Aodix for Linux

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Aodix is the tracker/sequencer hybrid by Arguru Software: a pattern based event editor combined with a modular routing of plugin instances. This is a native 64-bit Linux version – same interface, same workflow and the same project format as the original, with JACK/PipeWire audio and today's Linux plugin formats.

Features

• Native 64-bit Linux application (X11; runs on Wayland through XWayland)
• JACK and PipeWire for audio and MIDI – PipeWire works out of the box, no pw-jack needed
• Plugins: VST3, CLAP and LV2 instruments and effects with embedded editors, plus LADSPA effects
• Multi-core processing: independent plugin chains run in parallel, with bit-identical results
• UI scaling 100 / 150 / 200 % for high resolution screens, pixel-sharp like the original skins
• Keyboard layouts QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY for note entry
• Projects: opens original .adx files; saves compressed .adxl (about 10 KB instead of 2.9 MB) or .adx for Aodix on Windows
• Color themes for event blocks, menus and dialogs: Classic, Dark, Vivid, Impulse, or your own (a simple text file)
• Impulse skin with the colors and feel of Impulse Tracker 2
• Clipboard in all text fields, Debian package with menu entry, icon and file types

Installation

Debian, Ubuntu 22.04+, Linux Mint, MX Linux, Xubuntu … – download the .deb from the latest release and install it:

sudo apt install ./aodix_*_amd64.deb

Aodix then appears in the application menu, and .adx/.adxl projects open with a double click. For audio you need either PipeWire with JACK support (package pipewire-jack, installed on most current systems) or a JACK server (jack2). LV2 plugins need liblilv-0-0.

Other distributions: build from source, see Building.

Getting started

• Audio: Aodix connects to JACK or PipeWire on start. Buffer size and sample rate for PipeWire are set in File → Configuration (default 256 samples, 48000 Hz). Current Driver shows what is used, e.g. "PipeWire (48 kHz, 256 Samples)". If you start Aodix with PIPEWIRE_LATENCY=… pw-jack aodix, those values take precedence.
• Plugins: double-click an empty slot in the VST Instance list to open the plugin library – VST3 plugins at the top, CLAP, LV2 and LADSPA in their own sub menus. Double-click a loaded instance to open its editor.
• Plugin folders: VST3 is searched in ~/.vst3, /usr/lib/vst3, /usr/local/lib/vst3 and CLAP in ~/.clap, /usr/lib/clap, /usr/local/lib/clap (more folders in File → Configuration). LV2 and LADSPA plugins are found in their standard locations.
• Routing: the vst routing button shows the modular view: wire audio and MIDI between instances and the master input/output, just like in the original.
• MIDI input: port Aodix:midi_in; with Open MIDI In Devices Aodix connects hardware MIDI sources.
• Help: Help → Content opens the original manual.

Settings are stored in ~/.config/aodix/Aodix.cfg.

Color themes

The colors of the event blocks (notes, patterns, jumps, MIDI, automation, tempo) and of menus and dialogs come from a theme file, chosen in File → Configuration → Color Theme and applied right away. Aodix ships Classic (the original colors), Dark, Vivid and Impulse in its Themes folder (/usr/share/aodix/Themes for the package). For your own theme, copy one of them, e.g. to ~/.config/aodix/My.theme, and change the colors – one name = #RRGGBB per line, every color is described in Classic.theme. The sequencer background, grid and knobs come from the skin (Skin Bitmaps Path). For the Impulse Tracker 2 look, choose the skin Skins/Impulse (after a restart) together with the theme Themes/Impulse.theme.

Project files (.adx / .adxl)

An .adx file is a memory image of Aodix' project structure with all 256 patterns, even the empty ones – that is why an empty project is 2.9 MB. .adxl is the same content, gzip compressed; gunzip -c project.adxl > project.adx gives back an original .adx. Save As without an extension saves .adxl, with the extension .adx uncompressed; Save keeps the format of the opened file.

