Optimal equipment for using Pianoteq live...

Something people might need to know to make useful suggestions that is missing from your post is what equipment you are using now to play live.

Are you using the same keyboard that you’re playing at home? Are you using the same speakers? Is an audio interface involved in the setup? (Presumably you use one at home, but perhaps not in your current gigging setup?)

If almost all the pieces will be the same between home and away, it might make sense to get a suitable Windows laptop just so your setup is consistent and you don’t have to adjust to changing hardware and software.

If the gig rig is completely different, recommendations might be different.

Bellyman wrote:

My main tool at home is a Roland RD-2000. I do have the RD-2000 plugged into a small analog mixer and that plugged into a set of studio monitors. Pretty basic setup there. All that it takes to play Pianoteq in the studio is a single USB cable from my RD-2000 to my desktop computer where Pianoteq is living a the moment.

How are you connecting your computer to your mixer? External audio interface (if so, will you also bring it to gigs)? Internal dedicated sound card? Just motherboard audio?

The problem of concern is latency (delay between striking a key and hearing the sound). If you are getting acceptable latency from a Windows machine using motherboard audio, you are very lucky. That usually doesn’t happen.

So with a Windows laptop, you would almost certainly need a USB audio interface as well, to bridge between the laptop and the PA mixer. It would be very unlikely that the built-in audio output would be acceptable; you would feel and hear a lag between your playing and the sound.

I have no experience with Apple equipment, but from what I’ve read that others have said, it usually does not have a latency problem. That applies to Macs, MacBooks, iPhones and iPads.

The reason I thought you might want to stick with a Windows machine was that you wrote:

One other possibility I've entertained would be the idea of having something like words to a song on the screen, using the display of it for something like that, perhaps if vocals come into play. I have also debated about whether there could be something similar to BIAB that could come into play if I were to be doing solo work and maybe that could be potentially thrown in the mix. So there is potential that more than Pianoteq could eventually be thrown at it, perhaps alternatively, who knows whether all at the same time.(??) Or maybe that's asking too much and I need to just stick with Pianoteq.

Pianoteq works on Windows, Mac, Linux and iOS, but some other software does not. And I think (but don’t know) you might have trouble trying to run multiple tasks on an iPad at once. What you describe should certainly be possible on a modern laptop — Windows or MacBook, but the MacBook wouldn’t necessarily work the same way, or even have the same programs available, as the machine in your studio.

As for what to buy... it’s painful. Windows can fail at audio, and it can be hard to predict until it happens to you. There’s a Reddit post here that explains the situation. I would say the bottom line is that unless you can get a laptop that you know can handle audio — because someone else has already tried it — make sure you get it from somewhere you can return it. Personally, I haven’t had any bad luck, but I’m using desktops. And I know I could have fallen into the black hole of DPC latency that won’t go away, I just didn’t. Most of the time, persistence and patience will fix it. What I’ve read tells me not always, though.

So the dilemma is that Windows will let you work the same way as you do in your studio, but any particular machine might be problematic. An iPad is likely to be limited in what you can run at once. A MacBook could serve you both in the studio and on the road, but they’re expensive and you’d have to learn a new operating system.

I wish I had a simple, definite answer for you. I’ve been lucky with Windows machines. Some people aren’t.

How about the new M4 Mac Mini?  iPad is more portable but also more expensive if to get the 12 inch model.

Completely off topic, but as a former full-time piano tech, your username has me singing the Piana Boat Song in my head:

'Come Mr. Bellyman
Build me up a Steinway
Soundboard's set and the bridge is shaved down'

Apologies to Harry Belafonte

Bellyman wrote:

larrycalame wrote:

For some time I've been using PTQ just at home, while gigging with a variety of digital pianos, most recently the Casio PX-S5000. My home piano is a Roland FP-90X, which I connect to my Microsoft Surface Pro to play PTQ via the Roland's built in USB audio interface. I recently acquired the FP-90X's little brother, the FP-30X, which also has a USB audio interface, to see how it would do at live gigs. After some EQ tweaks, I'm very happy with the result. Audio wise, I'm using the combination of the FP-30X's built in speakers plus a Roland BA330 stereo amp, which, believe it or not, doubles as my bench! Now I'm not claiming that this is the optimal setup, but in my experience, unless a live gig is a solo piano concert, in which the audience is silent, the subtleties of any digital piano are not likely to be heard and appreciated anyway. So for my situation (I play mainly in restaurants), my setup is quite good, with a minimal footprint and minimal setup/teardown time.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Ya know, it might be a more prudent idea to just do my best with the onboard Roland piano sounds for gigging (and to be fair, the German Grand Expansion pack has a couple of really nice ones, not up to the level of Pianoteq, but way above some of the awful piano sounds I've heard played by a few other locals) and leave the Pianoteq more for a studio and home setting. (My dear wife may not like that idea.)

The RD-2000 is a dedicated stage piano, literally made for live use. If you can find a setting that speaks enough to you, that’s the easiest option.

Otherwise if you need the pianoteq sound, you’re looking either at an iPad (no need to get the large ones) or a reliable laptop with a decent audio interface (not the built-in audio).

Windows laptops can be harder to deal with regarding latency spikes - you could get lucky or you could have issues and need tons of tuning.

A Mac laptop will just work and not even need an audio interface.

I have all 3 platforms FYI

Coises wrote:

As for what to buy... it’s painful. Windows can fail at audio, and it can be hard to predict until it happens to you. There’s a Reddit post here that explains the situation. I would say the bottom line is that unless you can get a laptop that you know can handle audio — because someone else has already tried it — make sure you get it from somewhere you can return it. Personally, I haven’t had any bad luck, but I’m using desktops. And I know I could have fallen into the black hole of DPC latency that won’t go away, I just didn’t. Most of the time, persistence and patience will fix it. What I’ve read tells me not always, though.

So the dilemma is that Windows will let you work the same way as you do in your studio, but any particular machine might be problematic. An iPad is likely to be limited in what you can run at once. A MacBook could serve you both in the studio and on the road, but they’re expensive and you’d have to learn a new operating system.

I wish I had a simple, definite answer for you. I’ve been lucky with Windows machines. Some people aren’t.

Thanks for the thoughts.

I think I could go in several different directions. But... I figured there must be somebody out there doing what I'm proposing. So far, I haven't found them yet. When I search on YouTube, it basically wants to show me how great Pianoteq is. That's fine, but I already know it's great, I wanna see how they're using it in real life. Not so much info out there about that. And to be honest, it wouldn't even have to be Pianoteq, just examples of people using VST's for live performance.

In the studio, if a Windows machine decides to have a glitch at an inopportune moment, it's an inconvenience. Actually had one today. But a live performance needs to work, work well, and be very reliable all of the time. Nobody wants to sit and wait while a computer reboots or a program restarts. So the idea of live performance kinda takes the requirements up a notch at least in my mind.

iPad Mini sounds like a good solution to me.