Octave Technologies Haricane (modeling-ready Win 11 host in a small enclosure)

[Sascha Franck]

Has anyone seen this already?

Octave Technologies

octavetech.eu

Very interesting IMO.
According to their FB page, you seem to be able to run Gig Performer on it and it also seems to be quite powerful.

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Also, IMO the concept in general is great, the device is made so you can slap it onto a mic stand, ready to be controlled within hands reach (the only downside being that there's no physical knobs for adjustments, but maybe you could add a 3rd party knob controller seamlessly), then there's an additional floor controller with switches (apparently coming with the device). That's a lot of what the doctor ordered already, right, @laxu?

Price so far is $798, which, in case the machine is a) comparatively powerful, b) sturdy, c) delivering low latency, could almost be considered a steal.

 

[BenIfin]

This *could* be a great platform to run NAM live. Pair it with say Helix Native for all your efx and Cabs and IR loading etc..... and use NAM for your Amps (?)

 

[Sascha Franck]

NAM is just one example. First thing I'd possibly install (next to Helix Native and a proper host) would be U-Hes MFM2, the Sixth Sample freebie Deelay and an IR reverb.

Gotta wait and see how powerful this machine is going to be. Latency numbers aren't published yet, either.

Also, the sockets on the device look like your typically "mounted straight on the PCB without any additional fixation" ones. Which is nothing I'd want to deal with on a device used live.

 

[Sedaxel]

Meh.

I´ve seen it several months before the NAMM show. It´s not a bad idea, but honestly, there are some gray areas. For instance, nobody has been able to find out the audio interface specs (beyond the typical bitrate or samplerate), even asking the guy directly. Then, at the end it´s just a PC rig. If someone is in that mood, it could be right... but even so, there´s not too much benefit using this than a laptop or mini-PC with audio interface. And the price... I don´t see how could this be a steal. On the contrary... I can build a PC based rig for half that money (and maybe more powerful).

Of course I´m not into PC rigs (yet). But I´m always thinking of that posibility.

For me it´s just meh.

 

[Sascha Franck]

On the contrary... I can build a PC based rig for half that money (and maybe more powerful).

I highly doubt that. The PC itself, sure. But including a touchscreen? You'd need a convertible laptop as the base for such a setup and the interface wouldn't be included.

Fwiw, I totally agree that there's a lot of pretty shady areas, but at least the product seems to be real already.
I think they really need to release the full specs publically, but in case they're decent, I think this could be pretty interesting.

 

[BenIfin]

System specs are critical ..... but the Audio I/O would be even more critical ....... brand ...... driver stability ..... stable-glitch-free ultra low latency ?

The concept is potentially great ...... but just a high quality ultra-low latency with stable glitch free drivers Audio I/O would cost probably %50 alone of the cost of this unit.

Very much a devil in the details kind of product ... but for the right solution ... if stable ultra-low latency playing/monitoring isn't needed ... could be good.

Come to think of it ...... unless it has that ... it is pretty much ruled out for NAM / Tonex SW / Native / NDSP Plugin live use.

Ben

 

[Sascha Franck]

but just a high quality ultra-low latency with stable glitch free drivers Audio I/O would cost probably %50 alone of the cost of this unit.

Well, I think something along the lines of a Motu M2 would be sufficient already, they really upped their driver game in the last handful of years. An M2 is €233. Still quite some dough, considering that you want a decent touchscreen and a powerful CPU as well.

 

[Sedaxel]

I highly doubt that. The PC itself, sure. But including a touchscreen? You'd need a convertible laptop as the base for such a setup and the interface wouldn't be included.

Fwiw, I totally agree that there's a lot of pretty shady areas, but at least the product seems to be real already.
I think they really need to release the full specs publically, but in case they're decent, I think this could be pretty interesting.

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005006219609450.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.49137a9doYtXWc&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2esp

There you have. Aprox 180€. Touch screen, W11, Intel N5105 (these processors are great, by the way), 8Gb RAM, 128 Gb SSD... I think I can have a similar (if not better) system for aprox 250€.

As I said, I don´t think it´s a bad idea. But I think it´s overpriced and not too revolutionary (despite what it could look like).

Regarding audio interface, I seriously think that a simple and cheap Zoom U22 works perfectly fine both in latency and stability regards. And if you want to go for more quality/money... just a good MS Surface and a good interface (the Audient EVO4 works great for 110€... no need to go crazy pricewise) would be a safer and future proof platform for a PC based rig.

Meh.

 

[Sascha Franck]

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005006219609450.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.49137a9doYtXWc&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2esp
There you have. Aprox 180€. Touch screen, W11, Intel N5105 (these processors are great, by the way), 8Gb RAM, 128 Gb SSD... I think I can have a similar (if not better) system for aprox 250€.

