Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Sat 10th Aug 2002 05:42 UTC
Browsing Freshmeat tonight, the premier online Linux software repository, I came across to these two great (and brand new) applications, ReBorn and ReZound. Reborn, a Rebirth clone that will soon become open source according to the developer, provides a software emulation of three of Roland's most famous electronic musical instruments. It got me thinking as to how much more viable Linux is today as a professional (or semi-professional) audio platform than it used to be two years ago. Update: On a related multimedia notice, WinAMP 3.0 for Windows was released yesterday.
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I'm not sure if I would consider Rebirth the epitomization of "professional audio." Linux needs better support for pro sound hardware and a lot of work on the software side of things - i.e. a real competitor against Pro Tools, Logic, and Cubase. Audacity and ProTux etc. really don't cut it - they're fine for recording onto a Sound Blaster or whatever, but not for laying down 16 simultaneous tracks of no-latency 24/96 audio along with 8 tracks of MIDI. Linux would make a great audio platform if it had better vendor support; there's no technical reason it couldn't be better than the Mac. But it appears that Digidesign/Steinberg/(Apple/Emagic)/etc. are too busy porting to OS X to give Linux much notice. The lack of pro sound hardware for Linux also leads to a chicken & egg problem: No hardware support means no software to run on that hardware, which means no hardware. Without vendor support, I don't think Linux could ever be a viable option in this field except for the price-conscious. (Of whom there are admittedly many... but they are not the pro users.)
Alex