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Win 8.1 tablet to play Vsts - Doable?


jeffnkrn

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Was trying to find a cheap small powerful enough tablet to run Windows 8.1 and VSTs so I can play really nice sampled pianos and rhodes, etc. live. Anything available that will do this?

 

I picked up one of these to "attempt" to use live playing VSTs with my Kurzweil PC2x.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/440932/TW802_Tablet_-_Black

Specs are

HD IPS LCD 8" 1280x800 Display

Intel BayTrail-T Z3735F 1.33GHz Quad-Core CPU

2GB RAM & 32GB Flash Storage

Windows 8.1

I don't think it is powerful enough but will run lightweight vsts. I think it needs an outboard sound card minimally.

Any help?

 

I have been able to run Catabile with GSi VB3 organ and Rhodes, and I am running ASIO4ALL on it, but sound is delayed at times.

It actually has a Emmc SSD drive which is WAY slower than a regular SSD drive. I getting old and learning about this stuff :)

So I am guessing this will not run Galaxy Vintage D? :(

Thanks!

 

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It strikes me as pretty underpowered for running big sample libraries, particularly with such a small amount of RAM. The CPU isn't great either. You'll definitely need an external USB ASIO-compatible soundcard to help get the latency down.

 

I'm afraid you're going to need a bit more grunt in every department to do what you want. :(

 

There's a good series of articles about running music software on Windows 8 tablets which are well worth a look if you're interested in this sort of thing. They're mainly about Microsoft's Surface range, but a lot of it will apply to other similar devices.

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At present there aren't any 'cheap' Windows tablets. A top of the range Surface 3 is still more expensive than a laptop with similar specs. And then you have to make do with limited connectivity on a tablet.

 

Laptops remain the lowest cost way to get adequate CPU, RAM, SSD and connectivity in a portable format. As laptops shrink and become lighter they are now often little bigger than a tablet with keyboard.

 

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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Snag a Dell XPS11 if you can. It's pretty beasty for a 2in1. Works great for my setup.

Gear:

Hardware: Nord Stage3, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit

Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins.

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Was trying to find a cheap small powerful enough tablet to run Windows 8.1 and VSTs so I can play really nice sampled pianos and rhodes, etc. live. Anything available that will do this?

Check these threads:

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2506611

 

and also the 9th/10th/11th posts at

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2674333

 

The threads are a little old, but there is still a lot of relevant info there.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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At present there aren't any 'cheap' Windows tablets. A top of the range Surface 3 is still more expensive than a laptop with similar specs. And then you have to make do with limited connectivity on a tablet.

 

Laptops remain the lowest cost way to get adequate CPU, RAM, SSD and connectivity in a portable format. As laptops shrink and become lighter they are now often little bigger than a tablet with keyboard.

 

This guy has set up a pretty good resource for people making music on their Surfaces.

 

http://surfaceproaudio.com/

Soul, R&B, Pop from Los Angeles

http://philipclark.com

 

Cannonball Gerald Albright Signature Alto, Yamaha YC73, Fender Rhodes, Roland Juno-106, Yamaha MX61, Roland VR-09, MicroKorg XL, Maschine Mikro, Yamaha Reface CP, Roland MKS-50

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My point was that while a Surface 3 may have a fast processor, plenty of RAM and SSD tablets are currently the most expensive option. Its Win 8.1 so anything that runs on the same specs on a desktop or laptop will run on a tablet. All have touch if the screen supports it.

 

It all comes down to how small you want your device to be and how many USB ports you need.

 

As a Win 8.1 tablet user I currently feel the short comings of the tablet when compared to a laptop don't make it an option to replace a laptop based rig. As a supplementary sound module could be ideal - particularly when compared to the limited resources in an iPad.

 

One final point the fine detail of what the differences will be between Win 10 for desktops/laptops, tablets and phones are not yet known. There are rumours that enhanced audio and possibly midi support will be included in future Win 10 updates.

 

Win 10 holds the key. I would be waiting till it rolls out end July before making a call.

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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