Recording on a Linux based system

meshica7

New member
Hello all
Am wondering if there are any users here who are recording on a Linux system. I am in need of some advice concerning getting a Behringer XENYX X1204USB to communicate with my ACer Aspire running Kubuntu 19.10.
 
Hello all
Am wondering if there are any users here who are recording on a Linux system. I am in need of some advice concerning getting a Behringer XENYX X1204USB to communicate with my ACer Aspire running Kubuntu 19.10.

There is a guy over at soundonsound.com forum that runs Linux name of Folderol. I loaned him my Native Instruments KA6 a couple of years ago to try. He found it worked spiffingly on the OS and promptly bought one. Nice chap to boot and formidable keys player.

Has to be said, basic USB mixers often give poor results on any OS compared to a full fat AI. They are 16 bit only devices, no bad thing in itself but they rarely make even full use of the 90dB dynamic range available, more like 80dB. They also produce a 'whine' which is inherent in the 16 bit converters. My early model A&H suffers this and A&H told me it cannot be fixed. Reduced to some degree but not eliminated. You will be ok for R&R but not I think quiet voice overs.

Dave.
 
Am wondering if there are any users here who are recording on a Linux system
I wish I could help but I'm right at the start of my linux life. I made the switch in late Feb/early March and I'm running ZorinOS 15 lite. I like it thus far but there are some little hiccups now and again and I need to get to grips with so much. I definitely do want to launch into the music players and film editors that come with Linux. I used Audacity a lot for editing over 13 years on Windows so I was pleased that it's part of the Zorin package.
 
Grim' I am told Reaper is still in 'evaluation mode' for Linux but has been so for quite some time and many Linux nu...er USERS! Find it serves them very well.

Dave.
 
I have a laptop that I converted to Linux because the Win7 Enterprise install wouldn't let me back in after I forgot the password. I installed a special build called AV Linux that's optimized for audio and video work. It comes with a DAW called Ardour. I haven't really done much with it but some experimentation suggests it works okay. The reason I have it in the first place is to capture multitrack from digital consoles like X32 and the like.

I know that doesn't help with your Kubuntu machine, but I thought it might be something you'd like to know about (if you don't already).

DistroWatch.com: AV Linux
 
A possible example usage

Hello,

I'm a long time Linux sysadmin.

I use Linux only systems.
I use Ardour for recording, I'm a guitar player.

What kind of assistance you need?
Your question is a bit vague, what software are you using?

I'll try and put as simple as I can.

When you plug a USB device in a laptop running Linux, the kernel (which is Linux) will recognize the device or not.
That's the first thing you want to be sure of and you do that tailing the system logs before plugging the USB, then plug it in and you should see logs appearing.
It should become another audio card in your system.

If you use Ardour, then you know it's based on Jackd.
If it's your case use Qjackcontrol or Cadence for starting it.

I use qjackcontrol on my Thinkpad T430 and a Audiobox96.
Before running Ardour, open it, then choose Setup and check your card is there and it's selected, adjust sample rate etc. .
Choose 'Connect' and check your jackd connections, in the case of an Audiobox96, under the Audio tab of Connections box you'll see cature1 and 2, check the other tabs for MIDI, etc.

Start it and start Ardour.
If you don't do that, and start Arduor then jackd will be started by Ardour but you'll use wth settings that could be wrong for particular setup.

I hope that helps you and other Linux users.
Which is a great choice IMO.
 
This sounds a rather onerous job - just to get things working. I do get the reason people don't want to use windows or IOS, but we get dozens of posts on the benefits of Cubase over Logic, or Reaper instead of Ableton - and it's really tiny details that swing people to one or the other. What I never get is the choice people make to use a system that restricts choice and requires serious study to even understand the operating system's behaviour. I see it for computer people, but for musicians, we tend to ONLY care about outcomes and don't care how it's done inside the box, as long as we can buy the latest VSTi, or share our work, or do the kinds of things we do - and running an enthusiast OS really restricts what we can do? Or did I miss the point here?
 
yes, you are entirely missing the point
FLOSS software and systems can't be compared to what you mentioned

I just wanted to give the OP and others an help
didn't mean to write an essay or a book

have fun
 
The biggest issues is going to be getting the device drivers.

If the manufacturer maintains a linux driver, you'll almost certainly be able to get it working on any Debian distro. You might need to configure an additional apt repo, but if you're running kubuntu, I assume you can handle that.

(I haven't done ardour or any serious DAW work in linux, but I've recorded an entire album with aplay, supplemented all my recordings in the last 2 years with sox, and use sonic pi live)
 
I do get the reason people don't want to use windows or IOS......What I never get is the choice people make to use a system that restricts choice and requires serious study to even understand the operating system's behaviour. I see it for computer people, but for musicians, we tend to ONLY care about outcomes and don't care how it's done inside the box, as long as we can buy the latest VSTi, or share our work, or do the kinds of things we do
What it is Rob, is that sometimes, one just wants to try something different, regardless of what other people may think of the difficulties. It's a bit like instead of going with one of the well known energy companies, going with an obscure unknown one. While I believe in the afterlife, I also believe we only get one shot at this particular one so if one makes a decision to do something, what are you really losing ? Even if it's a slow crawl initially, even if it's seen as restrictive, if the punter doesn't see that, they aren't really losing out. Most things take a while to learn and then they're learned !
 
Yes - I think I get this, but you lose access to the most popular software and frankly - I use the software on my machines as tools to get a job done. I've always found it a but mystifying you want to use something less capable? I use windows and Mac because of what they do - not because I like them?
 
The other thing with Linux is that because it's open source, the developers tend to be serious enthusiasts and lovers of what they're doing and many that switch over want to give them a whirl. See what's happening on the other side of the mountain.
The developers of open source software are kind of like the home recorders of the computer world.
 
As a longtime *nix user, I also want to pedantically dispute the contention that the GNU/Linux ecosystem restricts choice.
One of the core philosophies of open source is that you never restrict the end-user's choice if you don't have to. Linux is often plagued with too many choices for most users. Which type of linux do you want to use? Debian? Red Hat? Which desktop do you want to use? Gnome? Kde? XFCE? All the way down.

Now the "it's incompatible with all the best software" complaint is legitimate, but there is a lot of progress with emulators for the Windows APIs and other such tools to allow cross-compatibility. Of course, the F/OSS answer is that this should be blamed on the software creators for not offering the source code so that you could fix and recompile it on your Linux machine, not the fault of the oS.
 
you lose access to the most popular software and frankly - I use the software on my machines as tools to get a job done. I've always found it a but mystifying you want to use something less capable? I use windows and Mac because of what they do - not because I like them?
In terms of recording, I use a standalone DAW {Akai DPS12i} so most of the recording fraternity would consider me to be swimming in the primordial soup anyway.
But I do like it. I have developed a workflow and a process with which I'm happy. It's my tool. I could easily go the total computer route with a myriad of choices but I prefer the tool that I use. I don't consider myself restricted at all and if I ever do, I do something about it. For me, it's like having books as opposed to a kindle type device. I just like books. I don't feel that I'm missing out by not havving a device, any more than I think I'm missing out driving a 2004 Honda Civic as opposed to last year's Lexus.
 
Gotcha - personal choice, so nobody can ever say you're wrong. In 1980 I learned Morse code - I see no reason to not use it, despite people thinking it's ancient obsolete nonsense.
 
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