I thought I would start a thread dedicated to alternative upgrades for the Receptor (not just the Receptor 1 either), and I will start with a relatively simple, inexpensive, and powerful upgrade for the Receptor 1:
AMN4000BKXSBU AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2.6GHz Mobile PC CPU
I have been using this cpu for many months now, and it is indeed a very nice performance boost. I was able to find mine for $35 (add $8 for thermal paste) and the rest was about an hour of labor. Replacing the cpu will reset the authorizations on most software that is tied to a system ID (like Native Instruments and Pianoteq), but it was just a matter of re-authorizing via the Internet for me.
I did use this with my OS 1.7 Receptor until I completed my aMusing Replacer OS, so it will work for you even if you want to stay with your original Receptor OS.
Another upgrade that substantially improved my Receptor performance was an upgrade to a 1TB SATA hard drive. This improved start-up times by 40% for me, and the added storage was very welcome. You will have to go into the BIOS to change the configuration to SATA, and you will have to image your current drive using something like Clonezilla, so it is a bit more work...but well worth it.
And of course, the aMusing Replacer will work with any Receptor! This upgrade opens up the possibility of an i7 motherboard, 64 bit OS, more than 2 GIG of RAM, professional audio hardware, etc.
I will add more to this thread as I finalize my tests.
JR
Upgrades for the Receptor
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- KVRist
- 411 posts since 25 Apr, 2007 from Northern CA
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- KVRist
- 184 posts since 28 Apr, 2004
Love it, love it, love it! Keep us posted on your progress. I may actually be able to use my paperweight, erm, Receptor for what it was originally intended (and more importantly) what it will never do in native OS 1.7!!
Cheers!
projektio
Cheers!
projektio
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- KVRist
- 44 posts since 6 Mar, 2010
John Rules the world!
-Vm
-Vm
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 411 posts since 25 Apr, 2007 from Northern CA
After much experimenting, I would like to share my thoughts on upgrading the Receptor hardware:
- If you are going to add a firewire card, get a card that has flush connectors on the (removable) faceplate, and a horizontal connector on the card so the cable can run from the back (rather than an angled connector out of the top).
- Remove the Receptor audio card to save some power since a new hard-drive/cpu will most likely tax your power supply. The Receptor audio card has no drivers at this time, and you will have to find an alternative.
- You can cut out the parallel port connector space on the rear face plate rather nicely to run cables in/out of the Receptor. Removing the Receptor audio card will also give you a few holes to run cables in/out of without modifying the case at all.
- Replace the Receptor audio card with a USB solution (or motherboard audio). This will be much more compatible with other systems, including Linux.
- You can use the optional audio header on the motherboard (i.e. front panel audio) to get simple stereo IO from the Receptor, and there is a digital connection (output) and AUX connection (input) as well. You will have to locate these cables from a supplier, but the cost may not be worth it compared to simply buying an inexpensive USB interface.
- It is possible to use the on-board audio of a new motherboard only. The quality of the hardware has improved greatly since the "2003" Receptor audio card was developed, and is very often better.
- You can use ReaMote for digital IO when you need quality (i.e. in the studio) and usb or motherboard audio for performance (i.e. live).
- You can do incremental upgrades such as a new cpu, firewire card, etc. but it is probably more cost effective to just get a whole new motherboard/cpu/memory configuration if that is your ultimate goal.
- The combination of Bidule/VNC/ReaMote/aMusing Replacer effectively replaces all of the software technologies of the Receptor on both Windows and Linux. I prefer Windows because of the slight performance advantage, and the greater compatibility. It's not worth saving $75 (or so) to use a free operating system in my opinion, but it is certainly acceptable.
- Use Ubuntu Studio 9.10 (x86) for the best experience with a Linux DAW operating system. It uses a real-time kernel, so you get a slight advantage of hardware performance, and you have the desktop environment to work within. You need to add the wine/asio functionality yourself, but it is relatively simple.
For me personally, I spent $40 on a 1TB hard drive, and $35 on a new 2.6 Ghz cpu to upgrade my Receptor 1 (socket 754 MSI K8MM3-V motherboard). I had an extra usb interface, and an extra copy of Windows, but I did buy Reaper for $40 and Bidule for $60. So, I basically upgraded my own Receptor to something not only more usable, but actually quite astounding, for about $175. I can't express the satisfaction I have whenever I power up my new "Replacer"!
From here I am going to wait for USB 3 and SSD compatibility, and then upgrade to a new i7 (or better) motherboard and Windows 7/8 in the near future. I will have to consider heat and power requirements at that point, but the Receptor case is designed fairly well for heat dispensation...one of the reasons I continue to use it. The front panel is also very welcome for field use, but an iPod/iPhone and VNC works just fine too.
JR
- If you are going to add a firewire card, get a card that has flush connectors on the (removable) faceplate, and a horizontal connector on the card so the cable can run from the back (rather than an angled connector out of the top).
- Remove the Receptor audio card to save some power since a new hard-drive/cpu will most likely tax your power supply. The Receptor audio card has no drivers at this time, and you will have to find an alternative.
- You can cut out the parallel port connector space on the rear face plate rather nicely to run cables in/out of the Receptor. Removing the Receptor audio card will also give you a few holes to run cables in/out of without modifying the case at all.
- Replace the Receptor audio card with a USB solution (or motherboard audio). This will be much more compatible with other systems, including Linux.
- You can use the optional audio header on the motherboard (i.e. front panel audio) to get simple stereo IO from the Receptor, and there is a digital connection (output) and AUX connection (input) as well. You will have to locate these cables from a supplier, but the cost may not be worth it compared to simply buying an inexpensive USB interface.
- It is possible to use the on-board audio of a new motherboard only. The quality of the hardware has improved greatly since the "2003" Receptor audio card was developed, and is very often better.
