A tiny PC in a desktop synthesizer setup? - hardware VST host

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, lovely synthesizer people! By your comments, I'm noticing I should have made it clearer that I'm NOT recommending this for professional music production. Some viewers kept asking for a Raspberry PI sized box that can run their favourite plugins while also being small as a RasPI and featuring a touch screen. That''s what this is! Thanks for stopping by. :-)

[@DjDoggDad]

I keep my old cellphones/tablets around with the music apps I used from the time, they stopped being cellphones and became digital guitar pedals!

[@kehindea]

Of course it can be used for professional music production. Certain situations require a small portable machine like this and the alternative is using an iPad. Thanks for the video by the way and ignore the naysayers.

[@InXLsisDeo]

I think it was pretty obvious. It's a pretty cool setup for self recording on the go, though. I think a 8" or 10" screen would be more convenient, though.

[@TheBroDotTV]

@@InXLsisDeo Yes definitely that's my thoughts too. 10 inch screen plus Live now you're talking!

[@JohannesNielsen]

Does the mini PC have a HDMI out?

[@RobertFisher1969]

Very happy to see this video. I’ve been looking a lot lately at options for essentially turning VST synths into hardware synths for use away from a computer.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@distantcomets]

Fascinating - I didn't know these things existed. My brain immediately went in another direction - a bunch of my plugins (Arturia and NI's stuff to name two) can run outside of the DAW as standalone apps. I'm thinking this device plus a midi controller and I can bring any of their emulations to a live set.

[@mr_floydst]

This mini PC should be capable of running 2 or three of those "resource hogs" simultaneously. I'll try the Korg demos and post some results.

[@sirc8645]

You just use a surface tablet to achieve the same with better performing processors inside. you won't even have to be a new one. You just buy second hand one for a great price and get more performance

[@mr_floydst]

Surface is a great computer no doubt, but this PC here is much smaller (which is what my audience asked for) and it has more standard USB ports without needing a USB dock and stuff.

[@pontram]

@@mr_floydst I am recently thinking about the Asus Rog Ally gaming handheld. It has a fast CPU, but only 1 USB port. And, though its power consumption can be reduced, it will not last many hours without being charged, and it has active cooling. But since its price is down to around 650 Euros, it is very tempting as a vst/fx station that can take heavy plug-in load for a moderate price. I bet it could handle easily the dsp56300 emulator that gives you a Virus C or a MicroQ for free.

[@benm12310]

@@sirc8645surfaces on the second hand market are great! I got an i7 one solely for running rekordbox. It’s was only $150!!!!!!

[@ClemensWennersMusic]

Great video mate! And what a surprisingly powerful little machine!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks, Clemens! It's a pain to use though. Windows just isn't ready for the small screen, still.

[@adamjuresko4367]

Thank you thank you thank you!!! I looked into this little pc for exactly this set up but wasn't sure it could do it. So stoked to see it works

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@sodiumlights]

I had zero idea this kinda device exists until watching your cool video. Thank you!

[@mr_floydst]

I saw an earlier version of this PC years ago on some chinese pages, and forgot about it later. This new version is much smaller and better designed (and I needed a small PC for a work-related project).

[@RetroPlus]

The form factor makes this very desirable for small setups, i can see this being perfect for outdoor jams with mini equipment (like pocket operators or volcas). You could create an extremely powerful portable rig with this.

[@mr_floydst]

I can confirm this. E.g. this is a portable "Valhalla" reverb pedal for me. :-)

[@benm12310]

@@mr_floydstyou think this has the juice to handle serum in a live performance setting?

[@mr_floydst]

@@benm12310 looking at the hardware requirements, I'd say yes. I'll do a live stream some day testing some plugins my viewers ask me to install ;)

[@GertBoers]

I suggest using a pen with a soft rubbery tip when trying to select such small areas. Cool device! Neat that it contains a display out of the box. There are more x86 SBC's (most without display); I might giving them a second glance, after seeing this video. :) BTW: not only Intel makes x86 cpu's. There's also AMD. ;)

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching and sharing your ideas! Yeah, you're right, but rest assured no one paid me for this video, not even Intel ;) I used that term because "Intel architecture" is a phrase that is used commonly.

[@electronik808]

i have an up board is a tiny x86 device and is quite powerful and you can install windows on it. the issue is finding a decent touch screen and mount everything so it's portable. the battery here is also nice

[@LCOmusic]

At the risk of defeating the purpose of abstracting the computer into a form factor like this, I personally would just keep a Bluetooth or USB mouse and keyboard handy for more fidgety inputs. (Of course, this basically defeats the purpose of a touchscreen device, but for me the thing that is most compelling here is the fact that there are so many I/O ports on such a small unit and a very serviceable looking 720p display for monitoring the status of the DAW / plugin hosts. I have a Windows PC tablet very similar to the Microsoft Surface - Dell Latitude 5290 2-in-1, for anyone curious - that I wanted to use in this way, and the thing that kills my enthusiasm for using it in a tabletop setting the most is a tie between the limited number of I/O ports on the device and the broader issue of just how clumsy and messy the cabling is. Due to their length, USB cables are much less graceful than even modular patch cables!)

