Topic by Helmut

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Topic: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

I think it would be meaningful and very comfortable to create a hardware expander, containing the processor and the Pianoteq software (update possible and add ons..) . It would simply need to have  the midi in and outs, line outs, headphone outs, and some knobs or sliders to edit the parameters. Perhaps still a video out for editing on an optional video screen. This would be much more comfortable in some stage situations than installing notebooks and external sound cards with the whole wiring.

Reply by paolopiano

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

yes .... and a real grand piano action inside .....

Reply by varpa

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

There are quite a few computer on a circuit board arrangements these days like arduino or rasberrypi that run linux and potentially pianoteq provided the CPU is powerful enough and is an archetectural supported by pianoteq.   Then you'd just need to provlde the I/O connections midi and audio.  Nice project for someone with the right computer and electronics skills.

varpa's Website

Reply by bebop603

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

paolopiano wrote:

yes .... and a real grand piano action inside .....

My wish list would be:

Fanless CPU (Multi-core ARM chips are starting to get powerful enough?)
Minimalist LCD (that just shows preset instrument) and knobs
Interface to the Full Pianoteq Interface through Remote Laptop connection (ie through ethernet/wifi like Muse Receptor)
Wood top (CNC'd out of ash etc)  and aluminum bottom that can also serve as a heatsink
High Quality audio chipset and powerful Headphone amp to power 300/600 ohm headphones
Wooden keys (like the wooden Fatar action if necessary)

<= 27 kg if possible

Last edited by bebop603 (28-10-2013 14:34)
Pianoteq 5, Dell Studio 14 (core i3 2.26 ghz), M-Audio Uno midi connector, Echo Indigo Djx (expresscard), Little Dot MK V Headphone Amp, Senn 580 Headphones, Kawai MP9000 digital piano

Reply by EvilDragon

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

bebop603 wrote:

(Multi-core ARM chips are starting to get powerful enough?)

Pianoteq doesn't work on ARM chips, I think (because of SSE2/AVX extensions Pianoteq is most likely already using to squeeze out more computational juice from the CPU), it would need to be recoded from scratch. You need an Intel or AMD (preferably Intel) CPU to get the most out of Pianoteq.

Hard work and guts!

Reply by bebop603

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

EvilDragon wrote:
bebop603 wrote:

(Multi-core ARM chips are starting to get powerful enough?)

Pianoteq doesn't work on ARM chips, I think (because of SSE2/AVX extensions Pianoteq is most likely already using to squeeze out more computational juice from the CPU), it would need to be recoded from scratch. You need an Intel or AMD (preferably Intel) CPU to get the most out of Pianoteq.

Hmm...partly written in assembly..interesting.  I guess there are plenty of options for a fanless intel/AMD chip or multi-core Atom (which I think Pianoteq can run on).  I've seen fanless i5 systems, but they probably run pretty hot:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/aleutia-h3r

Pianoteq 5, Dell Studio 14 (core i3 2.26 ghz), M-Audio Uno midi connector, Echo Indigo Djx (expresscard), Little Dot MK V Headphone Amp, Senn 580 Headphones, Kawai MP9000 digital piano

Reply by EvilDragon

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

I think i3 should be perfectly fine. Still more powerful than Atom. Pianoteq can be run on Atom, but I'm not sure it allows for full 256 notes polyphony.

Hard work and guts!

Reply by xinaes

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

I would have thought re-implementing some core basic DSP algorithms to work on a different architecture would be a relatively minor task (not the same as recoding everything from scratch), although getting it to the point where the new implementations were comparably well optimised may be much trickier. A classic example of the kind of thing where I imagine 90% of the work would be fairly easy but there'd be some devils in the details going from a mostly-working prototype to polished product.

I've daydreamed about transplanting my RaspberryPi into my piano to do a more energy efficient job of the MIDI side (the piano burns about 47watts I think for no good reason), but I don't think it RPi has the requisite horsepower for Pianoteq.

Reply by Lylo

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

http://www.origenae.com/en/htpc_x15e.htm



+



http://www.sticker-forever.com/stickers...metre.html

Reply by EvilDragon

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

Yeah, RPi has absolutely no horsepower for Pianoteq...

Hard work and guts!

Reply by xinaes

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

Still, give it a couple of years and comparable systems probably will.

Reply by HermanVanAartsen

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

bebop603 wrote:

  I've seen fanless i5 systems, but they probably run pretty hot

I'm using a fanless i7. Quite a performance; only running warm, not hot.

http://www.minipc.eu/passive-ivy-v3-configureren

is in dutch though.

Reply by skip

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

EvilDragon wrote:

Pianoteq can be run on Atom, but I'm not sure it allows for full 256 notes polyphony.

I tried it on my Atom (1.66GHz N450) based netbook some time ago and whilst it was usable, it indeed did not reach 256 voices - I got about 24 voices.  24 might seem very low, but it still sounded good.

Greg.

Reply by pz

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

I really & honestly do not want to start an OS war on this (I use Windows, have to, for my work-related stuff), but a couple of years ago I was dreaming the same dreams on unobtrusive, quiet, stable and performant music system, and I ended up buying a mac mini (2009 model I think). Running pianoteq and NI komplete on it without any issues whatsoever for all these years. Do not even know whether it is fanless, do not even know the basics of OSX either. Can leave it on for months without a reboot if desired.

Reply by duggadugdug

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

I think some aspects of this may have been discussed by someone else in another thread: I have been trying to use Pianoteq to learn new pieces from MIDI files and, while some of the features like variable rate playback are very helpful, a couple of additional tweaks would be huge helps --

(1) A higher-contrast display of which keys are being pressed/played by the file (perhaps showing the active keys as some color), or at least the option of some sort of "red key" display.  One piece that I'm currently working on uses a lot of the black keys -- often simultaneously -- and it's nearly impossible to figure out which keys are being pressed before the file steps ahead to the next notes.

(2) When replaying a MIDI file, would it be possible to continue to display which keys are being played when I hit the Pause (ll) button?  Right now, when I hit pause it clears the keyboard display.

Thanks, and keep up the fantastic work!

Reply by Beto-Music

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Re: Idea for the future of Pianoteq

I would like a option to slow down a MP3 or wave audio file, but without change the pitch.