Need Sonar X2 laptop for gigging

Ugh. Hate computer shopping.

Anyways, I'm looking for a laptop in the $850 range that I can use for gigging. I think it would be cool if I could use 100% VSTis, but we'll see.

So I'm assuming a quad-core, yes? 8GB RAM (Or is 4 enough?) If any of you are gigging now, does a lighted keyboard (on the laptop!  ) make a difference to you? I have a firewire (FF800) on my main system at home and I like that, so I'm thinking I should probably go with a firewire interface on the laptop as well (which means I should find one with an expresscard slot, yes?). Or is USB 2.0 enough? (I've never tried a USB audio interface). (Of course, extra stuff like interfaces is outside of the $850 laptop budget.)

Uhmm, that's all I can think of. But educate me if I'm forgetting something important, please.

Any answers/recommendations you have for the above questions and especially any model recommendations you can make would greatly appreciated.

Thanks, folks!

I have a Lenovo Ideapad Z560 laptop that I currently have Sonar X1 installed on.  It has an early i5CPU and 8 GB of RAM.  I have two different USB2.0 interfaces I can use with it, either a Roland Octa-Capture (8 channels) or an MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R (also 8 channels).  I've used it on one on-site recording (when I had Sonar 8.5.3 installed), with the Fastrack Ultra 8R, 8 analog tracks, just for the recording.  All other Sonar processing/mixdown, etc is done on my desktop DAW.  It worked without problems.  I have another on-site recording coming up probably the end of the month and I'll be using it again.

With the wi-fi controller disabled, the DPC Latency is within the "green" area.

fireberd


I have a Lenovo Ideapad Z560 laptop that I currently have Sonar X1 installed on.  It has an early i5CPU and 8 GB of RAM.  I have two different USB2.0 interfaces I can use with it, either a Roland Octa-Capture (8 channels) or an MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R (also 8 channels).  I've used it on one on-site recording (when I had Sonar 8.5.3 installed), with the Fastrack Ultra 8R, 8 analog tracks, just for the recording.  All other Sonar processing/mixdown, etc is done on my desktop DAW.  It worked without problems.  I have another on-site recording coming up probably the end of the month and I'll be using it again.

With the wi-fi controller disabled, the DPC Latency is within the "green" area.

Nice to know about the latency with an i5. However, I don't know how translateable your use is to my anticipated use. In short, tracking vs. VSTi use.
 
Last time I played out, I carried a bunch of keyboards but I'd really like to try a minimal rig. Maybe I'll bring along my old U-20 for backup. After all this time, the piano still cuts through nicely live and it's built like a tank.
 
But I'm thinking I want to be able trigger TruePiano, NI B4, some Kontakt-based strings and brass, maybe various pads and leads through the laptop. And if I don't need the backup keyboard, so much the better.
 
I like to split my keyboards, for example, covering a horn part with my right hand and piano/organ with my left, so that I could be playing two or more VSTis at once. I wonder if a dual core processor would be enough?
 
 

Hi Keith,

FWIW, If you're wanting to run substantial loads at the lowest possible latency (for tight timing with VSTi), you're not going to get that in a $850 laptop.

I'd consider building a custom Cube (you can get a small rolling case for transport)
That would allow you to have all the power of a fast desktop... without any of the limitations of a laptop.

I just built a new Cube for myself.

• i7 3770k running at 4.5GHz
• Z77 chipset Mini-ITX motherboard
• 16GB RAM
• 256GB SSD
• Two 1TB HDs in RAID-0

What's particularly nice about this case is that it has 120mm intake and exhaust fans and uses standard ATX PS.  Runs cool and quiet...

You could run dense splits/layers of Kontakt/Omnisphere/etc... (completely glitch-free) at a 48-sample ASIO buffer size using a RME USB audio interface.

Jim Roseberry


Hi Keith,

FWIW, If you're wanting to run substantial loads at the lowest possible latency (for tight timing with VSTi), you're not going to get that in a $850 laptop.

I'd consider building a custom Cube...

Thanks, Jim!
 
Although I haven't quite given up on the laptop, this is a brilliant suggestion (typical for you...)
 
I put together an HTPC about 8 months ago to run XBMC. Offhand, I forget if I put an i3 or i5 in it--I know there wasn't a need to overspend on power, just hard drives. It has an SSD and a blu-ray drive so it wound up being a very nice little component in my TV stand. So, you can see the idea of building a computer in a tiny box appeals to me!
 
The only downside I see to the cube solution is that it does give you the additional hassle of carting around a display and PC keyboard. So there's that.
 
However--just like the HTPC--the idea of matching power-to-task is one of the things that keeps the laptop as a possibility for me.  Right now, I see a number of laptops with i7s running at 2+ GHz in the price range I mention. Of course, there are trade-offs at that price point but there are quite a few brands/models to choose from.
 
For me, the "task" part of the equation is in your first sentence. "If you're wanting to run substantial loads at the lowest possible latency..." How can I get clarity on what would be a "substantial load" in my case? I can say I'll probably be doing traditional bar-band classic rock. I own Alchemy and Omnisphere but I'm not sure If I'd be using them much or at all. I do use them a ton in electronic and other music I compose in my studio but I don't see them in this setting. So, the real dense, layered, resource-piggy stuff doesn't seem to something I need to worry about.
 
Practically speaking, the load would basically be whatever I could get under my 10 fingers at once--So I'm seeing TruePianos or maybe that with strings layered on it, for example. If I have one MIDI keyboard, I'll be likely to do a two-way split sometimes; if I carry two, I might have a total of four instruments. The instruments I'm thinking of using besides those are ones I typically don't think of as resource pigs--NI B4, Sylenth, Zebra, M-Tron Pro, Dimension Pro, Rapture, some Kontakt libraries--stuff like that. But not at the same time. Again, very practically speaking, it would be like an organ part with my left hand an a synth lead on the right.
 
I've never tried to play out this way before and don't know anyone who does, so I don't have any real knowledge to draw on. But it seems to me like the laptops I'm seeing should be power enough for this task. Although..."completely glitch-free at a 48-sample ASIO buffer size using a RME USB audio interface..."? I don't know.
 
Anyway, I'd very much appreciate all support/attacks on my thinking! I appreciate the education (before I spend the money.  )
 
Thank you!

Consider an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad. They're solid, dependable and easy to upgrade/replace parts.
 
Plus the ability to add a second internal hard drive is particularly important if you're going to use lots of sample based vsti's.
 
I've got 5 of 'em!
 
Also I used Sonar for years in a live setting and, whilst it served me well, I swapped over to Brainspawn Forte and then Cantabile Performer as my live host and have never looked back. Worth a look.

Also I used Sonar for years in a live setting and, whilst it served me well, I swapped over to Brainspawn Forte and then Cantabile Performer as my live host and have never looked back. Worth a look.

 
Agreed.
Cantible Performer and Forte' are both excellent VSTi hosts for playing live.
Both present your VSTi as a virtual "rack" of gear... and you use "Scenes" (equivalent of a multi-patch) to create the set-list.  What's sweet is that you can completely reconfigured the virtual rack with each Scene.
IOW, unused VSTi can be turned off... not placing load on the CPU.

Jim, will your new Cube configuration be for sale on your site?

 
Most likely...
I'm very pleased with it.

How do you handle loading times for large sample libraries live with cantabile? The only way I figured out is to create a very large session with all plugins in it. Then using sub-sessions I turn on and off the plugins that are not used. While this works, I find it is not very clean and it does not scale very well. Is there any better way?

-Marco