Bitwig on Linux -- How to avoid common issues

[mwstl]

Perhaps a side-question but is it possible to use only ALSA when you want to utilize multiple audio interfaces?

Yes. It depends on both how the alsa hardware driver is setup. If the alsa driver can support sub-streams then you can avoid using pulseaudio. But only a handful of applications are pulseaudio-stubborn(such as firefox). IIRC there's "asnd-loop" devices so that you can have multiple alsa clients("applications"), and if you want to use JACK+ALSA (without pulseaudio) but still want "alsa-clients" to connect to JACK then you will need to use alsa-plugin-jack.

the alsa-plugin-jack setting allows multiple alsa-clients to connect to JACK when jack is holding onto the alsa device.. and it should be possible to create a softvol (I never bothered to figure that how, so if someone wants to add they can)

/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_jack.so < make sure you have this module
(path may vary by distribution -- should be included with "alsa" or "alsa-plugin" in a particular package name -- It is an "alsa plugin" rather a jack plugin, even though the audio routing now becomes {alsa-plugin-jack}->Jack->Alsa for any alsa-clients)

~/.asoundrc
"
pcm.rawjack {
type jack
playback_ports {
0 system:playback_1
1 system:playback_2
}

capture_ports {
0 system:capture_1
1 system:capture_2
}
}

pcm.jack {
type plug
slave { pcm "rawjack" }
hint {
description "JACK Audio Connection Kit"
}
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave { pcm "rawjack" }
}
"

I haven't found any improvement over pulseaudio, but the configuration is also documented from jackaudio's site http://jackaudio.org/faq/routing_alsa.html

you'll find the other method with alsa loop devices more difficult as that may require to do scripting work.

[mwstl]

Thanks

Of course you can use any Linux with Bitwig, but for me I think I'm feeling more comfortable with Ubuntu Studio. It is xfce desktop by default so it is snappy and similar to the old Gnome (version 2) which I like Of course not all are greener here! Expect a lot of error messages but they are minor and mostly not related to Bitwig and/or audio production with Bitwig (and this is what important for me really). Still, it is Linux so it begs to be customized

Here is the Ubuntu Studio Control which needs some trial and error till you reach the best configuration for your hardware, but it is easy to use (I'm not using it though now, but it is good to know if needed):

The third checkbox on the lower-left hand is there and wouldn't impeded Jack if say you want to run Firefox and have sound with it. "Bridge Pulseaudio to Jack (allows desktop audio to keep working)" -- the impact is relatively negligible. You definitely do not want to enable the 2nd and 4th option as Bitwig would not be able to grab the midi devices. The screenshot shows that they aren't and that appears correct -- albeit this is just for "Bitwig" -- if you use other apps like Ardour, qtractor, etc, you can enable the 2nd and 4th option without issue.

[EnGee]

Great! Thanks

[initials_sg]

After distro-hopping for a while and trying out various configurations, the most simple and stable method for me has been to install the KXStudio meta package and configurations on an Ubuntu variant. The KXStudio tools (like Cadence vs qJackctl) have been consistently more stable for me. I really don't have to do much to configure Jack, I don't get conflicts with Pulseaudio, and it's rock solid.

With realtime and some lowlatency kernels there has been more often than not a tradeoff between stability and performance. Some perform worse than the stock kernel and have stability problems. I suggest testing various kernels on your system, especially if you're plagued with stability issues. I use the stock low-latency kernel over stuff like Liquorix and the rest because nothing has ever broken or gotten unstable when I update and that just hasn't been the case with the others on my system.

GNOME is the way to go with Bitwig's touch interface. It gets a lot of hate, but it all starts to make sense once you start using it with a touchscreen. If you are not taking advantage of touch on Bitwig, you are missing out, in my opinion. With my personal tests there wasn't a massive performance difference between the lastest GNOME and 'lighter' desktops in spite of its reputation. But there is a enough of a difference when using a window manager like i3 vs a desktop for a situation where you need just a bit of extra CPU or a very tiny buffer size. I've always preferred KDE and still do, but they are far behind in touch.

Final bit of advice, feel free to ignore -
Far, far easier and more effective to wipe and install over from scratch in a few minutes then it is to get into rounds of arcane tweaks and fixes.

[wavedigit]

Perhaps a side-question but is it possible to use only ALSA when you want to utilize multiple audio interfaces?

Yes. It depends on both how the alsa hardware driver is setup.

Thanks. And what if I want to use multiple class compliant USB audio interfaces? Does the fact that they're class compliant make it easier in this regard?