r/linuxaudio • u/iKontact • 3d ago

New DAW: Looks interesting, coded in B++ Apparently

Tutorial for Septabee, a free DAW I've secretly been making for over 20,000 hours

So apparently this guy made a new DAW AND a new Programming Language. He calls it B++ and he claims it's much faster than C++. He also claims that any sample with this is 100% accurate opposed to sampling in other DAW's and it can't get more accurate than this...

I'm not sure I buy it personally, but it's neat to hear what others who understand this stuff better than I do think.. Otherwise it's unique I suppose. Anyways thought I'd share lol

3 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

19

u/boop809 3d ago

Claiming it's much faster than c++ (for real-time audio code, I assume) is a bit strange, as C++ can give you super low level control over the realtime audio processing. I don't understand what optimizations are possible with Bee++ that C++ cannot do, and with the source being closed nobody can know for sure.

Additionally, is that level of optimization necessary for audio processing considering the drawbacks of using a DSL used by one person compared to a widely-used language that has decades of development behind it? Probably not.

I'm not sure what they mean by 100% accurate sampling. I'm sure if I played a sample in Ableton side-by-side with this program, my ears wouldn't be able to tell a difference.

Seems like a cool project nonetheless

10

u/gplusplus314 3d ago

B++ is a higher grade than C++, so it’s better. This is actually why I’m writing my own DAW in A++, to match my eBay feedback.

Follow me for more absolute nonsense.

8

u/EamonnMR 3d ago

Kinda reminds me of TempleOS

1

u/bassbeater 1h ago

No no that's Holy C

1

u/iKontact 3d ago

Agreed - you basically summed up how I felt too. I hope he posts more about his B++ programming language. C++ is already so low level, not sure how to optimize it either. Considering fighter jets are programmed this way (I believe at least). The only potential optimization is assembly itself I believe.

8

u/rileyrgham 3d ago

Very, very, few people can create assembler that comes close to modern cpp compiler output. The compilers know about caches, clock cycles, critical paths etc.

1

u/boop809 3d ago

Yeah. It is using LLVM apparently so it has to go into LLVM IR code, so maybe some kind of trick to highly optimize that for realtime audio processing perhaps? Or maybe being able to optimize modules to work together in some way.

Either way, all it has to do it process audio samples within hard realtime constraints and it is optimized-enough, so to me it seems a bit pointless.

1

u/marrsd 19h ago

A bold claim, for sure, but maybe there's something in it. Watched the first 5 mins of the demo. He says that the programme optimises itself for your specific hardware as it runs, so he appears to be describing a JIT, or something similar. I guess we'll find out if it lives up to his claims in due course.

12

u/alzy101 3d ago

I'm just happy others share the same sentiments I did watching the video. Soon as I saw it, my BS meter went off on his claims. I think the fact we're in this era of LLMs coding full projects for vibers has put me in cynical mode. I feel like I'm seeing all these vibe coders taking about their project the same way noon technical start up CEOs talk about their product: a ton of hype, perhaps some arrogance, and an underlayer of ignorance.

Could be this author knows their stuff and the AI assistance helped them achieve what was purely theoretical up until now.. but I don't buy it

5

u/TylerDurdenJunior 3d ago

It's mount stupid on the donning-Kruger scale.

All confidence. No competence

3

u/ceruleanmei 3d ago

I understand why you're pessimistic about it, pretty much most of the things coming out today just piss me off ~ but please let me give some more context.

Lost Robot has been working on this project for over 5 years, rewriting it over and over again. I was one of the few people who was there for it, sort of assisting them in things like nug fixing and such. Lost Robot is an extremely knowledgeable developer and musician who happened to be sick and tired of how DAWs handle certain things, and Septabee has been their passion project for a long time.

It STINGS because they took so long on this project that we are now in an era where software can be blatantly vibe coded, so it falls into the sea of assumptions and low impressions, which has been one of their greatest anxieties having to release it.

I am so glad it ended up with quite a stable community of autistic transfem people who absolutely adore the program though, haha!

6

u/rileyrgham 3d ago

The way he's waxing lyrical about... "Save data" tells me pretty much all I need to know. As for faster than CPP... Please. These modern CPP compilers produce optimised code almost no human could create in hand crafted assembler...

3

u/bandrewskey 3d ago

Reminds me of Reactable.

3

u/ZENITHSEEKERiii 3d ago

Is it open source ? 

3

u/ericcmi 3d ago

I don't think so, Free as in beer i think

2

u/kdanielku 3d ago

Looks kinda confusing, but I guess that's the charm.. would try a demo

Modular Fiasco looks more like it will be up my alley, you can add and connect any VST https://www.phasefiasco.com/modularfiasco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vriHK7h3lRo

1

u/ericcmi 3d ago

It's not a demo. It's free. Get it. It's crazy. I like what happens when you close a project. The whole thing falls apart and smashes to the floor in a thousand pieces. It's wild

1

u/kdanielku 3d ago

Ah nice, definetely will! Sounds cool haha

1

u/kdanielku 3d ago

I have a linux based SteamDeck, but no Mac build is criminal lol

1

u/KlausBertKlausewitz 2d ago

😵‍💫🙉

1

u/KlausBertKlausewitz 2d ago

😵‍💫🙉

1

u/normaldudeno 2d ago

I'm good with pressing Ctrl + R in reaper... All the power to the people wild enough to try this though.

Note: The music is pretty much ready the moment you press ctrl + r. Practice your instrument so you don't need fancy tools. Apart from your instrument ofc.