KNOW-HOW 64 Studio and JAD

Tuning up with the 64 Studio and JAD audio Linux distros MUSIC MAKERS

The 64 Studio and JAD Linux distributions specialize in tools for the audiophile. BY DAVE PHILLIPS

n July 27 of this year developers cludes a small-scale studio for teaching Daniel James and Free Ekana- and music production. I use 64 Studio Oyaka released 64 Studio 2.0, a for all my work at the computer, not just Debian Etch-based Linux distribution for music production. 64 Studio’s default optimized for professional-quality multi- applications base provides most of my media performance and production. The necessary software, but if I need some-

Maksim Pasko, Fotolia system’s kernel has been compiled for thing that was not included in the origi- optimal real-time performance, and the nal installation, I can usually find it in expected Linux applications base has the standard Etch repositories. been extended with 64 This report also includes a non-scien- Studio’s suite of tific performance comparison between powerful audio/ 64 Studio and the outstanding JAD – an- video tools and other Linux distribution with an audio programs, all built emphasis. This study was not intended for a pure 64-bit to be conclusive, but the results indicate environment. that there is more to the issue than a I tried out 64 Stu- consideration of raw speed. dio 2.0 (Figure 1) on some practical A Little Tech Talk daily tasks First, I’ll answer the most frequently here at Stu- asked question regarding this system: dio Dave, a Yes, it’s fast, very fast. I’ll look at some home busi- numbers later, but for now, you can take ness that in- my word for it: 64 Studio is fast. AMD’s publicity state- ments list applications that are likely to benefit from 64-bit advantages, specifically mentioning digital music production, video editing, real- time media streaming, image/video/ sig- nal processing, and voice recognition. The Linux applications arsenal now in- cludes excellent 64-bit software for all those categories, and much of that software is included with 64 Studio. 64 Studio’s Debian Etch core is pure 64-bit. According to Debian documentation, this offi- cially supported port consists of a kernel for all AMD 64-bit CPUs with the AMD64 extension and all Intel CPUs with the EM64T extension. Specific advan- tages over the i386 architecture in-

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ware. The default applications list in- cludes software for all my usual sound and music activities, including compos- ing and editing MIDI sequences (Rose- garden, seq24), recording my own music and performances by my students (Ar- dour, Figure 2), editing and processing audio files (, ReZound), and typesetting music for high-quality print- ing (LilyPond). Everything worked out of the box, but I’m careful about my hardware. On the Linux Audio Users mail list, I asked my colleagues for advice and experience re- garding my intended purchases, and of course, I searched Google for technical specifications and other reports. I didn’t need to change much at the system level. 64 Studio’s JACK settings are con- servative by default, so I reconfigured them with QJackCtl, and I am now oper- Figure 1: 64 Studio is a complete 64-bit, Debian-based Linux system with an audio focus. ating JACK with a comfortable 5.8 milli- seconds latency. I also added two more clude notable advances in memory man- were reported – and soon I was ready to sound devices to the system, a task eas- agement (with support for up to 64TB of restore my preferences (with much assis- ily accomplished thanks to advice in the physical memory), floating-point calcu- tance from apt/Synaptic and the Debian 64 Studio FAQ. lation (SSE2), and other compiler opti- package repositories). I have some long-established practices mizations. The documentation further in my production work. First, I’m a notes kernel support for native execution Running the System fanatic about weight. I jettisoned the of 32-bit binaries, thanks to libraries pro- As a music professional, my primary in- Gnome desktop immediately to install vided by the ia32-libs package. terest is in 64 Studio’s audio system and Fluxbox, despite having more than suffi- Here at Studio Dave, I run 64 Studio applications set. Current stable versions cient hardware resources. Next, I must on a machine built around an AMD64 of ALSA and JACK provide basic and ad- have support for my preferred applica- 3200+ (a 2GHz processor) on a Giga- vanced sound capabilities, with excellent tions. For recording and mixing, I rely on byte motherboard with 2GB of memory support for my audio and MIDI hard- , Audacity and ReZound for and a 320GB SATA hard-disk. An M-Audio Delta 66 manages the digital audio I/O; hardware MIDI I/O is handled by a Creative Labs PCI128. Not incidentally, this machine was built to be quiet, with an Antec Sonata II case, a Zalman CPU fan, and a fanless nVidia GeForce 7600 GS video card. The box isn’t absolutely silent, but at this point, my laptop is much louder. Installation & Configuration My hard disk crashed shortly after I was contacted about writing this article. Most of my material on that disk was backed up, so I took the opportunity to upgrade to a larger capacity SATA drive and to install the most current 64 Studio 2.0. I downloaded the ISO on another ma- chine, burned the DVD, and booted it up on the 64-bit box. Installation and basic configuration was largely a matter of accepting default decisions. Hardware detection was thorough – no problems Figure 2: 64 Studio with the Ardour2 digital audio workstation.

