GETTING STARTED WITH
LINUX AUDIO

Linux is a free, open-source operating system kernel. Unlike Windows or macOS, there is no single "Linux" — instead there are hundreds of distributions (distros), each with their own software management, desktop environment, and target audience. Some are built for total beginners. Some are built for power users who want to control every byte. And a growing number are built specifically for audio production.

For audio production, you don't need to explore all 270+ options. The community has narrowed it down to a handful of strong contenders — and we'll cover all the best ones below.

There are two approaches: grab a purpose-built audio distribution that comes pre-configured with low-latency kernels and audio tools, or start with a powerful base distro and fine-tune it yourself. Here's the full breakdown.

🎚️ AUDIO-FIRST DISTRIBUTIONS (Best for Beginners)

These come with RT kernels, PipeWire or JACK pre-configured, and audio software bundled. Near zero setup friction.

⚙️ POWER DISTROS (Fine-Tune Yourself — More Control)

Arch-based distros give you a rolling-release bleeding-edge system. More setup work, but maximum control — and exactly what PhatSunny runs on.

An ISO file is a complete disk image of your chosen Linux distribution. You'll download it, verify it, write it to a USB drive, and boot from it to install. Here are the official download links for our recommended distros:

Before writing your ISO to a USB drive, always verify the checksum. A checksum is a mathematical fingerprint of the file. If even one byte is corrupted or tampered with, the checksum will not match — and you'll know immediately. Skipping this step is how people end up with broken installs or, worse, compromised systems.

# Linux / macOS — verify a SHA256 checksum from the terminal
sha256sum garuda-linux.iso

# Compare the output to the hash on the official download page
# They must match character for character

Once your ISO is verified, you'll write it to a USB drive (8GB minimum, 16GB recommended). This creates a bootable USB you can use to install Linux on any machine.

With your bootable USB plugged in, you need to tell your computer to boot from it instead of your internal hard drive. Every motherboard manufacturer uses a different key to enter the BIOS or the boot menu — here's the full reference.

• Plug in your USB before powering on

  Make sure the bootable USB drive is inserted before you press the power button.

• Tap the key immediately and repeatedly

  The window to hit BIOS or boot menu keys is very short — usually only 1-2 seconds after power on. Start tapping as soon as you press power.

• Disable Secure Boot if needed

  Some Linux distros require Secure Boot to be disabled in BIOS. If your system won't boot from USB even after selecting it, enter BIOS and look for Secure Boot → Disabled under the Security tab.

• Select your USB from the boot menu

  It will appear as the USB device name or "USB Mass Storage." Select it and hit Enter. You'll boot into the Linux live environment.

Once you boot from the USB, you'll land in a live environment — a fully functional Linux desktop running from your USB. You can try everything out before committing to an install. When you're ready, look for the "Install" icon on the desktop.

Modern Linux audio is handled by PipeWire — a universal audio/video server that replaces both PulseAudio (consumer audio) and JACK (pro audio) while being compatible with both. If you installed Ubuntu Studio, Garuda, or CachyOS, PipeWire is already running. Here's how to confirm and configure it.

# Check if PipeWire is running
systemctl --user status pipewire

# Check the WirePlumber session manager
systemctl --user status wireplumber

# Check PipeWire version
pipewire --version

# Arch / Garuda / CachyOS — Install full PipeWire stack
sudo pacman -S pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jack wireplumber

# Enable and start it
systemctl --user enable --now pipewire pipewire-pulse wireplumber

# Ubuntu / Ubuntu Studio — Install if needed
sudo apt install pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jack wireplumber

sudo pacman -S qpwgraph     # Arch
sudo apt install qpwgraph   # Ubuntu 23.10+

Three DAWs dominate the Linux pro audio world: Bitwig Studio, Reaper, and Audacity. Ardour is also worth mentioning. Here's how to install each.

# Install Reaper from the extracted folder
cd reaper_linux_x86_64/
./install-reaper.sh

Bitwig's official Linux download is a .deb file — the Debian/Ubuntu package format. Arch Linux uses pacman and its own package format, so you can't just double-click the .deb. The community has solved this multiple ways. Here is every method, from easiest to most manual — plus real-world troubleshooting tips pulled from the AUR comment threads.

📋 AUR PACKAGE VARIANTS — WHICH ONE TO INSTALL

There are several Bitwig packages on the AUR. Pick the right one:

paru -S bitwig-studio

paru -S bitwig-studio-beta

paru -S bitwig-studio-earlyaccess

METHOD 1 — AUR HELPER (Recommended — Easiest)

Garuda Linux ships with paru pre-installed. CachyOS ships with paru or yay. These AUR helpers handle the entire process automatically — fetching the PKGBUILD, installing build dependencies, running makepkg, and installing the resulting package.

