For me it’s PeppermintOS.
I started my Linux adventure a few years ago, and haven’t owned a Windows PC since.
I currently use Arch on my main rig, and I wanted to install Linux on two old laptops that I found laying around in my house
I then remembered the first distro I ever used, which is PeppermintOS, and I was amazed at the latest updates they released.
They even have a mini ISO now to do a net-install with no bloat, with a Debian or Devuan base.
Sadly, I believe the founder passed away a few years ago, which is why I was really happy to see the continuation of this amazing project.
So my intuition and guesses from what I’ve heard is that Fedora might be the best for you.
Here are some links:
https://labs.fedoraproject.org/jam/ https://linuxmusicians.com/ https://archive.ph/hYxrO
Not sure if oudated:
https://jfearn.fedorapeople.org/fdocs/en-US/Fedora_Draft_Documentation/0.1/html/Musicians_Guide/index.html
https://fedoramagazine.org/configure-fedora-to-practise-and-compose-music/
If you want to use NixOS, the one I recommend elsewhere, I’m not sure what your experience will be whether good or bad. Probably more fiddling, but more flexible/stable in the long run.
Here is a matrix room if you are interested in asking more knowledgable people about that path:
https://app.element.io/#/room/#audio:nixos.org
Writing music and making files for my 3d printer is most of what I do with a computer anymore. What I’m not trying to do is make a separate hobby of OS trialing. I’m worried I won’t be able to find drivers for my audio interface, hell I’m running it on an old Win7 driver in Win10 now. Payday is Friday, and I will be ordering a second SSD to quarantine this experiment on. For now I read and pester random folks on the Internet for opinions. I appreciate your suggestions, for sure.
I’m not as familiar with music/audio production, but I’ve done a lot of 3D printing from a Linux system.
For slicing, you’re spoiled for choice. The only one I’m aware of that doesn’t at least try to support Linux is Formlabs; Slic3r, Cura, PrusaSlicer, even Simplify3D offer Linux versions.
For modeling, Blender runs well on Linux if you’re of that persuasion. For engineering CAD, pretty much the only first-class citizen is FreeCAD, which is powerful if a bit of a pain in the ass. You can also use OnShape because it’s browser-based, but they’re trying to be Solidworks especially in price. I have seen Fusion360 in Ubuntu’s Snap store, but haven’t tried to use it.
I run blender and cura, so it sounds like I’m covered there and that’s encouraging.