What Drives Your DAW - Laptop Or Desktop?

[BONES]

I have never understood this obsession. Right now the wind is blowing at about 20km'h, strong enough that I can hear it whistling softly through the rigging. It's 32 degrees C, so I have a small desk fan on, which makes a soft purr. When there is no wind, I can hear the calls of birds, often half-a-dozen distinct different species, al mingling together with the sounds of passing motorboats and aircraft lying overhead. I've never owned a computer that made enough noise of its own to be heard over any of that. As in, never in my life. And when I'm working on music, I am monitoring it as loud as I can, because that's how it's meant to be listened to, so I can't hear anything else at all. All of which makes me wonder what sort of shitbox computers you guys are using that fan noise is even worth mentioning? If it was a problem, wouldn't you just go to liquid cooling? Way cheaper than paying through the nose for a Mac.

I'm in my mid 40's now, I can probably still dance like John Travolta whilst simultaneously moon walking like Michael Jackson still. That could be the reason why my laptop keeps falling off the table

Yeah, like I said - "moron".

This whole thing of being hunched over a monitor/keyboard combo for the sake of portability was never very enticing.

Why would that be your only option? My Legion Go sits in a dock in my studio, where it's connected to a big, curved monitor, a mechanical keyboard and a mouse. When I want to take it to rehearsal or whatever, I only have to pull a single USB Type C cable out and it's ready to go (pun intended).

What if you use a big MIDI keyboard and some guitars? Are you gonna lug them up to the top of Ben Nevis in the lashing rain just to make some pointless 'boom tssch, boom tssch' that nobody's ever gonna listen to?

I might as easily ask why you think you need a large keyboard and a guitar? Sounds like overcompensation for other shortcomings to me. That said, I agree that anyone who feels they need to be able to make music wherever they are, whenever they feel like it, is a fucktard. But there are plenty of other reasons you might choose a laptop over a desktop. e.g. If you actually get off your arse and perform your music in front of an audience, lugging around a stonkin' great tower and its attendant peripherals is not fun. Or if you are working with other people, as opposed to sitting in your mother's basement with a "keep out" sign on the door, you might find collaboration easier if you can take your computer to a rehearsal space or someone else's home studio to jam or whatever. Or maybe you just don't like filling your life up with "stuff" and prefer to keep everything as minimalist as possible? I haven't owned a desktop computer since 2007.

Don't be ridonkulous. Sit in a mancave with a real computer like the rest of us house-dwelling delusionals.

You can fit a bigger audience into a proper venue, never leaving home might be a bit restrictive.

Why do people see everything in black & white? It makes no sense. There are a thousand ways to skin a cat, you just need to open your eyes to see them.

[vurt]

my irony meter peaked, anyone know why?

[tapper mike]

When I move out of my apartment with paper thin walls or the neighbor kids have grown up and moved on I might try the Bones method. Still I'd have two things that might make me rethink things. The other neighbors who may not have the best of intentions and the cops.

There is a certain segment of the renter population that is always in circulation. Part of that has to do with the restrictive nature of the "Good Neighbor" policy in place. If the cops show up once and you keep things civil you might be let off the hook. If they return they will file a report with the landlords who own 95% of the apartments in a 20 mile area. Once you are gone you are gone from the fine city of Wixom and you can forget neighboring communities.

[tapper mike]

As for the main subject. Desktop. I need the usb ports and love the power that it provides.

[_leras]

What drives you ( making these pointless threads ) ?

Advertising revenue

[keyman_sam]

I have never understood this obsession.

Correct.

Why do people see everything in black & white? It makes no sense. There are a thousand ways to skin a cat, you just need to open your eyes to see them.

Agreed.

[BONES]

Well, if people were able to explain the reason for their obsession, I might be able to understand it but, unless you live and work in an anechoic chamber with all your equipment cabled in from a separate soundproof chamber, fan noise form your computer seems to me not to be a top 10 source of extraneous noise in your average studio. I mean, the clacking of (piano) keys while I work is far noisier than any computer fan I've encountered but no-one seems to mind that.