# First — make sure base-devel is installed (required for makepkg)
sudo pacman -S base-devel git

# Install Bitwig stable via paru (Garuda / CachyOS default)
paru -S bitwig-studio

# Or via yay if you prefer
yay -S bitwig-studio

# paru/yay will:
#  1. Fetch the PKGBUILD from aur.archlinux.org
#  2. Show you the PKGBUILD to review (say Y to review, N to skip)
#  3. Install build dependencies automatically
#  4. Download the official Bitwig .deb from bitwig.com
#  5. Repackage it as a proper .pkg.tar.zst
#  6. Install it via pacman

# Install paru from the AUR manually (bootstrap)
sudo pacman -S base-devel git
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
cd paru/
makepkg -si
# After this, use paru -S for any future AUR packages

METHOD 2 — MANUAL GIT CLONE + MAKEPKG (Full Control)

This is exactly what an AUR helper does under the hood. Do it manually when you want full visibility into the build, or when an AUR helper is giving you trouble.

# Step 1: Install build dependencies if you haven't already
sudo pacman -S base-devel git

# Step 2: Clone the AUR package repo for Bitwig
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/bitwig-studio.git
cd bitwig-studio/

# Step 3: ALWAYS read the PKGBUILD before building
cat PKGBUILD

# Step 4: Build AND install in one command
makepkg -si

# Flag breakdown:
#   -s  = --syncdeps   : install missing build dependencies via pacman
#   -i  = --install    : install the package after a successful build
# makepkg downloads the .deb, extracts it, repackages it, done.

# Other useful makepkg flags you should know:
makepkg -si --noconfirm  # skip confirmation prompts
makepkg -si --needed     # skip reinstalling already-installed deps
makepkg -g               # generate checksums (useful if you edit PKGBUILD)
makepkg --printsrcinfo   # print .SRCINFO metadata
makepkg -c               # clean up source files after build

METHOD 3 — DEBTAP (Convert the .deb Directly)

If you've already downloaded the .deb directly from bitwig.com and don't want to use the AUR build script, debtap converts it to an Arch package directly.

# Install debtap from the AUR
paru -S debtap

# Update the debtap package database (required once)
sudo debtap -u

# Convert your downloaded .deb to an Arch .pkg.tar.zst
debtap bitwig-studio-5.x.x-amd64.deb
# It will ask for package name and license — accept defaults

# Install the converted package with pacman -U (local install)
sudo pacman -U bitwig-studio-5.x.x-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

WHAT ABOUT FLATPAK?

# Flatpak install (not recommended for pro audio, but it works)
flatpak install flathub com.bitwig.BitwigStudio

🔧 REAL-WORLD TROUBLESHOOTING (From the AUR Comment Threads)

# Navigate to yay's cache for bitwig
cd ~/.cache/yay/bitwig-studio/
# (paru users: ~/.cache/paru/clone/bitwig-studio/)

# Edit the PKGBUILD — update pkgver to the new version
# and regenerate checksums
nano PKGBUILD

# Regenerate the checksums after editing pkgver
makepkg -g
# Copy the output sha256sums into the PKGBUILD, then:
makepkg -si

sudo pacman -S pipewire-jack
# If you get "xcb-util-wm" errors:
sudo pacman -S xcb-util-wm

# Update the bitwig AUR package
paru -Sua
# provides=(clap-host vst-host vst3-host) is in the PKGBUILD

# Update all AUR packages including Bitwig
paru -Sua

# Or update everything (system + AUR)
paru -Syu

sudo pacman -S pipewire-jack ffmpeg
# pipewire-jack = JACK compatibility layer
# ffmpeg        = MP3 and video file support

For professional audio work — recording, monitoring, plugin processing — you need low latency. Here's how to tune your Linux audio stack for real-time performance.

sudo usermod -aG realtime,audio $USER
# Log out and back in after this

paru -S linux-rt linux-rt-headers

# ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/10-low-latency.conf
context.properties = {
  default.clock.rate     = 48000
  default.clock.quantum  = 64
  default.clock.min-quantum = 32
}

sudo pacman -S helvum
# Or use qpwgraph — both work great

sudo pacman -S carla

sudo pacman -S jack2
jack_iodelay

Linux supports multiple plugin formats. CLAP is the newest and most capable — and it's the format the PhatSunny Plugin Suite is built on. Here's the full breakdown of what works and where plugins live on your system.

# Install a massive bundle of free LV2 plugins on Arch
sudo pacman -S lsp-plugins-lv2         # LSP — pro-grade EQ, compressors, more
sudo pacman -S calf                     # Classic Calf suite
sudo pacman -S guitarix                # Guitar amp simulator
sudo pacman -S zam-plugins             # ZaMaximX2 limiter + more
sudo pacman -S surge-xt               # Surge XT — free flagship synth

sudo pacman -S base-devel git
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
cd paru && makepkg -si

sudo timeshift --create --comments "before-rt-kernel"

sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

# Add to /etc/security/limits.conf
@audio   -  rtprio   99
@audio   -  memlock  unlimited

paru -S yabridge yabridgectl wine-staging