Advice for a Newbie on Distro(s) and Gear?...

[LinuxMe863]

Hey folks, my first posting. Thanks for welcoming me. I'm not a newbie to Linux... been running Mint for at least half a dozen years on a few 'legacy' (WXP, W7) era machines.
I AM a newbie to making music w/ Linux. I didn't own or even pick up an instrument in about 10 years. Something changed in June. Now I own two guitars, both 'rescues' or 'hardship' sales, and shopping for a 12 string. Doing acoustic stuff (I you blended 70's stuff, earliest Eagles, acoustic Stones & Zep, Fogelberg, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, with today's smartest bluegrass stuff, that's where I'm at).
So I'm asking members to throw some stuff at the wall for me.... give me some nuggets to noodle over. I know I have to upgrade gear. I accept I'll have to spend some $.... a laptop was already on my shopping list.
Current 'gear'... if this gives some of you a laugh, that's okay....
Running Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon DE on a older Dell Optiplex w/ Intel Core 2 Duo (E7600 @3 Ghz). 4 Gb of RAM.
Recording with.... Audacity... and a 14 dollar omni-directional mic bought on Amazon. That's just a small step above recording on my Samsung Android phone using 'Dolby On.' (and then if desired, copying to the pc and opening in Audacity if any effects are needed).
I threw together a couple weeks ago my first vid on YTube ... that was done using (OpenShot for the visuals and for the final processing) Audacity for mixing an audio clip I downloaded with something I played and sung recorded on the phone (literally a 'kitchen-table' deal). I was ready to re-do my audio portion, recording directly to the pc instead of the phone. But circumstances changed and the subject of the vid was no longer timely and relevant, so I didn't bother re-doing it.
But yeah, If I'm serious, I know I gotta upgrade...
Which Linux Distro that will give me more functionality/bells-and-whistles for recording/mixing/processing?...
AND... I already had a laptop on my shopping list... So what are the minimum system specs I should be looking at in a laptop?... And peripherals?...
And ... What questions should I be asking that I'm not aware of?...
Which other gear .. pre-amp?...interface?...other?...needed?... (and 'compatibility' is also a question) What do I have to purchase 'new,' and what can I find pre-owned (and still acceptable) on Craigslist Ebay, etc?
Thanks a lot in advance, Mike in FL, USA

[novalix]

Hi and welcome!

First thing imho would be to get a decent audio interface. Any class compliant usb interface should do. I can recommend the audient evo 4 as an affordable and easy to handle (autogain) piece of hardware that is known to work on linux.

Laptops, i personally usually buy refurbished business grade machines (Dell, HP, Lenovo ..). But i'm not very savvy about hardware.

If you know Mint, why not stay with that. You might get a little leaner system with a debian/cinnamon install, though.

In any case you should at least test AVL as a live system, just to see what is possible.

[erlkönig]

Hi @LinuxMe863,
welcome here, concerning optiplex stuff, maybe i can give some tips: viewtopic.php?p=159388
You should try AVLinux, if you like to run a distro out of the box. To me it was the most promising distro for that machine.

[tjarx]

Welcome aboard, @LinuxMe863

I own a Behringer UMC 404 interface. I replaced my old UMC 202 with it, because at some point 2 inputs weren't enough for me. I can recommend both devices as they work flawlessly and are quite inexpensive.

Those are some cool artists you listed as your influences. But what about the drums? What are you planning on doing about those? If you need a tool to sketch a quick beat I can recommend the Hydrogen drum machine, as I find its UI easy to learn.

You should also check out Ardour as your recording software. I'm pretty sure you will find Audacity lacking in the future. Personally, I use Reaper as my DAW but ardour seems way easier to start with, one reason being its smaller feature set.

Anyway, enjoy your Linux audio journey and this beautiful community

[LinuxMe863]

Hi @LinuxMe863,
welcome here, concerning optiplex stuff, maybe i can give some tips: viewtopic.php?p=159388
You should try AVLinux, if you like to run a distro out of the box. To me it was the most promising distro for that machine.

Thanks erlkonig :
I'm not 'married' to the Optiplex. It's not portable. And it's underpowered. One item I didn't see in the AV Linux MX-21.2.1 User Manual is 'sys reqs' ?.....

[LinuxMe863]

Hi and welcome!

