Linux Mint new user

[CDS]

I wish I would of gotten off the out of control Microsoft Windows train a Long time ago.

I'm very satisfied with Linux Mint.

CDS

[Xasman]

Welcome to Linux!!!

It took me ages to make the switch, too. Like me, I'm sure you had good reasons for taking your time. At least you made it in the end, anyway.

[Glennbo]

Getting free of Microsoft and Windows was my motivation four years ago to switch seven machines in my house including my DAW from Windows to Linux.

When I made the switch I was determined and was not going to let Windows plugins have any bearing on whether or not I would stay with Linux. Plugins don't make my music. I do, and I bought a bunch of new native Linux plugins that work as well or better than the Windows plugins I was previously using. The only exceptions are a few Windows instrument plugins like Kontak and Superior Drummer.

[michael diemer]

I'm putting the finishing touches on a fresh mint install myself, CDC. I was using Ubuntu Studio, but for me it was overkill. also, it was getting toward EOL, and I wanted something more current. Mint was my first choice, then I changed my mind (don't remember why), and did a minimal Ubuntu install, but on an old HHD (my windows C drive). Rather than cloning that to a SSD, I decided to give mint another try, and make a comparison.

Mint 21 Cinnamon is great, it's making me forget XFCE. Which is also a great DE. But I'm very happy with the snappy performance and beautiful looks of mint, and I'll probably be staying with it. but I'll keep the Ubuntu also, just in case.

A "mainstream" distro like mint can work for music on Linux, but you may have to install more stuff, depending on your needs. For me, a hobbyist, doing "classical" music, that means wine, so I can use Kontakt and other "Windows" stuff. Quit minimal effort, really, as I don't require anything beyond that. I wish I could use all Native Linux stuff, but for me it's just not possible. YMMV.

[/AND/]

Welcome, and good riddance of that BS!

[audiojunkie]

Originally Posted by michael diemer

I'm putting the finishing touches on a fresh mint install myself, CDC. I was using Ubuntu Studio, but for me it was overkill. also, it was getting toward EOL, and I wanted something more current. Mint was my first choice, then I changed my mind (don't remember why), and did a minimal Ubuntu install, but on an old HHD (my windows C drive). Rather than cloning that to a SSD, I decided to give mint another try, and make a comparison.

Mint 21 Cinnamon is great, it's making me forget XFCE. Which is also a great DE. But I'm very happy with the snappy performance and beautiful looks of mint, and I'll probably be staying with it. but I'll keep the Ubuntu also, just in case.

A "mainstream" distro like mint can work for music on Linux, but you may have to install more stuff, depending on your needs. For me, a hobbyist, doing "classical" music, that means wine, so I can use Kontakt and other "Windows" stuff. Quit minimal effort, really, as I don't require anything beyond that. I wish I could use all Native Linux stuff, but for me it's just not possible. YMMV.

IIRC, it was because Mint didn’t support pipewire at the time.... or maybe I’m thinking of someone else? I can’t remember for sure—It sucks getting old!

[s wave]

As soon as I found a way to produce/record everything I wanted on Linux, Windows was gone... welcome to freedom!

[michael diemer]

Originally Posted by audiojunkie

IIRC, it was because Mint didn’t support pipewire at the time.... or maybe I’m thinking of someone else? I can’t remember for sure—It sucks getting old!

Must have been someone else. I don't use Jack or Pipewire. Just Alsa. since I only do midi, I'm able to keep it simple. Which is fortunate, as the word left out of the "KISS" acronym all too often applies.

[Phantomrage]

I am also new to Linux and running Mint. My studio is old hardware and some of the issues I have are running old windows software on Linux, like the Akai sys for the S5000 sampler and other odd stuff. But I am learning to work around those issues.

My computer is not super powerful but with Linux it is screaming fast and stable even with current Mint updates.

Reaper is beyond amazing under Linux.

[norbury brook]

Originally Posted by CDS

I wish I would of gotten off the out of control Microsoft Windows train a Long time ago.

I'm very satisfied with Linux Mint.

CDS

I've just done a linux Mint Cinnamon install on my wife's office machine.

