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Old 08-01-2018, 09:21 AM   #1
Mr. PC
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Default How ready is Linux Reaper for big projects, lots of VSTs, lots of routing.

So I'd like to dive in and install Linux / leave Windows forever, I'm just worried that Reaper won't be stable / perform well.

I sometimes have monster projects, e.g. 50 audio tracks and 50 vst tracks, with multiple effects on every track, and a disgusting routing web... more like cobweb than a spider web.


Come to think of it... these monster files aren't great under Windows, but surprising hold up (I got an 8700k with 64gb ram and NVMe).


So once my current projects are finished, could I reasonably migrate?
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Old 08-01-2018, 09:25 AM   #2
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Windows VSTs don't work in Linux without some external apps to wrap/bridge them, so there's that.
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Old 08-01-2018, 09:42 AM   #3
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It would be good to check in advance if your audio interface is supported on linux. E.g I have an RME fireface UC and there's sadly no support for this one.
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Old 08-01-2018, 11:48 AM   #4
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Please dive in and let us know

You could also ease into it? Install AV Linux on a usb stick or harddrive, then install reaper and play around a bit.

I'd imagine that reaper itself would run well, but there are surely issues to be encountered on something that still really isn't officially released. Not because of bad code quality, just because there are bound to be a lot of code that hasn't really been tested on Linux. I suppose this is the purpose of such an open beta.
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Old 08-01-2018, 07:06 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. PC View Post
So I'd like to dive in and install Linux / leave Windows forever, I'm just worried that Reaper won't be stable / perform well.

I sometimes have monster projects, e.g. 50 audio tracks and 50 vst tracks, with multiple effects on every track, and a disgusting routing web... more like cobweb than a spider web.


Come to think of it... these monster files aren't great under Windows, but surprising hold up (I got an 8700k with 64gb ram and NVMe).


So once my current projects are finished, could I reasonably migrate?
With something like LinVst it's going to be using Wine for each plugin on each track and the more plugins that are added means more load for the computer and so a fast computer/memory obviously would help.

If someone isn't interested in realtime latency with LinVst then that helps as well because realtime input latency on live input tracks is not nearly as good as real Windows.

I have had 30 Kontakt tracks running with LinVst on an i7 and as far as output latency goes it wasn't that bad with Reapers anticipative feature enabled but live input latency is another thing and that is not like real Windows performance wise.

Someone hit some sort of distro/wine version limit on their distro which I never hit on Debian Stretch with 30 Kontakt tracks https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=18496

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Old 08-02-2018, 10:21 AM   #6
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With something like LinVst it's going to be using Wine for each plugin on each track and the more plugins that are added means more load for the computer and so a fast computer/memory obviously would help.

If someone isn't interested in realtime latency with LinVst then that helps as well because realtime input latency on live input tracks is not nearly as good as real Windows.

I have had 30 Kontakt tracks running with LinVst on an i7 and as far as output latency goes it wasn't that bad with Reapers anticipative feature enabled but live input latency is another thing and that is not like real Windows performance wise.

Someone hit some sort of distro/wine version limit on their distro which I never hit on Debian Stretch with 30 Kontakt tracks https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=18496
That someone was me.

I ditched Kontakt, resurrected all my old gig files, and went pure native linuxsampler lxvst in Reaper.

1. I'm running 64 in a small orchestra template, and a standalone of GrandOrgue with the thoryk organ (a mighty hybrid of 5 different organs)

Total ram use out of 64GB is 42GB.

2. For an experiment, I loaded everything I've got into Reaper as LS LXVST plugins, for a total of 83. Each instrument track had articulations assigned to channels (because I think keyswitching sucks, and you can't layer artics like you can with channels). This also included my GrandOrgue standalone, and Ram count was 56GB. Reaper just kept motoring.

48000
512
2

are the Jack settings for samplerate/buffer/periods, and i'm doing this with an 8core I7 loaded with SSD drives and a RME AIO pcie card.


I can switch channels on the fly using actions already present, and the 16 pads on the top of my AKAI MPK88. (Which rocks with Reaper, I might add. )

I've only had 2 crashes, and that was because I was building the track templates for LS, one at a time, using Fantasia (java) as the front end.
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Old 08-02-2018, 10:54 AM   #7
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Ok, awesome. So it seems live-input latency through Kontakt is the biggest issue at this moment.

I've very tied to Kontakt unfortunately, but I'm hopeful that in 6 months, this could be improved.
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Old 08-02-2018, 11:00 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alextone View Post
That someone was me.

48000
512
2
Do you ever see xuns with your orchestra?
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Old 08-02-2018, 12:32 PM   #9
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Do you ever see xuns with your orchestra?
Not when it's all up and running.

Sometimes i'll see a couple when i run the transport after connecting GrandOrgue, but it's a hefty app, and a little nervous with Jack if the buffer is too low. I used to have it at 256 but GO didn't like that, so 512 is enough. I'm not recording anything live normally so i can afford to relax the buffer a little.

The really cool part is all the work I put into building track templates with LS has paid off (you have to do this one track at a time using Fantasia to build). The template starts up and takes about 30 seconds to load all the instances. LS is solid as a rock even in plugin mode.

If i open qtjackctl when everything is up and running, I seem to get one or two occasionally, but nothing identifiable as audio or midi recording or playback related.

Can't think of anything else at the moment.

