Topic by effebal

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Topic: LarkBox micro pc with Pianoteq

Hi everyone,

I want to share my experience with a potential headless solution for Pianoteq.

I've just received a LarkBox micro pc from Chuwi (I was a contributor during the Indiegogo founding campaign).
It is a very small PC, equipped with an Intel celeron J4115, 6Gb DDR4 RAM and a 128Gb M2 SSD (it can be replaced).

What makes this micro pc interesting is that it is really micro: 61x61x43mm, 127g so it is amazing small even compared to a raspberry Pi.
Moreover, being Intel it can run Windows 10 or a full 64bit linux distribution

Pianoteq runs smootly driven with a Studiologic SL88 Grand and a Motu M4 usb soundcard.

The PTQ index is 29, that is not amazing, I know.
Sometime the fan noise rises a little bit, but it happens when the load is to high.
Next steps is to optimize Windows for audio and to check the possibility to power this pc with a powerbank.

Ok, it is not so powerful to run Pianoteq in a full poliphony configuration, but it is not bad, considering that it is very portable and it  can be a "configure and forget" solution.

LarkBox in my hand


LarkBox on keyboard

LarkBox on keyboard

LarkBox on SL88

LarkBox and Thinkerboard

LarkBox and Thinkerboard

LarkBox and Pianoteq

Pianoteq Standard@Studiologic SL88 Grand
Steinway Model D | K2 grand piano | Ant. Petrof 275 | Steingraeber E-272 | Hohner Collection | Electric pianos | C. Bechstein DG | U4 upright piano | YC5 rock

Reply by Zaskar

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Re: LarkBox micro pc with Pianoteq

This is really really not meant as an offense and totally off-topic, i'm honestly just interested.

Why do people want to install PTQ on a microscopic computer with mediocre performance all the time?
I mean, you need a huge keyboard and a monitor anyway (as seen on your photo). So space isn't an issue.
And if you want a tiny PC, go for a ThinkCentre, a ZBOX, a BRIX, a NUC or just buy a used laptop for cheap and make it a PTQ machine.

Money cannot (really) be an argument either because you already paid like 1300 bucks for your Studiologic and PTQ Standard + Pianos.
Not to mention the money you paid for additional equipment like your Motu M4 and the midi-controllers (or synths?) resting on your keyboard.
As i found out the Larkbox costs almost 200 on Banggood. For just 100 bucks more you could've gotten a mini PC with an i5 processor.
You can configure those machines as a "configure and forget solution" as well.

This goes out to all the RasPi enthusiasts as well:
What is the purpose of having PTQ on a slow matchbox?
Is it just the playful instinct to fiddle with technology? ("Let's make this work!")
Really no offense.

"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes."

Reply by levinite

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Re: LarkBox micro pc with Pianoteq

Zaskar wrote:

This is really really not meant as an offense and totally off-topic, i'm honestly just interested.

Why do people want to install PTQ on a microscopic computer with mediocre performance all the time?
I mean, you need a huge keyboard and a monitor anyway (as seen on your photo). So space isn't an issue.
And if you want a tiny PC, go for a ThinkCentre, a ZBOX, a BRIX, a NUC or just buy a used laptop for cheap and make it a PTQ machine.

Money cannot (really) be an argument either because you already paid like 1300 bucks for your Studiologic and PTQ Standard + Pianos.
Not to mention the money you paid for additional equipment like your Motu M4 and the midi-controllers (or synths?) resting on your keyboard.
As i found out the Larkbox costs almost 200 on Banggood. For just 100 bucks more you could've gotten a mini PC with an i5 processor.
You can configure those machines as a "configure and forget solution" as well.

This goes out to all the RasPi enthusiasts as well:
What is the purpose of having PTQ on a slow matchbox?
Is it just the playful instinct to fiddle with technology? ("Let's make this work!")
Really no offense.

