If you could spend as much as $2000 on a laptop for recording

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What would you buy?

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 13 March 2006 05:22 (nineteen years ago)

MacBook Pro w/ Intel, although you'd still need an audio interface & software afterwards.

― Pablo (Pablo A), Monday, 13 March 2006 17:18 (nineteen years ago)

you'd still need an audio interface & software afterwards.

slsk.

just sayin'

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 13 March 2006 17:24 (nineteen years ago)

Don't most interfaces come with software anyway, these days?

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 13 March 2006 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

You wouldn't need an audio interface and software if you already own them either... It wouldn't cost me much to get the laptop card to use my existing Echo Layla(s) with a laptop instead of a desktop, and I've already got Sonar. I even paid for it, which may explain why why I think you're a cock if slsk is your answer to buying software. That, and because I write software for a living.

Most interfaces come with some kind of software, though often it's a dumbed down version of the commercially available one or it's just not a very full-featured program.

GarageBand is free, though...

― martin m. (mushrush), Monday, 13 March 2006 17:59 (nineteen years ago)

GARAGEBAND IS NOT FREE.

It comes w/the computer, but is not generally available.

Ditto iPhoto and everything else in the iLife suite (save iTunes).

I'll buy software when I can afford it.

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:01 (nineteen years ago)

Most interfaces seem to come with a "lite" version of one of the popular multi-trackers. I don't really know about the functionality of those.

You might want to make a few decisions about the interface first. Get a rough sense of what you want, and you'll know how to split up your budget (maybe $400 interface, $1600 computer). You'll also be able to do your computer shopping with the specific interface in mind -- not a huge deal, but better than doing it the other way around and then realizing you should have gotten something with an extra port or whatever.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:04 (nineteen years ago)

To clarify: when I say "I don't really know about the functionality of those," I don't mean that in any kind of skeptical "I dunno" kind of way -- I do actually just mean that I've never used them and have no idea whether or not you could use them as a long-term solution. Glad we cleared that up.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:05 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, last time I checked, most interfaces come with Pro Tools or Cubase LE (for ex.), which I think is the real shit with a 32 track limit or something like that.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:11 (nineteen years ago)

Wait, does this mean I have to get ANOTHER thing (this so-called "interface") if I buy that Alesis Micron I'm eyeing up?

I'm new to this.

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:13 (nineteen years ago)

"interface" is usually a multi-input DA converter. You need something to convert analog sound into digital info.

― senseiDancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 13 March 2006 19:42 (nineteen years ago)

So that's a yes?

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 13 March 2006 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

if you want to record more than stereo on a computer, you need interface hardware, yeah. Protools LE comes with the digi 001 box. Cost about 500 ten years ago I dunno, there's probably a better version out therem, who knows. 8 analog inputs, 8 analog outputs. I have them running through a 4-bus mackie mixer.

― senseiDancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 13 March 2006 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

btw Protools LE has limit on the number of tracks you can create per session, but I've only found that to be a limitation on the most convoluted of works and even then there are tricks around it.

― senseiDancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 13 March 2006 19:52 (nineteen years ago)

Even for recording just one input you tend to need some kind of I/O interface, since the sound card packaged with the average laptop will have poorer A/D converters and sound quality and won't have the best drivers from cutting down latency. Macs are a lot better at that stuff right out of the box, I guess, but still.

I wound up just getting a good PC sound card and then patching my old four-track into that, using the four-track as an interface / mixer / preamp. But I wish I'd gone for an actual USB interface, especially now that I need a condenser mic and my four-track can't do phantom power.

Which, hey, dudes, I have a question. I'm looking for a cheap-but-good way to get better vocal and acoustic-instrument recordings. I picked up a budget condenser mic and a little Samson pre-amp box, but the results actually weren't that much better than the stuff I was getting before (dynamic omni mic through four-track). Anyone have suggestions? Has anyone tried this little Samson USB condenser mic?

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 March 2006 20:02 (nineteen years ago)

Oh and GBX: the Micron has a quarter-inch input jack for external sounds, so you can run input through that and then onward into the computer. (I'm assuming the Micron hooks to the computer via USB.) If you buy it, though, you might want to test that input out before the return period is up, so you can make sure it can handle everything you want. Does it deliver the signal well, without noise, with lots of headroom, etc.? And can it pre-amplify for mics and instruments? If you plugged a guitar in there, could you get a decent signal out of it? If you plugged a dynamic mic in there, could you get anything decent out of that? Stuff to check.

It also doesn't have an XLR microphone input, which you might want someday. But that's not too big a deal -- what you might wind up doing down the road is buying a small pre-amp box with mic and instrument inputs, so you can use that to feed a good strong signal into (and through) the Micron. You can get a budget box like that for around a hundred.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 March 2006 20:14 (nineteen years ago)

(P.S. my guess is that the Micron's input will only be workable with line-level inputs, and that if you want to use microphones or plug in instruments you'll need that little something extra -- preamp box or small mixer or whatever -- to push them through.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 13 March 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, sorry, should have specified that we already have Cubase for Windows. Old laptop crapped out and we want to get a new one, and we have a way of spending up to $2000 on one by getting it through one of our jobs. Guess it'd have to be a Windows machine though.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 13 March 2006 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

And we have an interface.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 13 March 2006 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks nabisco!

I'm basically looking for a synth that can be used for both gigs and in my room, for computery stuff.

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 13 March 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

I'll buy software when I can afford it

And the cost of it will not come down as long as there are people who aren't willing to pay for it even though they use it.

I realize that's not the whole economics enchilada, but it is still certainly the case... not that I want to derail this thread with this stuff, because honestly I'm so tired of this debate I'm amazed that I'm actually posting about it again, anywhere.

I know Garage Band isn't available, but if you're spending $2000 on a Mac laptop, it's there. That was my point. You didn't have to yell. ;)

― martin m. (mushrush), Tuesday, 14 March 2006 04:15 (nineteen years ago)

Ok, so can somebody recommend what Windows-based laptop you'd buy for up to $2000, assuming you already have Cubase and an interface?

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Tuesday, 14 March 2006 20:38 (nineteen years ago)

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