Following this guide will allow you to get the best possible performance on Linux for professional audio needs. Even though these steps are well-tested, it is wise to research what each step accomplishes and why (the search engine is your friend :P ). See also https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Professional_audio.
Note for users of other distros: Much of this guide can be adapted for other distros by simply switching out the package manager commands. For manually adding realtime privileges in other distros see jackaudio.org. In terms of kernels, Arch-based distros add the full preempt patch as part of the kernel config at build time whereas for others you might need to add preempt=full as a kernel parameter as part of step 4. From the yabridge documentation:
If the
uname -aoutput containsPREEMPT_DYNAMIC, then run eitherzgrep PREEMPT /proc/config.gzorgrep PREEMPT "/boot/config-$(uname -r)"depending on your distro. IfCONFIG_PREEMPTis not set, then either add thepreempt=fullkernel parameter or better yet, switch to a kernel that's optimized for low latencies.
To get started after installing Arch, you could try just steps 3, 4 and 5 below. If you need to use windows plugins on Linux also follow step 11 (easy: wine-staging, more advanced but potentially more performance: wine-tkg). Based on your individual pro audio needs, workflows, hardware specifications and more, your mileage may vary. If you are still having audio performance issues, try following the full guide...
December 2024 update: Now we are up to pipewire v1.2.7 and I feel very confident recommending pipewire. Indeed, I'm now running it myself for pro audio work. From a default install it will be part of your regular updates so should be very easy. Here's how to install pipewire if you are still running pulseaudio and jack:
yay -Rdd pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-jack jack2
yay -S pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jackReboot then check whether pipewire and associated plugins are operational via
inxi -AaFor IRQ-based scheduling benefits when using ALSA, be sure to use the "Pro Audio" profile for your interface via your sound management tool.
Optional:
Install yay:
sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay
makepkg -siIn other Arch-derived distros, yay might already be installed or available via sudo pacman -S yay.
git clone https://codeberg.org/rtcqs/rtcqs.git
cd rtcqs
./src/rtcqs/rtcqs.pyyay -S realtime-privilegesAdd user to "realtime" group and "audio" group (to satisfy rtcqs)
sudo usermod -a -G realtime,audio $USERLog out/in or reboot...
sudo nano /etc/default/grubchange
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="threadirqs"
sudo update-grubor if you don't have update-grub installed
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfgAlternatively, if you are using systemd-boot:
sudo nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf (or whatever the .conf file is called on your system)and add threadirqs to the end of the options line.
You can use your deskop environment to set CPU governor to "performance" and disable sleep and screen locking. E.g on KDE Plasma:
Alternatively, set in the terminal via sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance or add cpufreq.default_governor=performance as a kernel parameter (but note that this can be overridden by other power profile tools in your distribution such as Powerdevil).
sudo nano /etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.confadd "vm.swappiness=10"
If you run rtcqs.py and it gives you a warning about Spectre/Meltdown Mitigations, you could add mitigations=off to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX. Warning: disabling these mitigations will make your machine less secure! https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/system_configuration#disabling_spectre_and_meltdown_mitigations
yay -S base-develgit clone https://github.com/jhernberg/udev-rtirq.git
cd udev-rtirq
sudo make install
rebootFor regular work in a DAW, it is recommended to set its audio system to ALSA. If you need to listen to other external sources during a session, in REAPER you can change the ALSA input and output devices to "default" (you need to type this):
Set your desired audio device using your desktop environment.
DAW Install Examples:
REAPER: http://reaper.fm/download.php or,
yay -S reaperConsider changing the RT priority value to 80 on audio device page. While RT priority numbers are all relative, this value matches the sane default used by Ardour and Mixbus.
Ardour: https://community.ardour.org/download or,
yay -S ardourBitwig Studio: https://www.bitwig.com/download/ (flatpak not compatible with yabridge) or,
yay -S bitwig-studioAlso be sure to check out Qtractor, Tracktion Waveform, Mixbus, LMMS, Rosegarden, Zrythm etc... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_audio_software#Digital_audio_workstations_(DAWs)
- My JSFX plugin collection (https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=275301)
- airwindows-git (http://www.airwindows.com/)
- lsp-plugins (https://lsp-plug.in/)
- zam-plugins (http://www.zamaudio.com/?p=976)
- distrho-ports (https://distrho.sourceforge.io/ports.php)
- dpf-plugins (https://distrho.sourceforge.io/plugins.php)
- elephantdsp-roomreverb (https://www.elephantdsp.com/)
- dragonfly-reverb (https://michaelwillis.github.io/dragonfly-reverb/)
- aether.lv2 (https://dougal-s.github.io/Aether/)
- Bertom Denoiser (https://www.bertomaudio.com/denoiser.html) (not in the Arch repos or AUR)
- sfizz / sfizz-git (https://sfz.tools/sfizz/)
- Chowdhury DSP (https://chowdsp.com/products.html) (available via AUR:
yay chow) - Auburn Sounds (https://www.auburnsounds.com/)
- TAL Software (https://tal-software.com/)
- Pianoteq (https://www.modartt.com/pianoteq)
- AudioThing (https://www.audiothing.net/)
Perhaps start with vanilla wine-staging and see how you fare in terms of performance. If your workflows rely heavily on VSTi like Kontakt, you may find better performance with wine-tkg (fsync enabled).
yay -S wine-stagingOr, install a particular version that you know is compatible:
yay -S downgrade
sudo DOWNGRADE_FROM_ALA=1 downgrade wine-stagingCheck https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge#tested-with for up-to-date info.
OR...for the more adventurous:
Follow the instructions to git clone and install latest version: https://github.com/Frogging-Family/wine-tkg-git/tree/master/wine-tkg-git#quick-how-to-
If using wine-tkg, set the WINEFSYNC environment variable to 1 according to https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge#environment-configuration (depends on your display manager and login shell)
yay -S yabridge yabridgectlor for latest git:
yay -S yabridge-git yabridgectl-gitNote: Depending on your distro, you might have to enable the multilib repo first:
sudo nano /etc/pacman.confand, uncomment these lines
[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlistConfigure yabridge according to https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge#readme
then, install Windows VST2, VST3 or CLAP plugins!
Once everything is set up, don't forget to check that volume levels are set correctly. Run
alsamixer
to check that output is set to 100 (vertical bars) or gain of 0dB (top left of alsamixer). Use F6 to select the correct soundcard. You can also use your desktop environment's volume controls if you have your interface enabled there but note that numbers don't seem to match alsamixer.
Music Player: strawberry (can produce bit-perfect playback)
Tagger: kid3, picard
DDP creation/verification/etc: ddptools
Audio Converter: fre:ac or soundconverter
CD Ripper: asunder or cdrdao
CD Burner: cdrdao, k3b or nerolinux4