to do with any one piece of software. I hope you enjoy this video!

- Wesley

Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:35 - Linux-native DAWs
3:36 - Why I chose Linux
4:56 - JACK Audio Connection Kit
6:18 - Advanced Audio Routing
7:30 - Session Management
7:50 - Scripting Workflows
8:14 - PulseAudio vs Pipewire
9:18 - Conclusion

[samuelchapuis]

First of all, sorry for the very long post ;-)

I'm just here to talk about my experience with Linux in the pro audio environment. Not specifically in audio production, but more broadly in a large multi-track recording and mixing setup in a more acoustic jazz or classical field.

In this area, there are several elements that are essential when we talk about equipment. (Microphones and preamps, that have nothing to do with Linux!) AD-DA converters and interfaces, Computers & OS, DAW.
When you have 60 musicians from a classical orchestra, paid a fortune per hour, in the room, you must be able to have an ultra stable setup that ensures flawless recording. When you record 32 (minimum) or more tracks, a crash or computer problem of any kind is not an option.

In this area, the safest systems is, whether you like it or not, Mac OSX. My latest experience with Windows 10 and 11 did not make me want to continue with this OS. (back in the old days, Windows7 was OK for the majority of the time. Windows8 is the worst in my experience).

I started using Linux, first as a desktop computer, in 2017. Firstly out of curiosity, and also out of anger towards the sales policies of the 2 big IT players. (Apple is the worst company in the world at this level. “Think different” my ass!!!)
Don't dream...! It took me hundreds of hours to achieve a stable and usable system in my professional work environment. If the software is easily functional, the biggest problem remains compatibility with the hardware, mainly AD-DA converters, all because of the lack of driver development.
To simplify, I managed not to be worried as soon as I press Record with:

Computer:
_64Bits PC hardware with Intel processor. Of curse CPU & RAM is important, but not that much! (AMD is ok most of the time, but unfortunately some bad surprises happens from time to time.
_Intel Macs are mostly ok. (Don't think about doing this with a previous 2010 Mac, you will quickly be disappointed). M1, M2 work relatively well, I had incomprehensible problems with the M3, and I have not yet tested the M4 which have just been released.

BONE:
_"Arch" Linux, in the KDE Plasma environment! The best for me even if it's not the easiest to set up. (Manjaro or Garuda are more accessible versions of the same kernel for beginners). I don't know why, but the Gnome environment seems to create problems following updates, even though it's my favorite distro, by far, for anything other than pro audio on a computer. Or maybe it's just me doing shit, I still recommend it. XFCE is not a success for me, one day ok, the next day out. I haven't tested other distributions.
"Ubuntu" is also ok but it happens that suddenly nothing works without me being able to debug the problem.

AD-DA Hardware:
The best part ;-)
_I remind you that these are large setups with a minimum of 32 converter inputs!) Impossible to test everything that exists.
_My best friends in the field are: RME Audio, LynxStudio... and that's it!
_Universal Audio, AVID/ProTools, Antelope, DAD, BlaBlaBla... no path to glory ;-/
Of course nothing is possible without "JACK", which bridges the gap between the Linux kernel and pro audio hardware, the biggest problem in Linux to date.
“PulseAudio” is also an option but I ended up turning away from it due to lack of time to certify its stability. (certainly a very valid option!)
"ASLA" is also possible but I have never tested this solution.

DAW
1_Reaper
2_Ardour
3_Harrison-MixBus
3-Bitwig
_Without the slightest doubt... "Reaper"! Integration, setup and above all stability!!! The few times I had crashes with Reaper, the Logs always confirmed a problem with the hardware drivers.
_"Ardour" is also superbly integrated and there isn't really a big difference with Reaper but it's just that I prefer the Reaper environment.
Keep in mind that as soon as you integrate VST plugins into these setups (natively or otherwise), it is more complicated to guarantee pure stability.

_Harrison-MixBus is also very good but I only quickly tested their product and especially for mixing.
_Bitwig seems ok too but I still had more unexplained crashes with it.