Oh, that's really not bad. Didn't even know such readymade devices existed. But it doesn't have a battery inside, does it?

Whatever, I would expect this system to be optimized for audio related performance (I know, there's not *that* much you can do today) and especially to be road-ready - and that's the very thing I doubt on closer inspection. Those sockets defenitely don't look like anything I'd like to plug into and out off every evening.

 

[2dor]

It looks cool & all but I would not trust a product running Windows 11 for my live rig. At least not in this form factor. I give my 5700X a good run for its money to keep up with my jamming preset / chain at low latency and that's on a proper desktop.
Apple for live...probably, Windows ...not yet.

 

[the-trooper]

would not trust a product running Windows 11 for my live rig.

Why not? I literally can't remember last time Windows crashed on me. Maybe over a decade. And I use and install a crapton of programs. Something like this that gets programs that your need installed, and then nothing but turning it on and off should be completely stable.
Also, disconnected from internet, nobody needs updates for this.

 

[Lysander]

It looks cool & all but I would not trust a product running Windows 11 for my live rig.

This. Also, it is... essentially a Windows tablet?

 

[Sedaxel]

This. Also, it is... essentially a Windows tablet?

With integrated audio interface.

 

[2dor]

Why not? I literally can't remember last time Windows crashed on me. Maybe over a decade. And I use and install a crapton of programs. Something like this that gets programs that your need installed, and then nothing but turning it on and off should be completely stable.
Also, disconnected from internet, nobody needs updates for this.

I don't know man - I've had Windows pull all sorts of murky tricks on me.
There were some quirks that surfaced last couple of years around it and audio like this: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/i...tops-for-low-latency-real-time-audio.2055672/
Not saying there's no room for clever people to optimize something like this further but when I see Windows, I don't think live gigging.

 

[laxu]

Also, IMO the concept in general is great, the device is made so you can slap it onto a mic stand, ready to be controlled within hands reach (the only downside being that there's no physical knobs for adjustments, but maybe you could add a 3rd party knob controller seamlessly), then there's an additional floor controller with switches (apparently coming with the device). That's a lot of what the doctor ordered already, right, @laxu?

Footswitches are the easy part. No knob control, running Win with plugins not built for touch on a Celeron system doesn't really float my boat at all.

 

[mikah912]

$800 "intro price" for a Celeron-powered mini-PC? Uh....no. I'm not using a Celeron-powered anything for critical music applications in 2024.

This concept always sounds better on paper than in theory, IMHO. I don't find too many VSTs to be optimized for touch operation on a 10-inch screen, personally. Yeah, you get 6 footswitches included externally, but most VSTs are not optimized for gapless preset/scene usage either.

Nothing is really known about the company and they could cease support at any point. Meanwhile, there are tons of sub-$1000 dedicated hardware solutions available, and it gets even better if you buy gently used.

 

[Sascha Franck]

No knob control, running Win with plugins not built for touch on a Celeron system doesn't really float my boat at all.

Yeah, I have sort of revisited my opinion on this thing already.
However, I'm not sure about how much Gig Performer is optimized for touch screen mode - if they do it like Bitwig, it should be pretty decent and you may not even have to touch any plugin UI for whatever day-to-day (or gig-to-gig) tasks.

But yes, knobs are a must in one way or the other.

 

[dronerstone]

Looks interesting, tbh.

Yet, I believe we're gonna see more units like that in the near future. I'd rather wait until something out there is guaranteed to satisfy.

 

[Lysander]

With integrated audio interface.

Yeah, but to be fair, you can get perfectly good portable instrument-level interfaces for, what? $100-ish?

Something like iRig Stomp + a decent tablet would be on the same price ballpark as the Haricane C1. Not saying that the concept isn't cool, mind you, but the form factor and price look a bit limiting when compared to the alternatives.

 

[Sascha Franck]

This concept always sounds better on paper than in theory, IMHO. I don't find too many VSTs to be optimized for touch operation on a 10-inch screen, personally. Yeah, you get 6 footswitches included externally, but most VSTs are not optimized for gapless preset/scene usage either.

Alright, while I agree on the rest of your post, switching is all up to the way the host handles things. And Gig Performer should be able to handle gapless switching just fine (possibly at the expense of reducing CPU power per patch/scene, kinda like the Helix does it). So these things are up to your host

Also, while I'm again not sure about how much CPU juice this thing will deliver, as a (very rough) figure: I can run a fully stuffed (so there's no more options to add anything in hardware compatibility mode) instance of Helix Native on my 2010 Mac Pro (hence on just one single core of the 2.66GHz CPU) under 44.1kHz @ 64 samples buffersize (RTL: 5.9ms).
An actual quad core Celeron should be able to deliver at least the same amount of performance.