I must say , everything worked out of the box, even the printer

A Lovely OS and user experience

I think I'd give this Distro a go if I were ever to do an audio machine. I suppose a real time kernel and the usual tweaks and you'd be off



M

[mike@overtonedsp]

I suppose a real time kernel and the usual tweaks and you'd be off...

I've just got to say it, but A stock LTS will get you performance at least as good if not better than other PC operating systems... Sorry but I just feel compelled (some might say triggered) to repeat that mantra...

The most common reason would-be converts to Linux audio are dissuaded is normally because of the perception that you have to do those kinds of tweaks - and it might be beneficial, but it's not required.

As I think I said in another thread, it will probably be my epitaph - and I can bet that someone would write underneath it 'But I usually prefer a Manjaro install with a realtime kernel and...'

[norbury brook]

Originally Posted by mike@overtonedsp

I've just got to say it, but A stock LTS will get you performance at least as good if not better than other PC operating systems... Sorry but I just feel compelled (some might say triggered) to repeat that mantra...

The most common reason would-be converts to Linux audio are dissuaded is normally because of the perception that you have to do those kinds of tweaks - and it might be beneficial, but it's not required.

As I think I said in another thread, it will probably be my epitaph - and I can bet that someone would write underneath it 'But I usually prefer a Manjaro install with a realtime kernel and...'

Mike.

Thank you.

I think then that 'people' should perhaps try the standard LTS and see if everything is OK. If it is then leave it alone OR if you're after fine tuning, THEN start tweaking the kernel.

M

[mike@overtonedsp]

I think then that 'people' should perhaps try the standard LTS and see if everything is OK. If it is then leave it alone OR if you're after fine tuning, THEN start tweaking the kernel.

Totally agree. In fact many of the tweaks that used to be necessary (when I say 'used to be' I'm going back to when I first started using Linux for audio around 2006) have gradually found their way into the standard kernel. In the same way, a modern version of Windows is much improved for audio compared to e.g. Win95.

The great thing about Linux is that you can make a lot of customisations if you want to - even though now, you don't necessarily have to. High-end Unix workstations were always the go to for heavy duty tasks like CAD, 3D Graphics, Animation etc, so it totally makes sense to me that a Linux / Unix system should be the best option for high-performance audio processing too.

(Full disclosure, I'm not affiliated to any Linux distro, but I am on something of a mission to convince would-be Linux audio users how much easier it now is, with more host applications available, much better support for audio hardware, and ... some great plugins ... )

[bulevardi]

Since I left Windows 8 years ago I'm on Linux Mint too.

However, I tried different kinds of distros. Recently tried that new AV Linux MX version, but....
Always coming back to Mint, for some reason, in 90% of the time works out of the box, easy install, no tweaks necessary.

I recently installed it again on an old pc, works good for Reaper, only video processing is not what it should be, but the problem can be due to the cheapest graphics card I could find to replace a non-working card.

The audio sometimes glitches, don't know yet why, but when I monitor the usage of my processor and ram, it's never all maxed out, some cores are, but some stay low... it looks like a bottleneck is holding back my computers capabilities.

I'm a noob in tweaking, but any ideas to tweak the Kernel to get things even better are always welcome.

[mike@overtonedsp]

some cores are, but some stay low... it looks like a bottleneck is holding back my computers capabilities.

1. Under what circumstances does the audio glitch? If you have a core which is maxed out, and you just happen to be running all your plugins and your DAW on that core then that's the issue (Not all audio processing can take advantage of multithreading and not all DAWs support it) so just throwing more cores at things doesn't always help.

2. What buffer settings do you use - if you are running something ridiculous like 32 samples, then try something like 128. Always use the largest buffer size you can, consistent with your use case, and not the smallest you can get away with without problems. Larger buffer sizes vastly improve CPU usage too, as the context switch is less frequent (the performance hit is non-linear with buffer size)

3. You don't say what audio interface you are using. USB devices are less forgiving than e.g. PCIe devices. USB typically requires a period of 3 buffers and can cause random glitches on some systems if not

[SociallyAwkwardBassPlayer]

Originally Posted by bulevardi

Recently tried that new AV Linux MX version, but....
Always coming back to Mint, for some reason, in 90% of the time works out of the box, easy install, no tweaks necessary.