[@JulianToler]

As always a great run down of hardware synth systems - and I really feel you have addressed the important questions - how practical is it to use! You have shown not just what is possible but really shown the practicalities involved. Thank you!

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much!

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

Floyd, you blew me away again!!! I was going to write you anyway because I just got one of those android tablets on Amazon that will hold a TB.250 go, Wow! And 16 gb of ram, and can be used as a touch monitor for Windows or I could actually just load Windows onto it with an app! Sounds expensive? Under $200 called Blackview. It’s amazing! I ordered two more for my desktop rig! The gentleman that mentioned can be used in 3rd party is absolutely correct! It has to be coming from the main computer which is an i9 64 gb but I’m mirroring Komplete on it and running it thru my mult. It works but I need to fix a few bugs before I do a video on it.😀

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks again! I'll keep an eye on your channel.

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

@@mr_floydst thx Floyd, I am looking forward to it!

[@Mr.Facebox]

This is Perfect for Bringing Serato or Traktor DJ software. Both companies have flagship DJ decks that will only run on Desktops (and not mobile)

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for your feedback!

[@LanthanOIde]

That looks like a neat little thing! And beautiful song snippets to demo it, Floyd! :)

[@mr_floydst]

Many thanks! :-) Perhaps we can develop one of the ideas further on your Discord :)

[@mylarmelodies]

Bonkers. Thanks for showing us this!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@JAYg33t4r]

Hello Mr. Steinberg. I wanted to bring to your attention a VST created by a reaper user called "Rolling Sampler" by Bird. There is also a MidiCap plugin for capturing midi. The functionality of these running on this mini PC would enable ghost recording while using plugins. It only uses RAM to store audio data until you drag it out of the UI! My dream box runs plugins and has switchable ghost tracking depending what im doing. Either master bus or instrument depending on an ABY box setup into the interface :) ❤ i love your videos.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for sharing! I'll take a look.

[@paoloramacciotti3532]

Hi Floyd! That is absolutely interesting and very promising, as a super-portable music workstation to carry around, while on trip or going to/back from work. There also seem to be a newer PC version available, with a slightly faster CPU, more RAM and increased eMMC (but no passive cooling).

[@mr_floydst]

Hi! Yes, I've seen that. It's $80 / 80€ more expensive, but you get 256GB SSD and the newer Celeron CPU. It still won't run Crysis, though. :-)

[@paoloramacciotti3532]

@@mr_floydst 🙂Just posting a brief update, after having used the N5095/16 Gb version for a few days, before returning it. It is a tiny and well manufactured full-aluminium item, but it suffers from power supply issues, resulting in strong overheating and sudden activation of some hidden current/temperature protection switch, that prevents the device from being switched on for hours. Furthermore, the CPU is just slightly underspecced, for the price of similar products with more powerful hardware (like N100), and the small touch screen, albeit bright and pleasant, is unusable in a real-world scenario, unless connected to an external display (which would make the whole design concept pointless, of course!).

[@sandyjonesmusic]

Thanks for the continued great content Floyd!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@Mentatbt]

Very interesting video! My current project is to build a tiny synth from a mini windows PC and a midi keyboard. I will use a separated touch screen and power bank instead of the built-in solution. And my mini PC will be a little bit stronger, N5105 processor, 8GB and 512 SSD.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! The hardware you're proposing is certainly capable of running professional audio software.

[@rickyspanish1123]

Interesting one. My synth setup is fully usb powered, but I still use a computer to bring everything together. I am actually doing the same as you do here but with an 11" convertible laptop that is powered by an intel N6000 CPU. Good to know that even a J4125 can handle reaper + plugins well. But, funny enough, it seems to be cheaper to get a convertible with a N6000 CPU than a device like shown in the video. I like the smaller footprint of the device in the video more though

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for sharing! Yeah I think the compact size (plus the reasonably sized battery and the nice design) speak for this mini pc. If that's not important, any notebook is less fiddly to handle. But you got to admit, this looks super cool on social media :-)

[@emiliendauzou5748]

Hi. This little pc seems to be cool for running vsthost, and make a powerfull multi synth setup (with multitimbral)😁 nice video Floyd 👍

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! Yes - it's quite useful for that (but using the touch screen isn't a lot of fun)

[@AlOne-xg6dv]

Clear and informative review. Thank you.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@Psychlist1972]

Great video, Floyd. With a screen that small, you'll definitely be better off using a capacitive stylus instead of a finger. That Celeron is a pretty low power processor (we also see it a lot in astrophotography mini PCs to control telescopes), but Reaper is a super efficient DAW. I'm actually really impressed that device could do 3.3ms RTL with ASIO4All. FWIW, Windows does run quite well on Arm64 (we've had mainstream Arm support since 2012, and even a cut-down IoT version for Raspberry Pi), but the Intel-arch DAWs and plugins would be running under emulation today, so it's almost certainly a performance wash in cases like this.

