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rimisrandma

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I was looking at a 15" Mac Book Pro with 2.5 Ghz i7 quad, get 4 gb of ram and upgrade to 16gb w/ Crucial ram, 750GB 7200 rpm hard-drive, hi-res anti-glare monitor, w/ applecare. Grand total is about 3250 w/ the crucial ram.

Out of Curiosity I spec'd out an ADK 8600 model w/ similar specs. Grand total is under 2500 w/ the extended warranty.

Considering I want to run Presonus Studio One V2, which is the best way to go? If I went MBP, I would use a firestudio mobile interface and get in on the zero latency monitoring function S1V2 incorporates. With the ADK, I would probably buy an RME babyface and lose the zero latency aspect.

With either I would use amplitube 3 and Motu BPM 1.5 (drum machine software) as plug-ins.

Anything to consider or random thoughts etc here?
 
I think both of those prices are absolutely terrible. But if you really don't care, and money is really no matter, go for the Mac with Studio One and the firestudio mobile to match. [I'm totally biased with the Presonus stuff, but you also give limited options. =P]

I'm guessing you are needing it to be mobile, as you have chosen mobile interfaces and laptops. That's already pushed the price up, as you don't get all the customising options a desktop can give. I'd have a look at first gen i7s and i5s from both generations for something a little cheaper [although at 2.5GHz, the i7 you're looking at seems like it could be a lesser version as it is. In which case, those laptops are even more of a rip off than I first suspected]. You really won't need 16GB of RAM, 8 GB will do you plenty. Look for a laptop case that can hold 2 internal HDDs and add a second 7200 RPM drive. If you can't, at least try get an external. This will come in useful for plugins and loops and such, but also for backup.

You'll also want to factor in the price of upgrading Studio One to the Producer or Professional versions so that you can use 3rd party plugins if you haven't already. That can be a couple hundred extra.
 
somegeezer said:
I think both of those prices are absolutely terrible. But if you really don't care, and money is really no matter, go for the Mac with Studio One and the firestudio mobile to match. [I'm totally biased with the Presonus stuff, but you also give limited options. =P]

I'm guessing you are needing it to be mobile, as you have chosen mobile interfaces and laptops. That's already pushed the price up, as you don't get all the customising options a desktop can give. I'd have a look at first gen i7s and i5s from both generations for something a little cheaper [although at 2.5GHz, the i7 you're looking at seems like it could be a lesser version as it is. In which case, those laptops are even more of a rip off than I first suspected]. You really won't need 16GB of RAM, 8 GB will do you plenty. Look for a laptop case that can hold 2 internal HDDs and add a second 7200 RPM drive. If you can't, at least try get an external. This will come in useful for plugins and loops and such, but also for backup.

You'll also want to factor in the price of upgrading Studio One to the Producer or Professional versions so that you can use 3rd party plugins if you haven't already. That can be a couple hundred extra.
Click to expand...

For Daw's, I like the s1v2 and another I kind of like is Reason which is 1 program now with Record.

One system would be S1v2, Motu BPM or Geist drum/rhythm programs, Amplitube 3, an old pod xt I have, matching presonus firestudio mobile.

A second idea is Reason 6, The Reason Balance usb interface (or even a line 6 UX series I guess), the pod xt I have which fits into the program pretty well, and everything else is in Reason.

I like to buy a better interface, so that's where the RME Babyface came in, but it bothers me a bit because I feel I would spend double for this interface (or even for the brand) to get maybe a couple milliseconds (ms) better latency response. Like round trip 5 ms instead of 7?

Reason seems a bit shady on mastering, where it says it can, but it seems just slid in there like it can, but not really. Logic and Presonus are other programs which claim easy mastering although I am under suspicion that it is lame mastering and to get in the door seriously, you would need Ozone (or T-racks).

What I am aiming at is clean and metal guitar sounds, a way to do bass whether it is bass guitar piano roll or a bass synth piano roll baby method of doing bass instead of a real bass guitar etc, and like a piano roll/drum machine to do hip hop/(dub?) style rhtythm. I have been cursed before on the laptop, but as you correctly guessed, I do need to be mobile at the added expense.

The i7 2.5 ghz quad-core is supposedly the best processor you can get in a laptop w/o going a little crazy. That's MBP's best and ADK has some better models available including 6 cores, but then the laptop STARTS at 3000 bux w/o necessary customization. So.....does this Sandy Bridge chip suck? I thought it was the best, but I am wondering where your perspective is stemming from. For instance, I believe Reason 6 is a little cpu hungry (but under the impression it is not as bad as something like running Ableton), so would running that set-up on the laptops I have spec'd be a mistake?
 
rimisrandma said:
For Daw's, I like the s1v2 and another I kind of like is Reason which is 1 program now with Record.

One system would be S1v2, Motu BPM or Geist drum/rhythm programs, Amplitube 3, an old pod xt I have, matching presonus firestudio mobile.

A second idea is Reason 6, The Reason Balance usb interface (or even a line 6 UX series I guess), the pod xt I have which fits into the program pretty well, and everything else is in Reason.

I like to buy a better interface, so that's where the RME Babyface came in, but it bothers me a bit because I feel I would spend double for this interface (or even for the brand) to get maybe a couple milliseconds (ms) better latency response. Like round trip 5 ms instead of 7?

Reason seems a bit shady on mastering, where it says it can, but it seems just slid in there like it can, but not really. Logic and Presonus are other programs which claim easy mastering although I am under suspicion that it is lame mastering and to get in the door seriously, you would need Ozone (or T-racks).

What I am aiming at is clean and metal guitar sounds, a way to do bass whether it is bass guitar piano roll or a bass synth piano roll baby method of doing bass instead of a real bass guitar etc, and like a piano roll/drum machine to do hip hop/(dub?) style rhtythm. I have been cursed before on the laptop, but as you correctly guessed, I do need to be mobile at the added expense.

The i7 2.5 ghz quad-core is supposedly the best processor you can get in a laptop w/o going a little crazy. That's MBP's best and ADK has some better models available including 6 cores, but then the laptop STARTS at 3000 bux w/o necessary customization. So.....does this Sandy Bridge chip suck? I thought it was the best, but I am wondering where your perspective is stemming from. For instance, I believe Reason 6 is a little cpu hungry (but under the impression it is not as bad as something like running Ableton), so would running that set-up on the laptops I have spec'd be a mistake?
Click to expand...

I'd choose Studio One over Reason anyday. Never have liked that programme. But there are plenty of other good ones out there. The mastering in Studio One is not something to throw away, assuming you are wanting to master. If you want pro level mastering, it's gonna be down to your skills and your room. The mastering suite itself is not lacking.
I also use Reaper myself. Cheap, but you're getting everything you get with every other DAW. Could be a good place to start. I use it together with Studio One.

I imagine Studio One with a Presonus interface would theoretically give you the best latency, as they have been developed to work together. I imagine it's the same with something Like Pro Tools and M-Audio or something. But that being said, you won't notice the difference with a different DAW or different interface really.

I would say an i7 is bad, but at those speeds, you could get an i5 for cheaper. and at 3000 as a starting price, before you even even upgrade to that i7? Find a different place to shop.
 
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