Netbooks as DAWs?

A

Agent47

Dismember
[Edit: sorry, meant to put this in the computer recording section. Brain not working this morning.]

I'm seriously thinking of getting a little netbook for audio work, for an upcoming podcast job, so I can edit/mix while on the move.

Would a Samsung 1.6gHz netbook be powerful enough to run Cubase SX3 (say, up to 8 tracks of 16/44.1 audio, just a couple of plug-ins like dynamics and EQ)?

I wouldn't be running softsynths or loads of plug-ins like reverb etc. Just basic speech/podcast/radio work.

Anyone here using a netbook? Practicalities, experiences?

Cheers,

A.
 
Processing speed/power is not even close to being an issue these days, especially for the simple projects you're talking about.

We were editing 8 tracks of audio on 120MHz Pentiums running Cubase some 10 years ago. I can still mix and edit 8-track projects with 4 video tracks without breaking a sweat using my back-up system, which is is only a 450MHz PIII with 384MB.

As long as you're using a full version of Windows and you have a full-speed hard drive, you're OK.

G.
 
Thanks, that sounds encouraging!

If I get it up and running it'll mean I can work while out and about (and, ahem, when at work...) :)

Those things are so portable...
 
I have a friend who records 16 inputs via firewire on a 1.2Ghz old intel CPU into Cubase LE. It does it flawlessly, even with a compressor and a bit of EQ. Pretty impressive really, the laptops are like bricks :D
 
Blimey! Looks like I understimated laptops' capabilities in the audio arena. I've always used desktops...
 
Processors and memory on a netbook would probably be OK, but I'd be prepared for driver problems. Who knows what parts they sneak onto those things to hit a price point. One wonky controller or shady chip, and it'll be rough sailing. I'd go with a used/refurb outdated laptop with similar specs, but of reputable build.
 
ive seen sonar8 on a 1.6ghz Atom netbook, 2gig ram..a Lenovo I think..it worked pretty well...he said he could get about 60 audio tracks up and running though soft synths werent so great had to be frozen up at points..
 
This is kindof off the subject, but what the heck.

Does it take more to record audio or playback audio. I would think it would take more to record audio, but I'm just guessing. :confused:
 
dastrick said:
Does it take more to record audio or playback audio. I would think it would take more to record audio, but I'm just guessing. :confused:
Click to expand...
Assuming a setup where there's no difference in extra processing like plugs and such, and assuming no major functional problems with the computer, there isn't a large enough difference to worry about.

The main factor as far as computer performance is whether it can handle the throughput data rate you're requesting of it, all the way from I/O port to hard drive and back again. If you assume a mono track of 44.1kHz/24bit, that's a data rate of just barely over 1 megabit/sec (44,100 * 24 = 1,058,400 bits per sec) per track. That's about 132KBytes/sec. Considering today's hard drives and data lines can typically throughput almost a thousand times that data rate, that leaves room for lots of simultaneous tracks with room left over.

G.
 
I'm using a Lenovo S10 netbook to record drums with. It sits nicely on my percussion table... I use Reaper, a firewire HDD and an Echo AudioFire12 + a firewire card in the PCMCIA Express slot.

The only issue arises when I use reverb plugins, because of the processing power needed.

Recording 12 tracks at a time works beautifully, even when playing back 36 tracks at the same time. I didn't bother testing anything more than that...

When I have a serious amount of spare cash, I want to look into upgrading to something that has a real firewire port though, as the Express card sticks out a bit.
 
it was the S10 that i mentioned I think....loads of potential


thing is i think all the netbooks comes with the 1.6 atom chip so Id look for battery life if i were to get one...the eeepc 1000he supposedly goes for 9 hours! not too shabby
 
I dont know about these netbooks. I hear the storage space is not an actual spinning hard drive but more like flash drive. If that is the case I would make sure of the amount of on board space to tell you if your going to need an external drive.
 
Netbooks are definitely powerful enough to handle light audio production.
Most of them only come with 1GB of RAM installed, so you might want to look into getting a 2GB stick to upgrade the memory. (very easy to do)

I've been using mine to record and edit audio for samples and making beats on the road.

If you're willing to get a bit geeky, I just wrote a guide on turning a netbook into a mobile audio production workstation with Ubuntu linux which I think is a great way to go as the Linux environment recommended is pretty light on resources.
 
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