What are the currect best laptops for audio?

[william lawes]

I would need a firewire port to record from FF400, as well as be able to play audio from the laptop while recording, and to play back samples on the laptop from a keyboard. How would that work?

Thanks

[Gonga]

You need a DAW. Not many laptops have FW anymore, if any, unfortunately. Maybe Sager still offers it. Otherwise, you need a desktop for FW.

[lolilol1975]

I would say a safe bet would be a MacBook Pro. In any case, Apple is better for audio.

Windows based laptops are a bit of a gamble for audio due to drivers that aren't optimized for latency. For instance, my ASUS Zenbook, an otherwise decent choice, totally sucks for audio because it's keyboard and wifi drivers introduce random lags and there is pretty much nothing I can do about that. It's completely dependent on the maker's hardware and drivers. And unfortunately, you can't know in advance which models and brands are suitable, so go for a Mac.

[thecontrolcentre]

Check out SCAN Computers ... when I bought mine last year they were building laptops with firewire and thunderbolt connections as well as USB 2/3 .

[william lawes]

Thanks, I had in mind something from ADK, which are all windows platforms optimized for audio. All of my software is windows, but I understand that Mac will run any PC software, such as cubase? I see that none of their models have firewire anymore, I'm sure they would add it if upgraded, I have a FF400 so that is the only reason I would need FW.

[zenophilix]

Thanks, I had in mind something from ADK, which are all windows platforms optimized for audio. All of my software is windows, but I understand that Mac will run any PC software, such as cubase? I see that none of their models have firewire anymore, I'm sure they would add it if upgraded, I have a FF400 so that is the only reason I would need FW.

Mac will not run Windows software, unless you're lucky enough to get it running under Wine. Often, software developers will provide both a Windows and Mac version, but not always.

[fedexnman]

I'm a Windows Android n Linux guy and will also +1 a Macbook Pro as well . You can get a Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter if needed or just get a Thunderbolt interface like the Focusrite Clarett ...

[Nocturnal909]

Make sure your adapter to/from FW works.
Cubase runs on Windows and Mac...

Maybe check out Razor laptops for audio and gaming

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-pro

[wesleyt]

Macs run Windows just fine; you can dual boot them.

The TB to FW adapter works well too. Or, if you want to get fancy, a TB 2 dock with a FW port works great. I use the one from OWC and love it. One TB 2 port cable connects me to 5 USB 3 ports, one FW 800, Ethernet, HDMI, and analog 1/8" audio ports.

[Lejurai]

You need a custom built laptop. Expensive and I don't know, who makes them in your country

[dark water]

Yep, Gonga and thecontrolcentre are right: not many (PC) laptops with FW; SCAN one of the few who still offer this as an extra.

FWIW, I got my laptop from SCAN in July 2011. They are affiliated with ADK.
The laptop still works well now (touch wood) - but had to change the internal HDD about 15 months ago.
(This thread reminds me that I need to get some new thermal paste / cooling shit inside too).

[wesleyt]

I saw a colleague at work last week with a Lenovo ThinkPad with a Thunderbolt port, and they were using an Apple TB to Ethernet adapter on it to work on the wired network.

That makes me think a PC with a Thunderbolt port may also work with an Apple TB to FW adapter as well.

I don't know how common PC laptops with Thunderbolt ports are, but I thought it was worth mentioning.