One advantage for the Focusrite is that someone has created a great little Scarlett control app for Linux which works very well, including routing, with saved config files etc; and even without that, the general ALSA mixer handles everything, as does the QasMixer and/or QasHCtrl too for that matter.
As far as that goes, for me Mandrake (based on Arch) requires very little sysadmin time at all.
I just researched a bit , the TB support requires still custom drivers, any interface that is class compliant is good, but its not the case for TB interfaces. Maybe i just repurpose it as a Steam machine then. Didnt use the Windows machine since i got the mac mini, and i already saved 200 Euro on power bills, i think over time the ARM stuff pays itself compared to the power hungry x86 Ryzen.
Here is a link to the Focusrite GUI mentioned by DoS: https://github.com/geoffreybennett/alsa-scarlett-gui
I have used it earlier with a Focusrite interface in MX Linux and it worked great for me.
It’s nice that Focusrite supports the developer.
…no experience yet…but that will be my final system…bitwig and a metric halo interface…
all hosted by a sturdy linux desktop system…
Performance is one thing. Try grabbing in and outputs willy nilly, send the monitor of whatever device to the visualizer you’ve got running on the TV.
ASIO craps out if you forget to close the music player while opening Ableton live on a Windows box.
The only complains I have about Pipewire is the documentation or lack thereof. But since I run wire plumber I can uust use wpctl so I don’t have to deal with pw-cli to begin with.
Fedora Works out of the box. There’s no rreal eason to even open the gnome settings after the first boot.
Of course I’m not saying that everybody has to use it. People should use whatever works for them. I just wanted to point out that the ‘need to configure everything manually’ cliche hasn’t been true for a long time.
Oh and a little [EDIT] regarding Windows and Multi Core CPUs: Try to run as many tasks in parallel as you have Cores and tell me how many tasks actually will be executed in parallel. On a Windows Server the fun stops at four. To use more you need a more expensive license 
I did take a look at wpctl but seemed way too advanced for me, I can do pretty much all I’ve needed to with QPWgraph which feels better to use than helvum imo.
But yes the way you can grab ins/out and send to loopbacks or other programs on the fly is great. Breath of fresh air really.
I’ve been using Linux on my desktop for about 20 years and I much prefer it over Windows. Sure, it will be a hassle to make all your VSTs run in Linux but if you use FLOSS the experience is actually much smoother in the long run. But to be fair, I usually don’t make music in a DAW…
Pipewire was a godsend and if you need to route your audio from programs or even multiple interface, you just do it in Linux! It’s more advanced than Apple’s “Aggregate Device” functionality. In theory, Linux is much more powerful but having a ton of options isn’t helpful, especially if you only want to get certain things done.
Linux is the modular system among the operating systems. It’s not click there and everything will work instantly[*]. But it will if you put in some time and energy. Windows and macOS are the opposite. They have rather sane defaults for pretty much everything and a workflow which is rather consistent (well, Apple does…) but if you try to steer away from the default user experience, things get ugly quickly.
[*] It actually will in a default installation… And much quicker and easier if you just want a desktop with a browser and internet connection. Installing Ubuntu will take you less than half an hour and it just works after booting.
tl;dr: If all your gear works with Linux and you find all the needed software in the repository of your OS, it’s much less of a hassle, updates are a breeze and your installation will work for many years.
You need to set the device to ‘Pro Audio’ in your settings of choice and it exposes the rest of the ins/outs. Mine looks like this:
Has anyone used the Presonus 1810c interface on Linux? I see conflicting reports, but there’s a cheap one on sale now.
Hi there, about to distro hop away from Pop OS and was wondering if it made sense to look at these distros aimed at audio or creative workflows, from what I understand, usually pre configured with JACK environment and RAM priority like AV Linux or Ubunto Studio? Thanks!
haha, dude…waiting for the new pop!_os release is painful. i’m contemplating jumping ship, too. eagerly awaiting others’ to respond w/ suggestions. 
I mainly use Reaper in its Linux incarnation with Pipewire on Manjaro plus Yabridge for running Windows VSTs under WINE and generally have no problems - though not all Win VSTs work 100%, it must be noted.
I am. It’s pretty rough when the existing ecosystems continue to be centered on Mac and Windows, another part of why I also wanted to go hardware. Waveform is a good DAW with Linux compatibility (as is Bitwig but I’ve not used it yet), and some online ones such as Soundtrap and the WIP opendaw are also worth looking into.
I’m on MX Linux, which does make things a little easier because it makes use of a lot of Debian stuff. Just the right Wine and plugin packages need installing, mainly.
I wouldn’t worry with another distribution - they all do pretty much the same. It’s more helpful in the long run to stick to one of the bigger distros and learn about its intricacies. I’ve been using Arch Linux for more than a decade now and I’m very happy with it.
Just here to say, I installed cachyOS on an old laptop a few weeks ago.
Installation was painless (aside from getting the .iso onto a drive in the first place).
Screen, keyboard, mouse etc all worked flawlessly without searching for drivers.
I installed Bitwig direct from the console with no issues.
And when I plugged in my Motu M4, it worked immediately without any installation process or drivers required.
Things have come a long way. Pretty sure I won’t buy a Windows laptop again once this one bites the dust.
Is accessing all the inputs/outputs and changing the latency easy enough?
so far, yes. The inputs/outputs are oddly named but they all work, and I can change the latency. (Haven’t tested at low latencies because it’s a crummy old CPU that won’t be up to it).
I don´t get why this thred isn´t exploding. Mac OS and Windows are so bad right now, I would love to switch to linux for everything.
Gaming seems to work finde now and is getting better everyday.
What about Audio Stuff. Isn´t it possible to use VMs to run Ableton in Linux? And those AU Plugins? I have used apple for Audio for years and PCs for gaming but this double shit is just nuts. I want one machine that does everything and not new hardware every few years. Linux seems to be pretty fast even on older machines.
