As an all purpose desktop system I use mdk 9.2. There
is a large number of
audio apps contributed for it but before going down that route or another,
I thought I'd take some advice.
If you do go down the Mandrake route you'll want this excellent resource:
http://rpm.nyvalls.se/sound9.2.html
I use mandrake for some audio things myself (ardour, audacity etc) and it
seems fine - can't really compare with other distros though 'cos I've never
tried setting up another one for audio. I really like the idea of Agnula but
it seems to be moving at a snail's pace. Debian sid and Redhat/
Planet CCRMA seem popular with other people.
HTH