I could make a dream come true, inserting the raspberry P4 8Gb into my self-built MiniMoog… By installing Win 11 (my God… I hate Windows) I would have the possibility of running those 4/5 VST synthesizers that have made history… MiniMoog, CS80, DX7 and others… but unfortunately for two days I have been downloading images of Win 11 that bring me the same result…
Can any of you raspberry experts help me? Believe me, before asking you I tried many times… I followed various guides very carefully… If anyone has done this work can tell me which file I need to download exactly for the P4?
I also updated the bootloader.
I saw a video of @mr_floydst but he used a P5.
I happen to have found online some step-by-step Windows installation guides for Raspi.
This one looks quite comprehensive:
As a personal piece of advice, I would not recommend getting Windows to work on a Raspi 4, if not for pure educational purposes.
Given the different structure of the OS, and the substantial hardware requirements to make it run smoothly, you are very likely to incur in poor performance, or even in outright incompatibility of parts of the native VST code of your preferred plugins. Remember that Arturia synthesiser apps are compiled and optimised for either Intel Core, Mac Intel or Mac ARM CPU architectures, and that no Linux versions are available.
Therefore, I do not know how you could possibly lure Windows on Raspberry into believing that you are legitimately loading plugins compiled for Intel Core, on a 64-bit ARM processor based on Debian.
I ignore if there are software containers for audio plugins capable of running VSTs in a Windows OS installed on a Linux hardware platform. Wine does that only if you use VST plugins on a standard Linux distribution.
Either case, and even if you somehow managed to install the OS and plugins, system and audio performance is bound to be disappointing, also given the huge overhead of the various software translators-emulators running on the background.
Thanks @Aethermind. I saw a video by Floyd Steinberg where he even runs Kontakt… but what makes me angry is that on all the guides it seems very easy while I have already downloaded 6/7 images and I always have errors… at this point I give up… but I have a stubborn head and I would like to be able to do it even if I can’t use it…
Why don’t you instead @Lanfranco pursue this path, as explained in detail by @mr_floydst in this video?
What you would need is your Raspi 4 running its native OS. Be aware that this would probably be a Raspbian 2021 release, and possibly not the current Raspberry OS (see description of the clip). Linux is very mutant and fast changing, thus do not expect the various steps of the procedure to work exactly like in the video .
Anyway, I deem this is the real deal, if you really want to try your Arturia plugins in the brains of your custom a-la-Minimoog hardware controller. Obviously, your almost obliged option for a DAW would be Reaper (not a particularly UX-friendly and easy to manage program, to be honest…).
I tend to use what is up to the task and cannot comment on Ardour, which I know very scantly (installed a few times) but certainly looks and is lovely, both in design conception and underlying open IT dissemination philosophy.
While I can be quite adventurous when it comes, for example, to music engraving software or synthesiser plugins, I tend to be conservative for what concerns DAWs.
I still cherish the fond memories of Cubase 1.X smoothly running on my second-hand Atari 1040 ST with built-in Midi interface, to the point that I believe that no ensuing hardware+software contraption (maybe except the Zynthian) has ever reached that degree of UI design effectiveness and tight machine-program integration (well, I never owned a godly device like a Fairlight or a Synclavier, so my humbler term of reference for a no-fuss and well integrated workflow is still my good ol’ Atari).
I am no Linux music production expert, therefore it is perfectly possible that Ardour is vastly preferable from a whole range of viewpoints.
I simply noticed that audio professionals on that platform tend to choose Reaper slightly more often, irrespective of its half-concealed and semi-free nature, and just went for it, since it seemed the Linux industrial standard for synth plugins hosting. But in this field I might be outright wrong.
Thanks for the insight into your thinking. I don’t have a strong preference or need now, but at some point I can see a DAW working with Zynthian as very attractive, and the Open Source nature of Ardour might be a real advantage.
Neither Ardour nor Reaper are free. They are both very capable and feature rich DAWs and both very low cost compared to their similarly featured competitors. Ardour is open source which means that with sufficient effort you can obtain and build it for free but this is an overhead that most users would want to avoid. It is a pay-what-you-can license with a minimum recommended cost of $45 (which gets current and next major version). Reaper offers the full product without substantial limitations as a demo with a start-up nag screen to remind you to purchase a license. For non-commercial use the licence costs $60.
