I'm looking into a new PC for live performance. I'm really drawn to the small form factor PCs... was considering a Mac Mini when I found this.

The sad thing is, I bought an HP a few years ago thinking I was getting a great bang for the buck, but the thing overheats like mad and bottlenecks. I use that to run Resolume and an even older Dell to run my Connectiv and Ableton because it doesn't have the same problem as the HP.

The wide response to the question of a mini pc vs a laptop is the fact that you need a monitor, hence more of a mess. My plan is to use a flat touch screen and mini keyboard, with the CPU out of view. Daft Punk used Live in this fashion inside of their pyramid.

I'm also looking at a new DJ mixer. The Allen & Heath Xone:4D would be ideal, but a bit pricey. The Xone:22 on the other hand is affordable and so I think I'm going with that.

But I mean, take a look at this beast (4D)...





$2,700 is a bit much to 'oops...' but built in audio and midi on an Allen & Heath? Something like this is what I've imagined for years (I know it's been out for a while).



Anyway...

'Rain Event' is a funny name for a computer, but they claim it is tested and certified with Live, etc.

It supports two 8 Gb sticks of RAM, and has a Radeon GPU (not integrated, which is good).

I am going to hassle their phone sales department tomorrow.


Thoughts?

This is actually one of the touch screens I was looking at. The configuration here uses a Mac Mini.

this looks very fun, i dont know much about hardware but i want to play with this stuff =D haha good luck with your purchases

Just curious... why a small form factor desktop and not a powerful laptop? There's a HUGE difference between a custom audio laptop and an HP. Most factory built laptops don't have sufficient ventilation for audio performance. I've performed on Dell, IBM, Samsung and a custom built audio workstation. In the end they all performed differently with relatively the same spec. The Samsung had awful audio glitches (even with an interface plugged in), the Dell couldn't handle the heat, the custom machine was huge and didn't work well as a portable, and it turned out that the IBM thinkpad is a rock solid beast when it comes to live performance.

You could be saving money, weight and space if you stick to a laptop.

I expected this question.

Believe me, I realized my blunder with the HP as soon as I hooked it up.

The Rain Event is $699. It's a little bigger than the Mac Mini. It is a custom built audio PC. As I mentioned, I would like to have the screen flat on the table. A standard rule for performing art is to 'never have your back to the audience.' A laptop lid is only a slight barrier. However, removing it means there is nothing blocking your visual connection with the audience. I also wouldn't mind if the audience had no idea what I was running.

I have a Wacom tablet for touch control if the touchscreen idea doesn't work out. In any case I don't want to be messing with the mouse a whole lot.

That's understandable. I guess my only concern at that point would be whether the specs for the Rain mini will meet the processing demand of a live rig.

It's got a core duo (not bad but you may want to run a quad core...) and 1gb of ram (huge red flag there). For a live rig I'd think you'd be looking for at LEAST 2 gb of ram.

Dude my buddy is selling a Xone:4D, and I'm pretty sure he said $1200. I could have heard wrong, but I can ask. He just listed it on Ebay. But it's 100% good, and a dope piece of gear. That might be more immediate than you were thinking, but lemme know if you wanna check it out.