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tial users don’t need to take my word – they can try it themselves. A “live” disc image is available for testing the system without installing it. The live version costs the same as the standard installable image (US$ 0 + download + disc), and it works nicely. I’m helping a friend migrate from Windows to Linux. He’s very excited with what he’s found on the live disc, and he’s looking forward to replacing Windows completely with 64 Studio. JAD The JackLab Audio Distribution (JAD) [2] is a 32-bit multimedia-optimized Linux system based on openSUSE 10.2 (Figure 3). JAD’s designers have added many of the same enhancements found in 64 Studio, including a kernel built for preemption and real-time performance. Figure 3: JAD comes with the music composition and editing environment. The audio applications set includes the usual suspects, with the significant addi- sound file editing, and a DOS sequencer began work on The Creative Desktop, a tion of explicit support for Wine and the for MIDI composition. Other indispens- community project to produce a helpful wineasio driver. This feature should able items include QJackCtl, JACK-Rack manual for new users. The general plan attract Windows-based musicians who (an effects rack), and QSynth (a sound- is simple enough: quickly bring new would like to move to Linux without los- font synthesizer). QSynth requires a users up to speed on system installation ing their investment in VST plugins. The user-installed sound font, and of course, and configuration, then show them the Wine/wineasio combination also sup- the DOS sequencer is not included with basic invocation and use of the applica- ports impressive performance from 64 Studio, but everything else on my re- tions. The work currently includes well- Reaper, a popular audio/MIDI sequencer quired list was present and ready to roll. written tutorials on JACK, Ardour, Rose- for Windows. I also needed the DOSemu and Wine garden, and , as well as a se- “The 32-bit system also has this advan- system emulators, but neither package is ries of tutorials on some of 64 Studio’s tage over its 64-bit competitor: you can available from 64 Studio’s default reposi- 2D graphics programs. build Ardour with VST support. Yes, tories. Fortunately, 64 Studio uses the apt Tim plans to expand coverage to 3D Ardour can be compiled with integrated package management system, and I can graphics, animation techniques, publish- VST support, but only for personal use, install packages from any Debian reposi- ing, web design, video editing, and of and the distribution of VST-enabled bina- tory. With a little help from Synaptic (a course, more audio applications tutori- ries is prohibited. Ardour’s VST support GUI for apt) I installed a build-essentials als, and he invites members of the com- also requires Wine, but it prefers its own package for compiling applications my- munity to join the project. internal mechanism over the wineasio so- self. I then downloaded the DOSemu Beyond the standard channels, com- lution. Before you rush off for the code, source code from its homepage, compiled mercial support is available from 64 Stu- be advised that the default JAD installa- it, and installed it, and DOSemu was dio Ltd., with pricing based on the ex- tion does not provide a complete tool- ready for use. Next, I tried to build Wine, pected use of the system in a small stu- chain for compiling software, nor are all but I hit some show-stopping errors. I dio with up to three machines. Interested required packages available from the was unable to resolve the problem, but a readers should visit the 64 Studio repositories. Building ArdourVST isn’t Google search found a backported pack- website [1] for up-to-date information rocket science, but you’ll need to do some age for 32-bit Wine (version 0.9.34) com- regarding support plans and pricing. legwork to make it happen. piled for the AMD64 platform. I installed it with dpkg, and it works perfectly. I’ll Going Live Installation & Configuration have more to say about the Wine/64 64 Studio is designed for people who As with 64 Studio, installation and con- Studio connection later in this article. want to realize visions – people who are figuration were uncomplicated and ut- willing and able to learn new ways of terly successful. My system and applica- Documentation & Support doing things. However, these same peo- tions requirements are essentially the Information and documentation modes ple will not struggle long with system same for JAD as for 64 Studio, and add- include the standard FAQs, forums, mail complexities: they have work to do and ing any needed packages is a straightfor- lists, and IRC channel (#64studio on they want to get on with it. Can 64 Stu- ward task with the Smart package man- Freenode). Developer Tim Hall recently dio fit their needs ? I think so, but poten- ager. Among its virtues, Smart downloads

