Linux Audio Plugin Options

[@johnnybigpotato2404]

After watching countless videos on Linux Audio, I believe this to be the single most important video in existence for New Linux users in the Audio field. Thank you sooo much!

[@paulov9626]

Completely agree, you don't need expensive plugins just to get "professional" results, it's all hype. I have used open source plugins (and my own creations) in commercial radio and TV work for many years and often get asked how I achieve the results I get. When I tell them, people are shocked. Linux also supports many more plugin formats than Win or Mac.

[@RyanHillier]

This is incredible. I started using Ardour for basic demos a year ago and am just now getting really into it for full production. It's become my favourite DAW and the Linux environment is the only thing I will use now. Thanks so much for this wealth of information!

[@RogerMcGuiremusic]

What a great video....I've been on the fence about moving from windows to Linux for a while now for audio production. This has certainly given me food for thought. Thank you.

[@kBarBeats]

go for it !

[@johnnybigpotato2404]

Not gonna lie, it ain't easy... BUT, well worth it. Endless options once ya get it figured out. Ubuntu Studio and Carla and Ardour are my meat and potatoes right now for the stand alone rack and recording.

[@jasonmadden3615]

Amazing New to Linux Audio and I love what you are saying. The tools available are mind blowing and I am going to have so much fun learning and using them Thanks for the great info

[@DeLueMusic]

One of the few videos I’ve watched twice, back-to-back. Thank you for taking the time to make this. The track sounds great, too!

[@nimlouth]

I’ve been using a handful of free (some FOSS too) plugins like Helm since I started producing music and when I switched to linux I had to adapt obviously but also I think everything is there working already these days, just like you show on the video. Most of the stigma of linux music/audio production I think comes from a) the early days were dire tbh, these days everything is there and it just works great and will keep improving and being maintained. b) There’s A LOT of hardware that still doesn’t work in linux, because propietary is just the way everything has been going for the last 2 decades, specially true for older hardware like interfaces.

[@ZephB]

I agree! Yabridge can also be great when you really need a windows only plugin. I've got Arturia Analog lab to work oerfectly

[@SynthOSphere]

Thank you for sharing that you got Arturia Analog Lab to work! It is one of my worries. I have the full V-Collection from a few years back and would like to bring over if I ever switch to Linux. I imagine if you got Analog Lab to work, the other VSTs should… How did you manage, if I may ask? Or what is the important step or trick?

[@blueslsd]

Such a good video been on linux using Mixbus Pro10 which is built on Ardour. Never missed any plugins for my music.

[@alanbrucke]

Excellent video. I hope the algorithm pushes this to more people. Also, team Reaper all the way. I won’t proselytize, but suffice it to say, it’s freaking awesome. Ardour is great too. LMMS looks sweet for electronic.

[@eltomuzo]

I agree ...I ditched maybe hundreds of plugins, too much choice to wade through...I'm on Mac...I got izotope plugins just for the work flow and the visualisation aspect, haven't missed a single plugin, can get pretty much any sound I want using what I have. I'm seriously interested in linux...might have to have a go now after watching this!

[@RobotZhUntER]

I used to work with Darwin OS but in 1999 I moved to Linux, and I will never switch back. System engineer as a profession in US, music exec producer in my mother's land Cuba. THIS GUY IS RIGHT!

[@exxon47_]

I love this video to encourage people to use alternatives and specific things dont matter at all. LSP is so cool as well would be good if they did support windows (i dont use windows) just to share project files. I will also mention another amazing synth called Surge xt which can do alot.

[@seven_chords]

the one thing holding me back from switching from mac to linux for audio production is software instruments, especially in the orchestral category, as i still heavily rely on those. (if anyone knows of some that already exist and support linux (mainly using reaper as daw) please leave a reply (both free and paid ones)).

[@larrydavid6102]