Both of these products are very good and each has its advantages. I tend to use Ardour when I need to use a DAW but that is not very often. I encourage you to support the developers of these products by purchasing a licence at a fair price, or at least donating what you can afford, when you can afford it, e.g. less now then more later. Paul Davis earns his living from Ardour and deserves to be able to put food on his family’s plates.
Right so @riban. That is exactly what I try to impress in my students’ minds, when I object their occasional pretensions that creativity and intellectual content should be unquestionably free to enjoy for everybody, without any money transactions involved. When it fortunately happens, like with the Zynthian project and other similar endeavours, it should be received with gratitude, as a selfless gift and not as a statutory right.
I can’t believe that there isn’t a simple VST player… whether it’s Linux, Win or Mac… but above all I can’t believe that in 2024 you can build synthesizers like the Zynthian and you can’t insert a raspberry (or mini PC) into a keyboard without having to use a DAW… I use Studio One and MixBus, but I’m not interested in a DAW inside my MiniMoog… those are already working inside my iMac and they’re fine there… I would like to use my controller with 3/4 syhth VST…Standalone…
I may have lost track of your enterprise for building the pseudo-Minimoog controller, but I seem to remember that it is basically a control surface that sends and receives MIDI CC data.
As such, and if my memory is right, it does not contain any built-in audio computation capabilities. To turn it into something vaguely similar to the latest stream of Korg desktop synthesisers, based on Raspberry Pi, you must necessarily provide your box with two facilities:
A computer unit with a CPU, a main board and data connections.
An OS that makes the computer capable of running the code of synth plugins.
From this particular standpoint, every digital synthesizer is in essence a headless embedded system, with a custom OS and a custom controller mechanism (rack or keyboard).
Therefore, and in order to fulfill your dream, you will need to install on the Raspi an operating system capable of loading and running your VST plugins of choice effectively.
Nothing prevents you from:
Opting instead for a Windows Mini PC with enough CPU power, thus loading your plugins as usual in your preferred DAW,
Attaching your Raspberry in a small enclosure, or the Mini PC case, on the back of your tailored a-la-Minimoog rack, or even inside the case if there is enough space left (do not forget heat dissipation and ventilation cutouts).
You would have to connect internally or externally the appropriate data inputs and outputs from computer to controller, and vice versa, and to make accessible the audio connectors to your amplifier or headphones. Since you would have to operate your VST host, in order to load plugins and presets, you could resort to a remote VNC server (or the Windows equivalent for a Mini PC) to see the DAW interface on an external phone, tablet or computer.
You will also need to perform a specific mapping of your physical knobs for each plugin, but this is quite straightforward with the Arturia software synths.
Thanks @Aethermind… there is nothing worse than a dreamer who doesn’t know anything about computers and would like to ask for things he doesn’t know at all… I had dreamed of a raspberry with Windows and a 4.5 display where I could run the plugins I was interested in… no effects, no heavy stuff… I’m an Arturia MiniMoog, or a CS80 or DX7… One at a time… One day someone will invent something like this… I don’t want to be tied to a DAW or another PC… I would like my MiniMoog standalone… Anyway, for personal satisfaction it seems that Win 11 is being installed on the Raspberry… after 3 days of insults, it was enough to go into the boot configuration and select the SD with Win 11…
Sorry to contradict the Greats of the Forum… But does the Arturia MiniMoog work on the Raspberry… Luckily I’m stubborn and wanted to try… The audio comes from the headphones, I connected a master keyboard and it is seen… It crackles a bit but I think it is due to under power…
If I understand right, your are looking for a VST Host, so you can just use your VSTs.
I used then a few times on windows for synths and Helix Native as guitar processor.
More background info here:
I used this one and another, this one has a linux version too it seams
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. That is exactly what I try to impress in my students’ minds, when I object their occasional pretensions that creativity and intellectual content should be unquestionably free to enjoy for everybody, without any money transactions involved. When it fortunately happens, like with the Zynthian project and other similar endeavours, it should be received with gratitude, as a selfless gift and not as a statutory right.
