Greetings.


I'm considering a new netbook based on AMD E-450 CPU @ 1.65GHz for general low-end use including VST doodling.

Re. performance, multitasking etc... does anyone have experience using a Netbook PC to run VST synths, generators and/or a DAW ??
- keeping in mind ASIO usability.

Or - any views ?


Thanx.
Dal ^_^

If that's a single core cpu at 1.6ghz, it's cutting it pretty close, you should be able to run anything reasonable in mono, cpu optimised stuff in poly.

I've used really cheap computers for audio, obviously render to audio right away. Never used an actual Netbook, so maybe there's more hope out there.

I have a AMD E-350 (1.60GHz) and it can't handle Micro Prism's most presets in Live Lite 8.3. So for cpu hungry plugins or complex FX chains, just forget about it. But for just playing one synth alone with some live own FX, or to launch some clips (flattened clips, of course!), it's lot's of fun!
I have Reason Adapted 3 and it plays just fine, but mind you Reason 3 is very cpu friendly. My 0.02, and sorry for my bad english.

The AMD E-350 & E-450 are both dual-core, with onboard Radeon DX11 grafix.

Currently I have an old Acer laptop with with 1.6GHz Pentium-M730 single-core, 2MG L2 cache, 533MHz FSB.
It can run most freeware & demo payware VST's I throw at it, albeit with some glitches & ASIO buffer snags. But I've never tried more than one+ VST each time.

MM ^_^

Just loading Synth1, the cpu meter in Live Lite 8.3 shows 4%.
Playing a single note, cpu shows 12%.
Playing a 3 note chord, cpu shows 24%.
Synth1 with 2 osc (saw), poly 32, unison ON, num 8, det (voice) 78, sprd 63, tempo delay ON. No other FX.
Dragging a instance of live's reverb on default settings (Quality = ECO), cpu shows 34% on a 3 note chord.
One single note, cpu shows 22%.
Synth1 is not cpu hungry, but as you can see AMD E Series is not powerful enough to handle vsti's.

Agreed. Reason 5.0 also works, wait for it, "Reasonably" well. I was hoping maybe that some liteweight reaktor patches would work for a standalone live box, nope.

Loading "New In Live 8 Suite Demo.als", cpu goes from 83% to 113%, with audio dropouts.
Loading "New In Live 8 Demo.als", cpu goes up to 46%, plays just fine.
I'm using ASIO4All drivers and "High Performance" battery settings.

Trying the same with a netbook Acer Aspire One 255D (E550), I will report the results, I 've already installed Cubase SX3, (but travelling dongle become a problem) Also will try with Reaper Demo, only interest is Sketchpad maybe with one and only SF player GM for ITB sketching with a USB Garageband 32 keys keyboard and Wifi Android Midi controller from my Galaxy S2 (Touchdaw)

wouldn't you be better off with a budget android tablet and something like sunvox or caustic?

The netbooks I've seen all perform slower than a laptop that's 7 years old.
That's not what they're designed for, they're designed for low power consumption.
But my 2004 acer travelmate 370 outperforms them, and isn't much bigger.
Find a small laptop, not a big netbook.

My Lenovo with Live Lite works brilliantly as a sketch pad.
I can usually get 3 audio tracks, one Albino and one Redline Reverb working without any hiccups.
Considering I only want it to program sounds, it's ideal.

i was going to get a netbook, but i ended up with a 11.6" subnotebook with a mobile celeron in place of the Atom.. it can do a lot more than any netbook for my $500.. it also has 1366x768 screen..

I was thinking of getting a SP-555 for some beats, loop launching and FX fun, but thinking about it, a netbook with Live Lite is just better to do the job. Of course you have to do some commitments, like bouncing (resampling) everything, just like with any small SP or MPC sampler. And that's what I do with my netbook and Live Lite: create and resample loops to audio and, if needed, apply some live FX (not much!). SP-555 has 1 track sequencer, Live Lite has 8 tracks, and you can assign loops to keyboard strokes, it's so much fun!