I tried Studio with a MIDI keyboard for input, but getting it to register the input was still a hassle to figure out. Had to go through JACK and explicitly wire the inputs and outputs of the various devices and apps to get everything working, which on a hack-everything level is kind of cool but on the other hand I just wanted to jam on a keyboard, not fiddle with a network of devices and applications.

I can say, though, Studio is a huge step up from trying to get this sort of thing working in stock Ubuntu.

Gotcha, I have used Studio but in my case I havent wired up my Piano / Keyboard. I mostly use LMMS cause I dont have space for my Keyboard, and cause it's a free rendition of FL Studio which I love to be honest. I dont do a whole lot though, just things here and there.

Good to know your side on it though. I think that might be the best thing till someone streamlines some of these libraries / programs is to focus on a Distro that makes it as seamless as possible, and push the fixes back to the original projects.

Funny, I never had issues with my Midi-Controller. It's a USB-Class Compliant Controller. At least in Ardour its a simple task to do that. Haven't tried in Reaper so far. And also, I never found it difficult to connect devices, at least when using Claudia.