[@mr_floydst]

Hello Pete, thanks for watching and commenting! I have a video on Windows on Arm somewhere in my back catalogue. You're right, the X86/X64 emulation takes a lot of the thunder away - but you can actually use some plugins in a meaningful way e.g. on a RasPi 400. That's very impressive for an emulator, so here's to the team that made that. ;-) I chose this low-power PC because it fits the needs of some of my viewers who asked for such a box. I'm quite happy I bought this now that I have it, it's a neat gadget.

[@Psychlist1972]

@@mr_floydst Thanks. The use of mini PCs like this in an audio setup is an area that not many discuss. There are tons of uses for little single-purpose devices for things like VEP, offline processing, and more. I had never considered one with a tiny touch screen for this -- it's a super cool idea. I don't offload audio, but I have a mini PC on my telescope running Windows 11 handling all that. And that drops files over the network to another mini PC that does image calibration and the initial (time-consuming) processing, before I do final image work on my main PC. Those processing steps tend to take 100% of the CPU and GPU, so mini PCs are a great way to deal with it.

[@pirateradioFPV]

You could use it as a hardware sequencer for midi devices. Renoise would probably work great.

[@mr_floydst]

Perhaps I'll do a follow-up video with my viewers' favourite trackers and DAWs. ;)

[@pirateradioFPV]

@@mr_floydst Well, that's what I do with my ancient laptop. It just runs the midi and never runs out of horsepower for more tracks. There's more than one tracker that works with the Pi? 😁

[@willmcelroy6376]

What are your thoughts about using it strictly as a dedicated softsynth. Like using to exclusively run Omnisphere. I would connect it via midito my mpc, or midi controller, or usb from my iPad, and use it as if it were a hardware/touchscreen version of omnisphere. I would need at least 4 tracks of it running simultaneously. I think one instance of omnisphere can run multi track, but not sure. Thoughts?

[@mr_floydst]

You'd need to buy the 256GB version of this box for Omnisphere. Apart from that, this PC seems to meet the hardware requirements seen on support.spectrasonics.net/manual/Omnisphere2/25/en/topic/get-started-page01

[@комнатасноврадуга]

Да это интересно раньше когда я был менее искушенным в этих делах я рассматривал такие решения на интелатом для себя продолжайте экспериментировать интересно понаблюдать

[@mr_floydst]

Thank you very much!

[@thefumigator]

There was a big synthesizer named neko64 that had an entire PC inside with its own interface. Quite a rare idea at the moment (opteron 64 was released). On the other hand Linux Alsa audio system might have quite decent latency without any add on. And, on the other hand I own an _Windows on ARM_ laptop (Samsung Galaxy go 5G) which I could load super wave vst on lmms daw performing quite nice over x86 emulation, but I have to take a look at those mini PC with touchscreen, or maybe just a "lapdock". It's a quite interesting are of super portable daw setup. There was a time I used musix Linux. Not sure if still under development. Nice video

[@summerlaverdure]

i remember neko64, i thought it was the future 🤣

[@mr_floydst]

Interesting! I totally forgot about that. The Korg Kronos is a PC as well. You can significantly upgrade it by installing an SSD, for example.

[@thefumigator]

@@summerlaverdure well somehow it was the future, as the opteron 64 introduced x64 extensions to the x86 architecture, and it was such a success that we still have them on our PCs. But the thing was absurdly big and it actually was a a big ATX case with a music keyboard mounted on it.

[@SpikeBlighty]

Impressively powerful for such a small form factor. I wonder if Windows Magnifier would aid with the small screen GUI issues. Great video.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! A mouse, a pen with a rubber tip, and the magnifying glass are helpful for operating this tiny screen. But arguably, the best solution for all customers would be a scalable ("responsive") UI as seen on every web page and smartphone app today. I know this is a lot of work for the developers, but it's also been roughly 15 years since the first iPhone launched...

[@SpikeBlighty]

@@mr_floydst Perhaps Microsoft will implement some kind of scale UI override for all apps in Windows 12. They need to work on these features if they want to be competitive in the mobile/tablet space.

[@tellyourstorymusicbyikson]

Would it run Keyscape?

[@mr_floydst]

Keyscape calls for a dual core processor, so I wouldn't count on it www.spectrasonics.net/products/keyscape/index.php#sysreq

[@Yoku-San0]

The Celeron J4125 is actually a quad core processor. Could you please try if Keyscape works with it?

