Audio Laptop

Hi,

Looking into laptop for recording live bands. Don't want Mac... don't have time for new interface and have lots of progs that Mac won't run..

Couple questions,

Can choose between a i7 620 2.53Ghz and a i5 540 2.6Ghz. The i5 is $90 cheaper.

There is also a i7 720 1.6Ghz..

Which of these is recommended? It seems to me the 720 at 1.6Ghz doesn't seem like a whole lot of power..

Also, there 1 with a 512Mb radeon 4570 and the other a NVIDIA G 105M - 512MB.. Could I do HD video editing on any of these when I travel abroad?

Dunno

:Luca

one thing to note is that the audio chipsets on most PC laptops suck and won't be good for recording audio with any kind of fidelity. hopefully you're also factoring in the need to buy some kind of add-in card with a better audio chipset for the recording portion.

Originally Posted by Luca1

Hi,

Looking into laptop for recording live bands. Don't want Mac... don't have time for new interface and have lots of progs that Mac won't run..

Couple questions,

Can choose between a i7 620 2.53Ghz and a i5 540 2.6Ghz. The i5 is $90 cheaper.

There is also a i7 720 1.6Ghz..

Which of these is recommended? It seems to me the 720 at 1.6Ghz doesn't seem like a whole lot of power..

Also, there 1 with a 512Mb radeon 4570 and the other a NVIDIA G 105M - 512MB.. Could I do HD video editing on any of these when I travel abroad?

Dunno

:Luca

all the mobile core i5s and i7s have a turbo mode, so the base clock speed is just that, base speed.

the 720 i7 can be upclocked dynamically as needed as follows

1 core - 1.6-2.8
2 cores - 1.6-2.4
4 cores - 1.6-1.73


It automatically clocks down if there is not enough power or things get too warm, but it is NOT just based off the base clock speeds.

The i5s, while only dual cores have this too.

Originally Posted by svet-am

one thing to note is that the audio chipsets on most PC laptops suck and won't be good for recording audio with any kind of fidelity. hopefully you're also factoring in the need to buy some kind of add-in card with a better audio chipset for the recording portion.

I remember reading about one with something rather fancy, like Soundblaster X or something, I'm not familiar with sound cards.

Originally Posted by svet-am

one thing to note is that the audio chipsets on most PC laptops suck and won't be good for recording audio with any kind of fidelity. hopefully you're also factoring in the need to buy some kind of add-in card with a better audio chipset for the recording portion.

I have a m-audio profire 2626.

Will the fact that the onboard sound is rubbish on the laptop affect using Reason 4.0 live?

:Luca

I've heard some positive things about that interface. Your M-Audio interface will handle all the audio. Onboard sound is bypassed unless you set your software to monitor with it - which I strongly recommend against. A good set of cans on your interface will out do onboard laptop speakers or the headphone out on your laptop.

Even though you're not using Pro-Tools, Digi-Design has a great page with compatibility grid.

Also, if you can, get a Texas Instruments' firewire interface. They have the least problems in talking with audio interfaces.

I have got pro tools. version 8 m-powered. But when I go travelling I don't think I can lug the 2626 around and therefore won't be able to use m-powered pro tools, but still want to record on the laptop.

Could I record with a smaller interface to travel with? Or perhaps a Mac? I spoke to someone running all his PC programs on his Mac now that they use intel chips and I heard their onboard audio drivers are pretty good.. I just dunno...

:Luca

Depends on what you want to do. Depending on how many inputs you have you could go for a smaller M-Box or another two channel firewire device. The computer, PC or Mac, doesn't really matter as long as it's powerful enough to run the program unless your running soft synths. If I knew a little more about how you wanted to record I could suggest more. If you don't want to keep up the thread shoot me a PM. Also http://www.studio-central.com/ has a great forum section for recording and mobile studios.

Originally Posted by wavewerx

Depends on what you want to do. Depending on how many inputs you have you could go for a smaller M-Box or another two channel firewire device. The computer, PC or Mac, doesn't really matter as long as it's powerful enough to run the program unless your running soft synths. If I knew a little more about how you wanted to record I could suggest more. If you don't want to keep up the thread shoot me a PM. Also http://www.studio-central.com/ has a great forum section for recording and mobile studios.

Thanks man

Will be taking my little HD video camera along to film bands and scenery.

So am just thinking about on the spot recording whether it be doing a quick video for a band with camera and basic sound (maybe camera mic mixed with a 2 input usb or firewire interface with a mic and a di running into that -portable is the key I think).

And some location sound.. and then even if I get down time I can record my own stuff for fun..

:Luca

The m-box or similar should be fine. I'd also suggest taking the camera's mic out of the mix as it'll probably degrade the quality. If your staying stationary for the most party I'd suggest getting a pair of condenser mics on a stereo bar in the middle.

You also could get away with something like the Zoom H2 or H4 with a stereo mic already on it. A little field recorder like that does good too. Recording is an awesome hobby to get into and I have a blast doing it. Finding the best gear for the job is only half the uphill battle!

Getting back to laptops, anything with a decent amount of computing power will be just fine. Spec out a quick Office-Duty machine and see if you can get it without onboard video so your software has the most of CPU/RAM and you'll be fine. I run a Intel C2D 2.16ghz 2gb ram Macbook and it runs without a hitch on OS X or XP Pro running my PreSonus Firepod.

Thanks again man I've been looking at this

http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/v...m?recordid=149

or if that too much overkill maybe this

http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/v...m?recordid=119

Want to do a spot of video editing on it when I hit the road too..

In regards to size, when travelling/backpacking, should I get the 15" or 17"?
I'm just thinking about recording on pro tools with a 15" monitor... am I going to be able to see everything or is the 17" a smarter choice?..

