UMPC for live gigs..

[Hobo]

I'm seriously tempted to try using one of the new UMPCs as my live sound module. ( thanks Busch for giving me gear lust )..I'm just wondering if they would be powerful enough.

 

The Samsung Q1 looks like the most affordable but is only a Celeron 900mhz. What I'd really like is the Sony Vaio UX180P with its ulv Core Solo running at 1.2 ghz.

 

I'm assuming these could handle running fairly simple setups in Brainspawns Forte, like 1 instance each of Mr Tramp, Nubile & Spinner and triggering multisamples not exceding 100mb. And all at a playable latency.

 

Or am I way off the mark? I tested my laptop in a similar way while using power saving options making it ( seem to ) run at 700mhz and it handled it fine. ( it's a 1.6 Pentium M ).

 

I often need to fly to gigs and if I don't have to cart my Fantom XR in it's rack I'd be delighted.

 

Any thoughts?

[Hobo]

Anyone?

[kwgm]

OK,

 

I can't offer any emperical data on the matter, but do you realize how freakin fast 900Mhz really is?

 

Granted Windows takes an awful lot of hz to smooth scroll windows while it calls home to ask Uncle Bill if you're OK with the firm...

 

Back in the dark days of the early Mac, we ran sequencers in realtime at 8Mz (and we were happy to get each and every hurt, you oughta know!) and in 8Mb.

 

So, if you can turn off 3/4 of the Windows services that you won't need simply running a synth and maybe a seq. on your measly 900Mz, you'll have some CPU left over to play Solitaire when the guitar player is taking his solo.

 

If not, take it back and get the Sony....tell them we all here said it's OK.

[JeffLearman]

First, what's a UMPC? Searching this forum didn't help.

 

kwgm, there's no relation between the MHz needed to be a MIDI sequencer and a sound module.

 

I used a 1MB Mac Plus as a sequencer back in the 80's, and it worked great. But no way would it be able to run most softsynths.

 

However, you're right that 900MHz isn't anything to scoff at, and enough to run most plugins if you're only using one or two at a time -- more than one for CPU-cheap ones like 'sfz' soundfont player, MrRay73, or NIB4. But just one hot program on an Arturia minimoog V can bring the hottest PC made today to its knees (a program that uses lots of layers, of course -- this is not a jab at an excellent VSTi).

 

My suggestion is to consider an Athlon, where you can get more MIPs per dollar, and they work just fine with digital audio. Sorry I can't give any specifics (since I don't use it myself), but if you're interested I can point you to a forum where folks who do can give some advice.

[JeffLearman]

BTW, CPU speed is pretty much unrelated to latency. Latency is mostly governed by soundcard driver issues (and you can usually use ASIO4ALL if you're using the built-in line outputs). Low latency can also be ruined by MOBO or software issues, but hopefully most of those issues are behind us now.

 

Laptops can fail at disk streaming, but since you're using minimal sample space you can run them memory resident.

 

When buying a laptop, many manufacturers charge 4 times what memory costs (or more). So, price your unit with minimum memory and see how much it would cost to buy memory on the web. Ask a nerd friend to recommend a good source. Be sure the memory has a lifetime guarantee. But you can save hundreds of dollars this way.

[burningbusch]

UMPC = Ultra Mobile PC. Much smaller than a laptop with integrated touch screen. I'm very interested in one of these as an add-on to a ROMpler for live play. If you keep your needs to the basics and don't expect to run Ivory or the like you should be OK. I really want to try one before I buy. I want to see how easy it is to get around. Thr target price for these are $500 - $1,000, but these are coming out higher than that. You're paying a premium because they're so new and the demand is high. Waiting a year, even six months might be worth it.

 

Busch.

[JeffLearman]

ok, thanks!

 

The trickiest part of using a laptop is where to put it. I tend to play in just a couple places, and I know which ones I can grab a barstool etc -- always protected behind other gear like speaker stacks etc. With a UMPC you might be able to make a place for it on the keyboard stand. Or velcro on open space on the master keyboard (which is how I mount my B4D drawbar controller).

 

In general, I never touch the laptop while playing: I set it up to be fully controlled by MIDI during playing. And I'd highly recommend this for a UMPC too. But a touch screen would be handy because there are always unanticipated things.

[Hobo]

Thanks for all the input.

 

Yes I envision putting it on top of my controller stuck with velcro or similar. These PC's are very small indeed but run the full XP so therefore can use all your softsynths / samples, in theory at least.

 

My guess is by running Forte ( vst host ) each song with it's modest requirements should run fine, then select your next song and so forth. For my setups I usually only use a maximum of 5 sounds per song, 2 or 3 of which will be multisamples. I see it as a mini receptor.

 

I'm very tempted.