[@sasarasa88]

Great video. Looking to buy one at Amazon in the US, the first reviewer gives a good review but says that the OS comes with a virus and recommends to reinstall. Did you find anything like that in your unit?

[@mr_floydst]

I've read that review, too, but my unit was definitely virus-free. Scroll down a bit and you'll find some other customers objecting this story.

[@SpeccyMan]

Just an FYI, the excellent Valhalla Supermassive has had a recent update to version 3.0.0. Adding two more modes - Leo and Virgo.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for the info!

[@johnharding2912]

I think as an external convolution reverb this would be great (as the latency would be acceptable) also as a matering chain with a vst host plus good eq, compression and or limiting a very affordable option for live tour modular/synth setup.

[@mr_floydst]

yes, that's one of the uses that come to mind. I wouldn't advise to buy this for such tasks specifically if you have an old laptop around which might handle the same things just fine, though. The only advantage then would be the size.

[@dkmu6]

I had old POS mini PC and I use it run DJ software. I tried to run VST but CPU is too weak. Now I'm thinking about SteamDeack or any handheld pc. It is powerful enough and you can also game on it!

[@mr_floydst]

Steam Deck is perfectly capable of running powerful audio software on Windows. It's Linux distro has some audio issues at the moment.

[@DawlessHouseMusic]

Been wanting something like this.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching, once again! I think it's a cool gadget, and I like cool gadgets. It's not suitable for professional audio production, mind you. :-)

[@alexwest909]

Awesome. I'm working on getting the Steam Deck to do this, not sure it can.

[@mr_floydst]

Steam Deck's Linux distribution has some issues with their audio driver which will (at the time of writing) give you major problems with audio applications. If you run Windows on it, it's certainly more powerful than this box here.

[@crestenstclair1286]

I changed my steam deck to windows and did exactly this with ableton. Works great! Kinda slow though

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! Reminds me I still need to try ASIO on my son's Steam Deck :)

[@LdotSdot210]

I feel like this would be cool to make a diy polyend tracker out of

[@mr_floydst]

It should be powerful enough for that.

[@baltimega]

I do this with my steamdeck. I also DJ with the steamdeck as well

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for your feedback! I should try that on my son's Steam Deck one day :)

[@baltimega]

@@mr_floydst yeah, you can do it with built in Linux desktop or dual boot windows. I'm trying to temper my GAS telling myself that I can do this already but that mini computer looks so cool

[@mrz80]

I have an old Acer Chromebook I snagged at a hamfest for $25. Installed a bigger SSD and Xubuntu and dedicated it to portable musical use. Worked well for scoring and VST hosting on a cruise last summer. :D I like having a big touchscreen for my fat fingers and not-young eyesight :)

[@IrregularShed]

Many, many years ago I bought an 8" Windows tablet in a sale. Given it cost £70 it was surprisingly not terrible! But this looks like that, but with significantly better I/O than a single micro USB port 😁 Would love to see VCV rack on something like this. I might have to try myself...

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! I'm collecting some of the feedback and perhaps make a KZbin shorts video showing all my viewer favourites running on this.

[@wirebaby_official]

Yes please@@mr_floydst

[@synaesmedia]

Looks great. Only downside is touch screen. Does it have a spare usb for a mouse?

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! It has 4 USB ports, as shown in the hardware overview part of this video.

[@KiR_3d]

Hi Floyd! IMO you need an outer fan for this PC if you're using it on stress for a long time. AFAIK memory chips (and others) can degrade in such conditions.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! I think we can give this one an all-clear - I had one of those passively cooled PC sticks running non-stop for 5 years running at comparable temperatures. It's still doing well. You won't be able to use the full capacity of your CPU, though - for that, an external cooler is needed indeed.

[@ChrisCadenhead]

I wonder how practical/difficult it would be to build this into a chassis with midi controller knobs (ala korg nanokontrol) with a midi keyboard..you can always use a stylus! haha

[@mr_floydst]

If you have a reasonably big 3D printer, it's a matter of looking up if there's a place in your keyboard to hold this PC, then replicating the top cover of the enclosure in Blender or something, adding a depression or hole where the PC should sit. But for DIY projects, a tiny Intel N100 board with a touch screen that registers as a USB mouse is a better choice probably. There are various "stick pcs" and the Lattepanda MU out there for projects like that. They can run Windows or Linux and are fine for running a bunch of synths simultaneously.

[@kaiyp123]

Great vid! I look to buy it but I wonder can it run Kontakt sample library 10gb size or more, or Keyscape?

[@mr_floydst]

It should - as long as those sample libraries are streaming from disk. I'll try some Kontakt player demo modules and maybe publish a video showing the results.

