samson7842
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Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
Hey guys, I'm considering getting a Dell Venue Pro 8 to use as a portable DAW/scratch pad. I currently use an IPad for that purpose and it's been great having it at my finger tips for whenever and wherever inspiration strikes me. However, it would be better if I had something that could run Sonar and some of my favorite VST's with me at all times. The Venue does run the full version of Windows 8.1, not the crippled, stripped down RT version. It's using the same version of Windows many of you are using now. My question is, do you guys think the Venue Pro 8 ( or 11), could fit the bill? A laptop is out of the question and I can't spend any moe than $450. I'm not expecting the same performance I'd get from an i5 or i7. I just need it to get my music tracks going while I'm out and about. Maybe, on occasion, work up a full track as long as it's not too involved. Get it home then finish the song there on my desktop. For the record, my home set up isn't all that great. I'm running X1 Expanded on XP using an old Dell XPS 400 with a Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM. I'm thinking the tablet can't be much worse than that, can it? Here are a couple of reviews of the tablet. What do you guys think? If not Sonar maybe Music Creator 6 Touch? http://youtu.be/P0v77gSxLtIhttp://youtu.be/jPPY4m8iY0kThanks for your time.
Lateef Murdock Gear:Dell XPS 8700 i7-4770 3.9 GHz 24 GB Dual Channel DDR3 160MHZ 4DIMMs Windows 10 64bit Cakewalk (CxB) Sonar Platinum Studio One 4 Komplete 9 Ultimate Maschine 2.7 MK3 Edirol PCR 500 Roland A-300 Pro Steinberg Virtual Guitarist 2 Virtual Guitarist Silk Virtual Guitarist Amber Virtual Guitarist Iron Steinberg UR22 Waves Gold Melodyne 4 Studio Various other fiddly bits
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Mach13
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/15 13:45:13
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I've been thinking something similar.. I see there are no responses at the mo, but wondering what you went for in the end?
SoundcloudSonar PlatinumIntel i7 4790 3.6 Ghz Quad Core 16Gb Ram Mobo Asus Z-87 256mb SSD with 1TB Projects Drive Roland Quad Capture + Presonus Audiobox - WMD Novation Impulse 25 Keyboard Win 10 Started Learning Guitar 2010 & Song-writing in 2012
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abacab
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/15 18:01:50
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For nearly the same money I have a 3 year old Acer laptop with a dual-core i5, 4GB memory, and a 500GB HDD that will run Sonar and Studio One with ASIO. It's fine for playback when I am out and about. For a few tracks and plugins it is adequate, but the memory fills up fast if I start loading plugins with large samples. I'm not sure a tablet style device would have enough disk storage and screen size to suit me. I would rather make do with an inexpensive laptop. The latest gen of devices like the Surface Pro would be much better suited, but they are not cheap! For everything else I still have my desktop!
DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ...
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samson7842
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/15 22:17:26
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Mach13 I've been thinking something similar.. I see there are no responses at the mo, but wondering what you went for in the end?
I actually bought one. Tried it out, didn't like it and took it back. Screen was too small and just didn't give me the functionality I needed to create music on the go. I ended up getting staying with my iPad. Much, much better option for on the go music creation.
Lateef Murdock Gear:Dell XPS 8700 i7-4770 3.9 GHz 24 GB Dual Channel DDR3 160MHZ 4DIMMs Windows 10 64bit Cakewalk (CxB) Sonar Platinum Studio One 4 Komplete 9 Ultimate Maschine 2.7 MK3 Edirol PCR 500 Roland A-300 Pro Steinberg Virtual Guitarist 2 Virtual Guitarist Silk Virtual Guitarist Amber Virtual Guitarist Iron Steinberg UR22 Waves Gold Melodyne 4 Studio Various other fiddly bits
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abacab
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/15 23:04:21
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I have become impressed with the quantity and quality of music apps available for the iPad! Never owned one, but would consider that before ever buying another Android tablet. The community of users and developers seems to have found a critical mass with the iPad!
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Mach13
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/16 09:02:45
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samson7842 Screen was too small and just didn't give me the functionality I needed to create music on the go.
