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Decibel Linux is an actively maintained, source-based, 64-bit desktop real-time Linux audio production system based on Gentoo Linux. It is designed to allow users to have a broad range of audio applications out-of-the-box, and to allow a high level of customization not generally available to other Linux audio distributions – or to Windows or Mac, for that matter. One advantage of having Gentoo as the base for this distro is its package manager, Portage, which has a system of enabling/disabling compile-time options for applications. This means application binaries can be tailored to the user’s computer hardware and the user’s needs. This in turn means more efficient use of the computer’s resources, which is always helpful to running real-time audio applications. Another advantage is that compiled programs can be optimized for the specific systems (specific CPU) they are being run on, making it more efficient than binary-based distributions.

While decibel Linux is not a commercial product – it is free – it is absolutely intended to be a full-fledged, professional audio production system for musicians, composers, audio engineers, computer music programmers, and anyone else needing an audio production system.

There is a sticky in the Multimedia section of forums.gentoo.org. (FGO.) Please post there if you need help or have any questions.

Before beginning an install, please make sure you are using a machine that does not contain any data you wish to keep, and that meets the following criteria:

• 64-bit architecture. 32-bit installs are not supported by Gentoo Studio.
• A modern, multi-core processor.
• High-capacity hard disks with a rotation speed of at least 7200 RPM and/or solid-state drives.
• As much RAM as you can manage.