Alex.
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Old 08-03-2018, 01:35 AM   #10
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Hello,

meta information but possibly some useful

GNU/LINUX@AUDIO ~ /Wiki $ Howto.Info && GNU/Linux Debian installing >> Linux Audio Workstation LAW
VST3 Linux (Beta version) https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk#200

Have a good time; the secret word of tonight was racoons 42 ;-)

Last edited by khz; 08-03-2018 at 01:48 AM.
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Old 08-28-2018, 09:55 AM   #11
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This is over my head; is this a distro specifically for music? And VST3 somehow works natively?

Quote:
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Hello,

meta information but possibly some useful

GNU/LINUX@AUDIO ~ /Wiki $ Howto.Info && GNU/Linux Debian installing >> Linux Audio Workstation LAW
VST3 Linux (Beta version) https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk#200

Have a good time; the secret word of tonight was racoons 42 ;-)



My Windows trial is expiring.... so now I'm on a crossroad; try Linux for music, or download a new Windows trial (I use LTSB, so I get 1 year demos only. It's the only bloat-free Windows, and not for sale).

I just really worry that workflow will suffer, and plugins won't work reliably.
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Old 08-28-2018, 10:50 AM   #12
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I fear that you might be disappointed if you expect everything to be smooth and honky dory.. You ought to contemplate the fact that we are trying to run plugins from another operating system, in a relatively new port of reaper to a different operating system. Yes reaper is stable and capable, but there are bound to be bugs to turn up, sws, reapack & heda scripts work, but sometimes bugs turn up.

Many windows vsts run perfectly fine, in fact it seems like many of the problems are with the installers And I suppose it's going to be a brand new OS for you, so many things to learn.

I'd suggest to get another windows demo, install some linux in parallel and take your time moving over. Like that you can make an informed decision about it instead of relying on what we write here on the forum.

It already works surprisingly well and I'm convinced that it can only get better.
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Old 09-02-2018, 11:50 PM   #13
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Quote:
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I fear that you might be disappointed if you expect everything to be smooth and honky dory.. You ought to contemplate the fact that we are trying to run plugins from another operating system, in a relatively new port of reaper to a different operating system. Yes reaper is stable and capable, but there are bound to be bugs to turn up, sws, reapack & heda scripts work, but sometimes bugs turn up.

Many windows vsts run perfectly fine, in fact it seems like many of the problems are with the installers And I suppose it's going to be a brand new OS for you, so many things to learn.

I'd suggest to get another windows demo, install some linux in parallel and take your time moving over. Like that you can make an informed decision about it instead of relying on what we write here on the forum.

It already works surprisingly well and I'm convinced that it can only get better.
Ok, I'll stick to Windows with Reaper for now, and just keep using Linux for daily use. Can't wait until I can go 100% linux!!
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Old 09-03-2018, 12:28 AM   #14
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If you already run Linux it would be very easy to start testing with Reaper and to follow it's development! I thought you were running Windows full time and wanted to switch to Linux for everything at once.

Just install Reaper and see how well it works. Install some plugins in Wine and bridge them with LinVst and test. Who knows maybe it's already good enough for what you do, or maybe you'll find it lacking in some respect. But at least doing it like that, you'll be in a good position to determine if it's good enough to switch, and supports everything you need from it.
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Old 09-15-2018, 09:17 AM   #15
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I've actually got 2 machines - A Reaper machine running Windows, and Linux for day to day.

I could try installing Reaper on my Linux machine for fun though, but without VST3, there's really no point for me.
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Old 09-18-2018, 05:05 AM   #16
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I've actually got 2 machines - A Reaper machine running Windows, and Linux for day to day.

I could try installing Reaper on my Linux machine for fun though, but without VST3, there's really no point for me.
Try using KX Studio, it comes with Carla Host and Cadence which will help you avoid dealing with Jack connections altogether.

I have already done some work using Reaper (both version Linux and Win) and they work very well. If LinVst can't deal with a VST plugin then Carla will and most plugins I've tested work very well.

Hell I've even did a complete mix using Tracktion T7 using mostly Windows plugins and Carla and it worked very well.

So create a partition for KX Studio and start experimenting.
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Old 09-18-2018, 05:43 AM   #17
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@Mr.PC: If you are already running linux, then just download reaper and run it - it doesn't even need 'installing' in any conventional sense, just unzip the download and either run it from there, or more conventionally you could copy the REAPER folder to /opt (there might be an install script also now).

1. It's a myth that you must have some kind of 'special realtime this or that distro for audio - that might once have been the case but ordinary Ubuntu on reasonably modern hardware works just fine - I use it here for test / development without any issues.

2. You can run a distro off a USB stick, but its far from ideal, and is going to invite all manner of issues that just wouldn't happen with a proper install. Likewise, don't use VMs for audio.

3. Native Linux VST2 plug-ins work just fine in reaper (probably better than VST3 at this point). I've made some here:

https://www.overtonedsp.co.uk/
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Old 09-18-2018, 02:24 PM   #18
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3. Native Linux VST2 plug-ins work just fine in reaper (probably better than VST3 at this point). I've made some here:

https://www.overtonedsp.co.uk/
Hey Mike, I just wanted to say thanks for both the great plugins and bringing them to Linux. I'll be making some purchases from you very soon because of it.
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Old 09-19-2018, 07:11 AM   #19
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Hey Mike, I just wanted to say thanks for both the great plugins and bringing them to Linux. I'll be making some purchases from you very soon because of it.
Same here, thanks for your support, using your plugs every day since 2014
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Old 09-20-2018, 01:05 AM   #20
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@klangfarben: You can pick any of them up for only £10.00 each + VAT (That, unfortunately, is the nature of the market we find ourselves in at the present time, so now would be a good time to buy..)
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