laptop recording setup, PC or Mac?

[anton]

Hi everyone,

I have been thinking about purchasing a laptop recording setup sometime. There are times when i am in a nice sounding room and would like to come back with a laptop and some mics.

I currently have a Windows PC and an Mbox. I was thinking about just getting a Windows laptop and i would be set, but then i started looking at Mac's.

Does a Firewire connection offer superior sound quality to USB? I am happy with the Mbox mostly, but i dont like how it wont let Pro Tools start unless the hardware is connected. With a laptop that could be problematic if i want to edit audio while sitting the coffee shop or something.

Is there an audio program for Windows that is comporable to Pro Tools? I was thinking a laptop, one of the Motu interfaces, and Digital Performer would be great. Unfortunately DP only runs on Mac, and Pro Tools wont work with a MOTU interface. And if i got a Mac laptop i would probably eventually want a Mac desktop to mix and edit on while at home. Much more costly that using a Windows PC with my current setup.

This isnt something i want to do right away, i am just kind of considering my options. If there is an audio recording program for Windows comporable to Pro Tools that would work with a MOTU interface i could perhaps use that.

I would be recording mostly solo guitar and perhaps some small celtic ensembles.



anton

 

[cawhite12]

Well, don't know if this helps or not, but I use a Dell Laptop and Sonar to record with. Though I haven't used Pro Tools much, Sonar is full featured and can do anything that Pro Tools can, and you can use any hardware you want with it, including the MOTU stuff.

Now as far as being able to mix at the coffee shop without having an interface present, I'm not sure what you're after there. Though you could use the onboard soundcard at the coffee shop, its not going to sound as good, converters in onboard audio suck.

 

[anton]

I meant edit audio. Like comping vocal or guitar tracks. I would not expect to do any serious mixing or eq'ing with headphones. I will keep that in mind, i did not think about the crappy converers on a sound card.



anton

 

[altiris]

Firewire, USB 2 will not matter as far as audio quality goes since the audio is transferring in digital format via the cable and it has already been converted at the interface. Pro-tools is proprietary with its software and hardware. So I don’t think you can you it any other way.

 

[sonnylarsen]

I bought a 12" ibook last January and it is wonderful. Laptops tend to run into issues when it comes to hard drive speed. The ibook's stock internal hard drive is 4200 rpm to save battery but it is just not sufficient when you have multiple tracks running...the hard disk can't keep up. I knew this going in, and I bought an external firewire drive and I boot from that drive and use it for all audio purposes. I also maxed out the ram at 1.25 GB and I get great performance. I use an omnistudio usb from m-audio for my interface and Logic Express 7. The interface and the external drive make the laptop a bit less portable, but it is still much more portable than my PC.