Was there anything in particular that you didn't care for in AV Linux? I was considering giving it a shot, not that I'm having issues with current distro (Manjaro) other than occasional breakage with updates that are usually easily resolved.

[bulevardi]

Originally Posted by mike@overtonedsp

1. Under what circumstances does the audio glitch? If you have a core which is maxed out, and you just happen to be running all your plugins and your DAW on that core then that's the issue (Not all audio processing can take advantage of multithreading and not all DAWs support it) so just throwing more cores at things doesn't always help.

2. What buffer settings do you use - if you are running something ridiculous like 32 samples, then try something like 128. Always use the largest buffer size you can, consistent with your use case, and not the smallest you can get away with without problems. Larger buffer sizes vastly improve CPU usage too, as the context switch is less frequent (the performance hit is non-linear with buffer size)

3. You don't say what audio interface you are using. USB devices are less forgiving than e.g. PCIe devices. USB typically requires a period of 3 buffers and can cause random glitches on some systems if not

1) The audio glitch is more like a noise. It appears when I use my Synth VST (U-He Hive) and change presets and test new sounds, each time it starts with 2 seconds of noise before the normal sound appears.
(on my other computer it works directly like it should, also under Reaper)
However, when recorded or replay it plays like it should. It's only when I'm in the VST that the previews start distorted.

2) I currently use default buffer settings. Have tried all sorts of different settings via the properties menu, but after saving them it doesn't seem to make any difference. Perhaps I need to restart Reaper each time to make the changes work.

3) My audio interface is FocusRite Solo on USB, to record audio with my guitar, but the problem is with the softsynth VST I'm running my Akai MPK Mini keyboard, also on USB. Both normally don't give problems when using together.

[bulevardi]

Originally Posted by SociallyAwkwardBassPlayer

Was there anything in particular that you didn't care for in AV Linux? I was considering giving it a shot, not that I'm having issues with current distro (Manjaro) other than occasional breakage with updates that are usually easily resolved.

Well I used a different version of AV Linux before, which was user friendly, but with the latest UI I couldn't really find my way.
There was no option to make icons on the desktop or link to my files properly.
Perhaps I didn't take enough time to get used to it.

But as I knew in Mint works everything fine (like on my other computer), I chose to install Mint again.
Anyway, every now and then I try another distro to test for fun when I'm about to install another computer or so, but the last couple of years I'm always getting back to Mint. I think it's a good distro where a newbie like me has to do the least configurations.

[audiojunkie]

Originally Posted by mike@overtonedsp

Totally agree. In fact many of the tweaks that used to be necessary (when I say 'used to be' I'm going back to when I first started using Linux for audio around 2006) have gradually found their way into the standard kernel. In the same way, a modern version of Windows is much improved for audio compared to e.g. Win95.

The great thing about Linux is that you can make a lot of customisations if you want to - even though now, you don't necessarily have to. High-end Unix workstations were always the go to for heavy duty tasks like CAD, 3D Graphics, Animation etc, so it totally makes sense to me that a Linux / Unix system should be the best option for high-performance audio processing too.

(Full disclosure, I'm not affiliated to any Linux distro, but I am on something of a mission to convince would-be Linux audio users how much easier it now is, with more host applications available, much better support for audio hardware, and ... some great plugins ... )

I agree with this. Setting realtime priorities, configuring pipewire to the desired buffer setting, and using the threadirqs boot flag gets me as low as I was ever able to get in Windows. I'm still experimenting with the preempt_dynamic boot parameter, and I suspect that it will easily allow me to achieve a lower latency, but with nothing but the above three configurations, I am already doing better than Windows.

[chmaha]

Originally Posted by audiojunkie

I agree with this. Setting realtime priorities, configuring pipewire to the desired buffer setting, and using the threadirqs boot flag gets me as low as I was ever able to get in Windows. I'm still experimenting with the preempt_dynamic boot parameter, and I suspect that it will easily allow me to achieve a lower latency, but with nothing but the above three configurations, I am already doing better than Windows.