As for SSD disk formatting, which remains one of the very important elements:
For pure performance, I leave you with the “EXT4” format.
"BTRFS" is also very good but especially when an SSD has to process a very large number of very small files.

For long-term backup on linux, "ZFS" seems to be best! Used on Linux servers for a long, long time. Don't ask me more about that... I don't know... ;-P

Never mind all that. It is possible to do lots of things under Linux. Of course it requires a little more effort than just having an account with Apple or Windows and believing that everything will be done by magic.

If I can help, I will.

Best regards.

[janmaker]

Most people don't even understand what great content this dude is throwing out.

[meowcula]

I took the plunge with Linux audio production a couple years ago and was actually really shocked by how easy it was to set up. I'm using a 20 year old audio interface with no hiccups whatsoever. I started using Ardour to try it out but end up loving it so much I haven't found a compelling reason to switch to anything else. Jack just works and gives me all the flexibility I need. Yabridge lets me use windows vst plugins with surprising effectiveness. the only block for some pro users would probably just be plugin suites you can't get working with yabridge, and mostly that has to do with licensing crap. I'm hopeful even these hurdles will be overcome eventually.

[rachelrobert]

As a developer, I nod along like I understand half of what you're saying about Linux. But honestly, I keep coming back to your channel just because your voice is like the background music I never knew I needed. You could read out kernel panic logs, and I'd still be here, chilling.

[danncozey]

nice, thanks, just jumped on the linux train and wasnt sure where to start. this helped a lot! for a while there I was exactly as you said getting sucked into hype influencer plugins lol got me

[markjones]

I've been using Linux exclusively for 16 years and I've been into guitars since before that and dabbled in DAW's like Cubase Reaper Ardour and paid for a few versions of Mixbus. Played with Waves plugin bundles among others. The things that I have learned is that just because you buy something to make music doesn't mean you will make good music. Think that new DAW will make you better? Probably not. Think that new shiny plugin suite will make you better? Probably not. I can go on and on. I say stick with the free stuff until you are good enough to sell something. Even all of the free stuff that we have available today are light years ahead of what every band had available back in the 80s and earlier. And that is some of the best music ever produced because people relied on knowledge, talent, experience, etc. Stuff that you can't buy. So even just having Ardour with Calf Studio Gear plugin suite and Linux Studio Plugins suite will give you everything that a studio could need. Unlimited tracks on modern hardware, as many rack effect units that you could possibly dream of, as many takes as you want, all of the studio time you could ever dream of. Everyone has access to this stuff and yet nobody does anything with it. I think it would be so cool to one day see a band use nothing but this free stuff and knock it out of the park on an album.

[bcacciaaudio]

Great video! Your reasons for choosing to use Linux for audio production mirror pretty much all of mine.The learning curve is not for everyone and you did a great job of elaborating the why, but it was definitely worth it for me. The powerful routing and syncing between applications is something that I've not seen any equivalent to on other operating systems. There are so many impressive free and open source synths and plugins available like Surge XT and Cadence. Not having to deal with iLok or frustrating plugin authorization applications that limit how many install seats you can have is great. Even better is I can write a bash script or an Ansible playbook and have a consistent studio config on any new machine in minutes.

The flexibility of Linux also allows you to create specialized small form factor music devices. Using a Raspberry Pi or some other cheap SBC you can create a stripped down and efficient system that will boot directly into your desired application(s), setup routing automatically, and even run headless if you don't need a UI.

Looking forward to other videos from you on this subject!

[pakozdiattila]

Since I have been writing music, I have been looking for a Linux alternative. thank you for summarizing the point so well.

[davtech]

YT recommended video, glad it did. Subscribed

[BorisBarroso]

I've purchased Bitwig back in 2018 because I was using LINUX for development. I could install and make things work back then. I tried Ardour and it was complicated and not as advanced as Bitwig. I switched to OSX and purchased many plugins and right now I can use Bitwig without using other plugins. I saw that LINUX for music creation now has changed a lot. I'm a dev and I know how to go into the terminal and fix problems but when I make music I want to have fun and not trying to fix problems and that was the Linux experience back in 2018.