- You can use ReaMote for digital IO when you need quality (i.e. in the studio) and usb or motherboard audio for performance (i.e. live).
- You can do incremental upgrades such as a new cpu, firewire card, etc. but it is probably more cost effective to just get a whole new motherboard/cpu/memory configuration if that is your ultimate goal.
- The combination of Bidule/VNC/ReaMote/aMusing Replacer effectively replaces all of the software technologies of the Receptor on both Windows and Linux. I prefer Windows because of the slight performance advantage, and the greater compatibility. It's not worth saving $75 (or so) to use a free operating system in my opinion, but it is certainly acceptable.
- Use Ubuntu Studio 9.10 (x86) for the best experience with a Linux DAW operating system. It uses a real-time kernel, so you get a slight advantage of hardware performance, and you have the desktop environment to work within. You need to add the wine/asio functionality yourself, but it is relatively simple.
For me personally, I spent $40 on a 1TB hard drive, and $35 on a new 2.6 Ghz cpu to upgrade my Receptor 1 (socket 754 MSI K8MM3-V motherboard). I had an extra usb interface, and an extra copy of Windows, but I did buy Reaper for $40 and Bidule for $60. So, I basically upgraded my own Receptor to something not only more usable, but actually quite astounding, for about $175. I can't express the satisfaction I have whenever I power up my new "Replacer"!
From here I am going to wait for USB 3 and SSD compatibility, and then upgrade to a new i7 (or better) motherboard and Windows 7/8 in the near future. I will have to consider heat and power requirements at that point, but the Receptor case is designed fairly well for heat dispensation...one of the reasons I continue to use it. The front panel is also very welcome for field use, but an iPod/iPhone and VNC works just fine too.
JR
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- KVRian
- 581 posts since 30 Nov, 2008 from Denver CO USA
Why would you keep the original case. Why not find a better solution that allows you to attach the front panel but gives you more space for ventilation and hardware. You could get a 3U case that would allow you to install a PSU with more power and less noise. I know this is above and beyond your scope and focus, but the original case becomes quite restrictive when considering these upgrades.
Throbert
Throbert
A minor scale is a major scale starting 3 half steps down from the major and visa versa. Any Chord has as many versions as it has notes.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 411 posts since 25 Apr, 2007 from Northern CA
Yes, I agree.Throbert wrote:Why would you keep the original case. Why not find a better solution that allows you to attach the front panel but gives you more space for ventilation and hardware. You could get a 3U case that would allow you to install a PSU with more power and less noise. I know this is above and beyond your scope and focus, but the original case becomes quite restrictive when considering these upgrades.
Throbert
However, if you put a dollar value on the Receptor case, front panel, and power supply I suppose you could say you were saving about $500 dollars...
Personally, I will buy a laptop or tablet pc rather than invest in rackmount hardware again.
I do have an old Oasys pci that I would love to retrofit though
JR
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- KVRian
- 581 posts since 30 Nov, 2008 from Denver CO USA
I have had a couple of racks built for me but I now build my own after relizing how easy they go together. There are plenty who will argue that rack mounts are bad for PC cases but my last two builds were a pleasure. I was able to mount three fans in side, a good Cpu cooler as well as a couple of exhaust fans. I get arguments over how bad the ventilation is but I just put a liitle thought into putting them together and they stay plenty cool even with the fans slowed down. Slid them in my rack and they have been living quite happy with little to no issues. So yea I could build a nice 2 unit with a all in one MOBO, but that means a noisey PSU and room for at the most 2 cards. the smallest I'll build is a three unit because I can find a decent PSU with a quiet 80mm fan in it and if I had to i could put a regular PSU in but that would mean exhasting throught the front giving less room for drives or going to a 4U case. I.ve been using Noctua fans, Zalman CPU coolers, case dampening acoustifoam and foam lined drive cases and have had no problem with heat or noise. pretty much all general off the shelf stuff.
A minor scale is a major scale starting 3 half steps down from the major and visa versa. Any Chord has as many versions as it has notes.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 411 posts since 25 Apr, 2007 from Northern CA
This is all great info Throbert, but I am not sure how this relates to "Upgrades for the Receptor"...this is more like "How to replace the Receptor" adviceThrobert wrote:I have had a couple of racks built for me but I now build my own after relizing how easy they go together. There are plenty who will argue that rack mounts are bad for PC cases but my last two builds were a pleasure...
I wanted to provide information on incremental upgrades and tweaks to the Receptor (1 or 2, but mostly 1) in this thread. I suppose if someone wants to take the face-plate off of a Receptor and build a custom case this information could be handy. Maybe we could apply some of your 'quieting' techniques to the current Receptor case? Have you put your Receptor case in the closet then?
JR
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- KVRian
- 581 posts since 30 Nov, 2008 from Denver CO USA
OK,OK, I guess I was getting OT on you, I was just trying to explain why a bigger case and why a rackmount at that. Please excuse my rambing on.
LOL... Put it in the closet, no not yet.
LOL... Put it in the closet, no not yet.
A minor scale is a major scale starting 3 half steps down from the major and visa versa. Any Chord has as many versions as it has notes.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 411 posts since 25 Apr, 2007 from Northern CA
No excuse required...just wondered where we were going.Throbert wrote:OK,OK, I guess I was getting OT on you, I was just trying to explain why a bigger case and why a rackmount at that. Please excuse my rambing on.
LOL... Put it in the closet, no not yet.
Actually, after replacing the mobo, cpu, ram, power supply etc. the only thing left is the front plate (more or less). I do agree that the Receptor case is quite confining, so it might be worth looking into (replacing the whole case that is). I only use a few controls on the front anyway, so this may lead to a custom user panel too.
Rambling sometimes provides useful information, so ramble away!
JR