app-admin/syslog-ng	syslog replacement with advanced filtering features
app-editors/nano	GNU GPL'd Pico clone with more functionality
app-portage/cpuid2cpuflags	Tool to guess CPU_FLAGS_* flags for the host
app-portage/eix	Search and query ebuilds
app-portage/gentoolkit	Collection of administration scripts for Gentoo
app-portage/smart-live-rebuild	Check live packages for updates and emerge them as necessary
app-portage/ufed	Gentoo Linux USE flags editor
dev-util/geany	GTK+ based fast and lightweight IDE
dev-vcs/git	Stupid content tracker: distributed VCS designed for speed and efficiency
gnome-extra/nm-applet	NetworkManager connection editor and applet
media-plugins/adlplug	FM synthesizer plugin based on OPL3 sound chip emulation
media-plugins/airwindows	Airwindows is a collection of high-quality plugins by Chris Johnson.
media-plugins/alsa-plugins	ALSA extra plugins
media-plugins/argotlunar	Argotlunar is a tool for creating surreal transformations of audio streams. Specifically, it is a real-time delay-line granulator.
media-plugins/artyfx	Plugin bundle of artistic real-time audio effects
media-plugins/calf	A set of open source instruments and effects for digital audio workstations
media-plugins/cardinal	Cardinal is a free and open-source virtual modular synthesizer plugin/wrapper for VCV Rack.
media-plugins/distrho-ports	Linux ports of Distrho plugins
media-plugins/dragonfly-reverb	A set of free reverb effects
media-plugins/drumgizmo	Open source cross-platform drum plugin & stand-alone application.
media-plugins/fabla	LV2 drum sampler plugin
media-plugins/lsp-plugins-lv2	Open-source plugins that include EQs, dynamics, reverb and more.
media-plugins/odin	24 voice polyphonic synthesizer with effects, classic and drawn waveforms, and classic filter emulations. (VST3)
media-plugins/opnplug	FM synthesizer plugin based on OPN2 sound chip emulation
media-plugins/sorcer	Polyphonic wavetable synth LV2 plugin
media-plugins/x42-avldrums	AVLinux Drumkits
media-plugins/x42-plugins	Collection of LV2 plugins
media-plugins/zam-plugins	Collection of LV2/LADSPA/VST/JACK audio plugins for high quality processing
media-sound/a2jmidid	Daemon for exposing legacy ALSA sequencer applications in JACK MIDI system
media-sound/aeolus	A synthesised pipe organ emulator
media-sound/aliki	An integrated system for Impulse Response measurements
media-sound/alsa-tools	Advanced Linux Sound Architecture tools
media-sound/alsa-utils	Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Utils (alsactl, alsamixer, etc.)
media-sound/amsynth	Virtual analogue synthesizer
media-sound/ardour	Digital Audio Workstation
media-sound/arpage	MIDI Arpeggiator w/ JACK Tempo Sync, includes Zonage MIDI splitter/manipulator
media-sound/audacious	Lightweight and versatile audio player
media-sound/audacity	Free crossplatform audio editor
media-sound/bitmeter	Diagnosis tool for JACK audio software
media-sound/bristol	Synthesizer keyboard emulation package: Moog, Hammond and others
media-sound/butt	BUTT (Broadcast Using This Tool) is an easy to use, multi OS streaming tool.
media-sound/cadence	Collection of tools useful for audio production
media-sound/carla	Fully-featured audio plugin host, supports many audio drivers and plugin formats
media-sound/chuck	Strongly-timed, concurrent, and on-the-fly audio programming language
media-sound/din	Software musical instrument and audio synthesizer
media-sound/fluidsynth	Software real-time synthesizer based on the Soundfont 2 specifications
media-sound/galan	gAlan - Graphical Audio Language
media-sound/ghostess	graphical DSSI host, based on jack-dssi-host
media-sound/gmidimonitor	GTK+ application that shows MIDI events
media-sound/hydrogen	Advanced drum machine
media-sound/hydrogen-drumkits	Free drumkits for Hydrogen
media-sound/jack-rack	JACK Rack is an effects rack for the JACK low latency audio API
media-sound/jack2	Jackdmp jack implemention for multi-processor machine
media-sound/jackmidiclock	This program is a JACK client that sends MIDI beat clock pulses based on the current tempo given by the JACK transport.
media-sound/jamin	Audio mastering interface for JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK)
media-sound/japa	JAPA is a perceptual analyzer for JACK and ALSA
media-sound/linuxsampler	LinuxSampler is a software audio sampler engine with professional grade features
media-sound/lmms	Cross-platform music production software
media-sound/luppp	Live performance looping tool
media-sound/mixxx	Advanced Digital DJ tool based on Qt
media-sound/new-session-manager	A tool to assist music production by grouping standalone programs into sessions
media-sound/patchage	Modular patch bay for JACK-based audio and MIDI systems
media-sound/pure-data	Visual programming language for multimedia
media-sound/qjackctl	Qt GUI to control the JACK Audio Connection Kit and ALSA sequencer connections
media-sound/qmidiarp	Arpeggiator, sequencer and MIDI LFO for ALSA
media-sound/qsampler	Graphical frontend to the LinuxSampler engine
media-sound/qtractor	Audio/MIDI multi-track sequencer written in C++ with the Qt framework
media-sound/rosegarden	MIDI and audio sequencer and notation editor
media-sound/sooperlooper	Live looping sampler with immediate loop recording
media-sound/terminatorx	Realtime audio synthesizer allowing you to 'scratch' on sampled audio data
media-sound/timemachine	JACK client record button remembering the last 10 seconds when pressed
media-sound/tk707	An 7x7 type midi drum sequencer for Linux
media-sound/vmpk	Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard
media-sound/yoshimi	Software synthesizer based on ZynAddSubFX
net-misc/dhcpcd	A fully featured, yet light weight RFC2131 compliant DHCP client
net-misc/networkmanager	A set of co-operative tools that make networking simple and straightforward
sys-apps/usbutils	USB enumeration utilities
sys-boot/grub	GNU GRUB boot loader
sys-kernel/genkernel	Gentoo automatic kernel building scripts
sys-kernel/linux-firmware	Linux firmware files
sys-kernel/rt-sources	Full Linux 6.1 kernel sources with the CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT patch
x11-base/xorg-server	X.Org X servers
x11-misc/lightdm	A lightweight display manager
x11-misc/mugshot	A lightweight user-configuration application
xfce-base/xfce4-meta	The Xfce Desktop Environment (meta package)
xfce-extra/xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin	Alternate application launcher for Xfce
xfce-extra/xfce4-alsa-plugin	Simple ALSA volume control for xfce4-panel
xfce-base/xfce4-power-manager	Power manager for the Xfce desktop environment

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Gentoo Studio was created by Audiodef out of love for Gentoo, music and audio. All of his personal works of music are done using Gentoo Studio. Gentoo Studio has existed in and evolved into various forms since 2007.

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