So you’re looking for a free DAW to use for your new music production hobby, and you’re wondering whether the popular LMMS is safe to use or not.
In this article we’ll answer that question, show you where to download LMMS safely, and how to install it, so you can get started.
Contents
Is LMMS.exe Safe For Your Studio, or is it A Virus?
Is LMMS safe to use? (Quick answer):
Yes. LMMS is completely safe to use. You may see an error message from your antivirus because it’s made by an unidentified developer. You can ignore this.
We have personally installed LMMS on our Windows PC for this guide to ensure the safety of it.
Everything works completely fine, and we ran an Avast Malware scan to check if any viruses were found.
We didn’t come across anything wrong with our system after installing LMMS.
But, there may be viruses out there impersonating LMMS.
Therefore you need to ensure that you’re downloading LMMS from a trustworthy source. And, as always, we got you covered.
Where Can I Download LMMS Safely?
LMMS can be downloaded from the official website: lmms.io/download.
Don’t download Linux MultiMedia Studio from any other websites. These sites often offer free downloads of old free VST plugins, or DAW software, and couple them with viruses in the download. If you download LMMS from a different site than the official, it could have a virus.
If you have downloaded LMMS already, make sure you run a virus scan using Avast, or some other free virus software just to confirm you don’t have one.
How Can I Download & Install LMMS Safely?
Here’s how you can download & install LMMS:
Step 1
To download LMMS, head over to https://lmms.io/download.
Step 2
Choose the right installer for your system: 32-bit, or 64-bit.
Step 4
Configure your settings.
You’ll need to choose your audio drivers, MIDI controllers, and save locations of files here.
Step 3
Open the installer exe file, and run through the process
Linux MultiMedia Studio System Requirements
LMMS is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. You will need certain specs to run LMMS, but it’s pretty likely you’ll have them.
To run LMMS you’ll need:
- 1 GHz CPU
- 512mb RAM
- Two-channel sound card
What Is LMMS? (Linux MultiMedia Studio)
LMMS is free, open source DAW software that’s available for Linux and Windows. LMMS is short for Linux MultiMedia Studio, and was originally only available on Linux.
It’s a free DAW that has a lot of capability, considering you don’t pay anything for it.
You have a plethora of audio effects that are really stripped back, and don’t have visual feedback, support for 3rd party VST plugins, a MIDI roll (which is similar to FL Studio’s), and everything you need to make your bedroom a studio.
Linux MultiMedia Studio is a great choice for a beginner looking to get into music production.
It wouldn’t be our first pick for a free DAW download, but it is one of the better free DAWs.
Is LMMS Good?
LMMS is a good piece of software you can use to make music, record audio, and mix/master. Linux MultiMedia Studio offers a range of functions, including an arrangement window, effects for processing audio, a MIDI roll, and a lot more. It’s a great piece of free music production software.
When comparing Linux MultiMedia Studio to something like FL Studio, or other DAWs like Ableton – it doesn’t come anywhere close.
However, those are paid DAWs, and LMMS is free.
Can I Get LMMS For Mac?
If you’re on Mac, you can download LMMS on MacOS 10.13 and above.
However, there are better free DAWs available for Mac, and we’d suggest trying those out.
If you want to get a DAW to start your own home studio on Mac, there are better options than LMMS at your fingertips. They won’t be open source software, but they give a lot more options for instruments, effects and usability.
A great free DAW for Mac is Garageband.
This will get you started with music production, and provide you a load of instruments + effects to play around with. You can get Garageband for your iPhone, or on your Mac.
We always use the iPhone version to make beats on the go, and get quick ideas down. It’s a fantastic tool to have in your music production arsenal, no matter your skill level.
Is LMMS Better Than FL Studio?
LMMS is not better than FL Studio. FL Studio is much more visually appealing, and has way better effects and instruments. Linux MultiMedia Studio is free, and FL Studio is paid, so FL Studio is bound to be better.
LMMS has a very similar interface to FL Studio, and a similar MIDI roll too.
LMMS might have been better than FL Studio 5, but now we’re on FL Studio 20, there is no competition. FL Studio wins.
Is FL Studio Free?
Unlike LMMS, FL Studio is not free. You can download a free trial of Fruity Loops, but you can’t save any of your projects.Â
This is a great way to test out if you really want to get into the world of electronic music production, without having to pay for the full thing.
Compared to most DAWs, FL is on the cheap side, and is a great tool to use for anything from Electronic Music, to Hip Hop, to Rock.
Is LMMS Comparable to Paid DAWs?
LMMS is not comparable to paid DAWs. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a great tool though. It’s one of the best digital audio workstations you can get that’s free, and open source. It has loads of effects, an arrange window, mixing ability and a piano roll.
For the fact you’re not paying anything, it’s an absolutely great piece of kit.
We were surprised how easy it was to use when opening it, and were pretty shocked at the amount of functionality that Linux MultiMedia Studio has.
If you’re just getting started with production, and don’t know whether you’re going to continue, then choosing LMMS as a free DAW to make music, is a great idea.
You can do everything you can do in a paid DAW with LMMS, but the effects, and usability are not a patch on paid DAWs like Ableton. Then again, the price of LMMS is not a patch on the likes of something like Ableton (which is $500+ for suite).
If you’re serious about music production, we’d recommend picking up Ableton, Logic, FL Studio or Cubase.
Summary
LMMS is a great open source DAW, that you can get for free. It’s completely safe to download, and won’t give your computer any viruses. If you’re looking to get into electronic music production, LMMS can be a fantastic start.
We’d recommend checking out our list of best free DAW software to see the other options that are available to you as well.
You may find something you like more than LMMS!
