Sony Vegas users please come in

[headhunter]

Firewire seems the best bet for a LAPTOP at this moment.

Lowjk, I noticed you use a Sharp Laptop. I am also looking for a notebook for music and have also decided that my best bet is to go Firewire. What is the model laptop you have? It would make things a lot easier to narrow down my search as there is just too much out there and i am happy to settle for anything that is stable and works and doesnt' cost both arms and legs! Talking of which, how much did the Sharp cost you? And why did you choose it?

 

[lowjk]

Firewire seems the best bet for a LAPTOP at this moment.

Lowjk, I noticed you use a Sharp Laptop. I am also looking for a notebook for music and have also decided that my best bet is to go Firewire. What is the model laptop you have? It would make things a lot easier to narrow down my search as there is just too much out there and i am happy to settle for anything that is stable and works and doesnt' cost both arms and legs! Talking of which, how much did the Sharp cost you? And why did you choose it?

I bought this one:
http://www.sharpsystems.com/products/pc_notebooks/actius/rd/10/

It's more of a desktop replacement model and relatively heavy compared to the new Intel M series of laptops.

Cost about $2800 when I bought it last year.

Choose it because the display is excellent, comes with 512Mb and 60Gb hard drive so I don't have to worry about grading the system.

 

[headhunter]

Lowjk,
Thanks for the link! Your laptop looks powerful and for a good price too even for last year.
My friend has bought a lappy for himself for playing games but i found it quite similar specs to your Sharp and in line with the some of the things I'm looking for eg Firewire, 60GB drive, 15"monitor. Model and description below. If you would just give it a once over and tell me what you think? Its athlon which is better than p4 for music yes? I have to admit it looks quite good too!

Acer Ferrari 3000 LMI Athlon XP2500+ Laptop

The link is http://www.lowcost-computers.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/855

and pics at http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/fr3000.htm

DETAILS

Processor & Core Logic
Mobile AMD Athlon™ XP-M processor 2500+ (40W)
VIA ProSavage™ KN400 chipset

System Memory
512MB (2*256) DDR333 SDRAM, upgradeable to 2048 MB with dual soDIMM modules

Storage
60GB ATA-100 hard disc
4-in-1 card reader supporting Secure Digital, SmartMedia, MultiMediaCard, and Memory Stick formats

Storage Devices
Internal DVD-Dual drive:
Read: 4x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 4x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 8x DVD-ROM, 24x CD-ROM
Write: 2.4x DVD+R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 2x DVD-R, 2x DVD-RW, 16x CD-R, 10x CD-RW

Display & Graphics
15.0" SXGA+ TFT LCD with 1400 x 1050 pixel resolution, 16.7 million colours, 185 nit high brightness
ATI® Mobility Radeon® 9200 with dedicated 128MB of video memory
8× AGP graphic accelerator
MPEG-2/DVD hardware assisted capability
DualView™ support
External display resolution up to 2048 x 1536, 75Hz, via non-interlaced CRT display
Simultaneous LCD and CRT display at 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution, 16.7 million colours, 75Hz

Audio
Audio system with two speakers
MS-Sound compatible
Built-in microphone

Dimensions & Weight
330 (W) x 272 (D) x 31 (H) mm
2.93kg* for 15.0” LCD model
(*actual weight may differ, depending on configuration)

Networking & Communication
Integrated 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet
Integrated 56K V.92 data/fax software modem (with international PTT approval)
Wireless LAN: Acer InviLink™ IEEE 802.11g
Wireless PAN: Integrated Bluetooth™

I/O Ports
4 × USB 2.0 ports
1 × IEEE 1394 port
1 × S-video-out (NTSC/PAL) port
1 × FIR port
1 × ECP/EPP-compliant parallel port
1 × RJ-11 jack for modem
1 × RJ-45 jack for Ethernet
1 × external VGA port
1 × speaker/ headphone/ line-out jack
1 × microphone/ line-in jack
1 × CardBus type II slot
1 × DC-in jack for AC adapter

Power Subsystem
ACPI power management standard supports Standby and Hibernation power saving modes
3-pin 90W AC adapter
8-cell Li-Ion battery pack
3 hours battery life (actual battery life might vary, depending on usage and configuration);
4.5 hours charge-in-use

Keyboard & Pointing
Device Acer FineTouch keyboard: with a 5° curve, 84/85/88-key, inverted "T" cursor layout, 18mm spacing, 2.5mm (min.) key travel
Built-in touchpad pointing device with ergonomic buttons and four-way integrated scroll key
12 function keys; 4 cursor keys; two Windows® keys; hotkey controls
4 launch keys, including Internet browser, email (with LED for received mail), and 2 user-programmable keys
Embedded numeric keypad
International language support
Wireless on/off button
Bluetooth™ on/off button

Quality & Reliability
Tests Temperature & Humidity Test
Acoustics Test
Electrostatic Discharge Test
Hinge Life Test
Free Drop Test
Weight Pressure Tests
Spill Test
Shock and Vibration Test
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) Test

Operating System
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

Software
BIOS User and Administrator passwords
Acer Launch Manager
Acer System Recovery CD
Norton AntiVirus™ (Trial Version)
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
CyberLink® PowerDVD®
NTI® CD Maker™

Options
Additional 3-pin 90 W AC adapter
Additional Li-ion battery pack
Memory expansion modules

System Compliances
Microsoft® Windows® XP
ACPI 1.0b

Warranty
1 year International Travellers Warranty

[LX.FR105.002] £1,024.00 (EX.VAT)
£1,203.20 (Inc.VAT)

http://www.lowcost-computers.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/855

Don't know the spore price! But i guess it would be around the 3k region.

