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For those using eDRUMin, I assume that you're also using a VST on a computer.

I was wondering if there's some tips for the setup so it won't take long to start playing. I heard a lot of people complaining that they don't want to use a VST to avoid booting up a computer.

But since you're are doing it, I'm sure you have developed a quick way to be ready to Drum ? What setup do you have to do this ?

Except for when I go on vacation, I haven't left my computer off for years.

Rob wrote:Except for when I go on vacation, I haven't left my computer off for years.

Really good Idea

So it's like in sleep mode ?

No. I just turn my monitor off.

I live in a pretty humid environment and I suspect leaving my computer on actually extends its life.

Same here... never turn it off. Turn off the monitor and walk away. It eventually does go to sleep for which I just simply wake it up and it is good to go.

For those times I may need to reboot or something I have SD3 in my start up folder so it starts without any interaction from me. It probably takes about 40 seconds from power on to ready to drum. It takes me that long to get comfortable on the throne, get my headphones on and stretch a little.

The entire “VST needs a laptop and it is a bunch of trouble” is overblown in my opinion. Seems when I watch a video of a Roland or PMP owner there is a laptop in the background running a DAW playing loops or what not.

I use an Intel NUC and printed up a nice little case for it and two ED10s that all mounts to my rack. It is all nice and tight.

I too almost never turn off my laptop. On the occasion that I do need to switch between standalone and Logic Pro, sure, it takes a couple minutes to load everything (it’s an ancient 2009 MacBook) but that’s fine. I can use that time to make sure everything is routed for what I want to do, pour myself a beer, stretch, whatever.

The immediate playability of a module is nice but I’ll happily trade it for the superior (pun not intended) experience of the eDrumIn and a VST.

In 2020 boot times are irrelevant. My Windows devices all boot in about 4 seconds. Here's how:

1. SSD. Forget about mechanical spinning hard disks. Upgrade to a SSD drive. This will make the greatest speed increase.

2. Bloatware. All shop bought devices come with unnecessary crap installed. The only way to deal with this properly is to wipe the device and install a vanilla copy of Windows. I'm now in the habit of doing this with any new laptop before I even boot it for the first time. (If you're concerned about losing data, then you have a poor backup strategy that needs to be addressed anyway. Your device needs to be able to fail or get damaged without causing you any concern)

My wiping strategy:
- Get a 16GB+ USB
- Download Windows Media Creation Tool (Google is your friend)
- Create USB install media.
- Boot from USB (usually mashing F12 or F9, depending on brand - again Google is your friend)
- Delete ALL partitions
- Install offline ("I don't have Internet" / "Continue with limited setup")
- Connect to WiFi once booted
- Keep running Windows update until its all done

Whole process takes about half an hour.

Your Windows license is attached the hardware ID, so there's no activation or anything like that necessary.

If you're also running iTunes, or Adobe Creative Cloud (or pretty much any software nowadays), then ctrl + alt + delete, load task manager and turn off everything that boots at startup. You won't be missing anything. CCleaner can also help tidy this up, although ironically it now boots at startup, so you have to disable that 'feature'.

Oh, and remove ALL virus / malware scanners completely by uninstalling them. It's 2020, all you need is Windows Defender (which is built into Windows 10). It's silent and unobtrusive, and just works.

Also add Ublock Origin, and Windows Defender as a Internet browser extension to avoid having any nonsense downloaded that will slow down your system.

Excellent advice. Same applies to MacOS. (It does come with a number of pre-installed apps, but they don't take up much space. I wouldn't bother removing them. Just don't ever run them.)

I realize not everyone has the luxury of having a dedicated music computer, but if you do, don't use it for anything else. I am using my old laptop for music production. It runs Logic Pro, Superior Drummer 3, eDrumIn control, some audio/midi utilities, and that's pretty much it.
Internet is only enabled for downloading updates and occasional Dropbox syncing/network backup. It's off by default.

I maxed out the RAM and installed an SSD. That's key. The system boots up in under a minute.

I'm in the business of supporting small business IT. We have seen that leaving business computers running extends their life. Our clients that are very energy conscious (turn PC's completely off every night) have many more hardware failures. Of course we're biased towards leaving them on because we can connect at night to get updates and security patches done. My argument is that the manufacturing processes and disposal process are very energy intensive so using the computer more years saves more energy in the end.

There is a remove bloatware script for Windows 10 that makes boot times faster and the computer will run better.

My helpsheet for this:
Credit for bloatware removal Powershell script goes to user CSAND on http://www.spiceworks.com
Look towards the bottom for the files:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g8lsl9r3u6yx ... lXB7a?dl=0

Read the Glitch Free PDF by Brad Robinson, developer of Cantabile:
https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree/
(about turning off many power management settings for cpu, drive and usb and other tweaks)

I can hit the sleep button on my 8 year old Lenovo X230 (I think it's F10) and it powers off the monitor and sleeps - when I tap any key it wakes up and plays fine. Takes just a few seconds. I wouldn't do that for a gig but when practicing it seems fine. I purposely power cycle at least once a week because I believe over time the sleep/wake cycle with VST host and SD running can result in wonky behavior. I have Wi-Fi set to not connect automatically. I purposely connect if I need an update.

dsteinschneider wrote:I'm in the business of supporting small business IT. We have seen that leaving business computers running extends their life. Our clients that are very energy conscious (turn PC's completely off every night) have many more hardware failures. Of course we're biased towards leaving them on because we can connect at night to get updates and security patches done. My argument is that the manufacturing processes and disposal process are very energy intensive so using the computer more years saves more energy in the end.

There is a remove bloatware script for Windows 10 that makes boot times faster and the computer will run better.

My helpsheet for this:
Credit for bloatware removal Powershell script goes to user CSAND on http://www.spiceworks.com
Look towards the bottom for the files:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g8lsl9r3u6yx ... lXB7a?dl=0

Read the Glitch Free PDF by Brad Robinson, developer of Cantabile:
https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree/
(about turning off many power management settings for cpu, drive and usb and other tweaks)

I can hit the sleep button on my 8 year old Lenovo X230 (I think it's F10) and it powers off the monitor and sleeps - when I tap any key it wakes up and plays fine. Takes just a few seconds. I wouldn't do that for a gig but when practicing it seems fine. I purposely power cycle at least once a week because I believe over time the sleep/wake cycle with VST host and SD running can result in wonky behavior. I have Wi-Fi set to not connect automatically. I purposely connect if I need an update.

All very interesting, thanks for sharing.

I recently discovered BloatBox as a UI option for removing some Windows 10 bloat (as opposed to manufacturer bloat). https://www.builtbybel.com/ms-apps/bloatbox

I found it too easily disabled more than wanted - I couldn't work my camera for Skype drum lessons for example, but for some it might be a useful tool.