A small nit to pick: it may be true that (digital) signal processing is "all math", however it's not true that all algorithms are the same. There are lots of different ways (i.e. algorithms) to do reverb for example, even a specific technique like convolution reverb. Something as simple as an equalizer that cuts or amplifies certain frequencies of a signal can be implemented in different ways. Just because two different plugins have a knob that can raise or lower the amplitude of a certain frequency doesn't mean they are doing the same math (almost certainly they are not), let alone that they will sound the same. Equalizers are essentially bandpass filters, that can have lots of different parameters under control (some of which may have default values hidden from the user for simplicity - what type of filter, windowing, Q, etc.; some of these are controllable in some plugins, some not). This is why Waves plugins, for example, are so popular - they sound good to many people, and the reason they sound good is presumably because of their algorithms. If all equalizer (or delay, reverb, modulation, etc.) plugins sounded the same, the market wouldn't support the hundreds of different ones people pay for on Windows and Mac (and even Linux, I dare say). I think it's more accurate to say that DSP is (mostly) all code, rather than all math. The code includes the math, but there are lots of different ways/algorithms to do the math, or even math that can be done to achieve the same/similar sonic effect. The same code however, will presumably produce the same output (setting aside hardware issues like roundoff error, approximation error, and other finite register effects; hence the "mostly" above), which can presumably be run on a Linux system just as well as on Windows or Mac. Skeptics say you get what you pay for (i.e. pay talented engineers and programmers to create). The flipside is that the free Linux plugins of today surely blow away the proprietary plugins of say, 20 or 30 years ago. When I was in school studying signal processing in the 80's, plugins didn't even exist, let alone DAWs (Fairlight and Synclavier don't count!). I used Personal Composer to record MIDI on a 286 with a couple hardware synths and a cassette deck back then and I was living the dream lol. Perspective is everything.

[@SudoMetalStudio]

One of the major differences in Linux philosophy vs commercial ones is that the later one usually makes a choice for you the user, to keep things simple and easy to use. Whereas in many plugins made for Linux you actually can control even the EQ filter algorithm; FIR or IIR like in those LSP's EQs. I've even seen selections of which windowing function is used for the signal (Hamming etc) as well as controlling params for the FFT. Fun fact is also that you don't easily find e.g. "Impulse Response Loader Plugin" for Linux, but you will find "Convolution plugins", which -as you might know- is the mathematical operation how IRs are applied to the signal. So it's not like those would be worse in Linux, it's quite the opposite what it comes to DSP, but in the expense of user experience as all those weird options can be very intimidating. Many commercial plugins are actually based on the open source work. They are often simplifications and tweaked for specific purposes, or combines different operations into single plugin. And they are of course very polished having also the user experience in mind.

[@larrydavid6102]

@@SudoMetalStudio Don't get me wrong, I switched to Linux in my home studio, for better or worse, and so far it's been great. I'm generally in favor of free software (in the FOSS sense), and in my professional work have been teaching with OERs for over a decade. Even if Linux and open source programs weren't as good as proprietary OS/programs, I'd probably still switch because I'm tired of having to buy new computers, audio, and MIDI interfaces, etc., every few years because the old stuff becomes unsupported (i.e. if it requires an OEM driver, you'll eventually be screwed - I have too many perfectly good door stops lying around that function the same as when they were the latest and greatest). Linux is better than Windows/Mac in every way that matters to me, and if the digital audio plugins are better too, bonus. I don't doubt they are. My original comment was just a small nit pick about a misleading characterization of DSP (on any platform) as being essentially the same. I doubt that was the intended meaning, but it could be construed that way by viewers who don't know better.

[@SudoMetalStudio]

@@larrydavid6102 "Better" is of course quite subjective 🙂 It's a valid point too, that usability (of commercial plugins) translates to being more productive. I don't have anything against Win/Mac, but like you, I just find everything I need (and more) from Linux and I simply prefer it 🎶

[@samuelbanya]

That's super cool that you can create your own reverbs as you said aka 3d rooms. Do you have a tutorial video on how to do this? Curious since I would love to do field recordings to generate reverbs.

[@Motosportz]

Wow, thank you. I love my linux but thought I might have to switch to windows to get all the good music making SW. Found everything I need here. Much appreciated

[@prodego1]

Between Calf, LSP, Dragonfly, and ZL Equalizer; I think I should have everything I need. Any other recommendations?

[@carlirwinmusic]

@prodego1 for FX, beyond those (and even among them), there is plenty of redundancy.

[@bilybob-c4p]

Is there an anechoic recorded string library with controllable bow-pressure, bow speed, bow position, vibrato, similar to Audio Modeling strings?

[@carlirwinmusic]

I don't know of any open-source work like this yet. The closest that you can get to it right now, for free, is the MuseScore 4 play engine and the Muse Sounds sample set. I don't know that the samples are recorded in an absolutely dead space as the lowest reverb settings still imply a real room. But the AI driving the engine is pretty slick with respect to choosing applicable artifacts (bowing and portamento, etc.) given the context of the notation. You don't have finite control over this, apart from choosing to use different dynamics or articulations to call up different samples (which is what I do to dial in mockups). Voice doubling (solos with sections) and contrast panning techniques take the engine and samples even further. The VPO samples are pretty dead (as many of the samples were originally recorded for scientific analysis at the University of Iowa). VPO has mod-wheel crossfading for dynamic velocity, but there are no specific controls for artifact sounds and no AI components.

