Modartt user forum - Need an audio interface?

Re: Need an audio interface?

null@example.com (pixie) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:49:43 +0000

beansoaker wrote:

Does Pianoteq sound significantly better through an external audio interface? Does the playability improve?

There is likely no audio interface necessary for computers with enough oomph. I do have Pianoteq running perfectly on a notebook here with a simple M-Audio USB Uno interface and a run of the mill Asio4all driver. On notebooks just make sure *not* to run in some energy saving mode. Otherwise the processor frequency might get scaled down leading to pops and crackles.

Maybe the experts could expand on the role of an audio interface for not so fast computers.

Re: Need an audio interface?

null@example.com (julien) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:03:35 +0000

By distortion you mean cracklings ? Is "multicore rendering" enabled (in the "options" menu) ? It helps a lot on macbooks (especially with the first generation with "Core Duo" cpus instead of "Core 2 Duo" cpus -- for pianoteq, the "Core 2" cpus are two times faster than the "Core 1" ones).

Re: Need an audio interface?

null@example.com (beansoaker) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:38:43 +0000

I've noticed that bad distortion occurs when I play a lot of clusters in quick succession with the damper pedal down. The CPU load goes to about 50% when this occurs. If I change the sampling frequency to 24000, the problem goes away.

So my question is: is the problem

a) not enough processing power

b) inadequate audio interface?

I'm using:

MacBook
2GB of ram
the internal sound card

I'm trying to figure out whether I need to buy a new external interface. This distortion would be ugly on a gig, and I often play at those kinds of densities.

Thanks

Re: Need an audio interface?

null@example.com (doug) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:46:34 +0000

I usually run my audio through an x-station and listen with headphones at home. I just tried using my MacBook's audio out through the headphones and in about 30 seconds of moderately critical listeneing couldn't hear a difference; both sound excellent. Caveat: I'm middle-aged and not an audiophile.

My only concern about gigs is the small mini output may not stand up to hard use.

Need an audio interface?

null@example.com (beansoaker) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:37:00 +0000

I haven't had a chance to try Pianoteq yet, because I need to get a MIDI interface for my Macbook. I'm wondering whether I can get away with just a simple MIDI adapter and the Macbook's internal soundcard, or if I should get a much more expensive audio interface, such as the MOTU Ultralite. I'll use Pianoteq (or whichever piano emulator I end up liking most) for practicing with headphones and for jazz gigs. I don't plan to do any recording with the computer right now.

Does Pianoteq sound significantly better through an external audio interface? Does the playability improve?

Thanks.