PianoRT strips away everything unrelated to playing, launches Pianoteq automatically, and behaves like a dedicated instrument.
No desktop environment, no login screen. coreboot loads the Linux kernel directly — no EDK2/UEFI layer — into a PREEMPT_RT-tuned boot that lands in a stripped Weston (Wayland) session running Pianoteq’s own interface. A monitor isn’t required to play, but it’s what you’ll see if one’s connected.
A U2Midi Pro carries MIDI from the piano to Pianoteq — the only interface currently guaranteed to work, with digital pianos specifically.
No manual patching. The audio graph comes up ready, at the 64-sample quantum tested.
PianoRT boots back into a playable configuration automatically.
Fully powered off, button pressed, boot, first MIDI note, audio out — no cuts, no accelerated footage. Elapsed time stays on screen throughout.
Most competing products publish a configured buffer size. We publish what we actually measured — and the log that produced it.
| Metric | Dell OptiPlex 3050 Micro |
|---|---|
| Cold boot to playable | ≈4.84 s |
| Audio buffer latency (64 samples @ 48 kHz) | 1.3 ms |
| Demonstrated polyphony | 250+ voices, 0 XRuns |
| Maximum PREEMPT_RT scheduling delay | < 30 μs |
1.3ms is the audio buffer, the part of the key-to-sound delay PianoRT controls. It isn’t a measured keyboard-to-speaker time, but it sits well below the roughly 10ms point where delay becomes noticeable. Looking for the HP Chromebox G3? It’s now the free Community Edition, with its own measurements and limits. Press a key and the sound feels directly connected to your touch — the number matters because of how it plays, not just how it benchmarks.
PianoRT has adjacent competitors, but no known product currently combines the same boot speed, measured latency, demonstrated polyphony, and headless operation.
| Product | Overlaps | Doesn’t match |
|---|---|---|
| Zynthian V5 | Linux instrument appliance, Pianoteq-compatible | Boot time, demonstrated polyphony, measured latency |
| DIY Pi / mini-PC builds | Standalone Pianoteq concept, low-latency goals | Finished-product support, documented consistency |
| Muse Receptor / V-Machine (historical) | Standalone plugin-appliance concept | Modern performance and support |
| Dedicated piano modules | Appliance-like, immediate use | Pianoteq itself, open architecture |