In my case using a raspberry PI4, there is no fan and absolutely no noise. This makes a huge difference especially when simply listening to midi files. It allow for the full dynamic range to be heard even at lower volumes. The performance is adequate but I am no professional. The low cost makes it something one can try without much consideration and computer can also be used for other purposes.

Reply by effebal

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Re: LarkBox micro pc with Pianoteq

Zaskar wrote:

This is really really not meant as an offense and totally off-topic, i'm honestly just interested.

Why do people want to install PTQ on a microscopic computer with mediocre performance all the time?
I mean, you need a huge keyboard and a monitor anyway (as seen on your photo). So space isn't an issue.
And if you want a tiny PC, go for a ThinkCentre, a ZBOX, a BRIX, a NUC or just buy a used laptop for cheap and make it a PTQ machine.

Money cannot (really) be an argument either because you already paid like 1300 bucks for your Studiologic and PTQ Standard + Pianos.
Not to mention the money you paid for additional equipment like your Motu M4 and the midi-controllers (or synths?) resting on your keyboard.
As i found out the Larkbox costs almost 200 on Banggood. For just 100 bucks more you could've gotten a mini PC with an i5 processor.
You can configure those machines as a "configure and forget solution" as well.

This goes out to all the RasPi enthusiasts as well:
What is the purpose of having PTQ on a slow matchbox?
Is it just the playful instinct to fiddle with technology? ("Let's make this work!")
Really no offense.

No offense at all. It is just a different point of view.
As you have observed, I've a lot of equipment driven by a more powerful solution (a Ryzen 5 3400G) that is enough for my scopes, plus a Microsoft Surface that I use when outside. The monitor is a 24" touchscreen, so it is a very compact solution.

Anyway, I'm not a pro musician, so playing piano is just my favorite hobby.

When I got this little pc, the temptation to run pianoteq was too high, considering that under certain circustances the idea to have something very small and portable to be included inside the keyboard chassis and usable without a monitor is a field I want to investigate.
I've used a raspberry pi and a thinkerboard, but I don't like them because you can't industrialize the solution. Too much work, too many variabiles.
The philosopher's stone is to have something like a workstation that can run PTQ without monitor, keyboard, mouse. Switch on the keyboard and play. That's all.

Last edited by effebal (05-09-2020 19:48)
Pianoteq Standard@Studiologic SL88 Grand
Steinway Model D | K2 grand piano | Ant. Petrof 275 | Steingraeber E-272 | Hohner Collection | Electric pianos | C. Bechstein DG | U4 upright piano | YC5 rock

Reply by lophiomys

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Re: LarkBox micro pc with Pianoteq

Hi effebal,
Very intersing post, thank you.
PTQ performance index of 29 seems to be quite good for this little cube.

On on my oldish PTQ machine  I get only 25, still giving perfect results.
That is with a
Thinkpad T400, Intel Core2Duo P8400, 2.26GHz, internal Conexant sound card at 96kHz, HDD
Windows 7, 32bit,  not optimised, but isolated and dedicated to PianoTeq
PTQ polyphony=48, multicore rendering, internal sample rate 48kHz
The PTQ performance index stays the same with Windows power scheme "Power Source Optimized" and "Max Performance".

Therefore I think your little Celeron-Cube does a hell of a job.
Hot glue it ontop of Chord Hugo2 with a matching power bank underneath, and one would be good to go ...

Last edited by lophiomys (05-09-2020 19:36)

Reply by Zaskar

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Re: LarkBox micro pc with Pianoteq

"...the idea to have something very small and portable to be included inside the keyboard chassis and usable without a monitor is a field I want to investigate."

I totally get that!
Actually my mind is wrapped around the following project since i discovered Pianoteq:

A Kawai VPC1 with an in-built Raspberry Pi and an in-built interface.
To top it off i'd try to install a tiny touchscreen onto the top of the case.

There's probably not enough space in the VPC1 and the heat accumulation could be a problem.
Furthermore the tiny touchscreen would be a pain to operate for sure.

...but it doesn't hurt to dream!

"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes."