Best Out of the Box Audio Production Distro

I have a midi keyboard that I want to work with programs like qsynth (or anything jack). This used to work out of the box for me on Ubuntu 8.04, but after I upgraded to v9+ (now 10.10) I can't get jack to play any sound. Nor can I get Ubuntu Studio to play any sounds through jack. I have tried for months now to get it to work, asking various people. Always come up clueless.

I am wondering if there is some distro that is known to "just work" (perhaps after installing a few packages like jackd) for some basic audio production tasks?

My only other requirement is that the distro have an "ubuntu-like" software repository. I want to be able to say something like "apt-get XYZ" and know I will be able to find software XYZ, almost no matter what it is, in an up to date version.

Hi tguy103,
I think you should try AVLinux.
I've never tried it, but heard a lot about it being just what you are looking for, right out-of-the-box and Ubuntu-based.
I used Puredyne some time ago, but it's a bit old now, I think.
Happy if this helps :)
Best

I'm trying out a few myself. Sadly the best audio distro I've every used was a one shot deal. I was loving JackLab but they never updated it :(

Ubuntu Studio is decent and might work for you. Has it's flaws but hey it's getting there.

I'm also trying out Apodio and artistx. I have the DVDs/CDs burned but have yet ot install and test either yet. Both look promising however.

Try this search on distrowatch.
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

AV linux is a Debian / Ubuntu distro that comes with gobs of mulimedia software to use. Jack, Ardour, Rosegarden, etc. there is a live cd that you make, boot, and try it or use it as is. there is an install program already on the desktop to install it on your system if you like it. Personally, I love it! but then again I dont have a lot of experience with anything other than Slackware...

bandshed.net/AVLinux.html