[@DJKickstarter]

Hi Floyd I Wonder How it would feel using the touch screen on a VSTi synth run through Nano Host or for example Xlutop Chainer.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi! As long as the UI is touch friendly (as seen with the Valhalla plugins here) you should have no problems using the plugins. It's only the standard Windows UI that isn't well-optimized for phone screens. (To give them credit, it actually is in the meantime, but Windows App developers are more experienced with the old GUI so that's what you get)

[@raidmarji]

I have the same computer. Did you try the built in realtik ASIO?

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching and mentioning this! I didn't in this video (I used external audio interfaces instead).

[@raidmarji]

Actually you’ll be shocked when you try it 😊

[@octaviop.4870]

I just bought a very cheap (50usd) mint condition surface pro 3. Haven't tested extensively. But I think it would so much better than this Celeron CPU. You should try that.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, I already notice I should have made it more clear. :) I Usually talk about raspberry pi DIY synths here. People then asked for a PI sized box that can run VST plugins. That's what this PC is. I would not recommend this for professional music production at all.

[@PabloInformation]

@@mr_floydst i would love to See this concept with a supplemental touch screen mini PC taken to the extreme... not just as a live jam toy... but Like a modern day take on the defunct 'muse receptor' idea playing konak libraries heavier sample libraries , heavier modern vst. on something even twice this size on windows or osx would be great to see what is actually possible if you can come up with any ideas or devices to help make this possible. low 2-4ms latency would also be a goal so you could record it along with your hardware instrument but without needing to put all the vst strain on your computer main DAW by doing it this way

[@everythingisopen]

great demo and info, thanks some of the ca. 2012-2015 good i3 and i5 2-in-1 11-13" laptops are getting cheap now and are available refurbished, look for Asus Transformer or Lenovo Yoga f.ex. I can't fathom the need for a 5" like this, only for train or bus commuters perhaps, or office workers with sudden downtime, you know who you are

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! I think the main reason for choosing this is the size - it fits right in with current Volcas and Airas and can also be a power bank. Apart from that, I wouldn't recommend this over a normal sized laptop.

[@iblackfeathers]

i suggest backing up the drivers, then wiping out the higole's drive and re-install windows because they usually arrive with malware. that's the first thing one should do. i have two of these mutibooted with linux and win11 and win10.

[@mr_floydst]

I read those stories as well, but can't confirm. My PC came with a clean OS, no malware, no bloatware.

[@iblackfeathers]

having computers coming from china, you never know what was done with the pre-installed os - especially with windows. just because a virus scanner or malware scanner did not find anything is not reason to assume it’s clean. there are bad stuff designed to evade detection, like stealer logs. that’s why it is best practice to start with that preventative step before moving forward with any device. but if you’re fine with that risk, then i guess that’s a personal choice. at least you’re fully aware of that than unknowingly using a questionable installation you didn’t install yourself. ✌️

[@mr_floydst]

I'll let you know should I ever find out I was wrong :)

[@jas_bataille]

I always wanted to do this. Recommended for pro use or not, I'll use it anyway cuz I'm crazy!!!!!!

[@mr_floydst]

Please make sure the CPU is up to the task first ;) Reaper is white lightweight. Using standalone versions of your synths or a VST host software should work, though.

[@DJKickstarter]

Floyd, Oh yeah, by the way, how is Korg Wavestate Native running on this one?

[@mr_floydst]

At the moment, I'm collecting viewer questions on "will it run xy" and then I'll do another video trying all those programs (if there are free versions of them) My guess is this one will run. It _almost_ ran in the Windows 11 X86 emulator on a Raspberry PI 400.

[@DJCJ999]

It looks like this device with a vat host running a guitar fx processor like line 6 native could replace a pedal board?

[@mr_floydst]

I think latency on the Line 6 will be much better / non-existent. If you don't mind the latency a PC setup will introduce, then yes, this should be able to run some nice effects plugins simultaneously.

[@rossrochford8344]

Cool device, I would probably use a mini pc with a tablet as a screen (vnc)

[@mr_floydst]

It comes with Win 11 professional, so if you're a Windows user, you can RDesktop it (which has a better performance overall and a lower network footprint)

[@meatmeep3462]

I need this but exactly ARM. I need to run MainStage to host VSTs, but no self-building. Touchscreen, small like this... what is the product I need????

[@mr_floydst]

If it needs to be ARM then I think you're best served with a Raspberry PI touch screen enclosure like this amzn.to/3QgBkDd I'm not recommending the exact thing I linked here - it's just an idea what to search for. Isn't Mainstage Apple only? (Read: Will it run on non-Apple hardware?)

[@kopiller]

Interresting concept. I have an idea, can you compare the performance of this device running he mpc software using mpc one as controller and or soundcard vs the mpc one? this will be the most,"in the box out of the box in little boxes" production scenario ;)

[@mr_floydst]

I think I'll do a follow-up video next month testing all my viewers favourite DAWs and synths ;)

[@hellf.o]

Awesome..!

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching!