[jamcat]

I have never understood this obsession. Right now the wind is blowing at about 20km'h, strong enough that I can hear it whistling softly through the rigging. It's 32 degrees C, so I have a small desk fan on, which makes a soft purr. When there is no wind, I can hear the calls of birds, often half-a-dozen distinct different species, al mingling together with the sounds of passing motorboats and aircraft lying overhead. I've never owned a computer that made enough noise of its own to be heard over any of that. As in, never in my life. And when I'm working on music, I am monitoring it as loud as I can, because that's how it's meant to be listened to, so I can't hear anything else at all. All of which makes me wonder what sort of shitbox computers you guys are using that fan noise is even worth mentioning? If it was a problem, wouldn't you just go to liquid cooling? Way cheaper than paying through the nose for a Mac.

So you're a vocalist. When you record vocals, do you use a large diaphragm condenser vocal mic? Doesn't it pick up all of those sounds? Mine would. The point of a silent computer for audio is that it doesn't leak into your recordings. In the past, even though I used all the quietest fans and coolers, my DAWs would only really stay quiet when they were idle. But when it actually matters, once you hit play/record on your DAW, the fans all kick in and your silent PC isn't so silent anymore. My previous MacBook was an Intel, and even it would get hot and noisy after a while.

My current Apple Silicon MacBook Pro is the first computer I've ever had that is actually silent and stays that way under load. It doesn't show up in the mics because there's nothing to show up. It's as quiet as an iPad. And yet it's far more powerful than any computer I've ever owned before.

[THE INTRANCER]

You have to check this video out... I mean like seriously.

https://youtu.be/UIgbbegzCyQ

[THE INTRANCER]

Thinking of going the Mini PC route now, so I can attach my own touchscreen to.

[keyman_sam]

Well, if people were able to explain the reason for their obsession, I might be able to understand it but, unless you live and work in an anechoic chamber with all your equipment cabled in from a separate soundproof chamber, fan noise form your computer seems to me not to be a top 10 source of extraneous noise in your average studio. I mean, the clacking of (piano) keys while I work is far noisier than any computer fan I've encountered but no-one seems to mind that.

People have different sensitivity to noise. Even my ever so quiet Mac mini drives me mad with fan noise when the fans kick in. There are daw pcs optimized for quietness. There is a real need for it, though you might not be their target audience.

[jens]

my irony meter peaked, anyone know why?

I certainly do - it's right there in black&white...

[BONES]

So you're a vocalist. When you record vocals, do you use a large diaphragm condenser vocal mic? Doesn't it pick up all of those sounds?

I don't record vocals at home. I work at a TV station, we have voice-over booths that don't really get a lot of use. Plus, of course, condenser mics have a cardioid pick-up pattern so you just need to have your noisy bits off-axis to keep them out of the recording. But that's the thing, the noise isn't so bad that I've ever had a problem with it. In fact, the air-conditioning in the building is louder than any laptop I've owned but it never gets into the recordings, either.

The point of a silent computer for audio is that it doesn't leak into your recordings.

Yeah but the point at which that becomes a problem is, in my experience, way higher than people seem to think it is. I sometimes have trouble with sound leaking from my closed-back headphones but that's really about it. I mean, it's not like I bother putting the laptop outside the booth, which would be simple to do. It stays in the booth with me and it's never a problem.

But when it actually matters, once you hit play/record on your DAW, the fans all kick in and your silent PC isn't so silent anymore. My previous MacBook was an Intel, and even it would get hot and noisy after a while.

It never occurs to you to render your song down to a file to sing along to? In the early days of Orion, before you could record into it, I used to do that so I could record in Cool Edit 2000.

My current Apple Silicon MacBook Pro is the first computer I've ever had that is actually silent and stays that way under load.

I had a liquid cooled Acer 2-in-1 a few years ago that didn't have a fan. I don't think I ever recorded any vox with it, though. It was a great machine, super-thin. With my teeny-tiny Legion Go, I have to put my hand over the vents to feel for hot air to know if the fans are working.

There is a real need for it, though you might not be their target audience.

No, I'm probably not, because I'm not a f**king lunatic.

[keyman_sam]

No, I'm probably not, because I'm not a f**king lunatic.

Are you sure? You’re the one with the funky dual touch screen laptop right? As far as I’m aware there’s no need for such a setup so anyone who uses that setup is obviously a f**king lunatic. It is simply not possible that others prefer something different from what I prefer, so this is the only logical conclusion. I wish you luck on your treatment and cure, leading to the eventual riddance of that computer of yours designed for lunatics.

[vurt]

as mr dury said "it's nice to be a lunatic"