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Gals and guys, if you were asked to suggest an ideal computer JUST to play software pianos, and doing nothing else, what would you say?

Requirements for being 'ideal':

* Zero latency
* Very stable/reliable
* Excellent D/A converters
* Easy to operate
* Moderate cost
* Silent
* Small

(add your own)

hmmm.. Mac Mini maybe?

Doubt it. My MacBook Pro, higher spec'd than a Mini, is NOT ideal (latency, less than optimal analog output).

ahhh.. Then would we be looking at a combo of a high-performance PC with an external card of some sort? I guess knowing what the cost cutoff would be.

And is this is kind of like: good, fast, cheap.. pick any two...

I am using a current generation Mac Mini, the low end 2 core model.

It is working well...I'm using Apple's MainStage software to run mostly Kontakt Instruments (Scarbee Vintage Keys, Neo Soul Keys).

I'm doing it with no monitor or keyboard. I used my TV and an old keyboard/mouse for initial setup, and now I just use screen sharing to access it. The Apple Logic Remote app for iPad now works with MainStage and it is a convenient way to make minor changes, check levels, etc. I mostly control it via MIDI with my Kawai MP6.

I'm using the Mackie Onyx BlackJack USB interface (under 200 US dollars) because the built in audio was a little noisy.

I'm getting about 4-5ms of latency, and basically glitch-free performance.

No computer (or digital hardware sound module, etc) will give literally 0 latency, though dedicated hardware might get much lower than 4ms, not sure. Keep in mind that sitting 4 feet away from the speaker introduces about 4ms of latency.

It has taken me some time to set up and tweak everything, but I think it will turn out to be time well spent.

What do you mean by 'basically glitch-free'? Is there a difference to 'glitch-free' (without qualification)?

I find that latencies above 2-3ms (as shown in Kontakt) with headphones are less than ideal (at least for me), especially compared to the real thing (mind you, you don't play a piano from four feet away), but also compared to sound generated in a digital piano. I can get such latencies, but the price are glitches and digital noises.

By 'basically glitch-free' I mean that I've played for hours and hours without problems, but I want to keep testing it out before I'm ready to perform with this setup. But, pending further testing, it seems that it's a reliable system as a sound module with no screen (just hook up and boot up).

However, I have had problems with screen sharing (I've had to reboot the mac mini to get it working a few times), and with the iPad remote app (disconnection and latency issues) -- I would not consider that part of things glitch-free at all. But once I have it set up with the sounds I like, then screen sharing, and even the iPad app, are not necessary. I just switch sounds and control a few key parameters via MIDI with my digital piano.

Thanks Jon.

Any further suggestions concerning my initial question? By 'moderate cost', by the way, I meant 'reasonable cost given the other requirements'. Part of the inquiry is to find out how expensive an 'ideal player' would need to be.

My MacBookPro works without any discernible latency, via a FiiO DAC, but it has SSD drives. It is noticeably faster than my Mac Mini - for my other hobby, photography. The DAC makes a difference to the sound, although the native Apple sound isn't bad. I'm running the True Keys software pianos (must get around to my promised review and sample recordings!) and for recording run the output via an Inport audio to digital converter (probably the weakest link?) straight through to Audacity.

For "live" playing via the ES7 speakers I blend the TK sound with the ES7 native sound - again no discernible latency.

I'm sure SSDs make the crucial difference. I was getting horrendous latency with a high end pc with a similar speed processor to the Macbook Pro.

Disk speed (whether disk or SSD) is not relevant to latency. That's because partial samples are pre-loaded into RAM.

Latency comes from the interfaces and from the audio stream buffering.

I'm running Ivory II on a 2006 24" Intel Core 2 duo iMac with 3Gb real memory and a 128Gb SSD. M-Audio speakers with the USB interface, so the M-Audio DAC. Just fine, but I'm not too picky. No latency to my ears, and the s/w runs rock solid. I was very surprised it works so well given the age.

My plan is to ultimately upgrade to a Mac Mini when the Haswell version is released. I want to be able to run the current garage band s/w which this older machine does not support. I will probably then add a Scarlett DAC and some better powered monitors.

db

Interesting. Given that the processor speeds, pc and Mac, are similar, (3.2GHz vs 2.6GHz, Mac faster) the difference was SSD vs HDD. Does the Mac process smarter than the pc?

What about Intel NUC ?

My VPC1 arrives tomorrow! I will be using my Macbook Pro and TrueKeys American. I bought a Roland Cube for a monitor, and also have a lower-end pair of Sennheisers. I will report with how it turns out

I previously had my FP-7 hooked up to an older Compaq laptop using the ASIO4all driver and the demo Pianoteq with some noticeable latency (I did not measure, it was a few years back). The laptop was pretty flakey though, running Vista. I did not like it.

The OS probably matters more than the underlying hardware, i.e. you want something close to real time response.

OK, you don't want to wait unpredictable amounts of time for disk seeks either.

So, SSD for hardware, low latency OS.... lets see now,,,,
Microslop ? Nope.
Apple ? Nope.
Linux ? Maybe.
Linux with low latency kernel ? Getting warmer...

Add some open source Audio apps ? Nahh, get the bundle that includes some video and graphics programs -
Ubuntu Studio for the ~PRIZE~.
This is as good a place as any to start;
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/dvd/current/
Download it, burn to DVD, boot it up.

Until you get the SSD re-partition the spinning rust to squeeze Windoze down to no more space than it deserves, use the rest.
Be HAPPY.

PS the newer I7 Intel chip sets seem HOT !

Blah blah blah ...
I used to run Kontakt on the most paltry of laptops:
. . Dell E1505
. . Windows XP
. . Core Duo T5300 @ 1.7 GHz
. . 2 GB/667 MHz RAM
. . 80 GB/7200 RPM drive
Virtually any current laptop can run circles around that old beast.
Yet I was able to run four pianos in simultanous/chorus mode under Kontakt without dropouts.

No SSDs. No super drives. Just an out of the box cheapo laptop with a Presonus Audiobox.

There's no need to get a souped up box just to play piano. Nor is there need to go off the tracks with Linux. Just about any old Win or Mac box will do.