KVR Audio

MadDogE134 · Post by **MadDogE134** » Tue May 12, 2020 2:25 am

was wondering who uses a laptop for creation, mixing or recording on the go? i have always believed they aren't good enough for a primary system but my old XPS 15 finally died and i am in the market for a new mobile system. if you could... give me some of your opinions, ideas or tell me what you actually use. don't really want another Dell... the old XPS 15 was adequate 9 yrs ago lol but was far from ideal... things have changed and laps are a lot more powerful with longer battery life between charges not to mention better storage and greater ram capacity. so again if you don't mind give me some info on what you are using or even what you are possibly wanting to aid my search. cheers

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Tue May 12, 2020 4:42 am

MacBook Pro. Runs everything I want and has really good integration with my iPad and iPhone. Just about everything I plug into it just works. Can route audio in so many ways (especially with SoundFlower installed), and MIDI routing is a breeze.

Might be expensive, but it's damn fast and it would cost me almost as much to get a Windows laptop that runs as good.

Not really music related, but there's also the Sidecar integration with my iPad so I can use my Apple Pencil on Mac apps by using Sidecar.

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Tue May 12, 2020 5:11 am

I also have a laptop. Though I only have FLS installed in there and no third party plugins. I use it if I'm on a vacation or something.

If I was looking to buy a primary machine, id buy either a gaming laptop or order a custom made laptop. Most probably the latter since I could decide what goes in there, how many usb ports, firewire if needed, connections in general etc..

revvy · Post by **revvy** » Tue May 12, 2020 5:23 am

Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:11 am I also have a laptop. Though I only have FLS installed in there and no third party plugins. I use it if I'm on a vacation or something.

If I was looking to buy a primary machine, id buy either a gaming laptop or order a custom made laptop. Most probably the latter since I could decide what goes in there, how many usb ports, firewire if needed, connections in general etc..

Have you tried (installing) Bitwig?

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Tue May 12, 2020 5:33 am

I don't use laptop, though keep some 10-year old device just in case of system failure.
For music production - only beefy PC. With water cooling and sound-proofed case

I was planning to get a new Ryzen laptop for travels, but all my travel plans were cancelled this year. So I sit at home and I'm happy with my PC.

MadDogE134 · Post by **MadDogE134** » Tue May 12, 2020 7:09 am

thnx all... yeah i have been eyeballing the new 13" macbook pro 4 port base mainly for integration with my iphone and ipad. i have my desktop here which ain't bad but i like the idea of using the ipad as a second monitor not to mention the pencil since everything is so small lol easier to manipulate things.

but i have also been eyeballing one of the Clevo laps which use corasir memory, samsung m2 drives and i can get 32gb of ram and 2tb ssd for about the same price as the 13" mac i am interested in... add to that the Clevo has a dedicated vid card which is not really needed for audio work but nice all the same.

i have always used window$ since the advent of 3.1 lol but in the past year or so i have gotten an iphone which i like better than android lol. i got the ipod touch back when it first came out just for playing music but got some apps i liked so i eventually got the old ipad air when they discontinued it for dirt cheap new and only recently bought the new ipad air 10.5 because my old one was quite limited and could no longer get updates. so as you see i am quite 'new' to the mac eco-system. i have always praised PCs because they run circles around macs especially in the past but have HATED window$ bloat and services which drains the whole purpose of a good machine. on the other hand i laughed at apple products for the most part because most of the asking price of them are for that bloody logo... but DANG i love the macOS. it is so slimmed down and sleek... what linux should have been lol... but apple's OS is what makes their systems 'seem' great performance wise. i completely understand why so many build hackintosh systems... it is the best of both worlds.

i don't know if i really need 32gb and 2tb on a mobile system although it would be nice... but again the integration of the macbook pro, the iphone and the ipad is REALLY impressive with how they work together from airdrop, sidecar, etc that would be SO useful so i will say i keep leaning towards the mac.

