[LAU] Going from window to linux

[david]

JiNN wrote:

>    I have recently been thinking about going to linux on my DAW. I 
> currently use fruity loops and run a winxp pro sp2, with a bunch of VST.
> There have been a couple of issues which made me try to seek another O/S 
> for my audio. Number one is that I like to run a lot of VST, and
> I also like to have my project from sequencing to pre mastering all in 
> one project. This, of course means a lot of CPU since i try to do as much
> as possible without rendering it to .wav and back, since this takes 
> time, especially for little changes when mixing. Another issue is the
> windows 2gig ram application limit. I hit this a couple of times and was 
> left in a dead end as to what to do. Vista is probably out of the option 
> right
> now since I hate how much garbage is in there and how much cpu it needs 
> just to run. So I am thinking to switching to linux, but would like to
> ask a couple of question. If someone can spare a couple of minutes and 
> pass your opinion on these subjects/questions, i would appreciate it 
> very much.
> 
> 1) How is VST adaptors for linux? I was reading there a couple of them. 
> Has anyone had trouble with them?
> 
> 2) I assume linux is a lot better with RAM than windows, and was curious 
> if there are any people who are on this list
>    that actually switched over and could tell me if they really could 
> "do" a lot more in linux with the same hardware specs than in windows.

Well, Linux runs faster than Windows did on the hardware I have here. I 
don't have anything high-end or particularly modern here. The server is 
running a Sempron 3000+ (1.8GHz Sempron processor, 1GB RAM). My laptop 
is running a 1.5GHz Celeron with 768MB RAM. But I don't do serious 
on-computer sound processing, do more composition work and drive my 
Yamaha PSR-225GM for sound.

>    Does linux have some sort of application RAM limit?

I don't know. I know that last week I was working with a very large 
(43000x3900 pixels) panoramic 24-bit TIFF image in TheGIMP, and GIMP 
reported using 1.2GB of RAM.

If the issue is your amount of data, you could use a 64-bit Linux on 
64-bit hardware and leave such concerns in the dust.

> 3) What is everyone's favority sequencer for linux? I know there are a 
> couple of them. Which one is your favorite?  

I like Rosegarden, but I have no idea how it would compare to FruityLoops.

> 4) I have never used linux before. Would it be better for me to install 
> linux first and after im comfortable try audio on it?

Try one of the Live Linux CDs. For one thing, they'll tell you if Linux 
supports your hardware.

> 5) I assume there are DirectX adaptor also. Correct?

I don't know. I don't have any hardware here that supports DirectX even 
under Windows.

-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community