The two have very similar performance benchmarks, so it's hard to say that one is obviously better for Hauptwerk. I'd look at the AMD 9950X, which outperforms the 7950X3D in most benchmarks. The X3D's gaming advantages aren't useful for Hauptwerk. On the Intel side, an Ultra 9 285K beats the 14900K ...

There've been performance complaints for gaming with the Ultra 2xx line, but I don't know whether those would affect Hauptwerk much. Supposedly new software and BIOS updates this month are addressing as much of that as Intel has admitted. You can search for Intel Core Ultra problems to read about it ...

I guess this is going to be a bit unpopular... I really miss the well-organized dropdown menus (File View Organ Registration...) of HW8 and below. I could find a simple list of the settings or actions I needed, categorized in an obvious way, without trying to decipher a visually cluttered touch menu ...

Yes. Make sure InternalWorkingFiles (cache) is on the fastest drive -- the one with the highest sustained read rate.

Okay, you said the M2 only has cache, but that would be only InternalWorkingFiles. SamplesetsAndComponents is usually larger, and can be moved away. If there's space, you could move that to the other drive.

Keyboard settings are for one organ only. Same for expression and crescendo pedals.

If you right-click on a thing on the Hauptwerk screen or touch menu, you should see whether it has a "for all organs" auto-detect option or not.

Which drive has SamplesetsAndComponents?

Merging two drives (a RAID configuration) is more technical than necessary. You can buy an external (or second internal) SSD, say a 2TB or 4TB external SSD on USB, rerun the Hauptwerk installer, select a Custom install, and tell it to put your SamplesetsAndComponents directory on the external drive ...

Floating divisions are only available as organ settings, not general settings. They don't have a "for all organs" option yet.

Martin knows we would like that.

Not done in CODM, but I tested a limited pedal divide scheme that works using floating divisions. The upper pedals play on a manual when that route is selected. I use one piston to go to route 1, 2, 3, 4 and another to return to route 1. Set up two floating divisions splitting the pedalboard, for ...

The pedal divide function I learned (in US) played pedal stops and coupled manuals as usual below the split point, but only played any divisions coupled to the pedal above the split point. In this interpretation, the upper range just doesn't play any pedal stops. I'm sure the other two ...

That was the last HW8 release.

It's not a custom install of an organ, it's running the Hauptwerk Installer program again -- the one you downloaded from hauptwerk.com for your Hauptwerk version and either Mac or Windows. Select Custom when prompted, and pick your directories. The installer will move files. Please read the section ...

I found it easiest to jab LP buttons when it's on my music stand beside the music, though they can be mounted on a monitor stand. I always use the same button layout, mapped to HW master registration buttons used in very consistent ways, instead of any per-organ assignments. Same for pistons, of ...

I've used LP Minis in the past because I don't have room for a second touchscreen. The pads on a LP can be assigned to Hauptwerk pistons and various menu functions such as recording start, stop, etc. Since they can light with different colors, I mapped pads to stops and couplers (via reversibles as ...