New Laptop Questions

AND why are my carriage returns not working on this forum? I did not intend for one long paragraph!!! Sorry about that!

Use IE.

Haha, I went to Google Chrome and it works perfectly.   Wow, Firefox really destroys the formatting in here!  Thanks for that!   Now i edited my original message so it is easier to read!!  I really want to get started with a fresh new machine and just don't know what to buy, and have questions about portability with an audio interface.  :)

if you gonna use 64bit OS get 8GB of RAM, huge difference. Remember that in 64bit OS for same task as in 32bit more memory is needed.  Medium power processor is fine, like i5.

While you can have good luck and a good experience on your own making these decisions, if you are serious about your venture, I would not hesitate to consult Scott at ADK or Jim at StudioCat.

I've had uninterrupted, trouble-free use of my laptop purchased a few years back from ADK.  Good product and even better customer service. JMHO

-wren

Dadeefe


Hello Everyone! I wish to get started on a new musical venture and would like to start using Sonar X1. I truly love the new product. I need to be as mobile as possible, so a laptop will be required (although I know I can get more power out of a desktop). There is so much information out there, you could get lost, so I thought I would make a post on here to get some feedback from the user community. 

My first question is the processor. I don't have a HUGE budget for the laptop. My hopes are $1000 or less... but I prefer more in the $600-$800 range. I know the i7 will be the fastest, but does anyone have any input on using the i5 or even the i3? 

I should also mention I will be composing electronic music for the most part (MAYBE a layer of acoustic guitar on top), but i would say on average, each project will have a minimum of 10 soft-synth tracks, but I could see some going up to the 30 mark (maybe more?) 

Does everyone also suggest at least 8GB RAM? what about 4 or 6GB? Is RAM any more or less important than the processor? 

Lastly, and perhaps most important is MOBILITY and the sound card. Are the internal laptops made by Dell, Samsung, etc... good enough (sound-card wise)? I would think I need an external USB or Firewire audio device, correct? 

Now the big question with that is, if I want to be truly mobile and bring my laptop to a Starbucks even and work on some songs with just a mouse and the laptop, will I NEED the audio device as well? Would hate to have to plug it in. I see Mac/Logic users all the time carrying around JUST a laptop and working just fine, no? Is it possible to just use the audio device at home and then use the laptop internal audio device when on the road? (When on the road, I wont be recording vocals or audio of any form, just maybe some mixing or changing of some midi notes or soft-synth sounds (stuff i dont need a keyboard or audio device for). Do I even NEED an audio device? Can i get buy with what is on the laptop? 

Thank you all so much! 

-Dadeefe

Well I can hopefully help since I was in a similar situation. I would say our biggest difference would be what I was willing to spend on my system vs what your stated requirements are. That said, I can offer some of my experience.


I would absolutely get as much memory as you could into the system. I don't know what type of soft synths or VST instruments  you will use (more on this later) but you almost cannot have too much memory.


You are going to want fast drives (7200 RPM) on eSata interfaces internal to your system and you SHOULD if at all possible have a minimum of two drives. The first is for your system. The second would be for your sample and audio. This is not typical of a store bought laptop since they usually come with one 5400 RPM drive. This implies you want to get a custom build if possible. I know you can "build it yourself" but it usually is not worth the hassle if you don't know what you are doing. Don't assume you won't need a sample drive because you are using just soft synths. You want drum/rhythm tracks. They are going to be sampled unless you only do electronically created beats/basslines. Soft synths like Omnisphere, for one, have huge sample libraries. You get the idea. They also create a lot more tracks than you may think if you use multi's and put them on separate tracks. Plus, you are going to have different busses running around in your project most likely so you have to account for that also as well as effects processing as needed.


As for sound card, this gets slightly tricky. If you want to do everything at 16 bit/44.1 you are probably ok with what might ship with a vanilla laptop. You aren't going to be using the speakers anyway. You still have to process the audio though even if going through the headphone outs. The problem is, if you work at 24/96 then the audio card in many laptops is not going to cut it. Again, you want to look at something custom most likely.


As for the processor, fast and more cores works better on Sonar. It is impossible to say how much you will actually need but probably safe to say an i3 is not going to cut it for anything substantial.


I would definitely talk to Jim at StudioCat. He is on this forum a lot and is clearly knowledgeable. I got my system custom build by PC Audio Labs. They are very familiar with Sonar X1 and what will  work with it. They will be able to give you some specific options and pricing that make sense to you.

This was a wonderful reply and I thank you!

The 2 drives at 7200RPM definitely sound like a good thing, however in order to help on costs, I already have a USB 3.0, 7200 RPM 1TB Hard Drive with all my samples and instrument banks on them.   That should be OK, no?   Is it much better if I go internal?  USB 3.0 is pretty fast.  Also once it loads the samples into memory, its no longer getting them from the HD, no? (i could be wrong here, not sure).

Quick question about the whole 16bit/44.1 vs the 24bit 96k....    does it really matter if all my music I want on CD?  So even if I record at 24bit/96k, it will be "downgraded" to 16bit/44.1 when mixing down, no?    Is there any benefit to recording in 24-bit?   Also what if I decide to record in 24-bit with an external audio interface, but on the road I want to open the same project with ASIO4ALL using the internal laptop sound card?  


