Latest Pianoteq with Oram

Aethermind · May 14, 2024, 2:27pm

I have an Rpi5+Nvme kit + external Presonus USB audio, waiting to be put to the test with Oram, and will let know to the @Zyntianers how it performs headless on this setup, as soon as I find a bit of time for music IT experimentation, in this busy period for me.

My first port of call will be, of course, to verify the correct Zynthian/Oram startup from an internal Solid State Drive with Rpi5.

More to follow: I will keep you updated!

le51 · May 14, 2024, 2:40pm

chrismat · May 15, 2024, 5:21pm

That‘s great work @jofemodo much simpler to optimise or Pianoteq settings. Could I ask to your pi5 test, what was your buffer size on Jack (please say 128bit), also assume 2 buffers and not 3.

jofemodo · May 15, 2024, 8:10pm

I always use the default config from ZynthianOS: n=2, p=256, f=44100 (11,6 ms latency)

I will repeat with 128 and will report in this thread.

Thanks

riban · May 15, 2024, 8:42pm

Please also try 48000. I would like is to move to 48000 as standard. It has a few advantages including:

Some soundcards have native 48000 samplerate so work better
It allows us to enable jamulus integration
Slightly reduced latency
it is an industry standard so can help with interfacing and data exchange

44100 was a bodge done to allow CDs to be made from the different refresh rates used around the world but should be assigned to the dustbin of history.

jofemodo · May 20, 2024, 11:58am

Well, i’m almost convinced to increase the “default” sample rate in Oram to 48000.

Indeed, i was testing the Pi5 with 2 buffers of 128 samples, what reduces latency to 5 ms:

-r 48000 -p 128 -n 2

I tried to generate XRuns by running Pianoteq with “Grand Ant. Petrof” model, with 128 voices of polyphony at full sample rate (internal sample rate = jackd sample rate) and no CPU overload detection.

I couldn’t, although i pressed the sustain pedal while playing all notes in the keyboard in the more brutal way i could! The Pi5 is a total killer, mates!!

Cheers!

chrismat · May 20, 2024, 12:27pm

Thanks jofemodo for your testing, I really appreciate it. pi5 looks exactly the right spec for Pianoteq, I was worried it would just fall short I’ll put pi5 on my birthday present list

culfytt · May 20, 2024, 2:30pm

Guys, I just installed Oram test version and for the love of God I cant find Pianoteq anywhere. Is it under the Instrument chain somewhere? Also I cant locate SFZ. In the WebUI I see them all under Software-Engines as Enabled.

riban · May 20, 2024, 2:40pm

Instruments are now separated into categories. You must use one of the encoders or left/right buttons to change to the Pianos category.

culfytt · May 20, 2024, 2:47pm

Thanks a lot, I read it in manual few moments ago. Problem is that I dont have a kit, just the Pi and DAC+. I tried the touch, but it does not work reliably. I used keyboard and it works fine.

culfytt · May 20, 2024, 2:49pm

Yeah and after 33rd restart touch now works as well. Dah

nagrom · June 25, 2024, 4:26pm

I’m having a little trouble with pianoteq stage 8.2.2 (licensed version) in oram.
I’m using a pi4b, with and old apogee duet as the USB audio interface.
It worked well using the stable build, with oram it either doesn’t load (no sounds on pianoteq chain after boot), or locks up after a bit.
My audio driver settings:

-P 70 -s -S -d alsa -d hw:USB -r 48000 -p 256 -n 2 -X raw

If I change the cache to 512 it seems to work, but feels like a bit more latency.

Like I said, worked fine in stable build. I can provide logs if that’s helpful, just don’t know which ones or where they are…

The apogee may be just too old too, if y’all think that’s the case then that’s ok (it’s pretty old)

tunagenes · June 25, 2024, 5:08pm

If the hw:USB is choosing the first USB device as Zynthian’s sound-card you might get inconsistent results depending on what the system finds at each boot.

You can do an amidi -l command to ask ALSA to display the USB device names on your system, and then specify apogee duet’s name specifically.

nagrom · June 25, 2024, 5:56pm

Thanks @tunagenes, the Duet actually identifies as “USB” though:

(venv) root@zynthian:~# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones], device 0: bcm2835 Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 3: USB [Duet USB], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice

tunagenes · June 25, 2024, 6:43pm

Wow, Interesting. I wondered if it could be the duet’s name but it seemed like a crazy idea - what if every device had USB as a name!

nagrom · June 25, 2024, 7:14pm

It’s pretty pretentious of Apogee.

I switched out the duet for a Zoom ams24 I’ve been using for something else and the problems went away - so the Apogee and its haughty identifier will be relegated to a menial task.

Aethermind · July 15, 2024, 10:19am

Hi @jofemodo, @le51 and @zynthianers,

I can confirm that on Pi5+nvme+Oram I can run pianoteq at full sample rate with 128 voices, as conveniently implemented by Fernando in the pianoteq webconf page, without any xruns or artifacts of sort.

Just a couple of questions and a possible Oram issue report:

Is “full sample rate” in the pianoteq config tab the 48 Khz of my audio board settings? (I am on a Stage license, thus 48K is the ceiling)
I noticed that the metal enclosure of my Pi5, with both active and passive cooling, becomes significantly hot during ordinary Oram operation. Would it make any sense to attempt a bit of overclocking (possibly somewhere in the webconf options?) or would it put the CPU under unnecessary thermal stress, with a neglectable increase in performance?
The damper pedal CC switch, received through a midi controller hooked directly to a Pi5 USB-A port, seems to occasionally remain stuck in pedal-down position (not the behaviour the same pedal and controller show with my other gear). The passing malfunction happens only with Pianoteq with some amount of built-in convolution reverb.

Edit: the stuck damper pedal CC issue in Pianoteq does not seem to happen if Midi is received through 5-DIN connectors.

mheidt · July 28, 2024, 8:13pm

Did anybody install 8.3.1 already?
I get this in the logs:
INFO:pianoteq_handler.do_install_pianoteq: Installing /zynthian/zynthian-webconf/tmp/pianoteq_stage_linux_v831.7z
Jul 28 21:10:11 zynthian zynthian_webconf.sh[771]: ERROR:pianoteq_handler.get: Pianoteq Action Failed:

jofemodo · July 28, 2024, 9:40pm

Hi Markus!

How is going the summer, mate? Here is too hot

I just tested to install the 8.3.1 and it worked for me. I installed over a previous 8.1.3 (curious number combination, i also opened my eyes!!) in a V5 Pi4 units. Installation process worked like a charm.

What is your previous version? It’s your unit running latest Oram, etc? Please, try to reproduce the issue with a second SD-card or zynthian.

The best,

mheidt · July 29, 2024, 4:56am

Actually I am fliying to China in a couple of hours. for 4 weeks. Nevertheless I wanted to give the latest pianoteq a try yesterday…Yes, on the latest oram, but pi4, v4. over pianoteq 8.2.2.
But I used a network drive the first trial when I saw a javascript messagebox, which i didn’t see anymore in the following trials.
What do I have to delete via ssh, if I don’t want to install a new sd card on that machine?
I will try on different machines in 4 weeks.