I use Reaper to record and mix guitar and bass, mostly with Neural DSP and Kilohearts plugins. My PC is older, with limited SSD space, and I’m worried about plugin compatibility, latency, and keeping my projects safe.
Would a particular Linux distribution make this easier, and how should I test the move without losing my existing setup?
Reaper runs on Linux, but the plugins are the part to test before committing. Wine and yabridge can get some Windows plugins working, but compatibility varies. A plugin launching is not enough. Check its authorization, interface, saved settings, and whether it opens correctly when you reload a project.
Make a short list of the Neural DSP and Kilohearts plugins you actually need, then try those first. If a must-have plugin refuses to work, keeping Windows available for those sessions may save you a lot of frustration.
I’d start with Ubuntu Studio or Linux Mint rather than picking a distribution for a special audio kernel. Ubuntu Studio comes geared toward audio work, while a Debian-based system can be convenient when software is packaged as a deb.
PipeWire can handle low-latency audio, but smaller buffers put more pressure on the CPU. Test your actual recording setup at a few buffer sizes and listen for dropouts rather than assuming the distribution alone will fix latency.
Sort out the backup before changing anything. Put each Reaper project and its associated media together in its own folder, then copy those folders somewhere separate from the system drive. Check that the copies contain the WAV files and open as expected.
Keep a record of which third-party plugins each project uses too. Moving the project files and audio does not automatically make those plugins available on another operating system.
There’s a case for staying on Windows for production if those specific plugins are essential and you need sessions to keep working with minimal setup. Linux audio is viable, but bridging Windows plugins can turn the migration into a troubleshooting project. You could still explore Linux separately before deciding whether to move the studio workflow.
Check the exact CPU model before choosing a distro based on its age. There was some disagreement about how first-generation Core processors handle frequency scaling on modern Linux, so I wouldn’t assume a bootloader change is needed. Test the machine first and investigate if CPU behavior actually causes trouble.
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Tovren-4m:
It’s also worth testing a full mix, not just one plugin in an empty project. That gives you a better idea of whether the whole session behaves.