Muselog #3 - Linux audio

Recording and processing music on a computer in real time require some preparation. This is a Linux specific post, I haven’t done this on Windows.

Probably the easiest way is to just install a Linux distribution that is prepared for audio production, like KXStudio, AV Linux, Ubuntu Studio or others. I have only tried Ubuntu Studio. That said, any Linux distribution can be set up for audio production, I installed Manjaro (Linux distro) on my old(er) potato and will use it for the music things. These are the resources I more or less followed:

• Arch Wiki - Professional audio
• Linuxaudio.org Wiki, specifically this page on System Configuration
• Demystifying JACK – A Beginners Guide to Getting Started with JACK
• JACK FAQ

The JACK settings I could achieve on my potato and audio interface:

• Sample Rate: 48 kHz
• Buffer Size: 256 samples
• Periods/Buffer: 3
• Block Latency: 5.3 ms

I do get some xruns (instants where the CPU is incapable of processing the sound in time) but that seems to happen only when I change some settings, mostly. I haven’t figured out all the sources of these xruns. They are not reflected in the sound actually, so I don’t hear pops and clicks while playing…so I’ll just ignore them.