laptop interface?

[hadje]

hi there,
i have a new laptop (p4 2.4ghz,512ram,30gb hard drive) and i am interested in doing some recording with it. i already have a stand-alone unit (tascam 788), but i am soon to hit the road for several months and have started to consider using the laptop instead as it would be more portable and i am asuming better in terms of mixing and editing. i have looked on the web at some of the "interfaces" such as the tascam us-122, m-audio mobilepre, etc.
my question is for anyone who has opinions or experience with this option. can i just plug one of these into a usb port and expect success? i should add that i am only needing to record 2 tracks at a time and have no experinnce at computer ercording. i am also not yet very computer savvy. i also realize that i need to choose a software package (perhaps n-tracks to start).

thanks
christopher

 

[faderbug]

my laptop (1.2Ghz athlon with 480 ram) is my studio! i do all my recording and editing on it. i use a edirol audio/midi interface, a behringer mini mixer and a yamaha dx 7 as controller keyboard/synth . basicly that's all i use and it works for me.

as far as the interface is concerned : yes it's plug and play ,dead easy.

n-tracks is a very descent piece of software, ok for recording and mixing? It's cheap and sounds ok with plenty of possibilities. but at the moment i use magix samplitude and cool edit pro II (just can't decide wich one i like most). most of my synths run in SynthEdit (freeware) and i've always been fond of AudioMulch (awesome shareware).

desktops propably are the best choice when you want to do some home recording (even though you can do the same on a laptop) but when you're in to portability and/or want to use your gear doing concerts a laptop is definitely the way to go!!! !!! !!!


ARE THERE ANY OTHER LAPTOP ARTISTS ON HR.COM????

 

[christiaan]

Personally I'm doubting the advantages of a laptop for recording on location, compared to a desktop.
With a laptop, you'll end up using an external interface for an at least decent sound, external preamps to amp the mics, maybe even a mixer, mic stands, wall sockets for the necessary juice to power it all (or do you want to drain your laptop battery in a matter of minutes?).
Under certain circumstances you may really get your money's worth by using a laptop but considering all I just mentioned a (rackmounted) desktop + TFT screen would imho be no bigger fuss to use on location and be a cheaper, more powerful and more expandable solution in a lot of situations.

 

[faderbug]

"Personally I'm doubting the advantages of a laptop for recording on location, compared to a desktop."

recording on location? i was talking about performing.

 

[christiaan]

"Personally I'm doubting the advantages of a laptop for recording on location, compared to a desktop."

recording on location? i was talking about performing.

I know I went a bit off-topic with my post but sorry, I don't see your point.

 

[faderbug]

my point is that when you perform with a laptop you don't need all the stuff you mentioned, you simply turn it on and plug it in.

 

[Polaris20]

Under certain circumstances you may really get your money's worth by using a laptop but considering all I just mentioned a (rackmounted) desktop + TFT screen would imho be no bigger fuss to use on location and be a cheaper, more powerful and more expandable solution in a lot of situations.

The TFT screen for rackmount (if that's what you mean) is ultra expensive, usually over a grand.

And now that IBM/Hitachi has a 60gig, 7200rpm HD for notebooks, I don't see a disadvantage. And it's a helluva lot lighter than a rackmount.

 

[Alchemist3k]

Moving from a desktop setup to a laptop setup, I myself have recently looked into portable interfaces extensively over the last few weeks. In the end, I've decided to plunge for an RME Multiface with the PCMCIA card. It's got excellent i/o, low latency, first class sound quality and importantly it's very reliable and compatible with a wide range of systems. I rejected a firewire solution from MOTU after hearing that they're a bit hit and miss with PCs. However, judging by the interfaces you already mentioned in your post I suspect such a setup is a good bit above what you might be willing to spend.