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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

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Considering switching over to Linux. My main concerns are with Music Production (Native Instruments, Bitwig, Arturia etc.) (feddit.de)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey,

atm i am considering switching over to linux on my main pc. I have some experience with different distros ( i have fedora on my laptop) but i am not sure if it is really worth it. I mainly use my PC for Music Production, some Gaming and graphics stuff (Affinity Suit).

For my music production i use a lot of stuff from Native Instruments. I have a Maschine mk3 as my hardware DAW (in combination with Maschine Software) and NI Komplete with lots of vsts. I also have some Arturia vsts and vsts from smaller companies (all paid). My Software DAW is Bitwig (wich has native Linux support). After some research i found out that there are ways to get at least some software from NI running with yarbrigde, but this does not account for my Maschine mk3 and seems very tedious and unstable. Also it is suggested that i have to use older versions of my software as the current version of Native Access does not run at all. I am willing to put in some effort but all of this seems a little bit too much. I also found out that you can run windows in a vm and give it direct access to hardware so i could Use my Maschine mk3 and all of the software of course. My main concern with this is, that i will end up using windows anyway so why bother switching to linux if it is basically just a host for Linux in this case.

Do any of you have experience with the soft and hardware i use under linux? Or maybe some suggestions how i could solve my problems? Is running windows in a vm a viable solution or should i just stick with windows? Any input is welcome and much appreciated!

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Almost all audio plugins you likely use do have native Linux equivalents (but not through the same developer). Check out Ubuntu Studio. Also I think highly of Reaper as a DAW. Reaper is not FOSS, but it is Linux native.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hey thanks for the Suggestion. Ill definetly will look further into Ubuntu studio. As i understand it includes all the important audio settings and drivers.

For my DAW i use Bitwig which runs natively on Linux, so that would be no Problem. The issue is more with my Hardware, Maschine mk3, and the Software it needs to Operate properly. Also yes i know there is a lot of free vsts, i used them when i started making music years ago. But since then i spent a lot of money on proprietary vsts that in a lot of cases (not all obviously) are just better. Especially when it comes to live sampled Romplers like Kontakt. Ditching my collection of Software i bought is therefore really not an Option. I dont want to talk down foss vsts and DAWs, there is a lot of really great stuff. But i hope you can understand that i dont want to Throw hundreds of Euro worth of Software to the trash.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Went from FL Studio and a lot of windows only vsts to using Reaper in Fedora and some good FOSS plugins plus "Vital" and " decent sampler". Definitely changed up my workflow but feels better at the same time. I'll still open FL in "bottles"(compatibility program) to use some of the native cats in there but I don't even mess with yahbridge to make my paid windows vsts work. Just changed up the flow mostly.

Edit: vsts kept autocorrectung to cats, kept one in.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I have fedora on my laptop and pretty happy with it. I know Vital and it is a great synth. But my vst library Contains a lot of stuff with live sampled Instruments like strings, horns , guitars, Bass and so on and while there are foss alternatives that are decent, they are nowhere near the Quality of a lot of paid stuff (there are exceptions of course). I really dont feel comfortable with ditching the quality i am used to and basically Throw away all the money i have spent on them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Fair.

Some of your old proprietary plugins and hardware might work in Linux through a compatibility layer like WINE. Or it might work out of box, no software required. Or it might not work no matter what. It’ll be a bit of a crapshoot for each one.

I will say that JACK and Pipewire may make some of your hardware unnecessary, especially if your using it to get around Windows limited audio routing capabilities.

And of course MIDI stuff will generally work without issues. It’s MIDI.

I’ve never played with that Maschine mk3 so I couldn’t tell you how or it it will function.

Edit: autocorrect got me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

To add onto this, yabridge is a great tool to try out for using Windows VST's on Linux

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Those Linux eqivalents also (often) have Windows versions. You can test if they work for you and make the big switch if they do