Guitarix

Related articles
Professional audio
Sound system
JACK
Realtime kernel
envy24control
Guitarix
is a free and open source software virtual guitar amplifier for Linux. Though originally created to be used with the
JACK Audio Connection Kit
, it is compatible with
PipeWire
.
Guitarix takes the signal from a guitar like a real amp, as a mono-signal from a sound card. The input is processed by a main amp and a rack-section. Both can be routed separately and deliver a processed stereo-signal via native JACK or via the new low-level multimedia framework PipeWire. The signal is processed with minimum latency, taking less than 10ms to be processed.
It includes a rack, that can be filled with effects from more than 25 built-in modules including, from a simple noise gate to brain-slashing modulation f/x like flanger, phaser or auto-wah.
Hardware requirements
In order to use Guitarix, users need to connect the guitar cable into an audio interface. The audio interface converts the audio signal coming from the guitar pickups into a digital signal, then, through an USB-A or USB-C, depending on the interface model, it sends it into the computer. An audio server then is used to send the signal into Guitarix, to allow the use of effects.
Note
Some guitar multi-effect processors like the
BOSS GT-1
or
GT-1000
can act as audio interface, allowing users to mix the built-in effects with Guitarix.
Installation
Install
the
guitarix
package. For a set of extra lv2 plugins for Guitarix, install
gxplugins.lv2
.
The
guitarix.vst-git
AUR
package provides extra VST3 plugins to be used with Guitarix.
Audio server configuration
Since Guitarix interacts with
JACK
to provide real-time, low-latency audio, users can either use native JACK, or use PipeWire.
JACK-only
To use it with JACK, install
JACK
and follow the
Professional audio#JACK-only
section.
PipeWire-only
Install
PipeWire
and follow the
Professional audio#PipeWire-only
section.
PipeWire provides JACK compatibility through
pipewire-jack
, which can be used with
qpwgraph
to create the correct audio routing, manage virtual wiring and sinks. for Guitarix, it will allow to route the audio coming from an audio interface into Guitarix, then to the system speakers.
System configuration
Before start using Guitarix, users should follow
Professional audio#Optimizing system configuration
and apply the required system optimizations. The following section resumes it as follows:
Groups
In order to ensure a low latency for the current user, the user must be a member of the
realtime
and
audio
groups.
Install
the
realtime-privileges
package, then
add your user
to these groups.
Latency
To reduce the audio latency, copy PipeWire configuration files from
/usr/share/pipewire/
to the user location
~/.config/pipewire/
and edit
jack.conf
:
~/.config/pipewire/jack.conf
# global properties for all jack clients

jack.properties = {
    node.latency       = 128/48000
}
Tip
In case you wish to use a sample rate of 192Khz, set the sample rate value to 2048/192000. PipeWire allows to dynamically switch sample rates. See
PipeWire#Changing the default sample rate
and
PipeWire#JACK clients
for more detailed information.
Ulimit
By default, ulimit value is not set to
unlimited
. Therefore, users may find themselves with:
init *** mlockall failed
This can be fixed by creating an exception rule.
Create/edit the file
/etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf
, and add:
@audio   -  rtprio     95
@audio   -  memlock    unlimited
Add your user
to the
audio
group and reboot to apply the changes.
QPWGraph
QPWGraph
is a Qt-based Graph/Patchbay for PipeWire, inspired by the JACK tool QjackCtl. It allows to save and manage and route wire sets. For Guitarix, it helps with routing the audio signals from the audio interface.
Installation
Install
the
qpwgraph
package.
Configuration with Guitarix
Run QPWGraph and Guitarix. then, pipe the output of your audio interface to the input of Guitarix and the output of Guitarix to the input of your speakers by dragging the virtual wiring. Once done, you should now be able to play your guitar and hear the audio being routed from Guitarix to your speakers.
Tip
Guitarix can be combined with a DAW such as
Reaper
, for professional music production. See
List of applications/Multimedia#Digital audio workstations
for more alternatives.
Troubleshooting
This article or section needs expansion.
Reason:
The troubleshooting section needs to be added and expanded (Discuss in
Talk:Guitarix
)
See also
Official website
Subreddit for Guitarix
PipeWire Wiki on Freedesktop GitLab
Official bug tracker for Guitarix
Official documentation
Information on setting the sample rates dynamically for PipeWire
Setting up HI-Fi for PipeWire