I’m using a pi3b with pianoteq stage 7. I’m assuming I need to limit the sample rate and polyphony to avoid the crackling sounds but I’m not sure where or how to do that? Advice much appreciated, thanks!
You can access the Pianoteq GUI via VNC by first enabling VNC in webconf INTERFACE->UI Options then accessing VNC desktop via webconf INTERFACE->VNC-Engines.
Within Pianoteq GUI you can adjust its internal samplerate in the Options menu, Performance tab. It is set to 22050 which is already quite low but if you want to limit audio bandwidth even further you can drop this value.
In the same tab you can set the maximum polyphony. This can help because Pianoteq’s computational complexity increases with polyphony due to the modelling it does of, not just the active notes but the effect of decaying and undamped strings.
Pianoteq struggles on a Pi 3. It can be made to work but Zynthian’s overhead tends to impact it. Some instruments may be less likely to xrun so you may hear better performance by trying other instruments - maybe some simpler piano emulations but I can’t say which ones cause less computation by Pianoteq.
Unfortunately the vnc interface won’t load…
How does pianoteq perform on a pi4?
It’s better with ZynthianOS but if you can build a dedicated pi using RaspberryPiOS then it’s vastly improved.
Pi 4 8GB ordered. Will see what difference it makes. I’m thinking if it meets my needs to then get a zynthian kit.
Do you mean that performance is improved when using it outside of the zynthian ecosystem?
Yes. People have mentioned it on here. Presumably Zynth imposes just enough overhead to make a difference.
So pi 4 arrived today and seems to work beautifully.
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I’ve played and played. No crackling. Even with 3 other layers of synths. So sweet!
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A fresh install made the vnc interface work too.
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Perhaps you could send some 
… avoiding the ravens over your head is always a good idea.
I’ve searched the forum for ravens… I’m really confused? Is this a reminder to share a recording? If so then I’m working on it but I have a specific vision for it - that requires me to figure out fast instrument changes;)
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Ravens are sent by our beloved “Master Of Recordings” (aka @wyleu) when somebody refuses to pay the required “sound fee”. Of course all this is a “kind of joke” we have here, in zynthianland 
Feel free to share whatever you like, if you like.
Enjoy!
Understood - I’d love to participate… I’m just trying to get a few bits in order first. Can you advise corrections to my program change settings? - #3 by m0rvj