Topic by amhosib

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Topic: Suitable laptop cpu

I have just obtained a pre-owned VPC1 off flea-bay and am contemplating either Pianoteq or Ravenscroft 275
as my software.
The issue is one of potential cpu "power" since my laptop is a HP6910 with core 2 duo t9300 2.5ghz cpu and 4gb ram.I dont wish to spend further money on a laptop upgrade if I can avoid, although am attracted by the recent ucff minimalist pc's (Intel null/gigabyte brix etc)
I should be able to run the Ravenscroft, but will I have enough cpu capacity to comfortably run Pianoteq 5.?

Regards to all.

Reply by kalessin

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

The 4GB of memory are definitely not an issue. The CPU is listed with a PassMark score of about 1700. That's pretty low, but should work if you don't except a polyphony of more than 64. The advantage of Pianoteq is: just try it. The demo version only runs for 20(?) minutes at a time and has a few mute notes (as far as I know), but that's it. So install it and test it: set the polyphony to e.g. 32 and max it out (easily done with sustain pedal) and if that works, see how high you can get.

Last edited by kalessin (11-10-2014 16:20)
Pianoteq 6 Standard (Steinway D&B, Grotrian, Petrof, Steingraeber, Bechstein, Blüthner, K2, YC5, U4, Kremsegg 1&2, Karsten, Electric, Hohner)

Reply by ChrisM

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

I run version 5 in a laptop with Core2Duo cpu, 1.83 GHZ, 3GB Ram, Windows 8, 64 bit. CPU usage is around 30+% and may go up to 50% at times. I set my soundcard/midi settings at 44.1 khz with (if I remember) 5.7 ms latency.

Reply by amhosib

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

amhosib wrote:

I have just obtained a pre-owned VPC1 off flea-bay and am contemplating either Pianoteq or Ravenscroft 275
as my software.
The issue is one of potential cpu "power" since my laptop is a HP6910 with core 2 duo t9300 2.5ghz cpu and 4gb ram.I dont wish to spend further money on a laptop upgrade if I can avoid, although am attracted by the recent ucff minimalist pc's (Intel null/gigabyte brix etc)
I should be able to run the Ravenscroft, but will I have enough cpu capacity to comfortably run Pianoteq 5.?

Regards to all.

Forgot to say using Win 7 pro 64bit/Focusrite sound unit

Reply by kalessin

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

Just. Try. The. Demo version.

Last edited by kalessin (11-10-2014 19:29)
Pianoteq 6 Standard (Steinway D&B, Grotrian, Petrof, Steingraeber, Bechstein, Blüthner, K2, YC5, U4, Kremsegg 1&2, Karsten, Electric, Hohner)

Reply by amhosib

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

kalessin wrote:

Just. Try. The. Demo version.

I know, but at the moment I cant since I am working in Bermuda, and the keyboard/soundunit is in the UK.
It will have to wait upon my return.
Is there a way of testing without the keyboard.?

Reply by kalessin

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

Yes. Pianoteq has a virtual/graphical keyboard, so you can press keys (and the pedal) by clicking. Not really 'lifelike', but to check if the CPU is fast enough, it should be enough. For example, you can press the pedal and then sweep the keyboard to produce many notes at once. If that works, things look very good. For pure performance evaluation, you can also install ASIO4ALL and use your internal sound card.

Last edited by kalessin (11-10-2014 19:40)
Pianoteq 6 Standard (Steinway D&B, Grotrian, Petrof, Steingraeber, Bechstein, Blüthner, K2, YC5, U4, Kremsegg 1&2, Karsten, Electric, Hohner)

Reply by Mossy

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Re: Suitable laptop cpu

I previously was using a Core 2 Duo 1.4ghz (ugh) with Pianoteq.  It worked ok with sample rate set to 22khz, internal sample rate to 11khz, polyphony to 32.  Your 2.5ghz is about 60% faster than that old crappy laptop so you should be at least able to get 44/48khz sample rates with 32 voices.

You can test by also downloading a few MIDI files at roughly your piano level and piping them through Pianoteq to see if any notes are dropped.

https://soundcloud.com/mossy456/