Cheap Windows computer for running XSIM, VituixCAD?

[Thomas_A]

Hi,

I am a OSX person and I previously borrowed some PC/Windows computers for simulation of crossovers (which are not really available for OSX...) Planning to buy a cheap computer only for simpler simulation/crossover simulations using XSIM, VituixCAD. Is any cheap computer capable or do I need to look for something in the spec? Appreciate some input.

Thomas

 

[Snickers-is]

Those are lumped element method based programs. They do not require much computing power so pretty much anything capable of running windows will easily run them as well. But I suggest you go for a quality computer as it is likely to give you less trouble in general.

You could also make your mac start in Windows as an option when you boot it. Not sure if that is possible with the A-chip based ones, but any Intel based one should be capable of this.

 

[Sokel]

Getting into measurements will inevitably ask you for a good CPU and lots of memory.
Get as much as you can, no matter the price, it will pay for itself down the road.

 

[Thomas_A]

Getting into measurements will inevitably ask you for a good CPU and lots of memory.
Get as much as you can, no matter the price, it will pay for itself down the road.

It has worked well in the past with simple software as xsim. Doiing measurements I already do in OSX (REW) so no problem there. It is the cross-over sim that is important.

 

[voodooless]

Just install UTM and boot up a Windows on ARM image.

 

[Soniclife]

Can you not run widows in a VM on the Mac?

 

[Sokel]

It has worked well in the past with simple software as xsim. Doiing measurements I already do in OSX (REW) so no problem there. It is the cross-over sim that is important.

If it's only about sim, ok, you can getaway with far less.
But if you're about to measure electrically down the road, nothing is enough is you want to run fast 4M FFT for example.
Cause it can take from several seconds to even minutes depending the signal.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

Any virtual machine will do.

 

[Keith_W]

Cheap Windows NUC's are a dime a dozen these days, especially coming from China. I would advise sticking with Intel and AMD and NOT try your luck with ARM, because compatibility isn't guaranteed in 2025. You don't need much CPU, don't need ANY GPU. All you need is RAM and some storage if you want to keep your music files on your PC.

 

[Thomas_A]

Thanks all,

I’ll think of it a bit more re using emulatiion. Did that once with parallells but long time ago. Otherwise, some laptops are really cheap nowadays so I was just making an easy way out by using PC//windows.

 

[Soniclife]

Thanks all,

I’ll think of it a bit more re using emulatiion. Did that once with parallells but long time ago. Otherwise, some laptops are really cheap nowadays so I was just making an easy way out by using PC//windows.

One of the things I like about visualisation is you can bounce from one machine, to an app on a different machine whilst barely noticing, or run a local app side by side with the virtual app. It's a much more fluid way of working than changing another physical machine. You can do the same things using remote desktop into another physical machine if course.

 

[respice finem]

I would look for a cheap(ish) refurbished laptop. IDK if Amazon offers these in Sweden, just one as an example:

https://www.amazon.de/HP-EliteBook-840-G6-General%C3%BCberholt/dp/B0F3P4FHTY/ref=pb_allspark_dp_sims_pao_desktop_session_based_d_sccl_1_11/262-2070270-1473720?pd_rd_w=jWUlj&content-id=amzn1.sym.cdb3cd5b-5b29-4346-8344-90969a97eb77&pf_rd_p=cdb3cd5b-5b29-4346-8344-90969a97eb77&pf_rd_r=59MB4798C2B969WWCFYN&pd_rd_wg=qtPGU&pd_rd_r=06de590c-d843-4459-a331-b89b99073ab7&pd_rd_i=B0F3P4FHTY&psc=1

 

[audio_tony]

Just download and install Oracle Virtualbox. Windows will run fine in that. It's also possible to pass through USB devices etc. should you want to make measurements with a USB interface.

Downloads – Oracle VirtualBox

www.virtualbox.org

 

[Berwhale]

If you want something small and neat, from a 'known' brand then one of Dell/HP/Lenovo's Micro Form Factor (MFF) PCs might fit the bill. These are often available second hand on eBay very cheaply. For example, I use a Dell Optiplex 3090 MFF with an 10th gen i3 CPU as a Proxmox host to run various virtual machines, but it came with Windows 11 and was still within Dell's 3 year warranty when I purchased it for £112 back in March 2024 (it also came with an unused Dell keyboard and mouse).

The 3090 is the second one down, the 3070 is also running Proxmox, but it has gone to a friend now...

Here's my Topping DX5 II and Wiim Pro sitting on the same size rack to give you an indication of the size of an MFF PC...

 

[phofman]

But if you're about to measure electrically down the road, nothing is enough is you want to run fast 4M FFT for example.
Cause it can take from several seconds to even minutes depending the signal.

Please can you elaborate more? IME even 4M FFT in REW does not take any special CPU power, just some 4GB of RAM which is small even for a low-cost refurbished PC. Collecting 4M samples for the FFT logically takes time (83 secs for 48kHz), but that requires no extra CPU power.

 

[Sokel]

Please can you elaborate more? IME even 4M FFT in REW does not take any special CPU power, just some 4GB of RAM which is small even for a low-cost refurbished PC. Collecting 4M samples for the FFT logically takes time (83 secs for 48kHz), but that requires no extra CPU power.

Agree for sweeps and acoustic measurements in general.
But electrical ones with big size FFT and signals like DSD512 or multitones can consume every bit of memory and also need good CPU.
Depends on the application too, averages, etc.

 

[phofman]

Hm, I was using REW 4M FFT at 768kHz samplerate and an older i5 of a refurbished NTB with 16GB RAM was OK. PCM->DSD conversion is CPU hungry, but I do not see its role in normal measurements. IME a measurements PC does not have to take neither special amount of RAM nor extra high CPU power. But YMMV, as usual.

 

[Sokel]

Hm, I was using REW 4M FFT at 768kHz samplerate and an older i5 of a refurbished NTB with 16GB RAM was OK. PCM->DSD conversion is CPU hungry, but I do not see its role in normal measurements. IME a measurements PC does not have to take neither special amount of RAM nor extra high CPU power. But YMMV, as usual.

Try DSD512 without conversion, like Multitone Analyzer does (it's the only one I know, it had to be done from ground up) .
Even generating the signal is hard at its extremes (like a DSD512 multitone measurement for example)

 

[phofman]

Absolutely, PCM<->DSD512 is always a CPU hog. The question is whether OP would use this IMO very special use case. IMO not many people measure DSD128+.

 

[Sokel]

PCM->DSD conversion is CPU hungry, but I do not see its role in normal measurements.

If DUT advertises it I think we should test it.
Sometimes we may be surprised, like here:
(link)
(now Multitone Analyzer can do native as well, maybe I should add some results too, not DSD512 though, that's an overkill, agreed to that)