I am about ready to take the plunge into the Microsoft Surface Pro for use with pianoteq.
I am hopeful that I will find that installing and using pianoteq on it will be basically a no-brainer.
Are there any complications I need to be aware of before going in this direction ?
One specific topic I would like to know about prior to the purchase is ...
Use external audio interface (and driver) or built-in audio (and driver)
I don't know which processor you surface pro has, anyway, I guess it will run Pianoteq without any problem. You can use the internal sound card or an external USB audio interface.
The advantage of the external audio interface, in my case, and under MS Windows is that ASIO drivers allow you to mix PT sound with another's application sound, such as a web browser or media player. With the internal chip, in order to get decent latency, one must choose Windows 'exclusive mode' or ASIO4All drivers, which only run with a single program, in our case PT.
But if the Surface Pro's sound chip has native ASIO drivers, there would not be any advantage of using an external audio interface.
EDIT: you can make some tests with the demo version
Ok ...,. let's see if I get it.
Without an external audio device, I could not be listening to a rendition of autumn leaves through youtube while using Pianoteq for my generated piano sound.
I had a top spec Surface Pro 6 which was great for portability but not so good for VSTs. Latency is the biggest issue for live playing. You will definitely will need ASIO drivers, these work ok but can be tricky to set up and keep running. And you should count on getting an audio interface if you want decent latency performance.
The biggest issue with the Surface is the locked down OS. You just can’t dig under the hood to tweak the OS for lowest latency. Not sure what Win11 is like though
I gave up on the Surface and went for a Mac mini as portability is not a big need for me these days. Much happier.
Thank you all for your help.
I ended up with a Lenovo that worked reasonably well but I found the learning curve associated with various others pieces of software I intend to use to be bit more than I wanted to deal with ... so I returned it.
This will be on hold for a bit.
Thank you all for your help.
I ended up with a Lenovo that worked reasonably well but I found the learning curve associated with various others pieces of software I intend to use to be bit more than I wanted to deal with ... so I returned it.
This will be on hold for a bit.
Hi,
First time poster.
I feel I need to stand up for the Surface Pro 6 as a live, music making device.
I bought mine new when it first came out. I have an i7 with 16gig ram. I can honestly say that it has performed faultlessly and has never let me down. I use Gig performer VST host with a Focusrite Scarlett audio interface. I have the sound card set to 44.1 @ 128 samples. The SP6 handles whatever I throw at it with ease. It does get warm after an extended session, but only warm. I play at rest homes, private functions (now and then) and three hour Farmer’s Markets. I like the SP line due to its small foot print and its portability.
I use my setup live. My predominant midi controller is a Guitar Hero 5 controller running Music Labs Real Guitar software. I use the ML software in what is known as “Joystick Mode.” I also use Ujam Virtual basses and Air - Strike 2 which is a drum drum vst. I have plenty of other plugins for strings, organ etc.
I think it would be a good idea to look up Molten Music on YT run by a guy called Robin Vincent. He has carried out extensive testing programs with a number of SP’s in recent times, and his conclusions are that the SP line is good for making music. Robin also has tweaking suggestions for the SP as well.
Although I am happy with my SP Pro 6, I have the means to upgrade to a SP Pro 8 due out here in New Zealand in a couple of weeks. So, a thumbs up for the Surfaces as capable music making machines.
Cheers from NZ!
The biggest issue with the Surface is the locked down OS. You just can’t dig under the hood to tweak the OS for lowest latency. Not sure what Win11 is like though
Yes you can. See my posting above regarding Robin Vincent and Molten Music.
AareHavanese wrote:The biggest issue with the Surface is the locked down OS. You just can’t dig under the hood to tweak the OS for lowest latency. Not sure what Win11 is like though
Yes you can. See my posting above regarding Robin Vincent and Molten Music.
I had a quick look at Robin’s videos, wow he’s got some great info there. The problem I had was not so much with ASIO4all which is where he seems to focus. But on getting in and setting up custom power schemes (for example) to maximise the processing power available. Microsoft just doesn’t let you do this on the Surface Pro. Probably because they are targeting battery life and performance.
That being said, it really depends on what latency you are comfortable with.
“But on getting in and setting up custom power schemes (for example) to maximise the processing power available. Microsoft just doesn’t let you do this on the Surface Pro”
There are ways to accomplish changing the power schemes. Robin Vincent goes into that. I use Process Lasso and Core Park which automatically allow you to alter the power plan for high performance. ASIO 4All should never be used for serious work in my opinion. An outboard audio interface is really the only way to go.
Anyway, I feel I’ve achieved my purpose in upholding the SP line as creditable music production machines. What ever you decide to buy I’m sure will work out for you. Cheers.
I bought a Microsoft Surface Pro 7 i5-1035G4 / 8GB RAM/ 128GB SSD / Win10 Home, which supports both Organteq and Sweelinq very well (I haven't tested Hauptwerk on it yet).
Standard Pianoteq playing does not require as much polyphony as Organteq, so Pianoteq also works on weak computers.
The mentioned laptop (tablet) is visible in the attached recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrXC1PCEd-8
I think the newer Surface Pro models are likely better than the one I had, which was a Surface Pro 2. I can say it was hands-down the worst computer I've ever owned. It was the i7; the battery life never exceeded 2 hours and the fan would come on noisily at the slightest load, even simply loading a web browser with two tabs. I used it with Pianoteq for live concerts and it worked reasonably well for that but not much else. It only haphazardly recognized mini SD cards in its internal drive, didn't always work with Microsoft's own dock, failed to recognize monitors, and on and on. I ended up giving it away to a friend, who gave it back after a month of frustration.
I am about ready to take the plunge into the Microsoft Surface Pro for use with pianoteq.
I am hopeful that I will find that installing and using pianoteq on it will be basically a no-brainer.
Are there any complications I need to be aware of before going in this direction ?
One specific topic I would like to know about prior to the purchase is ...
Use external audio interface (and driver) or built-in audio (and driver)
Pianoteq is very light on resources. If you get a Surface Pro 8 or a Surface Studio 2 you won't have any problems.
In the interest of full disclosure, I use PTQ with a massive PC workstation or occasionally a much more modest i7 laptop with 32GB of DDR4. But, what I said will apply to even more modest gear. I have dozens of VST libraries and PTQ is the smallest download (by a factor of more than 2000 in the case of Imperfect Samples Ebony Concert Grand). It's also by far the lightest on resources... not that that matters to me LOL.