Hi,
what would be the preferred OS (Windows or Linux/Ubuntu) for Pianoteq from your point of view, and why? What are pros and cons of each solution?
I intend to setup system for my daughter, so that she can press one button to start the "system". The same that user jarosujo already did.
"System" consist of
NUC5i3RYK (8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD)
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Kawai VPC1
Behringer Nekkst K6
Kind regards
Adriatic
You can do the one-button startup thing with both operating systems, really.
If that machine is not going to be connected to the web, it is no difference, really (except that you should pay for windows).
You should verify Linux driver support for the audio interface you listed. AFAIK Focusrite doesn't officially support Linux, which might result in higher latencies using JACK or ALSA or whatever else is there on Linux, compared to their own drivers on the Windows platform.
Hi, thanks for the answers.
That will be dedicated PC only for Pianoteq.
Internet or not? I am not sure at the moment, but PC shout be in the local network, at least for sharing midi files and VNC.
Linux drivers, good point, I will check it out.
In the first iteration I intend to use it without monitor, without keyboard & mouse, most likely without Internet Just to simplify the things.
But, from demo version of Pianoteq I noticed that there is much more possibilities than just on/off the piano.
Because I don't play piano, it is hard for me to predict what will be the usage pattern.
NUC will arrive next week (other 'system' components are already here), so I have couple of days to think through and to test it, at least with Virtual Machine on my other PC.
hmm. Most device on Linux just work and require no vendor drivers. For DAC you should check the driver not for the device itself, but for its USB interface chip, and, since there are only few of them, most are supported. So I don't know how are you going to "check" it other than plug in and see or ask forum guys.
On Linux you do have to be careful when picking an audio interface. Linux supports class-compliant USB 1.1 or 2.0 audio devices, which covers a lot of devices but not all of them. Sometimes a device will work in class-compliant mode (which works in linux) as well as a proprietary mode which supports more functionality (and which does not work in linux, as it requires a special driver). You can find some information on supported devices on the Ardour webpage: http://ardour.org/requirements.html. Also with linux I highly recommend using a audio-oriented distribution like kxstudio which will save you a lot of set up time, and also provides the latest linux audio software.
Thanks for the Infos about Linux.
I've been thinking last few days and I will go with Linux although I have one Win7 license extra.
My first idea was to install normal Ubuntu LTS, but now that you mentioned KX Studio I had to give it a try.
I installed KX Studio and Pianoteq in VirtualBox, I attached VPC1 to USB (without Scarlett 2i2) and it has worked. Of course it was not playable, but concept has worked. Now, the only question remains whether will Scarett work or not, but it is class-compliant device so it should.
I have found out that there is also Ubuntu Studio. I tested it the same way as KX Studio and the result was the same.
Anyway, NUC should arrive tomorrow and this weekend I will install one of those Studios (I am not sure yet which one to choose).
The kxstudio stuff is also available in repository and can be installed on any Ubuntu (or debian) system. I think you can put it on top of Ubuntu Studio. I myself run kxstudio directly and am quite happy with it. It is updated with the latest Linux music software very frequently.
Here ist short update:
I tried KXstudio, but I didn't notice that wifi adapter in BIOS was not enabled, so I couldn't get it in the KXstudio. That was my mistake, but that was the reason I switched to Windows. Another reason was that Intel provides drivers for Windows only.
On Windows I did have an issue with Scarlet 2i2 (after sleep Windows didn't recognize that Scarlet is connected, I guess USB3 port on NUC and USB2 port on Scarlet are not playing along very well), but I resolve it. I installed also asio4all.
At the end, it is not one button solution, as I hoped to achieve, but it is very close. In order to turn VPC1 on, you have to press the button. The same goes to speakers. But it is OK.
I used TightVNC, and it works.
I will try again with KXStudio, most likely at the end of the year.
Intel provides drivers for Windows only.
Drivers for what? Linux code for Intel HD video and for CPU is written mostly by Intel itself.
adriatic wrote:Intel provides drivers for Windows only.
Drivers for what? Linux code for Intel HD video and for CPU is written mostly by Intel itself.
Drivers for USB, video card, chipset, bluetooth... On Intel's web site, I could found only Win drivers.
But I have to admit, except wifi card, and that was my mistake, everything was working fine on kxstudio with default drivers. I didn't tried Scarlet, but there I don't expect any problem.
Today I have received studio monitor stands, and finally I removed the speakers from the floor.
Wow, I the sound was great. I still own Kawai CL36 (compact digital piano), and the difference in sound is drastic.
There is no need to download drivers for Linux. Intel open sources all their drivers so it's automatically included in the kernel. The only situation you'd ever download Linux drivers is if you are running really old version of Linux for your company (e.g. Redhat Enterprise 3/4) that can't be upgraded -- although this has pretty much been eliminated by virtuatlization (e.g. image the entire server and run as a VM under a new server with proper OS/hardware support).