I tried Debian for a year on my T430 ThinkPad …

[Yr Blues]

… and it sucks for making music. Too much lag for audio recording. Perhaps the computer is too old. Debian just had a major update, so I should try again soon. I'm only able to compose music via MIDI.

My main rig is a TouchBar MBP running Sequoia and Mojave.

I also do CAD stuff on both.

 

[Avatar74]

… and it sucks for making music. Too much lag for audio recording. Perhaps the computer is too old. Debian just had a major update, so I should try again soon. I'm only able to compose music via MIDI.

My main rig is a TouchBar MBP running Sequoia and Mojave.

I also do CAD stuff on both.

It's not just the computer.

By using Debian instead of MacOS, you're also not capitalizing on the capabilities of the Core Audio API which routes audio with near zero latency.

Eventually Core Audio had to be running on Intel CPU architecture when they switched away from PowerPC... so I'm comfortable saying that it's not just the computer. It's really the dependency of non-Mac OS setups on third party audio drivers which have proven time and again to manage audio terribly compared to Core Audio.

A bit of background: I've been using multitrack audio over OS X/Core Audio since the days of the G4 tower. Back then I was running ProTools with a digi001... a mediocre entry level rackunit 24/48 interface, and it still operated with near zero latency up to 128 tracks.

Don't get me wrong... I'm a senior manager in data analytics and I use PCs for work. I have nothing against Debian, Ubuntu, etc. There are a lot of things they're good for, but pro audio isn't one of them.