Thank you!
Dadeefe

inaheartbeat

Dadeefe


Hello Everyone! I wish to get started on a new musical venture and would like to start using Sonar X1. I truly love the new product. I need to be as mobile as possible, so a laptop will be required (although I know I can get more power out of a desktop). There is so much information out there, you could get lost, so I thought I would make a post on here to get some feedback from the user community. 

My first question is the processor. I don't have a HUGE budget for the laptop. My hopes are $1000 or less... but I prefer more in the $600-$800 range. I know the i7 will be the fastest, but does anyone have any input on using the i5 or even the i3? 

I should also mention I will be composing electronic music for the most part (MAYBE a layer of acoustic guitar on top), but i would say on average, each project will have a minimum of 10 soft-synth tracks, but I could see some going up to the 30 mark (maybe more?) 

Does everyone also suggest at least 8GB RAM? what about 4 or 6GB? Is RAM any more or less important than the processor? 

Lastly, and perhaps most important is MOBILITY and the sound card. Are the internal laptops made by Dell, Samsung, etc... good enough (sound-card wise)? I would think I need an external USB or Firewire audio device, correct? 

Now the big question with that is, if I want to be truly mobile and bring my laptop to a Starbucks even and work on some songs with just a mouse and the laptop, will I NEED the audio device as well? Would hate to have to plug it in. I see Mac/Logic users all the time carrying around JUST a laptop and working just fine, no? Is it possible to just use the audio device at home and then use the laptop internal audio device when on the road? (When on the road, I wont be recording vocals or audio of any form, just maybe some mixing or changing of some midi notes or soft-synth sounds (stuff i dont need a keyboard or audio device for). Do I even NEED an audio device? Can i get buy with what is on the laptop? 

Thank you all so much! 

-Dadeefe

Well I can hopefully help since I was in a similar situation. I would say our biggest difference would be what I was willing to spend on my system vs what your stated requirements are. That said, I can offer some of my experience.


I would absolutely get as much memory as you could into the system. I don't know what type of soft synths or VST instruments  you will use (more on this later) but you almost cannot have too much memory.


You are going to want fast drives (7200 RPM) on eSata interfaces internal to your system and you SHOULD if at all possible have a minimum of two drives. The first is for your system. The second would be for your sample and audio. This is not typical of a store bought laptop since they usually come with one 5400 RPM drive. This implies you want to get a custom build if possible. I know you can "build it yourself" but it usually is not worth the hassle if you don't know what you are doing. Don't assume you won't need a sample drive because you are using just soft synths. You want drum/rhythm tracks. They are going to be sampled unless you only do electronically created beats/basslines. Soft synths like Omnisphere, for one, have huge sample libraries. You get the idea. They also create a lot more tracks than you may think if you use multi's and put them on separate tracks. Plus, you are going to have different busses running around in your project most likely so you have to account for that also as well as effects processing as needed.


As for sound card, this gets slightly tricky. If you want to do everything at 16 bit/44.1 you are probably ok with what might ship with a vanilla laptop. You aren't going to be using the speakers anyway. You still have to process the audio though even if going through the headphone outs. The problem is, if you work at 24/96 then the audio card in many laptops is not going to cut it. Again, you want to look at something custom most likely.


As for the processor, fast and more cores works better on Sonar. It is impossible to say how much you will actually need but probably safe to say an i3 is not going to cut it for anything substantial.


I would definitely talk to Jim at StudioCat. He is on this forum a lot and is clearly knowledgeable. I got my system custom build by PC Audio Labs. They are very familiar with Sonar X1 and what will  work with it. They will be able to give you some specific options and pricing that make sense to you.

I also did some reading, I heard 24-bit is better for mixing because you can record at lower volumes leaving room for more headroom?

shawn@trustmedia.tv


The only benefit I found with higher sampler rates are lower latency, but I don't have any latency issues at 44.1

AND why are my carriage returns not working on this forum? I did not intend for one long paragraph!!! Sorry about that!

You're not supposed to use carriage returns. Let the reader decide how wide the paragraphs are. 


Edit: After further reading I realized you were just trying to add a blank line between paragraphs. That's ok. You shouldn't use carriage returns to make a line shorter. 

Yes, I will use the audio interface at home, but what about when I travel.  Sometimes I will be in a Starbucks and maybe want to program some synths or a drum machine or something.   So I don't want to carry around much, JUST the laptop.

daveny5

I just did some research on ASIO4ALL.

You should only use ASIO4ALL as a last resort if you have a cheap soundcard with lousy drivers. Otherwise, use the ASIO driver that came with the card. ASIO4ALL is not a Cakewalk product. 

When you are ready to mix down your file go to File -> Export and a window will pop up.  There you'll have options for sample rate, bit depth, dithering options, etc.  I think the default dithering choice is POW-r 3 which is a good one to use.
 
Note, you only need to dither when your mixdown format will have fewer bits of resolution than your original files.