laptop basiscs

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dmiller91

New member
Okay, so I have read the threads on laptops and I have a basic question. I understand that I need something to interface usb. What I don't understand is what that is doing. I buy the interface, and does the info flow directly to the hard drive and somehow pass the sound card? Are you still saving it as a wave file that you can manipulate? Do you have to use software like cakewalk to make it work?

Is the only difference the fact that the data flows in usb? Is this fairly reliable?

Thanks!
Diane
 
one other question

I guess the other question I would have is hard drive size. The biggest hard drive I could get for my laptop is 80g. It's a Dell inspiron 8600, brand new. Is this big enough? I read on the Edirol UA5 specs it needs at least 120g
 
Re: one other question

dmiller91 said:
I guess the other question I would have is hard drive size. The biggest hard drive I could get for my laptop is 80g. It's a Dell inspiron 8600, brand new. Is this big enough? I read on the Edirol UA5 specs it needs at least 120g
Click to expand...
Depends on your usage with other programs and OS
 
laptop

so do you sacrifice sound quality going usb, or is it not noticeable to someone who doesn't record for a living? I just ordered a terratec phase 88 for my home computer, but my laptop is newer, faster and more portable. Do you lose digital transfer capability or does usb qualify as digital?
 
Re: laptop

dmiller91 said:
so do you sacrifice sound quality going usb, or is it not noticeable to someone who doesn't record for a living? I just ordered a terratec phase 88 for my home computer, but my laptop is newer, faster and more portable. Do you lose digital transfer capability or does usb qualify as digital?
Click to expand...
USB is not a digital transfer.
It is reliable for analog and 1 of only a few ways to go with a laptop.
To do a digital transfer you would need an interface with digital connects such as spdif ports (not really neccesary for recording however) and only applies when you have outboard gear that has digital outputs.
 
dmiller91 said:
what about the tascam us428? Is it about the best in its price range?

It looks like it has more inputs than the edirol ua5.
Click to expand...

4 in 2 out
bundled with Cubase VST

I've have Tascam products and no complaint

Looks like a good unit to start out with, but in the future you may find it limited.
 
Stealth- I also didn't get that about USB not being a digital transfer. I'm sure you know what you're talking about, but that one escapes me. The 428 (and the USB mbox I've got) both do digital transfer via S/PDIF.

Diane,

I've owned a Tascam US-428 and *loved* it. It was stable, handled I/O on all 6 channels (4 in/2 out) without complaining, and the control surface is very useable- especially with Cubase. Check carefully, though: it might come bundled with Cubasis- which is a very limited, but still useable, version of Cubase.

You don't really sacrifice sound quality by going USB- the files are still up to 24bit/48Khz, but there are other factors that determine sound quaity. Good preamps and convertors, for example. The pres and convertors in the US-428 are good for the price and I never had any complaints about the music I recorded with it.

I have no experience with Eridol products so I can't compare them.

Your Dell is more than enough. I used the 428 a computer that had 1/3 the resources your new Dell has. You should be fine.
 
Re: one other question

dmiller91 said:
I guess the other question I would have is hard drive size.
Click to expand...

Another thing to remember is the HDD speed. The standard IDE in a desktop is 7200rpm. Laptop's HDD speed can vary between 4800, 5400 & 7200 depending on the HDD. Of course you would be best of getting a 7200rpm.. might be the difference between playing back 12 tracks versus 10.

Also, remember as you record at a higher sample rate/bit rate, you will need to read and write to the disk faster.

Porter
 
Chris Shaeffer said:
Stealth- I also didn't get that about USB not being a digital transfer. I'm sure you know what you're talking about, but that one escapes me. The 428 (and the USB mbox I've got) both do digital transfer via S/PDIF.

Click to expand...
USB transfers are digital in a sense. However, USB is a unique serial communication protocol originally developed for computers, so it's not like S/PDIF, AES/EBU, ADAT Optical or any other digital protocol developed specifically for audio.
 
