A survey of Linux audio plugins [LWN.net]

A survey of Linux audio plugins

Posted Jul 2, 2012 21:52 UTC (Mon) by jtc (subscriber, #6246)
In reply to: A survey of Linux audio plugins by StudioDave
Parent article: A survey of Linux audio plugins

Thanks for the info and correction. My ignorance is showing - looks like I've misunderstood some of the details of the technology and terminology.

With this corrected understanding, I guess my main question is simply: Is my assumption that there are no high-quality orchestral samples available (and usable, in a practical sense) for Linux systems incorrect? From your response it sounds like the answer might be yes (i.e., good news - high-quality samples are available).

I find it hard to get precise information on this with google (at least without spending a lot of time, which I'm not willing to do right now). It looks like the Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) samples exist in Kontakt format - bad news, apparently, since I accept your implication that Kontakt samples cannot be used easily on Linux. It looks like VSL might also be available in DSL, which perhaps is good news - you seem to imply that DSL samples can be played on Linux. (I don't think I had heard of DSL before you mentioned it here.) Of course, there are other high-quality sample collections besides VSL. Do you know if any of these are playable on Linux, in a practical sense and, if so, where should I look? (If it matters, I use rosegarden to compose music, and I'm looking for good-sounding samples so that I can improvise [as a basis for composition] and allow the sound to inspire me [which tends to lead to good/creative musical ideas], instead of what often happens - a somewhat unpleasant and uninspiring result due to mediocre sounds.)

My question, I suppose, is pretty broad and perhaps hard to answer with the needed detail, but if you think what I'm looking for exists and can provide me with some pointers, hints, key-words, or such to help me find what I'm looking for, I'd appreciate it. (In case it matters - Windows is not an option for me - I'm allergic to it; and OSX is probably not an option either.)

Thanks!

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A survey of Linux audio plugins

Posted Jul 12, 2012 21:38 UTC (Thu) by StudioDave (guest, #84346) [Link]

I decided that I really didn't know enough about the topic, so I asked my friend Alex Stone to address the issue of a Linux-based composer using high-quality commercially-available sample libraries. I admit that I was surprised by his response, but as far as I can tell it's simply the plain unvarnished truth: If you need Kontakt-formatted sample libs you're just out of luck if you're working in Linux. Alex advised - unhappily advised, I must add - using a Windows box as a host for such libs, but that does not seem like an alternative for you. However, I recently perused a lengthy list of sample libraries for popular and other musics "not classical", and I was pleased by the number of vendors who provide plain WAV and/or AIFF files as a supported format. Not very helpful, I know, but it gets closer to the truth of the situation. I hope this reply clarifies it a little more.

Best,

A survey of Linux audio plugins

Posted Jul 15, 2012 3:02 UTC (Sun) by jtc (subscriber, #6246) [Link]

Thanks, Dave, for taking the time to look into this. From what you said it sounds like my original assumption that there are no practical solutions for high-quality orchestral samples on Linux might be true. (Hopefully, a few years into the future, this will not be the case.) But I should probably do some more research before concluding this is so.