Real-time priority

For dropout-free audio, Aodix' processing threads run with real-time priority. Under PipeWire Aodix requests it through RTKit automatically. If the terminal shows "dsp worker threads could not get real-time priority", allow real-time scheduling for your user, then log out and in again:

sudo usermod -aG audio $USER
printf '@audio - rtprio 95\n@audio - memlock unlimited\n' | sudo tee /etc/security/limits.d/95-audio.conf

On Debian-based systems with jack2, sudo dpkg-reconfigure jackd2 (answer "yes" to real-time) sets up the same. ulimit -r shows the allowed priority (0 = none). Aodix works without it, but may produce dropouts under load.

How multi-core processing works

Aodix distributes individual plugin instances, not whole branches. An instance starts as soon as all instances whose audio or MIDI wires lead into it are finished; instances that do not depend on each other run at the same time on different cores.

Synth A → Reverb A ─┐
Synth B → Delay B ──┼→ Mastering → Output
Synth C ────────────┘

Per audio block:

1. Synth A, Synth B and Synth C are processed at the same time.
2. Reverb A starts as soon as Synth A is done, Delay B as soon as Synth B is done – also in parallel.
3. When Reverb A, Delay B and Synth C are finished, the mastering plugin runs on its own.

A real project in the routing view: Six Sines, TyrellN6, Bazille and Zebra run in parallel with their effect chains; the EQ and the compressor where the chains meet only wait for their own inputs.

A plugin at the end of the chain therefore costs only its own processing time; everything before it is still spread over the cores. A single long chain without branches (Synth → Effect 1 → Effect 2 → Mastering) cannot be parallelized – Aodix detects this and simply processes on one core, because waking more threads would only cost time. The result sounds exactly the same as single-core processing (bit-identical). The number of threads is set in File → Configuration → DSP Threads ("Automatic" uses all cores; "1" switches parallel processing off).

Tested with

u-he Bazille (VST3 and CLAP, including editor and GUI scaling), Signalizer, TAL plugins, LoudMax (LADSPA), the swh LADSPA collection, LV2 effects, and the example plugins of the VST3 SDK.

Known limitations

• Windows plugins (.dll), VST 2 and 32-bit plugins are not supported.
• LV2: only X11 plugin editors (GTK/Qt-only plugins are controlled through the parameter list); bundle presets are not listed; newly installed LV2 plugins appear after restarting Aodix.
• CLAP: no preset browser, MPE or note expressions.
• Old Windows projects: patterns, events, tracks and markers load; instances of Windows plugins stay empty – load a Linux version of the plugin instead (its settings have to be made again). Files older than 4.2.0.3 carry no fallback data, so there Aodix stops loading instances at the first missing plugin, like the original.

Building

Requirements: C++17 compiler, CMake ≥ 3.16, X11, Xext and zlib development packages.

# Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
sudo apt install build-essential cmake libx11-dev libxext-dev zlib1g-dev
# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc-c++ cmake libX11-devel libXext-devel zlib-devel
# Arch / Manjaro
sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake libx11 libxext zlib

git clone https://github.com/dubtissm/aodix-linux.git
cd aodix-linux
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j
./build/aodix

sudo cmake --install build installs Aodix system wide. JACK and lilv are loaded at runtime, they are not needed for building. Packaging, releases, source layout and tests: docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.

History and credits

Aodix was created by Juan Antonio Arguelles Rius ("Arguru") and Zafer Kantar (Arguru Software, up to version 4.2.0.1), with graphics by Paul Merchant and Marc De Haar. J. van't Hoog fixed bugs and continued it as Aodix Enhanced (4.2.0.3). This Linux version (4.2.1.x) is developed by Marcus Honnacker together with Claude (Anthropic). Original Aodix website (archive).

The project history starts with the unchanged original source code; git diff original -- src/aodix shows every change made for Linux. Technical notes on the port (in German): docs/PORTIERUNG.md.

License

MIT, like the original (see LICENSE). Included third-party code: parts of the Steinberg VST3 SDK (MIT), the CLAP headers (MIT) and the LV2 headers (ISC); the UI font is rendered from DejaVu Sans Condensed. VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.