PC System

In general, you will get very good performance with PCs which use the Intel Core 2 cpu. 
These chips are considerably faster than the Pentium 4 class cpu and recent PC prices are very reasonable (Dell systems range from $500 - $1000).  RAM should be 1 GB, 2 GB preferred. Hard drives can by any size, but should be SATA II (or SATA 300), 7200 RPM, 16 Mb cache, Avg seek < 8.9 ms.  An LCD monitor that can display 1280 by 1020 pixels (or 1680 by 1050 pixels for widescreen) is recommended.  It does not appear to be necessary to have a second hard drive as has often been recommended for GSO.  On the author’s Dell E6600 machine, over 700 notes of polyphony were possible on either drive. Dell’s Vostro line can be ordered with no “trial ware” loaded (recommended).

Operating system

XP Home or XP Pro.  XP Media and all Vista versions are NOT recommended.

Audio Card

 You will need a GSIF audio card.  The best choice is for the M-Audio 1010LT which has eight analog and two digital (spdif) outputs and the very useful “Bass Management” system.  There is a list of compatible cards posted in the "GigaStudio Resources" folder in the Files section of the theatre-sf forum.

Speaker Systems

There are a number of GSO project files which allow you to choose the configuration that is most suitable for your system (see Appendix A).  For decent VTPO sound you need as many speakers as you can, given cost and space constraints.

Excellent performance and value if possible with powered monitors found in musical instrument stores.  Some recommendations (with street price per pair):

- Mackie HR824 Mk2 ($1200)
- M-Audio EX66 ($1200) *
- JBL LSR4326P ($1000/pair) *
- Tannoy Reveal6D ($700/pair) *
- Mackie Tapco S8 ($450)
- M-Audio BX8a ($450)
- Mackie Tapco S5 ($275)
- M_Audio BX5a ($275)

* Features spdif inputs for channels 9 and 10 when used with the M-Audio 1010LT

A subwoofer is essential. The Rolls Royce is the Trinity SuperCube by Definitive Technology ($2000).  A strong mid-level unit is the HSU Research VTF-3 HO Subwoofer with Turbocharger ($1000). A good bargain sub is the Dayton C1500 kit ($270) at Partsexpress.com

You can also use stereo or home theatre audio components that you already own. However,your results are dependent on how suitable such components are for VTPO sound.  Speakers are almost always the weakest link.  An A/V receiver with a “multi-channel input” for 5.1 (or even as high as 11.1 found in the top-of-the-line Yamaha) can allow you to double purpose an existing home theatre system.  In the author’s system, a Yamaha receiver with 5.1 inputs is supplemented with a pair of Mackie HR824 monitors and a pair of M-Audio EX66 monitors.  The VTPO sound is simply breathtaking!

There is a document in the "GigaStudio Resources" folder in the Files section of the
theatre-sf forum called "Audio Routing Table for Miditzer.xls" that goes into more detail regarding rank to output channel assignments and speaker positioning.  This document is also on-line here.