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and installs packages concurrently, giving cations are available that have not yet schemes and the lively IRC chat room. it the edge in speed over apt. been ported to 64-bit versions. JAD is a permanent addition to Studio Dave, and I look forward to its evolution. Running the System Documentation & Support I run JAD on a machine with an AMD64 Pointers to tutorials and other documen- Benchmarks, Real and 3800+ CPU (2.4GHz) on a Gigabyte tation can be found on the JAD Wiki [3]. Personal motherboard with 1GB of memory and a General questions regarding JAD can be The original vision for this article was to 230GB SATA hard-disk. My audio hard- posted on its support forum, but you’re compare 64 Studio with another media- ware is similar to what I use with 64 Stu- likely to get faster service in the #jacklab optimized system such as AGNULA. dio, with an M-Audio Delta 66 for digital IRC channel on Freenode. Alas, that pioneering Linux audio distri- audio I/O and a Creative Labs SBLive JAD’s roadmap includes improved bution now rests in peace, but its prog- Value for external MIDI. documentation, and developer Michael eny includes Free Ekanayaka, 64 Studio’s This machine was also built to be Bohle has indicated that work on a com- chief technical developer. quiet, with an Antec case and a Zalman prehensive JAD manual may begin soon. I felt that a blow-by-blow comparison CPU fan, but it currently contains an See the JAD website for documentation would not yield much useful guidance nVidia GeForce 7300 GS video card with status reports and links to other informa- for my readers, so I decided to do some- a rather noisy fan (soon to be replaced tion resources. thing a little different. I’ve been running by another fanless card). JAD as my main 32-bit system, in a pre- Most of my remarks regarding 64 Stu- Permanent Addition release of version 1.0. JAD has some dio’s applications base apply to JAD, JAD has become my preferred 32-bit sys- unique characteristics that distinguish with some notable exceptions. DOSemu tem. To be particular, I like running Ar- it from other popular multimedia Linux and Wine are available as packages in dour and Reaper with VST/VSTi plugins, distros, and I thought I could do right the standard repositories, more software and I like using the JOST multi-format by both systems by comparing their synthesis languages are available (e.g., plugin host (LADSPA, DSSI, native Linux strengths. Both 64 Studio and JAD are SuperCollider3 and ChucK), and the VST) with Sequencer Plus or seq24. I’m running on similar machines, with just Macromedia Flash player can be found also attracted by some of its non-musical enough difference perhaps to balance in JAD’s default repos. Many other appli- features, such as the default color the hardware factors in the equation. EFDFI<;FNECF8;J