Thanks samson7842 Like abacab, I have an i5 laptop too but it only just manages, and is a noisy, lumpy thing. I was hoping to find a decent sized tablet with a windows os that would at least help with recording in different places. Maybe something i could fix up on a stand with my audio interface. It's just a muse or me but this where i'm at so far: my laptop cpu benchmarks at around 3200, so I'd imagine I'd need a tab with a cpu at least in that vicinity. The Dell Venue Pro 11 with an i5 cpu comes close, but the screen is small (as you say). There are some surface pros on the secondhand market that come with i5's with a larger screen, but they are old. I don't want to spend big money as its a "want not a need" (Like my guitars ) Ipad sounds interesting Are you able to record with your Ipad? If so is it via the device or can you plug an audio interface into it? Also what grade/version of Ipad? Does it take sonar or another DAW?
SoundcloudSonar PlatinumIntel i7 4790 3.6 Ghz Quad Core 16Gb Ram Mobo Asus Z-87 256mb SSD with 1TB Projects Drive Roland Quad Capture + Presonus Audiobox - WMD Novation Impulse 25 Keyboard Win 10 Started Learning Guitar 2010 & Song-writing in 2012
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abacab
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/16 15:43:04
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Mach13
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/16 17:22:07
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Thanks abacab, food for thought
SoundcloudSonar PlatinumIntel i7 4790 3.6 Ghz Quad Core 16Gb Ram Mobo Asus Z-87 256mb SSD with 1TB Projects Drive Roland Quad Capture + Presonus Audiobox - WMD Novation Impulse 25 Keyboard Win 10 Started Learning Guitar 2010 & Song-writing in 2012
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abacab
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/16 17:38:50
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Looks like a few good options for round tripping projects from a mobile device to the desktop. If you used Cubasis or FL Studio mobile, it looks like you can export directly to the desktop version of those programs. If you have a Mac and Logic Pro, you could use the mobile version of Garage Band. So there would be the additional cost of acquiring software in order to use the iPad, both the desktop and mobile versions to have file compatibility. FL Studio would probably be the cheapest route, but then you would have to use FL Studio. Of course, if you were OK with just exporting audio or MIDI files to your desktop, you probably have more options that way. But it seems that a fully capable mobile Windows device would the best way to use your existing DAW software and plugins on both platforms with no issues of exchanging project files. Maybe a Surface Pro type setup would not be as big an investment after all, if you factored in the software you already had, vs. what you would need to use with an iPad?
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Mach13
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/31 17:52:44
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Well I found a solution that works for me. One important factor was to have a fanless unit so that I could have it by me without it adding noise to the room. I found some reviews on ultrabook.com. I went for a used Acer Aspire Switch SW5-271 for reasonable money. With a 64Gb SSD 4Gb ram it runs win 10, has a nice big 12.5" HD screen and the cpu benchmarks in the 2900's (my laptop benchmarks in the low 3000's) and easily copes with Cakewalk's Sonar. I've been able to use it to record multiple tracks and then save the whole project to a USB and import it onto my main rig without issue. The touchscreen takes a bit of getting used to, but all in all i'm very pleased with it. Be wary of Intel Atom cpu's, then benchkmark really low and i'm not sure they will cope. FYI The unit I have is an Intel Broadwell Y Core M-5Y10c.
SoundcloudSonar PlatinumIntel i7 4790 3.6 Ghz Quad Core 16Gb Ram Mobo Asus Z-87 256mb SSD with 1TB Projects Drive Roland Quad Capture + Presonus Audiobox - WMD Novation Impulse 25 Keyboard Win 10 Started Learning Guitar 2010 & Song-writing in 2012
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abacab
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Re: Could I use Dell Venue Pro 8 as a DAW?
2018/01/31 18:07:46
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That's good info. Seems to fit into that niche well. It seems that the new ones don't come cheap, and have faster CPUs installed. The less expensive ones seemed to be Atom CPU powered. I have had my Acer Aspire E15, Core i5 mobile, for a couple of years now, and it is still working well. Could use a SSD though, LOL!!!
DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ...
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