Orange Pi 5 + Elk Audio + DAC

[AudioBabble]

Just finding out about this kind of thing....

My aim would be to make a standalone mini-computer for the specific task of running vst plugins for guitar -- amp modeller, fx pedal emulations, etc. Why? because, despite having a reasonably decent laptop (i7 10th gen quad core), I'm finding that some of the plugins I'd like to use are maxing out my processor if I also want good short latency. It would also open up huge possibilities for portability and live performance of course.

I stumbled across an interesting project that talked about using ELK audio OS on a raspberry Pi to run VST plugins for a guitar amp modeller project: https://github.com/GuitarML/NeuralPi

So I looked into Raspberry Pi specs... found them to be good but still a bit lacking in power... so on to a much more powerful beast: http://www.orangepi.org/html/hardWare/c ... -Pi-5.html

This apparently comes with their own Orange 'android' style OS, but apparently can also run Debian.

So I got to wondering if ELK audio OS, being a linux derivative, might actually run on an Orange Pi.
(possibly a question for the folks at ELK)

Final piece of the puzzle: a DAC. What I'm pondering is if a normal USB audio interface could be plugged into the Orange Pi... seems theoretically possible if the necessary drivers can be loaded.

Anyway, obviously I'm mostly thinking out loud here and will be looking into all this more thoroughly... Just thought this might be a good place to mention it, in case anyone else has been down this path already, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts

[sin night]

First and most important piece of the puzzle: are those vst plugins you plan to use avaible for Linux and the cpu architecture of the machine (since you’re looking at Raspberry PI)? Otherwise, do you have access to the source code in order to compile them by yourself? Otherwise, are you going to be happy with whatever software alternative it’s avaible for the platform you’re choosing? If the answer to all these questions is “no”, then it’s nor really worth looking any further into Raspberry & co…

[whyterabbyt]

So I got to wondering if ELK audio OS, being a linux derivative, might actually run on an Orange Pi.
(possibly a question for the folks at ELK)

yeah, it might, but someone would have to write device drivers for the components of the Orange Pi board, and ensures the Elk-specific changes to the OS run on that hardware.

not trivial.

stick to the pi if you want cheap, relatively-hackable DIY, but consider an Intel NUC running windows if you want easy hardware and plugin access.