It's not easy to compare our Linux setups to Windows...apples to oranges (or something similar). These days, I would personally say we get approximately the same performance at the same buffer settings. Once you follow the Merging Pyramix Windows setup document it is about as bare bones as you get. I would also argue that with Win 11, it so very simple to get brilliant performance (easier than Linux, I'm afraid). The availability of proper drivers helps too.

I love Linux, I no longer have any Windows partitions but it is perhaps too romantic to suggest that Linux audio performance is that much better than Windows 10/11. From my own experience, I've yet to experience anything similar to the stability and performance of REAPER on MacOS but that is also probably too romantic a sentiment.

Anyway, not sure of my point really. Just that modern windows is also a great platform for audio performance (privacy concerns aside), as is MacOS. Linux has caught up but remember until very recently (maybe still the case?) that Linux doesn't allow for consistent latency values when reconnecting audio interfaces making recording tracks upon tracks mistimed unless you go through the hassle of measuring roundtrip latency with physical cables every time.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

It's not easy to compare our Linux setups to Windows...apples to oranges (or something similar). These days, I would personally say we get approximately the same performance at the same buffer settings. Once you follow the Merging Pyramix Windows setup document it is about as bare bones as you get. I would also argue that with Win 11, it so very simple to get brilliant performance (easier than Linux, I'm afraid). The availability of proper drivers helps too.

I love Linux, I no longer have any Windows partitions but it is perhaps too romantic to suggest that Linux audio performance is that much better than Windows 10/11. From my own experience, I've yet to experience anything similar to the stability and performance of REAPER on MacOS but that is also probably too romantic a sentiment.

Anyway, not sure of my point really. Just that modern windows is also a great platform for audio performance (privacy concerns aside), as is MacOS. Linux has caught up but remember until very recently (maybe still the case?) that Linux doesn't allow for consistent latency values when reconnecting audio interfaces making recording tracks upon tracks mistimed unless you go through the hassle of measuring roundtrip latency with physical cables every time.

I had dual boot tweaked Windows and tweaked Linux for a couple of years, and on the same computer hardware with the same hardware audio interface, I saw identical performance. Neither Windows or Linux had any kind of edge over the other using the same identical buffer settings in REAPER.

That said, bridging lots of Windows plugins in Linux is not as efficient as running them in their native OS, but I use so few bridged Windows plugins, it makes zero difference for me.

[norbury brook]

I know this is a reaper/Audio thread, but I'll just say my wife has been using mint on an old repurposed machine I built for her office now for a few months and it's been fantastic.

She's had no issues with adjusting to a new OS , she had no idea it was Linux and it's been a great machine and user experience.

So I think this is where linux really shines personally. Runs great on older hardware, lots of FOSS and you're in charge as a user, for good or bad


I would recommend Linux Mint to anyone wanting an alternative OS to the main 2


I agree with Beth about windows 10/11. I've been on win 11 now and Reaper for a good number of months and it's rock solid. Windows 11 GUI is really nice and crisp and everything is running great with Reaper. There's no need to tweak the OS anymore, I'm running a vanilla install with high performance power plan, that's it on both my 5950x studio DAW and portable 12900k laptop.



M

[chmaha]

Originally Posted by norbury brook

I'm running a vanilla install with high performance power plan

You should enable the "Ultimate" performance power plan. If not available in control panel, copy this into command prompt:

powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

It does extra things by default including optimizing USB power etc.

[norbury brook]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

You should enable the "Ultimate" performance power plan. If not available in control panel, copy this into command prompt:

powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

It does extra things by default including optimizing USB power etc.

Beth that's the one I use, i'd forgotten the name though


On my laptop I have various power settings tied in to the ASUS Aurora hot keys.

I have Silent, standard. performance and Turbo so depending on what i'm doing I chose the mode to suit. It's actually pretty amazing how much i can do in silent mode though TBH on the 12900


I think for other users your scrip is handy if they're using Windows home edition as I think the power plans are hidden or not as comprehensive as the windows Pro version IIRC.


M