Desktop vs Laptop

[BBFG#]

Build your own...
Rack mount case. With a double Xeon server board and as much RAM as you can get and a video card to run as many monitors as you want.
Rack mount audio interface.

Once I did this, I firmly put myself in the camp that laptops can never reach the ideal or even the fantasy of why we consider them in the first place and that even most desktops fail at giving us anything but a temporary gratification of about 18 months...

The only thing that holds my old double Xeon box back is my decision to keep it on Win7 for the hardware I have connected to it where the drivers were stopped being written for them in newer Windows versions. But it does a great job for both hardware and software.

Essentially, laptops suck. And most of the single CPU desktops are only slightly better. Albeit "less portable." But then you need to ask, "what exactly am I trying to achieve by portability"?
Depending on your answers, it could be enough... but it's best to have a backup as well. Because anything can and often does, happen.

[benzene]

I've been pondering the same question for months as my 2014 macbook needs replacing. Used to be dead set on laptops, but it was only at the weekend I realised I really don't need one. This thread helped with that decision actually, when I realised I'm always tethered to my monitor, interface, controller anyway (thanks DJ Warmonger!) A Mac mini is half the price of the portable equivalent and takes less space on my desk.

There's definitely an advantage to being portable. But there's a significant cost to that, so you have to look at the cost-benefit thing.

[Michael L]

You can mount the mini under your desk with any external drives and hubs to keep your desk clean. You can get lockable mini mounts, too.

[Heartfeltdawn]

Honestly, in this day and age I can't believe anyone still has a desktop computer. To me it seems so last Century.

[/quote]

Man, I can't wait until you realise that people are still buying vinyl.

[sQeetz]

Man, I can't wait until you realise that people are still buying vinyl.

But not out of convenience. The myth of vinyl sounding "better" I will not try to even mention here, because of it being stupid. It sounds different. yupp. But there are so many factors at play here, that it would require a separate thread for. And I bet there are at minimum 354333 threads in here regarding this issue

[kritikon]

" But then you need to ask, "what exactly am I trying to achieve by portability"?

Pretty obviously...to be portable. Shouldn't really need explaining.
To be able to take your computer elsewhere...to make music elsewhere or far more likely, to be able to do 1001 other things that all of us do on computers so much of the time without having to be stuck in a studio and without having to do it on an irritating small phone screen. If you can afford both, fine. If you can't then please tell me how a desktop can be used for anything else outside of the studio? The world doesn't stop outside of the studio.

[Spring Goose]

Man, I can't wait until you realise that people are still buying vinyl.

But not out of convenience. The myth of vinyl sounding "better" I will not try to even mention here, because of it being stupid. It sounds different. yupp. But there are so many factors at play here, that it would require a separate thread for. And I bet there are at minimum 354333 threads in here regarding this issue

No there are 334578 threads.

[sQeetz]

No there are 334578 threads.

Sorry, I lost count

[BBFG#]

" But then you need to ask, "what exactly am I trying to achieve by portability"?

Pretty obviously...to be portable. Shouldn't really need explaining.
To be able to take your computer elsewhere...to make music elsewhere or far more likely, to be able to do 1001 other things that all of us do on computers so much of the time without having to be stuck in a studio and without having to do it on an irritating small phone screen. If you can afford both, fine. If you can't then please tell me how a desktop can be used for anything else outside of the studio? The world doesn't stop outside of the studio.

As I said, build your own rackmount. Find the balance between small portability (which even with a 18" monitor and full keyboard, still is not that much more functional than a smartphone.)

When I ask what is to be achieved in portability, this means something different for each of us. For me it was to carry a traveling recording studio for both live and work sessions. But secondly, to be able to setup a quick impromptu rig for playing live. Problem with the second was portability wasn't really achieved due to the controllers I had to carry anyway. So a good work station actually turned out easier, quicker and more portable. As far as the first, it surprisingly also didn't really save me any work or space or time. The idea of portability is always in my mind, but it has yet to reach an ideal I hope for. So that one in between the first and second... "the work sessions"... I have found that does come closer to my reality for using ITB resources, as long as I'm ready to bring the box and peri's. And maybe you and the OP have a completely different set of goals and ideals. But the laptop, in and of itself, while a great fantasy, has yet to be realized in any way for me. Mainly because of power, but also, because portable is never as portable as what we think it should be.



Oh, and on that other off topic thoughts, most are comparing the vinyl to their overly compressed mp3's, so the difference is obvious there and many of them won't understand what you're talking about when you try to explain they should rip without that compression.

[BONES]

Once I did this, I firmly put myself in the camp that laptops can never reach the ideal or even the fantasy of why we consider them in the first place and that even most desktops fail at giving us anything but a temporary gratification of about 18 months...

WhIch, conveniently, is the period of Moore's Law, so that after 18 months a new computer will have twice the computing power. Well worth upgrading. Although I find a 12 month cycle better most of the time, as I can sell my old machine while it is still a current model, which means I don't lose a lot of money. If I were to average it out over the last 10 years, I'd say my computers have probably cost me less than $1 a day, maybe $300-$350 a year to continually turn over. That's cheaper than spending $2,000 up front and keeping it for 4 or 5 years, at which time it will be worthless. My cycle also keeps me at or near the cutting edge of technology, where I don't need to splurge for the fastest, most powerful options because the second or third tier is likely to be more than good enough. e.g. A 12th Gen i5 will likely perform as well as a 10th Gen i7.