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The 64 Studio box is the lesser-pow- looped that pattern at 69 beats per min- the binary will not run 32-bit software. ered machine, giving it the underdog ute. In 64 Studio, QJackCtl reported no However, a 32-bit version can be built status. Following is a gentle estimation xruns with ZynAddSubFX playing a total for a true 64-bit system, so I looked for that considers each system’s advantages of 125 voices, but the layer did stretch an appropriate Debian package. within its host environment. You can the limits of my playback system until I found and installed the Wine and decide which system offers the greater I lowered the note-on velocities. JAD libwine packages (version 0.9.34) and value. For real benchmarks, visit AMD’s cleanly handled four layers with the set the sound system to OSS in winecfg, website. The company takes its claims same MIDI sequence. A fifth layer was and behold, I had Reaper running under quite seriously, and their test suite in- less reliable and caused some xruns. 32-bit Wine in a 64-bit system. cludes ’s SONAR and Sony’s Unfortunately a connection to JACK Vegas Studio. They have plenty of col- Test #2: Ardour2 is not possible in that environment, so ored charts and graphs, so if it’s num- Ardour’s performance under 64 Studio low-latency performance is unlikely. bers you need, consult AMD. is noteworthy. A recent project involved Indeed, on my 64 Studio, Wine Reaper My somewhat more casual test suite more than 200 audio segments spread reports an expected latency between 26 included a high-quality synthesizer, a over 12 tracks with eight active plugins. and 160 milliseconds. digital audio workstation, and an audio/ JACK reported no xruns, and Ardour’s Wine is much happier on JAD’s native MIDI sequencer running under Wine. DSP usage never exceeded 11%. 32-bit system, and the wineasio driver As indicated, the testing hardware is I loaded the same session into Ardour lets Reaper run here with latencies from unequal. The JAD box has the faster on my JAD system; JACK again reported 2 to 6 milliseconds. CPU, but the 64 Studio machine has no xruns, but DSP usage averaged 22% VST support is available on both sys- more memory and a faster hard disk. during playback, spiking to 26%. I have tems. Under JAD, Wine with the ASIO Thus, these test results must be regarded processing cycles to spare on both ma- driver provides a transparent environ- as utterly unscientific. chines, but the difference is at least su- ment, so that any ASIO-aware program perficially striking. The JAD box con- that will run under Wine should have no Test #1: ZynAddSubFX tains the more powerful CPU, yet perfor- troubles loading and running VST and For my first test, I started JACK and mance in this test was significantly bet- VSTi plugins (Figure 4). opened the excellent ZynAddSubFX syn- ter on my 64 Studio iron. Your possibilities are more restricted thesizer. I created a layer of five instru- under Wine in 64 Studio, but Reaper can ments, set them all to receive on MIDI Test #3: Reaper be employed as a host for 32-bit plugins channel 1, then I played as large a chord Reaper is a powerful audio/MIDI se- in situations that are not latency-critical. as the synth could handle without xruns quencer for Windows and Mac OS X. At the last, I’ve concluded that, given a (audio dropouts or other discontinuities) Reaper also runs under Wine, so I de- fast enough processor, Wine’s OSS or other audio breadowns. cided to compare its performance on the sound support may be acceptable in an I used the seq24 MIDI sequencer to two distributions. optimized 64-bit system, but the native create an arpeggiated chord of 25 notes To be fair, it’s an unbalanced compari- 32-bit JACK/wineasio combination de- covering a span of seven octaves, then I son. Wine supports a 64-bit build, but livers more satisfying performance. Outro Having choices such as JAD and 64 Studio is like having to decide between better and better. Despite their current differences, in many ways, these systems tend toward the same end: 64 Studio has a 32-bit version, complete with Wine/wineasio support, and JAD will eventually be ported to 64-bits; both systems run Java, both do Flash, and both have live disc images. Your choice of 64-bit system or 32-bit system will depend on your criti- cal needs. I INFO

[1] 64 Studio 2.0: http:// 64studio. com/ [2] Jacklab (home of JAD): http:// jacklab. net/ jacklaborg/ english/ [3] JAD wiki: http:// wiki. jacklab. net/ index. php/ Main_Page Figure 4: energyXT2 runs Reaktor in JAD 1.0 (screenshot courtesy of Michael Bohle).

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