[@eltomuzo]

what audio interfaces work with linux? I use a lot of inputs (up to 16) ...wondering what's possible at this point in time

[@PedroDVC]

almost any interface

[@larrydavid6102]

Great, helpful video! Thank you for sharing!!

[@anthonylilomba8917]

And what about IK multimedia and antares plugins, could you install and use thème in linux?

[@carlirwinmusic]

@anthonylilomba8917 if they have Linux ports then yes. But the point of the video is that Linux has native plugins and these proprietary (however free) plugins are not necessary... even for automatic tuning. Linux has several robust native alternatives for that.

[@anthonylilomba8917]

@@carlirwinmusic Antares auto-tune linux alternative ? Like what?

[@carlirwinmusic]

@@anthonylilomba8917 alternativeto.net/software/auto-tune/?platform=linux There are more, newer plugins and options like x42. But pitch recognition and shift capabilities are not new to Linux. Autotalent is old and still robust. Other options provide pitch to midi and individual note control options just like the well-known proprietary plugins. We don't need Antares or IK ports to Linux.

[@_Bender_Rodriguez]

Thank you for making this video

[@SFtheWolf]

reinstalling all the proprietary software on windows through all the companies' various jank launchers was absolutely miserable and would often take a full day and a terabyte of bandwidth. now I just list all my favourite plugins in my nixos audio module and my system's package manager does the rest.

[@bhaswardutta8493]

Hi, I had a question. When you install Linux vst and lv2 plugins using your package manager what is the location where it is installed? Like if I install kxstudio repo video apt I can't find the location where it is installed.

[@paullanfear]

Hi Carl, I am looking to use my Advanced Orchestra CDs (which I've had gathering dust for years now). Is this the sort of setup I need to use with the latest Musecore? Not much of a techie...I'm on Linux Mint and using the MuseHub library at present to make backing tracks for teaching.Thanks for any advice you can give.

[@carlirwinmusic]

If you have it in GIGA, you will probably want to look into linuxsampler: www.linuxsampler.org/

[@dersinndeslebens9780]

which distribution do you use?

[@carlirwinmusic]

@@dersinndeslebens9780 Ubuntu Studio 24.04

[@Grunfeld]

Thanks for the video; really motivating.

[@jamus1217]

The problem i have is that i already have a vast collection of virtual instruments for Windows, so moving to Linux would be a major hassle.

[@carlirwinmusic]

@@jamus1217 then don't. If you have a working setup, what motivation would you have to change?

[@jamus1217]

@@carlirwinmusic It's all the bloat after updates, things reinstalling themselves, unnecessary backround processes that refuse to go away and constant issues with things like OneDrive being ever present. I just want an OS that only does what i need and contains what i want it to :(

[@Jacob-septica]

Respect, Brother. Thank you for your channel!

[@rpatros]

Great job for listing the plug-ins for linux usage

[@crazyrobinhood]

Nice video and inspiring for the free software community. What about Cardinal=?

[@carlirwinmusic]

@@crazyrobinhood Cardinal is VCV

[@crazyrobinhood]

@@carlirwinmusic yep but the license is way better ;)

[@_DRMR_]

VCV Rack (the free and opensource version) is not an Audio Plugin ;)

[@carlirwinmusic]

It has midi input and audio output... meaning that it can be routed to and mixed from. It May not be a "plugin", but it can be plugged into and it can plug in. As a high-quality resource, it's relevant to the topic as an instrument that can be controlled by and mixed to DAW (in Linux).

[@sergioalvarezmac]

You have Cardinal that is VCV Rack converted into a plugin, more or less.

[@alecdurbaville6355]

And if you want to create re-usable fx chains (think Ozone or Alloy), you can create them in Carla (think patcher in FL or the grid in Bitwig).

[@kevinhasselquist]

Awesome video! I'm going to try some of these out!

[@bassmana2z686]

Thanks for the really useful content. Sub'd.🙂🎸🎶🎹

[@MykeHawke-r9r]

Thank you very much

[@markliebe]

Well I now feel a little stupid. I’ve been using Ubuntu studio for about a month and I’ve been trying to get all my windows plug-ins to run in linux. I guess this is a well trodden path. Time to see what Linux can actually do. Thanks for the reality check.

