Similar to a thread - "Dedicated VST hardware like Raspberry Pi, or similar" in the Software forum...

A simple question: can plugins developed with a Linux compile option, be run on a typical Raspi platform ?

Cheers ^_^

 

Most stuff that is not hardware-dependent can be compiled on Linux, can be compiled on a RPi. Cross compilation is also possible (say, compiling on an AMD64 PC to RPi), but you need to be careful about the toolchain and library version.

But roughly, if it doesn't require any specific hardware that doesn't exist on a Pi and all of the libraries needed exist in your chosen Linux distro then it will compile on a Pi. So if you set up a Debian system, then you should be good to go on a Raspbian.

 

I refer to the many products released as "Win, Mac, Linux" or on GitHub - with a Linux release option - either precompiled or with source files.

 

Raspberry Pi is a hardware platform, you want to compile for the operating system. Debian is the default o/s, its modified and labeled as Raspbian (which I thought was a kinky sexual orientation, but disappointingly its not).
The raspberry pi forums can probably help..

https://forums.raspberrypi.com/search.php?keywords=VST&sid=26f6a292ff6e73ec0326e9e0a5ae61f3

 

Yes, plugins compiled for Linux can run on a Raspberry Pi.

How to use Windows VST plugins on a Linux Raspberry PI

All Airwindows Plugins Now Run Natively on Raspberry Pi --> www.airwindows.com/raspberry-pi/

 

Good leads, thanks.

Re. Raspbian - I hear in the linked video reference to a 'lite' version.
Is this sufficient to run plugins and more responsive for latency?

Also re. the Pi 400 & 500 units, do they have room to accommodate hats; mainly a DAC instead of the stock audio out?

 

The Pi400 & pi500 are standalone singleboard computers built into a keyboard case ala the home pc's before the ibm pc produced a generic beige/green box. They are more akin to an Amiga 500 or an Atari St. The GPIO bus is available but it is not on top of the single board computer, rather the pins are available on the rear of the keyboard with the rest of the i/o connectors.


as this


which, with a little "plumbing" can be used thusly to host a "hat"


The lite version is I'm assuming referring to the smaller debian/raspbian build that can be run without a local display

if your needs are simple, they are a lot of usb audio devices that can plug right into a free usb port and not use any gpio pins, which you might want to for other purposes.

 

Pi with usb audio device

https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2019/06/using-a-usb-audio-device-with-the-raspberry-pi/

and usb audio cards with raspberry pi

https://learn.adafruit.com/usb-audio-cards-with-a-raspberry-pi/instructions

 

one thing to consider though with the rising price of single board computers vs the rapid obsolence of the office computers, one can often find a small pc for about the same price, and that opens many doors to working with emulations and virtual machines as well as Linux and wine.

The Hp Elitedesk 800 G4 (or g3 is even cheaper) can be found with a 256gb nvme, 16gb of ram and an i5 cpu, with support for 3 displays and usb 3.1 ports for around 100 usd$ used on ebay etc.


external power supply like a laptop or raspberry pi.. The vga port is on a removable options board,that can be supplied with Display port as well, mine came that way.
it has internal nvme and sata ports so you can have at least 2 internal drives

available as i3,i5,i7 and i9 - lots of them off lease show up at your local electronics recycler.
I own several raspberry pi's and so have scads of power supplies and cables etc, I like them. But the HP gives way more horsepower and you can use cheap off the shelf pc components with it. the only down side is the speaker is the size of a quarter coin and a gnat can fart louder than the speaker.
but it has a headphone jack, or you can do the usb audio out thing as well..

One thumb screw opens the case, and all of the gear is easily accessible for cleaning or upgrades, etc.

 

"one can often find a small pc for about the same price, and that opens many doors to working with emulations and virtual machines as well as Linux and wine... "

Gee wiz Garamando ... that brings me around full-circle because I forgot about the mini-PCs, NUC universe etc. which I also watch on ebay, amazon, etc...
~100US$+ - just need to ensure they come with a MS Win license or other.

For example - MiniDexed - developed to run bare-metal on Raspi, can of course be run on a mini-PC Linx or Win.

Gaah... I am getting old (mid 50's) & slow to learn new tricks of the RaspberryPi ecosystem. Maybe I should leave it to younger geeks, to free more time myself for a familiar PC environment.

 

Last edited: Apr 15, 2025 at 3:51 AM

well yes and no, new things are unfamiliar, but after a bit you learn and its more skills, but I understand I still run a couple windows xp netbooks off line for keeping track of expenses in excel, etc..

The hp g4 I bought came with a COA and a w10 image on the 256gb nvme most of the hp machines have a coa in the bios and all you have to do is download a w10 or w11 image onto a thumb drive and install. I used to do it a good bit on the hp laptops..

A lotta windows based corporate machines are going to be pulled from service and available cheap this fall as they won't support w11, of course there are work arounds, but they usually frown on that in corporations.. this especially is great if you want to run Linux on a fast inexpensive machine.

 

I see the linux version of "StudioLogic Numa Player" has both Debian & RPM.
- what is 'RPM' ?
- something for Raspberry Pi or ... ?

 

RPM used to stand for "Redhat Package Manager", so RPM archives are for Redhat and RH-based distributions (Fedora, Oracle Linux etc.), though the packages are not themselves necessarily cross-compatible. These days they're usually managed by DNF.

So unless you're using such a distro on a Pi then no.

 

MiniDexed is incredible!
On a Pi Zero 2, it's like having a TX816 with eight (!) TF1 (DX7) modules on a board that's small enough to find its place in almost any USB audio interface. And layering 8 DX7 patches can sound really good.

 

What is approximately the minimun version of RPi for the best audio quality?

 

A Pi Zero 2 is enough. You'll need an audio hat or USB audio interface anyway.

 

Radio - in your linked video he covers the 'box86' project, too use 32-bit VSTs.

I thought the Rpi platform was based on 64-bit CPUs.
- so is there a 'box64' project as well?

 

Guys am I getting something wrong here?
To me it seems that people are like 'if its a Linux binary (precompiled) it will run on raspi.'
In my very humble opinion this is wrong.
Those binaries, like let's say Bitwig, are compiled for x86/x64 machines. Raspi is Arm based. That means if it is not compiled for raspi, or in the raspian repository, it needs to be open source, source available ie on github and you need to compile it yourself. And manage it's dependencies and (compatible) libraries yourself.
So let's say something you want is open source (and there is, that's not the problem) you do a port from x86 to Arm. It (most likely) will not just compile. It (most likely) will not be enough to run the make command. So check what exists for raspi on the raspian repository. If what you are looking for is not there, it's not gonna be a walk in the park. Consider using an x86 SOC in a fornfactor like the rapsi is. There are some. If the minipc is too big for your project. Or go all in and get the knowledge how to port x86 to arm. It will help the community. But as I said, going this route is going to take a lot of time away from what you wanted to do in the first place.