[@Synth_chump]

interesting video. The question that comes to mind is whether or not it can run VST plugins, especially in standalone mode. The reason i would want to know that is because that's where all the best synth sounds are located. I still don't know the answer. As for running a Daw on Windows, a comparison with roland zenbeats on android would be useful. Zenbeats has a very practical screen layout for those like me with fat fingers and poor eyesight, but can't run VSTs and you have to pay to access the roland plugins.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! I'm not sure if we're misunderstanding each other, but in the video I use a lot of VST plugins... So yes, it can run them, both in a DAW and in standalone mode, if there is one. (Or if you were meaning a Raspberry Pi with "it" - it kind of can do that with an X86 emulator as shown in one of my previous videos using BOX86, kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWGXeaStftyXmdE or Windows on ARM (kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYWzZGyYg8SMqZY ) The comparison to a smartphone is an interesting idea, thank you. I'll consider it.

[@mudi2000a]

Zenbeats also runs on Windows with the benefit that you can also use Windows VST plugins.

[@FSK1138]

i would like to see this computer running ubuntu studio .. for me on low powered windows machines ....image line minihost modular or savihost let me play vst with low overhead ... a bit of asio 4all would also help 😉look into mini pcs they are very affordable and pack alot of power .. 7 inch touch screens are also very cheap

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! In the part on latency, I'm using ASIO4ALL (with the best results)... And I already made several videos on mini PCs but those don't look interesting enough on KZbin thumbnails so no one clicked on that. This PC here has a good design though, which is really important nowadays. I won't install Linux on this box, but usually, I talk about Linux on RasPi (and other microcomputers). ;-)

[@FSK1138]

​@@mr_floydst i checked the cpu on passmark and it is not that bad more than enough for VCV , Reaktor or sunvox may be give "tiny 11" a try 😉 it is very light

[@DetroitMicroSound]

I'm very curious how well this can run a CPU-hungry Caustic 3, that I REALLY wish he would make updates for.... ? Would you be willing to test that for me, on your device? I bet you really love your S-1, don't you? It's worth a lot more than it's price tag, imho. I use mine, heavily.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! No problem - I'll install it and tell you about my experiences ;)

[@DetroitMicroSound]

Nice! Thank you! Maybe you can also contact him, and encourage him to resume development of Caustic? 😉It truly is an excellent piece of software, and runs beautifully on Android. I have not used it much in the last few years, as I really only use dedicated hardware, and Caustic really isn't very capable where MIDI is concerned. It's such a shame, to see such great software, get abandoned. It's possible to gig, just playing Caustic on a couple devices. They can even be older devices, without much power or speed.@@mr_floydst

[@smck3y]

is it the daw" reaper" which make the plugin solution do smal. cause this mini pc looks like windows is smaler than 50%skaling. i mean windows allows only more skaling 100%-200% .

[@mr_floydst]

Might be! (I only used Reaper in recent years, and only for mastering the tracks I created on MPC - so I'm not 100% sure)

[@davealley1753]

So... I tour as a lead singer and rhythm guitar player in a progressive band. I play a midi controller ro run a vocal processor as a vocoder (tc helicon VK mounted on mic stand...) sometimes im asked to play additional synths and such. Ive SPECIFICALLY been looking for somerhing like this. I want ro gey all my gear onto a guitar oedal board... Guitar rig, a synth of some kind and my vical processor. Ive been contemplating an iOS device or something, but this is kinda awsome lol

[@mr_floydst]

This is a great PC, but please check the hardware requirements of your software before buying ;-) This is a single-core CPU. In my experience, this was no problem as long as you don't stack too many plugins. Also, if you need an audio input, you'll need space for an audio interface. (I used a cheap $10 one, but those tend to have MIC in, not LINE in).

[@OliverThiele]

Just curoius how it handle 6 audiostreams simultanous. It would be a nice little solution to bring a guitar with a single-string pickup on stage.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for watching! Unfortunately, I don't own such pickups. I could try to record 6 audio tracks over USB with my R20, though, which I assume is the same thing on a technical level.

[@robman80808]

I wonder if there's a program that lets you make your own multipage GUI for VST plugins?

[@mr_floydst]

Yes, there is! I'll have a video about that next week.

[@mr_floydst]

Here's a link openstagecontrol.ammd.net/

[@robman80808]

ooh, I hope it works with VST parameters rather than just MIDI and OSC. My ideal situation is something that lets you add a GUI to the VST parameters the the plugin exposes. Kind of like VSTHOST's option to directly edit the parameters, but with a configurable gui and saveable presets.

[@p_mouse8676]

I have seen similar setups with x86 based tablets or laptops hybrids with a touchscreen.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching - and yes, of course! And those propably will work better for most people. This video wasn't made to sell this particular PC... It is a response to people who asked me if there's a "Raspberry Pi sized box that can run VST plugins". This PC is exactly that.