[@Johnscompany]

i use linux for music production and all that said on the video its true... its amazing how the ecosistem for music has evolve all these years. now i dont feel that i dont need anything from the propietary side because always i found something similar or even better here. and totall free.

[@Carl-V]

What linux distro do you recommend for audio production?

[@Johnscompany]

@@Carl-V Ubuntu estudio it's a good option. It's comes with ardour (the Protools for Linux) use kde desktop. It's a good option if You comes from Windows, and many plugins and software for music and video. Photography edit. All out of the box. I don't know how it's working the pipewire audio today. But the Best it's use the Jack for audio. And it's comes with a kernel rt who it's the Best for low latency work on audio.

[@robarth-meltedcheesehomest4012]

Great video!...... But as long there no way to proper use vst3 plugins or instruments in Linux as far that i know its a no for me at this time. Sadly to say.

[@carlirwinmusic]

@robarth-meltedcheesehomest4012 you can use vst3 plugins in Linux. They have to be Linux vst3 plugins. Usually Linux vst3 plugins also come in LV2, but Ardour Qtractor and the Carla plugin environment can host Linux vst3. The issue is that your favorite Win/Mac vst3 plugins likely don't have Linux vst3 variations available. But this video features the philosophy that Linux users simply don't use Win/Mac exclusive tools because we have our own fully featured tools.

[@GertBoers]

I use Windows vst's on Linux. Although in Reaper I have not been able to use vst3, but almost all vst's are available in the vst format too. The same vst3 does work however in Ardour and Carla. Carla even has a bridge builtin! To get a Windows vst working in Linux, you need Wine and Yabridge. Gforce (OB-*) all work, as well as all from Cherry Audio. U-he has Linux native downloads.

[@RobCowie]

@@carlirwinmusic "They have to be Linux vst3 plugins" - no they don't.

[@carlirwinmusic]

@RobCowie ummm... yes they do. Otherwise you will have to use a windows compatibility layer like Wine, with extremely mixed results.

[@GertBoers]

@@carlirwinmusic Mixed results, maybe. But extremely? No. I use Linux only and with Wine and Yabridge I can run almost any Windows VST pretty stable on my system. Gforce, Cherry Audio. All flawless. But I must admit that I didn't have used a lot of vst's simultaneously in Reaper or Ardour.

[@ArthurKlisiewicz]

Lniux audio still does not have a full potential for my needs, but since Microsfot destroys Windows more and more, it is time to look for alternatives. The problem with many people is that they have already invested thousands of dollars in their existing libraries (espeically sample libs i.e. NI Komplete series) and it is really hard to bypass and drop these. I wish (and hope) that once Windows12 is introduced and it will certainly suck even more that Win11 there will be great movement into Linux in general. I have Mint installed on the laptop and I love it. The only thing I am missing is still not so broad choice of Apps. I am very happy however it is growing. Microsoft and Apple suck, really , really suck! Along with few other soft giants they becamy spying machines and do not care about users anymore at all. I will be super happy to see them eliminated from the market (at least partially)....

[@keyibreand3840]

The question is why? I mean why should be important if you use linux or not

[@carlirwinmusic]

@keyibreand3840 This video isn't advocacy to switch to or from any particular platform. People use Linux for a variety of reasons (some philosophical and many economical). Linux has a large following of people that believe in open source intellectual property. But many opt for Linux because it amounts to an investment of $0 vs. tens of thousands of dollars in necessary software to accomplish the exact same thing, often with more control and computing power on Linux. This video is here to merely demonstrate (contrary to a longstanding erroneous assumption) that professional work IS accessible on a Linux system via an adequate, available tool set. The "why" is a personal matter.

[@keyibreand3840]

@@carlirwinmusic philosophical - its just a tool Economical - every laptop comes with a license of windows and you can use the same free software on windows too.

[@carlirwinmusic]

@keyibreand3840 Philosophical - some people (not me) believe (adamantly) that their software (including their OS) should not have a proprietary license. You may disagree (as do I), but that group is VERY significant. Economical - Some of the Linux tools are cross-platform... Great! Many are native to or exclusive to Linux and developed primarily under Linux. Some plugin types (LV2) are exclusive to Linux and available on no other platform. And some users are completely dissatisfied with the locked-down ristrictive nature of Win/Mac (that's totally me). These matters can certainly be irrelevant to many people... but to suggest that they can be dismissed is ignorant of an enormous user share that thinks very differently than Win/Mac users.