Topic by peter

  • Avatar
  • peter
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 22-07-2008
  • Posts: 18

Topic: PTQ on lowend computers

Hi all,

Currently I have an Athlon Duron (1.2 GHz) running on Windows XP with 1GB RAM.

Finally I found out how to use PTQ with this computer without any sound interruptions:

I set the optimal performance for background processes in system settings.
I reduced polyphony to 32.
I disabled all visual display gimmicks.
After that PTQ was absolutely usable with 11025 sample rate.
Then the final trick was: I used the task manager and set PTQ to real time priority. Now it works without any glitches and 44100 Hz samplerate.
(It plays the Bach prelude example without any glitches)

This all was achieved with a cheap SBValue soundcard and asio4all driver. (The card is cheap, but has really good sound)

I also tested a Edirol UA4Fx USB sound card, but that needed much more processor time and worked with 11025 sample rate only.

So here is an idea: Because all the nonprofessional players (as me) will probably never need the 250 polyphony of PTQ, would it not be an idea to offer PTQ with reduced polyphony at reduced prices for all that less demanding players?

Peter

Reply by Luc Henrion

  • Avatar
  • Luc Henrion
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 02-05-2007
  • Posts: 895

Re: PTQ on lowend computers

reduced poplyphony has nothing to do with reduced programmation work, I'm afraid... so the price would remain the same... and once you'll have a better PC/sound card, you'll be happy you have the "true" Pianoteq ! ;-)
By the way, I'm amazed you can't run Pianoteq  at a higher sample rate with the Edirol... Did you try different settings for the buffer size?

Luc Henrion's Website

Reply by peter

  • Avatar
  • peter
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 22-07-2008
  • Posts: 18

Re: PTQ on lowend computers

Hi!

I tried everything!
The USB soundcard also gives glitches in sound, when I e.g. watch a Youtube video and move windows at the same time. I believe thats because the USB protocol needs more processing power than access via PCI and so there is no cure for it.

Anyway, I hope I will get a Notebook with 2GHz and dualcore within some days, so the problem should be solved.

As for the polyphony: Of course, thats just a marketing consideration. There are a lot of users that have pianos with 32 or 64 polyphony and that dont want or dont need more but would appreciate to get better sound.
I myself sometimes like to play Midi Files such as the Schulze Evler version of the blue danube, so I will get the full version of PTQ anyway, but probably I can never play this myself;-)

greetings,

Peter

Reply by Luc Henrion

  • Avatar
  • Luc Henrion
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 02-05-2007
  • Posts: 895

Re: PTQ on lowend computers

from what you wrote, I suspect a lack of RAM more than an USB problem... but that doesn't cure your problem anyway! :-)

Luc Henrion's Website