 

[headhunter]

Sorry, got the link for price at nexus is $3219

http://shop.d-nexus.com/product_info.php/cPath/116/products_id/2039

 

[lowjk]

Sorry, got the link for price at nexus is $3219

http://shop.d-nexus.com/product_info.php/cPath/116/products_id/2039

Specs look good, especially with a DVD writer.

But I always thought that Athlons were cheaper than Intel. The extra cost must be for the right to use the trademark of Ferrari and the design.

Music wise there shouldn't be much of a difference between the Athlon & the Intel chips.

Here's a rough guide for comparison:
http://cubase.freezope.org/perftest/shoresults

 

[koala]

Nobody speaks about EMU...???

I have read your all interesting comments on the different audio interfaces and sound cards... but nobody came with the EMU cards?

Any reason for that?

Anybody tried EMU 1212M or 1820M? On the paper they seem to be great... and price wise, an EMU 1212M does not look that bad for a reasonnable budget...

Comment appreciated...

Koala

 

[lowjk]

Re: Nobody speaks about EMU...???

I have read your all interesting comments on the different audio interfaces and sound cards... but nobody came with the EMU cards?

Any reason for that?

Anybody tried EMU 1212M or 1820M? On the paper they seem to be great... and price wise, an EMU 1212M does not look that bad for a reasonnable budget...

Comment appreciated...

Koala

My take on this is:

1) there is no EMU dealer in Singapore (?Is Daxco one) Anyway, Daxco is not a company I trust due to my previous dealings with them.

2) quite a number of the users here are using laptops. So EMU is out of the game as they do not have a firewire or USB 2.0 version of their soundcards.

3) they came into the pro/semi-pro soundcard business a little late (the EMU APS was a joke, nothing more than a glorified Sound Blaster Live), so most of us already have a soundcard in that class and see no need to upgrade at the moment.

But I do agree that the specs look very good. I'm tempted by the EMULATOR X version ....
But MY CFO (aka wife) says no.

So in the meanwhile, I'm looking at the Arturia Minimoog and Moog Modular which sound very good. And if you buy them separately, it seems cheaper than getting an expensive soundcard at 1 shot ....

 

[headhunter]

Sorry, got the link for price at nexus is $3219

http://shop.d-nexus.com/product_info.php/cPath/116/products_id/2039

Specs look good, especially with a DVD writer.

But I always thought that Athlons were cheaper than Intel. The extra cost must be for the right to use the trademark of Ferrari and the design.

Music wise there shouldn't be much of a difference between the Athlon & the Intel chips.

Here's a rough guide for comparison:
http://cubase.freezope.org/perftest/shoresults

Yes, i was thinking the DVD writer would be a good bonus. But your'e probly right about the price. Paying extra for the brand name. And i don't even like formula 1

Thanks for the link, once again a source of invaluable information. I'm still a bit confused about Athlon and P4 processors for music tho. I guess you can't really go wrong with either.
Btw i believe the hard disk is 5400rpm which is a tad shy of the ideal 7200rpm. The rest of it looks pretty solid, altho i may get an equivalent spec machine cheaper.

 

[Cheez]

Becareful. There are still reports that say that AMD is not optimised for DAW. Companies like Tascam still recommend Intel for DAW. I'm not sure about the new AMDs, but a lot of audio applications are apparently being optimised for the Intel's SIMD instruction sets which does not exist in the older AMDs (not sure about now). I think the Celeron also lack these instructions. Not to say you can't use AMD, but just that it may not be optimised for audio applications. Another source I read said that with every crash on an Intel chip, AMD crashes 3 times.

One thing about benchmarks, they all appear different depending on who does them. Toms Hardware has shown many times that Intel performs superior to AMD in almost every occasion, although they did not really test for audio applications.

Personally, I would go for Intel although it is more expensive - worth the investment and may give me less headaches in the longrun.

 

[Den]

Audiotrak MAYA44MKII 4in/4out 24bit/96kHz Pc recording card

Hi,

can try this: Audiotrak MAYA44 MKII, 4in/4out 24bit/96kHZ,

Connections (left to right): Line In 1-2 (6.3 mm stereo jack), Line In 3-4 (6.3 mm stereo jack), Line Out 1-2 (6.3 mm stereo jack), Line Out 3-4(6.3 mm stereo jack), S/PDIF Out (Cinch, coaxial and TOS Link, optical).

Professional digital recording - DTMP
Audiotrak's MAYA44 MKII adopts the new 'E-WDM' driver model which provides a superior data processing performance and most compatibility. The E-WDM driver will work at its best in multi-track hard disk recording. MAYA44MKII is compatible with popular multi-track recording software such as Cakewalk SONAR, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, plus mastering software like Sound Forge and Wavelab. Also MAYA44 MKII works with software samplers like Logic Audio EXS 24, Halion, and GIGAStudio, and Virtual Instruments like Reason and Reaktor.

Price: US$ 139 + free delivery. can get from Build Tech 603-7955 3699 or email: dennis@build.com.my