[@p_mouse8676]

@@mr_floydst if it's just a rasp pi sized box, without a display etc, I think these newer Intel N100 mini PC's are probably fine as well! Might be interesting to do a video on it! Just in general about what's available these days, things go so fast!

[@mr_floydst]

@@p_mouse8676 The aim here was to show a "box" that sits well in a typical Volca/desktop synth setup: Battery powered, touchscreen, lots of USB ports. This thing is quite good for this! The INTEL NUCs are good computers, but need an external screen and power supply.

[@martinkaiser5263]

Would be nice if there is something similar for MAc os and AU plugins

[@mr_floydst]

A mini Mac Mini? :)

[@Meskazy]

Im using a steamdeck for this. I use my osmose to play softsynths like Diva.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks! That's one thing I need to try as well. Got to borrow my son's Steam Deck for a day ;)

[@Meskazy]

@@mr_floydst the tiny pc looks more convienent with all the in- and outputs as the steamdeck needs a dock. But it works even my osmose can control the diva via the steamdeck.

[@foolycooly6738]

B-b-but you could just use a laptop with a daw, and it would be much more comfortable, so what's the point?

[@mr_floydst]

You are right, but this video was specifically made for my viewers who asked for "a Raspberry PI sized box that can run my favourite VST plugins" - as explained in the opening speech ;)

[@foolycooly6738]

@@mr_floydst Sorry then, i have missed it!

[@DennisCaunce]

I'd love to build a Vital synth hardware synth...

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! I'm collecting some suggestions at the moment and perhaps I'll do a video / live stream before the end of the year testing some of my viewers favourite plugins (if there are demos and the bloatware that comes with free versions isn't too bad)

[@cleekersneaker]

But will it crash a lot in a few months?

[@mr_floydst]

I don't think so. The temperature is well within the specifications, and passively cooled PC-on-a-Stick systems have been around for some years.

[@henrikgustav2294]

Im amazed by the latency. Even my $1400 lenovo struggles with latency

[@mr_floydst]

Latency is really depending on the driver, buffer size (smaller =better) and sample rate (higher =better)

[@arcanics1971]

Cool.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks!

[@WingWiraAdimas]

was planning to search good windows vst as my coding break . . . back to tech again . . . hmmm . . .felt like work

[@mr_floydst]

Pardon, I do not understand - are you planning to start VST coding? Windows is not the worst place to start with that... ;-)

[@shroomatic]

cool track tho, where to purchase?)

[@mr_floydst]

I'm sorry, all the tracks in this video were either improvised or work-in-progress. If you're searching for the inspiration for the opening track: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZizkmOOeJeabMU

[@mr_floydst]

My Bandcamp page is here: floydsteinberg.bandcamp.com

[@fakshen1973]

I found this with Windows 11 pre-installed for like $300US. That is the magic price point to be honest.

[@mr_floydst]

It's an appropriate price for what you get. The CPU is a bit underpowered perhaps, but on the other hand, a passively cooled system has it's advantages.

[@pianokeyjoe]

Dor PCs using WINDOWS, I suggest iCore or core 2 cpus with 4GB ram or more and Windows 7 or LINUX. For daw with vsts? FL STUDIO. I have tested quite a few fanless PCs with this setup running atop of SSD or CF cards and it is surprising the performance I get. I would never try a CELERON. Thats just cruel lol. I did try intel Atom though.. can not hardly even play midi with such a device.. So mileage WILL vary. The demo song in FL studio that loads up when you first install and run it, is a great tester song and quite heavy so if the unit setup is not upto par, you will find out asap with that demo song. Windows 10 and 11 is too heavy an OS to make a "just enough OS" Daw setup. In Linux you can do that on PI and on x86 and you can run lv2 and vsts.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for your insights! You're running into open doors here. :-) I usually talk about Linux and PI but this video is made for my viewers who are in search for "a very small, PI-like solution that can run my favourite plugins". This PC fits that bill. I won't recommend it for serious music production, but if you want to power some Volcas, use a nice reverb and record your "jam", it will handle that for sure.

[@valley_robot]

I want one for my mashine mikro

[@mr_floydst]

That's a great idea! Please make sure it meets their minimum recommendations. The Celeron CPU is a single core processor, and a lot of DAWs require dual core minimum.

[@davidosolo]

Interesting. But I stick to an iPad for this kind of setups. It’s software is better adapted to the smaller screen.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! This is true, the small screen is very fiddly and Windows in general still isn't well-optimized for phone-sized screens. But then again, it can run all the plugins, not only those found in the app store, and I think that's what people were asking for in my other videos.

[@davidosolo]

@@mr_floydst Fair enough Mr. Floyd. BTW: great video. A lot of fun to watch!

