posted 09 July 2009 14:12            

Perhaps that question is too general: We're looking at a new machine purchase which will be used in scientific studies of hearing and speech. Obviously (?), our concerns revolve around quietness of the moving parts -- disk, fan, etc (solid state disks any good?), speed and consistency of speed for reaction time measurements among other things, and any special caveats that you may have encountered that we're not thinking of yet.

One engineer has proposed custom-building the system, which sounds like fun, but I think I'm getting conservative in my dotage: Support from the campus IT department and/or a company with a warranty sounds like a good idea. That said, I'm willing to go the custom-build route if there's a lot of positive vibes for that solution from various sources.

posted 09 July 2009 16:00            

quote:

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Originally posted by SSC:
Are you thinking that you might find OSCulator useful for using controllers like the Space Navigator or the Wii Fit exercise board? Or are would a fader box be enough?

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Huh? Did I miss something? Or is one of us posting to the wrong place? We're not using faders, Wii or other controllers. Are you suggesting perhaps we should?

posted 10 July 2009 09:34            

quote:

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Originally posted by SSC:
I was asking whether you thought you might avail yourselves of OSCulator's options since OSCulator is Macintosh-only (and that would argue in favor of Mac OS). As far as Kyma itself is concerned, there is no difference between Windows and Mac.

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Ah, thanks. That makes it clearer. I'll look into it, but I doubt we'll go down that road.

It wasn't meant to be so much a question about Kyma itself, but rather, in the collected wisdom of user experience, independent of Kyma, does one platform handle Capybara and Paca better? Faster, quieter hardware, or more reliable timing of events? The general sense I'm getting from your answer that such differences are minimal or nonexistent -- or highly unpredictable without a lot more specs.

posted 10 July 2009 12:52            

quote:

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Originally posted by SSC:
For low noise, have you considered placing the computer in a different room and using a USB extender for mouse & keyboard and VGA extender for the monitor)?

Alternatively, the Mac Mini is pretty quiet. And you could install both Windows and Mac OS on it as a dual boot or Parallels (if you have >= 2 gigs of RAM).

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Thanks. Your first solution is basically what we have used in the past, and may use again, although there seems to be some debate there.

posted 10 July 2009 16:32            

Are you sure you can run Kyma on a virtual machine?
At least, I know that Parallels is not able to drive the firewire hardware.