What do ya think?

:Luca

I'd say stay with a 15in laptop for backpacking and traveling. If you've never used a 17in they are pretty massive...

Both machines look fine but I'd suggest getting a SSD for your OS disk and running an external firewire 7200rpm SATA drive for your audio / video files.

You may be able to find a laptop like that from Dell / Lenovo / Acer for cheaper. I'll sign on a little later and see what I come up with...

Originally Posted by wavewerx

I'd say stay with a 15in laptop for backpacking and traveling. If you've never used a 17in they are pretty massive....

Yeah thats what I thought, 15" it is then

Originally Posted by wavewerx

Both machines look fine but I'd suggest getting a SSD for your OS disk and running an external firewire 7200rpm SATA drive for your audio / video files.

Yeah the SSD would be sweet but do you think it is a necessity or more of a perk? I spose they are lighter..

Originally Posted by wavewerx

You may be able to find a laptop like that from Dell / Lenovo / Acer for cheaper. I'll sign on a little later and see what I come up with..

Thanks I appreciate that I was thinking about a Dell or Acer but I was originally told to go a Mac for recording due to stability, then I was put on to ADK who are basically the Mac of the PC recording world, they test all their components with all the interfaces and programs (including the ones I have) and then sell them to the recording public with a peace of mind attached you would never get (specially not these days) from a Dell, Lenovo or Acer.

But if you can tell me why a Dell etc would be good then I would definitely consider it and am absolutely all ears

Thanks alot for your time I appreciate it and look forward to hearing from ya

:Luca

A look at the Dell and Lenovo websites didn't show much to compare. I'd say jump on the ADK and tell me how they treat you. I've heard of them but never did business with them.

Regarding the hard drives. SSD would be kind of a luxury - folks have been recording without them for ever. The bigger point that I was trying to make is separating out your audio data from your OS / programs so read / write is more efficient. You might notice hickup and points where your timing is off on layered tracks if your computer "works" to hard in the middle of a recording. This won't be immediately apparent in live monitoring but in playback it'll be obvious. By then it's to late though.

Wicked, thanks again for the advice

Yup I think I'll get on the ADK bandwagon and see how that goes, I'm in Australia so have to pay like 200 bux in postage, but still it is ridiculously cheaper than here.

Think I'll forget the Macs for now and will get a seperate HDD for my audio.

Don't know if I'll go with the 8gig RAM upgrade (for my photoshopping and video, and the fact of a 64bit OS I'd be silly not to take advantage really).

Anything you can think of that I should ask ADK before I purchase in regards to the pc itself?

:Luca

Sorry for the long wait - Everything looks good. Looking forward to a full review!

Originally Posted by wavewerx

Sorry for the long wait - Everything looks good. Looking forward to a full review!

Sweet. Ordering one in 3 days time. Will report back.

Edit:

ORDERED!!! ooooooo.. excited

:Luca

Originally Posted by wavewerx

Sorry for the long wait - Everything looks good. Looking forward to a full review!

Heya, noticed you have a Mac Book Pro.. how do you rate it compared to your PC?

:Luca

I've got a standard 13in Macbook. I've thought about replacing it but I can't get anything better than it unless I pay over a grand. It's a Intel C2D 2.2ghz, 2gb, first gen Intel core Apple. It was my first introduction to Macs. They're good computers, nothing to run home about. Where they sell you is the full integration into the Apple Cloud. It's a strong machine but I still stand by the fact that they're overpriced and you can make a windows machine run just as well. It's been my primary computer... I came from a Athlon XP 2500+ desktop.

Originally Posted by wavewerx

I've got a standard 13in Macbook. I've thought about replacing it but I can't get anything better than it unless I pay over a grand. It's a Intel C2D 2.2ghz, 2gb, first gen Intel core Apple. It was my first introduction to Macs. They're good computers, nothing to run home about. Where they sell you is the full integration into the Apple Cloud. It's a strong machine but I still stand by the fact that they're overpriced and you can make a windows machine run just as well. It's been my primary computer... I came from a Athlon XP 2500+ desktop.

Yeah the full integration into the Apple cloud was the bit I turned away from. All my programs are PC and I know how to use them, and they work fine. I like to have options.. not just Apple options.

Garage band.. don't care, have protools. iPhoto or whatever.. don't care, have photoshop. Final Cut... kinda care but Premier Pro CS4 loves me... the list goes on...

All the Mac guys could really sell me on after I explained my situation was the OS.. and I don't care about Snow Leopard. I've used it, its frickin cool to use, but its nothing I'd spend extra cash for unnecessarily.. Windows 7 has advantages/disadvantages as Snow Leopard does, but Win7 is familiar to me and friendly to ALL my games and my programs.

You can run windows in Mac, which is neat, but they explained to me that when you do that, the average hardware that would fly on a Mac will suffer in Windows.

The Mac would get a +1 from me for the reason that the OS can run faster on lesser hardware when compared to Windows, but you pay a shit load more for it! Fuck that.. and the hardware upgrade price through Mac is unjustifiable for me, because I would only need it to run Windows.. which I can do on a PC anyway.

Practically no virus's.. not gonna be on the net until I travel, at which time I'll use the Anti Virus and Firewall thats protected me my whole PC life.. I keep backups of everything, in event of Virus. Reinstall image, takes 10 minutes.

Stability yes.. which is why I go ADK, to try them out and test the water.. they seem to me to be the Apple of the PC world.. and Macs use Intel parts now anyways.. so if its shit.. I'll buy a Mac.

Bottom line. Mac.. Awesome.. PC properly configured that runs all my games and programs.. More Awesome

Chat soon

:Luca