recording on a laptop

[mirrorful]

hello,
i will soon purchase a relatively powerful pc laptop (1Ghz, 512MB RAM etc) and i'd like to also get a cheap interface for recording digital audio but one which will result in recordings of decent quality. recording multiple tracks simultaneously would also be nice, tho i don't know if usb even allows this. i'm thinking of a tascam US-224 or the audiosport quattro or duo. could someone point me in the right direction? i'm not sure what the advantages/drawbacks of these interfaces are or whether there is something in a similar pricerange that would be better. thanks!

 

[young_techy]

echo laptop

echo audio has intrudiced an interface that goes through your pc card slot and out to one of there rack mountable units
http://www.echoaudio.com
hope i could help

see ya
matt klopot

 

[TexRoadkill]

I havent heard a lot of praise about USB sound cards but havent used one myself. I would imagine the bandwidth will be your biggest limitation for recording multiple tracks at once. You will also need a fast HD on that laptop.

 

[brzilian]

USB audio devices just plain suck. Because of the tiny 12Mb/sec bandwith, audio will start chocking on you real quick.

If you ABSOLUTELY need to use a laptop, try and find a PC-Card or Firewire interface.

I agree with the laptop HD comment. Most laptop HD's only spin at 4200RPM. Only recently havd 5400RPM drives started to appear in laptops. Thats pretty slow compared to the pretty much industry standard 7200RPM drives that are available for desktop PC. 10,000RPM are getting pretty cheap as well.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

I have been using the US-428 for about a yaer now and I'm pretty darned happy with it. As long as you accept that USB audio will never be upgradeable beyond....say 4 tracks simutaneous record, it works fine.

If you do go for a USB device, don't use any other USB things at the same- like mouses and hard drives. Let the audio device be the only thing on the USB bus. You will also want to optimize your computer for audio if you can. Trust me, it helps audio performance A LOT!! Laptops need all the help they can get.

http://www.tascam.com/support/faq/pc_optimize/index.php

Anywho, the US-428 has 4 inputs and 2 outs. I hardly ever use more than 2 inputs, but boy do I need the extra third and fourth inputs when I need them. If you're going to go USB and can't upgrade later, you might as well go for the full 4 channels if you can afford it.

The control surface kicks bootey, too. Depending on what recording program you use, it integrates in pretty well. Its flawless in Cubase and Cubasis. I'm completely addicted.

I'm sure there are other great options out there, and I can only share what I am familiar with.

Good luck,
Chris