First thing imho would be to get a decent audio interface. Any class compliant usb interface should do. I can recommend the audient evo 4 as an affordable and easy to handle (autogain) piece of hardware that is known to work on linux.
Laptops, i personally usually buy refurbished business grade machines (Dell, HP, Lenovo ..). But i'm not very savvy about hardware.
If you know Mint, why not stay with that. You might get a little leaner system with a debian/cinnamon install, though.
In any case you should at least test AVL as a live system, just to see what is possible.

Thanks novalix: I have a USB stick available, I'm going to put AV Linux MX (21.2.1) on and test run it on the Optiplex. But I already know from using OpenShot that it's under-powered. 'Sys-req's in a Laptop?... I didn't see that in the AVL User manual.
I need to learn about 'interfaces.' I see someone else uses and recommends Behringer UMC404

[LinuxMe863]

Welcome aboard, @LinuxMe863

I own a Behringer UMC 404 interface.
Those are some cool artists you listed as your influences. But what about the drums?
You should also check out Ardour as your recording software.
Anyway, enjoy your Linux audio journey and this beautiful community

Thanks tjarx :
I have to learn about 'interfaces.' Someone else uses and recommended the Audient Evo4.
'Influences'... I left out more than I listed. How did I not include the Beatles, Joni Mitchell.... ? I'm off the rails. I'll do for myself, or for you, acoustically, McCartney's 'Every Night,' and follow that up with the Clash's version of 'I fought the Law'.
Drums?... I have living next door to me a real, live, in-the-flesh, human drummer. His kit is set up, he has some gear. And on the other side of him, two doors down, is a live, in-the-flesh, bass player, also with some gear. So when I need to, with a laptop, I can bring my 'studio' to them.
I'm going to throw AVLInux MXE on a free USB stick and play with it. Ardour is bundled in that.
Question for you and everyone else.... In a Laptop, what are the minimum 'guts' I should be looking for?

[tseaver]

@LinuxMe863

Running Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon DE on a older Dell Optiplex w/ Intel Core 2 Duo (E7600 @3 Ghz). 4 Gb of RAM.

If you keep the track count down (particularly tracks with virtual instruments based on sample libraries), 4 Gb might do.

For a more generally useful system, I would suggest a minimum of 16 Gb these days, along with an as-fast-as-possible internal drive (or two) for storing your recorded stuff and any sample libraries you might be using: the spinning drive on older machines will likely be the first bottleneck, even before RAM. Ideally even the OS would be booting from NVMe or SSD.

[GMaq]

Hi,

There are no hard and fast system requirements for AV Linux really because what people want to do is pretty infinite, some folks want to go full DAW synthesis workstation mode, some want to fiddle with Audacity and Gimp a bit... That said I suppose some common sense recommendations to do many things comfortably would be:

Quad core processor 2.5 Ghz+
4 Gb RAM minimum 8 is better!
128 Gb HDD (SSD preferred and NVMe ideally)
1680x1050 Display or higher

My own main box on the Studio is an aging Dell Optiplex Quad core i5 with 8 Gb of RAM, two 2Tb SSD's, and the stock Intel Video chip and for it's 90% Audio recording workflow with anywhere from 8-20 tracks I haven't maxxed it out yet. For Video work, VM's and AV linux development I have a 24 core Threadripper with 96 Gb of RAM and various NVMe and SSD drives, this machine also does a lot of Video upscaling and restoration with Windows so it also needs a pretty fast Video card (AMD 6750XT). All really to say your hardware needs are driven by your workflow requirements to a large degree so buy what you need + a bit more for future considerations.

[LinuxMe863]

Bingo... big 'Thank You'
I'm right now at the 'fiddling' stage ... with Audacity and OpenShot so far.
Learning what I might 'need.'
A laptop I don't yet have. For biz purpose also I need the portability.
There is a guy not far from me who on Craigslist handles laptops. He's got for sale a HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G3 w/ W-11/Office 2010 on it, Intel Quad core i5 (2.3 Ghz), 8 Gb RAM, 512 Gb SSD HD. That HD is large enough I could keep the W-11 install on it (provided its an active and valid install) and dual-boot with AVLinux. That sounds like more than enough 'guts,' right?... I'll have the portability of being able to go next door to record my in-the-flesh human neighbor-drummer, or take it to work to record the Latina voices singing the chorus for the spanish-language version for the concept video I'm working on.
Does one 'need' an interface?... for more than one mic? With two USB 3.2 ports (and a USB-C 3.2 port)....and two decent USB mics ... does one 'need' an interface?