laptop for audio?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tony moore
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tony moore

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hey folks,

i have a laptop i'd like to use for audio. it's a toshiba with a pIII (1 ghz) with 256mb ram, 30gig hd, and it has one firewire and 2 usb connections. i've been using adats, reels, and such for years but have always feared pc audio. i've looked at the motu 828 firwire and the tascam usb dealie. i'd love to have 8 inputs and 8 ouputs so i could transfer stuff with my 8 track reel to and fro.

so where do i start?

thanks!

tony
 
my guess is that the motu would be excellent....i'm not sure anything else competes with it for multichannnel firewire ....

but largish breakout boxes kinda defeat the point of having a notebook? hey, that should be a poll!
 
I have an 828 and it is really picky about which PC notebook you connect it to. No Ricoh or NEC Firewire chipsets can be used.

If I had it to do again, I would go with the RME card instead.
 
Tony:

I suggest you take a look at the RME Hammerfall DSP product. Its a PC Card interface. It may be pricey but the RME hardware and drivers have been rock solid on popular versions of windows (98/NT/2000). This card is on my shopping list after the next commission check!

Good Luck...darth87
 
i don't use a notebook, but the RME thing is a pcmcia card? anyone know how this compares to firewire or a pci interface?
 
j said:
i don't use a notebook, but the RME thing is a pcmcia card? anyone know how this compares to firewire or a pci interface?
Click to expand...

I would think it would work just fine and not cause too many problems. After all, you can buy PC-Card SCSI adapters (the epitomy of speed).
 
hammerfall?

but the hammerfall is only 2 tracks, no? i'd really like 8 tracks to transfer tracks from 8 track reel. i think the motu 828 in the only firewire 8 channel so far, right?

thanks!

tony
 
No, you get the RME Carbus card and then one of the optional I/O boxes for it. I think you can go out to 36 channels with the card.
 
I suppose that the choice is between the Motu 828 and the rme hammerfall. Always if you have a good 800Stg. plus to spare.
 
Be careful to read the online reviews before considering the Quattro. Do a search -- most people have been very dissatisfied. And make sure there's a good return policy.

M-audio cards are rock solid, but the quattro is kind of an embarrassment to the company.
 
you may want to consider a firewire 7200 rpm harddrive or something else that is better than the internal hard drive of the laptop. Laptops are normally 4500 or 5400 rpms and I've never seen anything higher. Hard drive speed can limit your track count.
 
Jamie speaks the Truth! You dont find laptop internal hard drives that reach the desired minimum speed of 7200rpm. There are some firewire drives of that speed that reach that speed but be careful. if you use your fire wire port for the hard drive (Unless you have two fire wire connection which is rare) you would not be able to use the motu 828.

Are there any pcmcia hard drives on the market that run at 7200rpm?
 
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