Topic: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Hi there,

(I am new to this forum, so I don't know how everything works here.
It might be the case that this question did come up in the past, but I didn't find it so I just post it.
If it has been posted before, can someone just post the link.)

So I use pianoteq for live gigs, because the sound is so much cooler than the piano sounds
of my roland (which are not bad either).
I need to buy a new laptop now and I would like to know which one to buy?
What specifications are important to have the fullest sound and an acceptable delay.
I really would like to reduce the delay most of all.
I saw some people posting something with pianoteq on linux? Is that better?
What about Mac vs. Windows?
I would prefer a Windows machine, because I run Cubase on Windows, but if it reduces the delay,
I would go for a mac. I also have a linux laptop, but so far didn't try running pianoteq on it.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Michael

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

I use PTQ on Linux but have tried it briefly under Windows as well. It runs well on both platforms and I don't believe there is much difference in performance when set up correctly. Go with the OS you're most comfortable with.

On some Linux systems it can be trickier to optimally set up PTQ than on Windows, but it also offers some advantages if you're familiar with Linux and audio tools for Linux. For a dedicated PTQ system I'd go with a simple Linux system with realtime/low-latency kernel and a very lightweight desktop environment. But it sounds like you're more at home on Windows so that's probably best for you. As far as reducing delay, your hardware performance will be the main determining factor not the OS.

3/2 = 5

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

I run Pianoteq on a Muse Receptor for live and in the studio, even though I have Cubase running on a fast Mac system.
The big advantage is that the latency is under 3ms with full polyphony.
It's been with me on the road around Europe for five years and never let me down.
Also no Displays to worry about, convenient rack mount design and it will run thousand of other virtual instruments as well.

Neil

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

As an update in addition to my earlier comment, I found AVLinux to be very good with old hardware. See http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=4192 for details

3/2 = 5

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Most laptops come with one of three operating systems: Windows, Chrome OS or MacOS (for MacBooks only). Choosing the right one is a personal preference.     Go with what you know. If you're used to one OS it'll be easier to continue with a familiar interface than give something new/fresh a chance. But don't let your first OS decide every subsequent OS and computer you buy.  Try out as many different operating systems as you can in the store or on friends' computers. See what feels most innate and natural to your way of using a computer. Even within the same operating system, keyboards, track pads, etc., can feel very different under your personal touch. CPU: The "brains" of your computer, the processor has a huge influence on performance, but depending on what you want to do, even the least-expensive model may be good enough.     In value-priced laptops, you'll also see Intel's Pentium® and Celeron® processors. These are adequate for basic e-mail, Internet and productivity tasks, but their speed and multitasking capabilities are limited relative to those of the Core family. Mac computers are a fundamentally different experience than Windows computers, so if you’re making the transition it can be easy to get lost. Mac touts a very user-friendly interface, and is a powerful media production operating system.  Laptops by their nature are very public devices. Much like watches, purses, sunglasses, or any other accessory, laptops have style. Make sure the laptop you want isn’t one that you would consider ugly, or you might be less likely to use it on the go.

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Microsoft Surface Pro - e.g. the new one with i5 (fanless) - here I am using a Pro3 (pianoteq in Tracktion or Bitwig) ....
Problem with Cubase might be the dongle though ....

just my 2 cents

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

any i5 laptop should be more than enough... even my i3 with 4 GB RAM is working like charm. Moddart recommends any multicore CPU in the "FAQ":
"We recommend any multi-core CPU, listed on this page: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

If possible, buy a laptop that others are using successfully, but the risk is low I think. Just FYI, I've just bought a powerful and current model (the Dell XPS 15 9560, Win10), and it has terrible latency using the integrated audio interface. This is the first time I've encountered this problem - even a VERY VERY slow old "netbook" from many years ago has good latency. I suspect I'll find a solution (found a post about switching to a different Realtek driver, for example). Worst case is always using an external audio interface, but I like being able to use the integrated interface as well. (and contrary to what many say, I think the audio quality from internal interfaces is absolutely fine)

Greg

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Try LatencyMon on that computer, it should tell you what's creating the most DPC latency, which is the main reason of audio dropouts and such. Most often it's these things: network/wi-fi, graphics card driver, ACPI (battery/power savings). And of course, disable all means of CPU throttling using Throttlestop.

Last edited by EvilDragon (27-03-2018 23:23)
Hard work and guts!

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

EvilDragon: thanks, but it's not that kind of problem - I don't have any dropouts at all. There is simply too much latency - literally, regardless of how small I set the buffer size. It's as if there is an additional, substantial buffer in the audio chain, in addition to the ASIO buffer. (btw, same problem using Windows Audio exclusive mode) As I said, I did find a post (elsewhere) about replacing the audio driver - haven't had time to try it yet. I don't know for sure the latency is being introduced in the audio chain - it's technically possible to be on the MIDI side, but I strongly suspect it will be audio.

Greg.
p.s I know it is normal for there to be a bit of additional buffering (and hence latency) in the audio chain, over and above the buffer that we have access to in the app/driver settings, but in this case, it appears that there might be way too much. This is just my initial thought - I haven't proven this to be the case yet.

Last edited by skip (28-03-2018 04:04)

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Well yes, there ARE in fact additional latencies around... the USB buffers and DAC latencies...

https://pae-web.presonusmusic.com/uploads/news/media/images/LatencyChain_12-30-13_RR02.jpg

Hard work and guts!

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Phew - problem was indeed solved by a different driver. Installing the generic High Definition Audio Service per the instructions in a reply to this post has done the trick: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/...o_garbage/
Latency now fine with both ASIO4ALL and Windows Audio (exclusive mode).

I don't care about losing the MaxxAudio enhancement thingy.

Greg

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Good!


Also yeah, screw all the "enhancing" stuff.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

For me, GNU/Linux and Windows performance is quite similar (perhaps a little superior in Linux).
But Linux costs $0, and there are some laptops which come without operating system. In those cases, and if you only want to run Pianoteq, you save some money, so my vote goes to GNU/Linux.

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

if/when Linux works with your particular hardware... My (old, I admit) Acer couldn't run Linux because of a graphic card error.... XP runs (still) fine, but without PTQ 6 obviously. Too bad. ;-)

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

Luc Henrion wrote:

if/when Linux works with your particular hardware... My (old, I admit) Acer couldn't run Linux because of a graphic card error.... XP runs (still) fine, but without PTQ 6 obviously. Too bad. ;-)

Generally speaking, laptops that come without Windows, work with Linux (at least this is my experience with the 4 laptops I had in my life, I must admit that 2 of them came with Linux preinstalled)

Re: Good Laptop for Pianoteq live

skip wrote:

If possible, buy a laptop that others are using successfully, but the risk is low I think. Just FYI, I've just bought a powerful and current model (the Dell XPS 15 9560, Win10), and it has terrible latency using the integrated audio interface. This is the first time I've encountered this problem - even a VERY VERY slow old "netbook" from many years ago has good latency. I suspect I'll find a solution (found a post about switching to a different Realtek driver, for example). Worst case is always using an external audio interface, but I like being able to use the integrated interface as well. (and contrary to what many say, I think the audio quality from internal interfaces is absolutely fine)

Greg

These two tips (plus some ThrottleStop tricks) might help you reduce DPC latency on recent Dell XPS laptops:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads...t-10695984

These tweaks didn't help so much with older BIOS & drivers. The newer Dell revisions perform much better (finally).