[VintiqueSound]

Not sure why the back hand comment about Bitwig since it's miles above anything else aside from Reaper.

[thevideoer]

JACK was one of the first things that stuck out to me when I switched to Linux. A bit of a struggle to get it set up, but once I did and learned about Carla, I was completely blown away, especially with how software like Ardour and Zrythm integrated with JACK.

Ardour has a fantastic mixer, but unfortunately Linux DAWs in general - especially Ardour - leave a lot to be desired when it comes to composing MIDI by hand. For my time composing on Windows, it was easy for me to take FL Studio's pattern system and piano roll for granted. I am yet to find any sort of Linux tool with a workflow I find as friction-free as FL's. LMMS comes close, but is missing the patterns, among many other of its own issues. This issue is driving me to the point of taking up a project to program up such a sequencing tool, but admittedly the JACK API seems a bit daunting.

[cherrynoize]

You're basically doing what I thought people did to make records when I was 8. Respect.

[acmtaudio]

You absolutely can produce professional audio using Linux, so it's kind of disappointing to hear you say that you wouldn't recommend it for creating music. In most cases it's no more complicated than setting up and using an audio workstation on any other platform. Linux gives you the ability to tweak and customize if you want to, but most importantly, you don't have to - you can still get great results - and there are many more high quality Linux native plug-ins (paid and unpaid) now too.

[BlakeRGardner]

Great video, very informative for creative professionals

[JohnFrancisShade]

I dont get very excited by youtube videos anymore, but this is an exception. I tried using csound and ardour on Linux way back in the day, nearly 20 years ago. The experience was quite different then, and i have since settled on Ableton. Im on the verge of getting a new Mac, but your summary of the state of audio production on linux is making me think twice. I have an overpowered linux desktop that couldmsave me thousands of dollars! Plus, i could reunite my two biggest hobbies, Linux and music. Thanks.

[falazarte]

Awesome video. I didn't know many of these tools. I was able to install Zrythm in my Garuda box with no issue at all. It looks very interesting but I have not played much yet.

[elmomertens]

Push 3 Standalone from Ableton uses Linux, and it just runs special version of Live inside itself. So it means the core engine and all the stock instruments and effects of Ableton Live are already working on x86 Linux. I hope Ableton will actually make full Linux version of Live one day.

[SlowDecayedOcean]

Only switched to Linux mint yesterday after always using Windows, just downloaded the Linux iso installed it and wiped Windows off my hard drive.Never even gave Linux a go before I did that.Straight into the deep end only it wasn't that deep, got my Reaper up and running no problem, Focusrite 2i2 just worked so far so good but the one thing I noticed straight up and that prompted me to Google it was, Why does my audio sound better than it did on Windows because to me it was very noticeable.Is this a thing or is my hearing suddenly improving, I have had the same interface and monitors for years.?And thanks for the video.👌

[KeyJayHD]

I'm actually exploring the possibilities of switching.

Ive been a long time Cubase user and currently on a Nuendo 11 Windows PC supporter by a Vienna Ensemble install on another Windows system that I use to preload my Orchestra which is hosted inside a Proxmox Windows VM with NVME for storage across 10G Network. Audio card is RME UFX II.

So not the most custom thing in the world, but I did work long and hard for the configuration. Now with the loomong Windows 10 support leaving and how much I detest Windows 11, and I'm not going back to Mac after being burned before, Im considering Linux as an alternative. Ive already been able to switch my gaming rig to Nobara (Fedora) and dont plan to ever look back (its so good!).

What I fear is plugin support and hardware support for the RME. DAW wise, I likely will head to Reaper. There's other concerns since Im taking on some game clients slowly so not even sure if FMOD Studio will work, and Im honestly going to miss the audio sample presets that Steinberg generously provides out the box (also VariAudio for Vocal Tuning is really good), but I have to start thinking now.

Most of my workflow for everything else sans music has been decoupled from Windows. Itll be a struggle, but hopefully I can figure something out.