The only thing that holds my old double Xeon box back is my decision to keep it on Win7 for the hardware I have connected to it where the drivers were stopped being written for them in newer Windows versions.

Windows 7 drivers will work perfectly well in Windows 10.

Essentially, laptops suck.

A poor workman always blames his tools. If I look at my output over the last 20 years, I would have to say the opposite because we made our first album on a desktop machine and the production quality/values of that album are measurably inferior to those of subsequent albums, which we produce don laptops. But, of course, it doesn't work like that but the fact is that if you now what you are doing, you can make great music on a laptop or a desktop and nobody listening to it will know which it was you used. I'm sure you're just trying to justify your extravagance but, honestly, you're just plain wrong on this point. After all, it' sonly audio, it's not that hard on processing power. Certainly not compared to what I do for a living, which I can also do as well on a laptop as a desktop, albeit with longer render times.

But then you need to ask, "what exactly am I trying to achieve by portability"?

Little unimportant things, like band practice, live performance and the ability to make music somewhere other than in one particular room in your home. You know, like when you are on holidays or away on business or even on the train if you have a long daily commute.

Depending on your answers, it could be enough... but it's best to have a backup as well. Because anything can and often does, happen.

That was true in my hardware days but since moving to laptops, it has been a total non-issue. Computers are nothing if not ultra-reliable.

[BBFG#]

My desktop keeps up with me, the laptops just don't. No blame implied. I've tried to listen to some other members music and can see a laptop might be more than even needed for those styles. But it's different from what I do. That's all. And the drivers I'm talking about definitely did not work on Windows 10. Although Korg finally updated theirs after Spectrasonics added it as a controller for Omnisphere. But Roland makes "nothing continue to happen".

We often think a broken clock is right twice a day. But that's just a stopped clock. One that runs inconsistently fast may be right more on one day and less on another. But unless you have two other consistently working clocks to compare it to, how would you know?

In my experience, desktops do the job that laptops choke on.

That's why I suggest asking yourself what your goals and expectations are first.

[BONES]

Man, I can't wait until you realise that people are still buying vinyl.

Not "still", but "again", which is an even more absurd situation that says a lot about how absolutely f**king pathetic and stupid people are.

As I said, build your own rackmount. Find the balance between small portability

It's not portable if you need to plug it in to make it work. What you're talking about is "transportable", not "portable".

Problem with the second was portability wasn't really achieved due to the controllers I had to carry anyway.

Not "had" to, but "chose" to. Some of my controllers are even more portable than my laptop - Seaboard Block and my two Lightpad Blocks - so I can fit a full live rig into my fairly small vertical laptop bag -


Have a look at the size of the carry handle and the zippers to see just how tiny that bag is, yet my full studio rig fits into it easily.

This set-up means I can have up to 7 octaves of coverage without having to transpose anything, with more hands on control than any hardware synth you can think of, so it doesn't involve any compromise whatsoever.

So a good work station actually turned out easier, quicker and more transportable. As far as the first, it surprisingly also didn't really save me any work or space or time. The idea of portability is always in my mind, but it has yet to reach an ideal I hope for.

I suggest that says far more about the rigidity of your thinking, or lack of imagination, than it does about anything else, because my current portable rig isn't just the most portable I've ever had, it is also subjectively the best, i.e. my favourite, and more likely than anything that has gone before to make me ditch hardware synths altogether.

That said, my current full rig is still incredibly portable - my laptop, controllers and three of the best hardware synths I have ever owned, with all the attendant cabling and power supplies, fits into a single carry-on hard-case. Even my current keyboard stand is small enough when disassembled to fit into my large suitcase. And the thing is, my live rig is way bigger than my studio set-up because I don't use any hardware instruments in the studio.

[chk071]

Essentially, laptops suck. And most of the single CPU desktops are only slightly better.

Mmmh... no... no, not really.

[BBFG#]

Essentially, laptops suck. And most of the single CPU desktops are only slightly better.

Mmmh... no... no, not really.

Should have added "for me". They do good what they do good at, but still seem to come up short for me in comparison to a real box.
When I travel now, I mostly just carry a drive. But when I do take a laptop or tablet, it's just for scratchpadding ideas and inspirations. So far, if I need something more serious, it hasn't been a problem finding something better suited to run my drive from.
Maybe the idea of portability for travel is about to once again evolve?

[AsPeeXXXVIII]

There are benefits and drawbacks to both. I was a laptop-only music producer until I got my first desktop PC last year - been producing on desktop since. The obvious benefit of desktop over laptop is the power, but if the most complex you get is 20-something tracks with a maximum of 5 effects on each one (like me), the improvement is ultimately marginal.

Laptop then, like others have said, affords the benefit of portability that desktop lacks. That makes it ideal for gigging, touring etc. Ultimately, which one you should go for depends on the use case. Laptop is a more-than-suitable option even for "stationary" production, but I will say that if you intend to use a lot of resource-intensive effects and software synths, then desktop is the better choice. With that, your system doesn't run out of processing power quite as quickly.