Dell Inspiron 8500 + Tascam US-428 is my current setup, and its rock solid. i'm using WinXP service pack 1.

the 428 is cool because it allows you to have a physical mixer for your virtual tracks when you mix down your songs. the drawback is that it is USBv1 not USBv2, but that hasn't been a hinderance for me because I never record more than 2 tracks at a time.

you can playback as many tracks as you like, but recording dual stereo (or 4 mono tracks) in 24bit/48khz may cause a problem.

BTW, USB and Firewire are both absolutely digital, but Stealthtech is correct. Neither was built specifically with audio in mind like AES/EBU and its consumer version S/PDIF.
 
tascam/Edirol

Well I'm getting a lot of votes on the Tascam. Does it have onboard memory that you then transfer via usb, or do you send it while you record and the tascam is serving as the mixer. My concern with this setup is that I also have cakewalk and I would be spending more money than just using cakewalk and a usb/inputs combo. Are there more advantages to using the Tascam over cakewalk?

Diane
 
I'm finding the tascam won't work for me. It doesn't have the digital interface. I have a DAT I also use and take into the computer?

Am I back at the drawing board?

Diane
 
my US-428 has S/PDIF in/out as well as USB. Does your DAT I use some other type of interface... like lightpipe (i.e. ADAT optical) or something?

I use the 428 with Sonar2. The tascam feeds into Cakewalk/Sonar during recording. it is not a standalone unit. you have to use some type of audio software in the laptop.

another cool thing about the 428 is that it has 3 assignable buttons (f1, f2, and f3). when i'm recording they are set for undo and redo so i can wipe out a take and try again without having to mess with the mouse or keyboard. when i'm mixing, i use f1, f2, an f3 to create volume, pan, and mute envelopes.

you can pay less money for the Tascam us-122 which also has phantom power (which the 428 lacks), or go with the Edirol USB. I've never bought anything from Edirol or Roland that didn't work as advertised.
 
question for dmiller91. did you have any problems installing your terratec Phase 88 card. I just got one and am having problems with excessive noise when recording. I believe I got the IRQ issue straighten out... but either my harddrives, powersupply or fans are the next suspects.


The Control Panel shows a lot of noise when there is any activity on the screen. i.e. Cubase is running and the volume monitors are moving. I move the mouse etc... It all creates a lot of static.

Any idea's

How did your install go??? any problems etc... My config is

Pentium 4
Intel motherboard
512 RAM
100 GIG Hardrive
80 GIG Hardrive
Terratec EWS88D soundcard
Terratec Phase 88 soundcard

The Terratec EWS88D soundcard is working fine. The Phase 88 who knows.

Fairly standard stuff.
 
No luck yet. I've pulled every card in the PCI slots, I've swapped video cards. I've set the IRQ's for slots 2,3,4,5 and 6 via setup to every combination the Motherboard documentation says is allowed. Still no luck

I believe I'm down to some combination of 4 possibilites
1) Bad Phase 88 card/breakout box
2) Electromagnetic interference from either the Powersupply or diskdrives
3) Some configuration issue I dont understand
4) Lack of, or poor documentation

I would be a bit surprised if the problem was #2 because I have a Terratec EWS88D that I exchange 8 tracks of data between a Fostex FD-8 and my PC via lightpipe with no problems what so ever. If some electromagnetic interference is the problem with the Phase 88 I would then question the design vs the EWS88D. Oh well I'm not there yet in the trouble shooting.

The install was fairly easy and the documentation that is there is straight forward. I'm just not sure how complete it is. I would go for it. You can easily back out of the installation if you have to many problems.

I need to call Terratec. I've been exchanging emails with them, but their questions and responses have not helped yet. A person on the other end of the phone would probably better resolve this.
 
US-428

Hey everybody,
I'm gonna jump into this post, because I'm a new to digital recording and trying to find a controller with real faders to incorporate into my as-yet-to-be-assembled recording set up.

I've been investigating the Tascam interfaces, as well as the Roland Studio Pack Pro, but no firm decisions yet.

I'll be following this thread and your experiences with great interest!

Thanks,
Kester
 
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