Topic by Cellomangler

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  • From: Iuka, MS
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Topic: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

Gateway LT3114u Netbook, AMD Athlon 64, Cherry Red - 400 clams.
Got it for a lightweight-web-updating-at-coffeeshops workhorse... but...
I did go ahead and load it down with some apps - my 3D software Lightwave, Dreamweaver, PSD, etc., EnergyXT (a neat little audio/Midi recording app) and... Pianoteq.  It's got Vista Home (32bit) and I know I should downgrade to XP, but....  It plays the default MIDI sequence just fine with the default settings but shoots up to 75% CPU usage.  If I drop the sample rate in half, the CPU usage almost cuts in half.  I've got a more able laptop (and much heavier) but I'm experimenting with this just for the halibut without any real porpoise.  If the Gateway had been one dollar more, it would make more sense to get a more substantial machine,
but with 2 meg of ram, a 250 gig HD and 256 meg of video memory, I think it's probably the best netbook deal currently available.  I'd be interested in any others Piano-book-teq experiences and ways to optimize.  Oh yeah... and I'll be plugging it up to my controller for the real test this evening.

"Downing a fifth results in diminished capacity."

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Reply by Cellomangler

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Re: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

OK.. As my newer interfaces are firewire, I used an older Tascam US122 for MIDI and Audio.  It is USB flavor 1.0.  Set at 44 kHz I could play most of the pianos without glitches if I set the polyphony at 24.  It was still pushing 75% CPU or better and there was a smidge of latency (but very playable) as I had to use a 256k buffer -the only setting the Tascam allowed with its ASIO config.  At 22 kHz I could up the polyphony and while I definitely enjoy more sympathetic notes, I can hear the drop in crispness through my phones.  Either config would be very doable for a gig and especially mobile songwriting, as I'd always render the final MIDI on a workstation class 'puter.  What I'm curious about is how much more performance I'd actually get out of downgrading to XP ??  Anybody with that experience out there ?

"Downing a fifth results in diminished capacity."

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Reply by EvilDragon

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Re: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

Yeah, you should try installing XP SP3. A slimmer version, like DuX build (google it).

Alas, Athlon 64 is not the best of the crop CPU, really.

Last edited by EvilDragon (28-07-2009 00:02)
Hard work and guts!

Reply by Cellomangler

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Re: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

EvilDragon wrote:

Alas, Athlon 64 is not the best of the crop CPU, really.

You sure about that, Dragon ?  We are talking about the crop of netbooks under 400 clams.  From the reviews, it's supposed to be faster than the current Atom.  The dual core netbooks are due out towards the end of the year, but I bet they will cost more -but be worth it.  When I was comparing netbooks, none of them had this combo of 2 gig of ram, 250 gig hd and 256 meg of dedicated video memory.  But really, netbooks are kind of silly considering for $200 more you can have dual core and DVD in just a bit larger -and heavier- package.  It's only worth it if you need the compactness -and the extra battery life.  A professional geek friend of mine says that it really isn't a netbook since it came with Vista, but rather a low performance mini-laptop.  Oh well.  It'll get a lot of use.

Last edited by Cellomangler (28-07-2009 05:07)
"Downing a fifth results in diminished capacity."

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Reply by julien

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Re: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

Interesting, I see from the specs that this is a 1.2GHz single core Athlon 64. Here we have a 1.2GHz core 2 solo cpu (which is a bit faster I think), running linux. It plays the Chopin Waltz of the standalone with a cpu load below 70% and all default settings, at 44100Hz / 128 samples. You could try to use a 64-bit vista as the 64-bit standalone seems to be 15% faster than the 32-bit standalone.

If you reduce the engine rate, you can also try to set your soundcard to 48000kHz, that way the engine would run at 24kHz instead of 22kHz, maybe that will make a difference.

btw we have updated v3.0.5 today in order to fix a small performance regression, so if you are using the "old" v3.0.5 you should also notice a small improvement.

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Reply by Cellomangler

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Re: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

julien wrote:

You could try to use a 64-bit vista as the 64-bit standalone seems to be 15% faster than the 32-bit standalone. If you reduce the engine rate, you can also try to set your soundcard to 48000kHz, that way the engine would run at 24kHz instead of 22kHz, maybe that will make a difference.

Seems I read somewhere that the hardware doesn't support 64 bit Vista, even though the processor is 64... I've emailed Gateway so we'll see if they respond.  I don't have Pianoteq in from of me, but you are saying that if I setup my audio interface for 48 kHz that the choices in the Pianoteq options will change to 48 and 24, respectively ?
I'll also try the 3.05v2 update............Thanks.

"Downing a fifth results in diminished capacity."

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Reply by Cellomangler

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Re: Pianoteq on my new netbook...

julien wrote:

Interesting, I see from the specs that this is a 1.2GHz single core Athlon 64. Here we have a 1.2GHz core 2 solo cpu (which is a bit faster I think), running linux. It plays the Chopin Waltz of the standalone with a cpu load below 70% and all default settings, at 44100Hz / 128 samples.  btw we have updated v3.0.5....  you should also notice a small improvement.

OK..... much better performance with 3.05v2.   At 44.1 kHz it's peaking at 60% but averaging just below 50%.  I'm not going to mess with the OS -it's performing well enough.  Unfortunately I didn't notice a performance boost with my fingers....

"Downing a fifth results in diminished capacity."

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