[@iliavr]

Surely, Reaper allows you to tweak interface scaling beyond what Windows can

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for your feedback. I've tried to find an option for main menu font size in the Theme editor but didn't find anything, and in the forum people are basically like "yo rtfm dude". ;-) Any ideas how to change it?

[@susdj]

I would try bitwig with this instead. Bitwig has a UI actually optimized for tablet/touch

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for your suggestion!

[@BrandonHortman]

What about elk audio os tho?

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for your feedback! This is the first time I heard about this - super interesting! I'll cover it one way or the other on this channel for sure!

[@praveenfernando717]

Is this higole1 pro ?

[@mr_floydst]

Yes, it is.

[@TheBroDotTV]

Nice idea but about £330 too expensive 😂

[@mr_floydst]

You're right, three-three-oh pounds _is_ way too expensive! 😲

[@TheBroDotTV]

@@mr_floydst You know if it's 10 inch and a faster processor it'd be good for say Live.

[@praveenfernando717]

can I run native instruments Kontakt here

[@mr_floydst]

Yes, it's possible. I'm using it for my EWI virtual Clarinets and so on (which is nice, you can just place this PC in the pocket of your jacket while playing)

[@praveenfernando717]

@@mr_floydst im gonna try the cracked version 🥲 and i have rpi 4B 4GB version 🥲 gonna give this a try

[@AnggerCahyo]

that tiny yellow submarine...

[@mr_floydst]

:-)

[@Technonsia]

u he vst synths, this is what I am looking for.

[@mr_floydst]

From their web page: "Host software / DAW 1GB RAM, more recommended 1000 × 600 or larger display 290-830 MB free disk space Modern CPU required: Windows/Linux: Intel Nehalem or newer, AMD Bulldozer or newer Mac: Intel Nehalem or newer, Apple M1 Linux: glibc version 2.28 or newer" yep. That should work just fine.

[@lukeskywalker2656]

Huuu ❤‍🔥 thats hot... ✨

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

Is it cheaper than a small Surface? Because if it isn't, just use a Windows tablet instead.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, thanks for sharing your opinion - it is cheaper than a small Surface tablet, but I did a short intro speech there on why I made this video (and I also posted a comment and wrote it in the video's description). :-)

[@lukeskywalker2656]

USB-C ✨

[@mr_floydst]

It's a USB-C shaped 12V input! Don't use that power adapter with other machines ;)

[@gelatinous6915]

We've really come full circle, huh...

[@mr_floydst]

Yeah, but here comes the recursion :-)

[@gelatinous6915]

Someday, people will rediscover how nice it actually is to have a synth on your laptop capable of doing literally everything while sounding better than hardware@@mr_floydst

[@solartonytony5868]

@5:45min ...try a small usb wireless mouse ....

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for your feedback! Yes, but the point of that part of the video was to show that using the default Windows UI still is painful. Most plugins (like Valhalla's here) are optimized for touch screens, but DAW developers on Windows didn't see the need yet.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

You need to use a pen. I think one twice the size would be better.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching - yeah, some viewers suggested that already. A pen is a great thing to have and then to forget at home ;)

[@hervevazeilles3790]

Why not use a portable gaming PC ? or a tablet PC or 2 in one? You could have way better performance, more battery life, better usability and only slightly bigger footprint. You can find actual descent laptop PC that convert in tablet mode or are tablets, with real hardware cpu in any size from 6 inches to 17 inches for a budget of 500 to 3000 euro. A 800 euro 9 inches real pc beast would make more sense. Than this. I am building my setup using a lenovo legion go inside an Akai Mpk mini plus midi keyboard case.

[@mr_floydst]

Hi, as explained in my Intro speech, I usually show Raspberry pi based DIY synths here and then people started asking for a PI-sized box that can run their fav plugins. That's what this PC is. It's not meant for professional music production.

[@trancemuter]

cute but unless you like to mess around with a microscope lol something a little bigger would be more useful… it is amazing these days they can put full windows on such tiny spaces.

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! Yes, that screen is tiny, but if the UI of your plugins is touch friendly (read: Valhalla Plugins), this box can e.g. take the role of an effects pedal. I think that's what my viewers who originally asked for a solution like this were looking for.

[@moltenwood]

Intel, Intel, Intel..... AMD?

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! I'm not sponsored by Intel, but it just so happens this box here has a Celeron chip inside. ;-)

[@kirkanos771]

just plug a mouse in that thing :D

[@mr_floydst]

Yep, that's one solution (one of those pens with a rubber tip is another one). The best solution would be Microsoft making their OS phone screen friendly already. It's been 15 years since the iPhone 1...

[@iamtrevorlang]

Looks like a piece junk… didn’t work like ten different times in the video.. just use an iPad or get that 1010 mixer unit…

[@mr_floydst]

Thanks for watching! Neither of these two devices will run "my favourite VST plugin on a Raspberry Pi sized box with a touch screen", which was the question that led to the making of this video.