I’m on Fedora with pipewire. It just works.
I’m baffled that most ‘music production’ distributions still just come with jack.
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Sure it is. But that’s a bit silly. Because
a) you still need Windows
And
b) your sacrificing RAM and CPU.
Just use bitwig on Linux.
The only thing I’m using my Windows VM for is Rekordbox, because Pioneer is such a square about it.
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Yeah, silly it may be, but I use a push. Also I don‘t want to use Windows or Mac OS, I just want Ableton to encapsulate in some sort of vm container like Docker.
But must people seem to use Wine.
Well, you just answered your own question. People have often invested time and money into tools which doesn’t run on Linux, locking them to a Windows or Mac platform.
I am a Linux user and advocate, but if you rely on software/hardware which are not supported on Linux, then I strongly suggest you find a supported alternative, or not switch platforms at all.
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Personally, linux helped me embrace the dawless mindset, because none of my stuff from windows ported over at first and forced me to reconsider everything.
For the basics,
Elektroid is a great alternative to Transfer.
For recording or production , I was a long time Reaper user, so between Reaper and Bitwig, we have solid options. I never tried Ableton so I dunno what I may be missing.
I reckon the trick for elektron devices on Linux is knowing how to implement things like yaybridge to make up for overbridge or to run windows vst plugins you cannot deal without.
I personally avoid VMs for this
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I tried JACK on Windows XP, it worked, but overall UX was very frustrating. Linux/Mac are still ahead of Win
Linux is more than ready for music creation and production. The question is do you want to try and are curious to discover something new?
There are three common mistakes or obstacles that are easy to prevent:
- Having the interest but not trying. Installing Linux on dual boot or in an old laptop / PC is easy.
- Believing that there is a lot to tweak and configure after reading either old stuff or the Linux tinkerers. This is like someone willing to try a synth for the first time and going modular Eurorack for starters. If you don’t have an opinion, just install plain Ubuntu.
- Trying to recreate your Windows / Mac setup on Linux. It’s like going vegan only to end up eating hyperprocessed soja-based chicken and sausages. For that, it’s better to stay where you are. Instead, you can embrace the growing Linux native ecosystem and if you really miss a daw or a plugin, send them a request. Otherwise they can keep saying that there is not much demand for Linux etc. Actually we have seen several small companies and some not that small releasing Linux versions after being asked.
If you haven’t checked https://linuxdaw.org it’s worth a look to better understand how music production for Linux is ready for the needs of the majority of creators / producers.
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Anybody here using Linux have advice on a mastering chain? I’ve decided to rebuild my whole Reaper workflow with native plugins, which hasn’t been too hard, but the main sticking point is Ozone 11. It’s not known to work in wine/yabridge, at least not reliably. I still have an old mac mini I’m using hadless to sync stuff to my phone, and I could always master a recording on that, but I’d like to find a satisfying solution that works natively in Linux. (I’m using Ubuntu 25.10, btw, I am finding audio to be a little finicky but workable. Had to install pipewire, which for some reason wasn’t already present in my install…I must not have checked the right box.)
25.10 has been great with gaming, by the way, both on my desktop PC and laptop, both using nvidia cards. Last time I tried this, like a year ago, I had endless problems with games, now everything is smooth, nearly effortless. I assume the drivers have been massively improved in that time.
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I use the JS Limiter at -6dB and Zip from Unfiltered Audio on the Standard Full Mix compression settings as a main output chain, and that’s pretty much it. I’m not much of a mastering engineer and just work with what sounds good to me, and it seems to turn out OK.
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oh wow I hadn’t heard of zip…this looks like an interesting plugin! Will listen to some demos…
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All the Unfiltered Audio stuff is great, and usually has internal patch cable-style modulation as well (unfortunately they don’t seem to work across different UA plugins). They also work very well using Yabridge.
…still on mac convienience trap…
but since the whole world starts to compute in the clouds, browsers read ur thoughts and all sorts of private computing starts to become a niche, kinda resistance thing, all i can say is…computers are THE universal tool and linux will soon become the only way to still do UR thing and stay at least half way resistant, individual and private…
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oh I get it, I am hoping for native plugs! I will probably get yabridge set up eventually but I want to see if I can thread the needle without wine for now…
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as for the “convenience trap,” I dunno, man, I wish I could flip a switch and make my whole personal and professional life run entirely on open-source software, but I cannot do my job without sharing files with my colleagues on mac and windows, I can’t force my wife to use signal and obsidian instead of imessage and notes, I can’t explain to my mom why I can’t share photos of my children with her on iCloud. I don’t like having to eat shit with a phone made by people who bow down to fascists and push tech cobbled together with my stolen life’s work (I’m one of the plaintiffs in the anthropic lawsuit), but you have to pick your battles. My chosen battlefield is the laptop and desktop where I do my job, write books, and make music, and that’s something I can control
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Understood; I try to use Linux plugins where possible but there are some that are now feasible to work well under Yabridge (it was a nightmare before that came along). It would be nice if more were available as CLAP too.
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The other sticking point for me was Arturia, I have a lot of money sunk into those plugs, which I used to use often. And I know I can get them set up in wine. But for now I am going to see how far I can get tweaking presets with the Astrolab 37. I always render my MIDI tracks to audio before mixing, why not just go straight to audio like it’s 1986
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There are plenty of compressors, saturators etc, that are Linux native but finding one plugin claiming to cover all mastering is more difficult.
Have you tried Tracktion’s Master Mix? (I haven’t) It’s paid but you can test it for free:
I agree with you, giving native Linux software a chance is better than jumping directly to Windows+yabridge and hope it works. Only increasing native Linux adoption contributes to increasing native Linux support.
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Definitely not looking for one do-it-all plugin! I’m just wondering what’s on everyone’s mastering bus, regardless of how many plugins. I also don’t mind paying, always happy to spend money on software that will do what I want. I already have some good native stuff from Kazrog and Toneboosters that may end up being part of my answer, and am waiting for U-he Satin to go on sale.
Will check out the Tracktion plug now, thank you!
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Do you know this site?:
It has basically all the Plugins and sound editing tools that you can use in Linux, not only open source, nor free (as in beer), but a good filter and search bar. From time to time i chrck it out to see if something new came out.
Although i have tried to do something after my mixing, i wouldnt call that mastering xD, but i used the LSP plugins, they have nice stuff: multiband Limiter, and compressor.
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I’m using Airwindows plugins for almost all processing now (I mix in Reaper most of the time). They’re often a little orthogonal to the usual way of doing things, but with a bit of experimentation I’m getting really good results. I think the lack of GUI polish is actually really good – forces you to use your ears, as they say. The only non-Reaper, non-Airwindows plugin I still use regularly is the Tokyo Dawn limiter.
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