and to DJ... my desk here is a Ryzen and i love it. never had an issue with audio and latency is fine. i hear a lot of people love the new Ryzen laps but i am not sure i want to go that route. most of what i hear is from people that use it for work, gaming and video/photo editing and i have not heard many chime in on audio work on the laps so that is why i am kinda skeptical at this point. but i am MORE than happy with my desk.

anyways... thnx again all for your input. it is good to hear other viewpoints. cheers and wish me luck lol

jay

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Tue May 12, 2020 7:47 am

revvy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:23 am
Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:11 am I also have a laptop. Though I only have FLS installed in there and no third party plugins. I use it if I'm on a vacation or something.

If I was looking to buy a primary machine, id buy either a gaming laptop or order a custom made laptop. Most probably the latter since I could decide what goes in there, how many usb ports, firewire if needed, connections in general etc..
Have you tried (installing) Bitwig?

I had it installed for a while, but the gui was annoyingly small on laptop screen.

Daimonicon · Post by **Daimonicon** » Tue May 12, 2020 7:58 am

I used laptop occasionally on my last work and I just don’t like laptop. There’s nothing I like about laptop and for music making with a small screen? No thank you. Harddrives aren’t big enough either. I need USB ports for the Cubase dongle, ilok, keyboard, soundcard. Desktop pc rules for me.

revvy · Post by **revvy** » Tue May 12, 2020 8:36 am

Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 7:47 am
revvy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:23 am
Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:11 am I also have a laptop. Though I only have FLS installed in there and no third party plugins. I use it if I'm on a vacation or something.

If I was looking to buy a primary machine, id buy either a gaming laptop or order a custom made laptop. Most probably the latter since I could decide what goes in there, how many usb ports, firewire if needed, connections in general etc..
Have you tried (installing) Bitwig?
I had it installed for a while, but the gui was annoyingly small on laptop screen.

Everything is too small for me on a laptop. I could only really use one for producing if had an external monitor

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Tue May 12, 2020 9:47 am

revvy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 8:36 am
Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 7:47 am
revvy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:23 am
Distorted Horizon wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 5:11 am I also have a laptop. Though I only have FLS installed in there and no third party plugins. I use it if I'm on a vacation or something.

If I was looking to buy a primary machine, id buy either a gaming laptop or order a custom made laptop. Most probably the latter since I could decide what goes in there, how many usb ports, firewire if needed, connections in general etc..
Have you tried (installing) Bitwig?
I had it installed for a while, but the gui was annoyingly small on laptop screen.
Everything is too small for me on a laptop. I could only really use one for producing if had an external monitor

Usually yes, but if you're stuck somewhere, nothing to do.. Then the laptop with FLS is very interesting.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue May 12, 2020 9:56 am

If I would need a new laptop with enough power, I'd choose this one: https://www.dell.com/de-de/shop/laptops ... 590-laptop

Seems to be a nice device.

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:20 am

chk071 wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 9:56 am If I would need a new laptop with enough power, I'd choose this one: https://www.dell.com/de-de/shop/laptops ... 590-laptop

Seems to be a nice device.

You noticed the op "I don't want another dell"?

4damind · Post by **4damind** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:41 am

I don't use a laptop. IMO for music production a PC (or a Mac, maybe a Hackintosh) is the better solution. I switched to a tablet/smartphone with some things that don't need much processing power or a very large screen (probably many people do it that way).

Septimon · Post by **Septimon** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:44 am

MacBook Pro 2015 16GB RAM, Focusrite Saffire 56, bought it refurbished.
Never had any issues with latency or CPU spikes.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:48 am

i have in the past, i did more moving around then.
it was a dell sorry, but i had no issues except with some heavier reaktor ensembles, but for most things was ok.
the same ensembles where at the time pretty taxing on the big rig too, so wasnt an inefficiency of the laptop, so much as processors at that point in time.

i am thinking about a laptop myself again as trips to the gfs can get boring if she goes to sleep and my insomnia kicks in

do you use a laptop and if so... what do you use?