This Reality PC is a small form factor unit with ultra low latency. You have to hear what this synthesizer sounds like! What you get is a very retro sounding synthesizer with a warm analog vibe.
The unit includes analog outputs and integrated MIDI for connection to your controller keyboard. Here’s what Reality looks like.
Just plug in your other gear and go. You’ll need a monitor. After that, all you have to do is flip on the power switch to start using Reality. You can use Synergy to control Reality with the mouse and keyboard of another PC.
The breakout cable also has MIDI connectors. Both inputs and outputs are available.
The unit has no spinning hard drive. Instead, a 16GB compact flash card is used with an adapter board. It’s like having a solid state hard drive.
The unit has all of the features you need to get going with Reality quickly.
I have been kicking myself to getting rid of my old w98 machines, and have been trying to build a new one. I have Reality, and am well aware of its power, but moved in a different direction for a while. Now I want to restart it, but need to find a w98 machine. Do you have any leads? Smaller form factor is better in my very small studio…
There are a few machines out there that can still run it, but it takes some effort to make sure you’re getting the right one. For the most part you’ll want a PC with an intel-based i865 chipset or older. Even then, they don’t always work right. It’s hit and miss. I have had great luck with some old Dell PCs of the i845 variety. These are labeled as Dell Dimension 4300 or 4300s, depending on form factor. They really work great.
I’ve been looking and trying a few things I’ve found. The trick generally seems to be getting W98 drivers for motherboard resources. Thanks for the chipset advice, I’ll keep it in mind.
I’ve discovered something recently. Sometimes downloading the chipset drivers from Intel will give you worse results than using the default chipset drivers that come with windows 98. I think it might be because of the time difference between when the chipset drivers were written and Reality itself. Reality was tested back in the 1990s so it would make sense that these older drivers would be less error prone. Hence, I have had better luck with vintage chipset drivers then with recent ones. That’s not to say it won’t work for you, it’s just another troubleshooting hint in case you run into problems.