Okay, so I know a lotta cats post computer questions, especially as of late, but I'm reachin' out to ya'll because I am a technology deprived young lad and I don't want to make any hasty decisions here.I just got a brand new Ipod, but I don't have a computer. I am looking to buy a new labtop. I would be using this primarily for the following things:1. Storing a lot of music, to put on Ipod, Serato, etc. (and I know absolutely nothing about dubbing records to MP3 and was wondering the best way to do this)2. Running Serato3. Recording music onto a program like Logic or something like thatI would really appreciate some help with this, because like I said, I'm deprived. For a while now I've just rocking the most basic set up for djing and making beats:two 1200'svestax 07Korg M6 8-track recorderSP 1200so I'm looking to get a little more advanced, and hopefully by converting a lot of records to MP3 I can get rid of some of this wax I don't need that's just taking up space. Thanks guys!
Computer Question # 5798429874
- Thread starter MorseCode
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There's a lot of things to consider so hopefully this will help you out a bit...
If you're going to get a laptop make sure you look into what kind of sound quality it has. I have a HP laptop and the line in is HORRIBLE! Whenever I sampled something I get a horrible ringing noise in the background. This is mostly due to the fact that laptops are very compact, so you get a lot of interference or "noise" from other circuits and parts. The way I got around this is that I literally just made a new desktop with a nice audio card. But if you're really set on a latop, there are external boxes that you can link to your laptop that will accept your audio connections and keep everything sounding clean and nice. You may also want to consider an external connection through your PCMCIA port, which is like a card that plugs into your laptop. I have seen many of these products at turntablelab for a variety of price ranges. Depends on how deep your pockets are.
With all that being said...Mac laptops are awesome for audio and video editing. You can pretty much through out that whole thing I said about noise and such when it comes to Macs. The only drawback is that they can tend to be a bit pricey. I would highly recommend a Mac though if you're really set on a laptop.
I too want to do the same thing you want to do, by recording some albums that I wanna get rid of. The problem for me was that my laptop was horrible and I never really sampled that much cause of trying to minimize that ringing noise with filters. Another word of advice, if you end up getting a Windows based machine, use EphPod for transmitting songs to your Ipod. You can put them on there and also take them off and its a really simple program. Hope this helps and feel free to ask some questions or drop me a PM if things get more lengthy. I don't mind helpin out.
If you're going to get a laptop make sure you look into what kind of sound quality it has. I have a HP laptop and the line in is HORRIBLE! Whenever I sampled something I get a horrible ringing noise in the background. This is mostly due to the fact that laptops are very compact, so you get a lot of interference or "noise" from other circuits and parts. The way I got around this is that I literally just made a new desktop with a nice audio card. But if you're really set on a latop, there are external boxes that you can link to your laptop that will accept your audio connections and keep everything sounding clean and nice. You may also want to consider an external connection through your PCMCIA port, which is like a card that plugs into your laptop. I have seen many of these products at turntablelab for a variety of price ranges. Depends on how deep your pockets are.
With all that being said...Mac laptops are awesome for audio and video editing. You can pretty much through out that whole thing I said about noise and such when it comes to Macs. The only drawback is that they can tend to be a bit pricey. I would highly recommend a Mac though if you're really set on a laptop.
I too want to do the same thing you want to do, by recording some albums that I wanna get rid of. The problem for me was that my laptop was horrible and I never really sampled that much cause of trying to minimize that ringing noise with filters. Another word of advice, if you end up getting a Windows based machine, use EphPod for transmitting songs to your Ipod. You can put them on there and also take them off and its a really simple program. Hope this helps and feel free to ask some questions or drop me a PM if things get more lengthy. I don't mind helpin out.
Thanks a lot guys, very much appreciated.
I'm willin' to spend some dough, but not an exorbitant amount. I'm thinking probably a Mac. Aww fuckit, if I gotta save up for a minute and spend more, its all good since its probably more worth it to invest in something that will last a long time and get the job done. Maybe a G4.
I'm willin' to spend some dough, but not an exorbitant amount. I'm thinking probably a Mac. Aww fuckit, if I gotta save up for a minute and spend more, its all good since its probably more worth it to invest in something that will last a long time and get the job done. Maybe a G4.
i'd like to rep my compaq laptop a bit, the soundcard is real horrible! but in a good way, if not great even! nice gritty lofi with low bitrate, says 16bit but its clearly not even close to 16bit. actually sounds pretty much like an sp1200 haha.
i'll upload 3 shitty beat sketches i've done on it, where all the samples were recorded on that soundcard. these are all made in fruityloops tho, and i might add that i work in cubase usually, and with my asr-10, so i'm kinda lost in that fruityloops program... in other words: dont expect any masterpieces! quite the opposit actually but im mostly putting em up just so you can hear the soundcards lofi qualities.
http://www.mcdoom.net/beats/mcdoom_laptop_beat_009.mp3
http://www.mcdoom.net/beats/mcdoom_laptop_beat_010.mp3
http://www.mcdoom.net/beats/mcdoom_laptop_beat_012.mp3
i'll upload 3 shitty beat sketches i've done on it, where all the samples were recorded on that soundcard. these are all made in fruityloops tho, and i might add that i work in cubase usually, and with my asr-10, so i'm kinda lost in that fruityloops program... in other words: dont expect any masterpieces! quite the opposit actually but im mostly putting em up just so you can hear the soundcards lofi qualities.
http://www.mcdoom.net/beats/mcdoom_laptop_beat_009.mp3
http://www.mcdoom.net/beats/mcdoom_laptop_beat_010.mp3
http://www.mcdoom.net/beats/mcdoom_laptop_beat_012.mp3
That setup is
Hey Mcdee, what do you think about cubase? Likes, dislikes? trying to get in tha computer game as well.
Laptop wise...
I am a PC user myself.
Thinkpad X series my weapon of choice.
Soundforge, ProTools, CD Arch, all loaded.
Whatever you get, invest in as much RAM as you can shell out for.
Firewire + USB, CD/RW/DVD burner are essential as well.
I also highly suggest you buy an external firewire drive.
No matter the size & speed of your internal drive get that external joint as well.
Laptop audio is generally always going to be crappy.
Invest in an external audio interface. Firewire or USB.
Preferably something with 8 i/o.
If you really plan on making pro recordings, I would encourage you to go Pro Tools, it's not the only way, you can get away with just about any thing these days, but Pro Tools is just pretty much ubiquitous in all studios these days.
Soundforge, CoolEdit or WaveLab are also weapons of choice for recording audio.
For vinyl transfer these will work great.
Ripping CD to MP3 is easy, Soundforge can do it but I prefer Audiograbber or MusicMatch (faster).
Hope that helps.
I am a PC user myself.
Thinkpad X series my weapon of choice.
Soundforge, ProTools, CD Arch, all loaded.
Whatever you get, invest in as much RAM as you can shell out for.
Firewire + USB, CD/RW/DVD burner are essential as well.
I also highly suggest you buy an external firewire drive.
No matter the size & speed of your internal drive get that external joint as well.
Laptop audio is generally always going to be crappy.
Invest in an external audio interface. Firewire or USB.
Preferably something with 8 i/o.
If you really plan on making pro recordings, I would encourage you to go Pro Tools, it's not the only way, you can get away with just about any thing these days, but Pro Tools is just pretty much ubiquitous in all studios these days.
Soundforge, CoolEdit or WaveLab are also weapons of choice for recording audio.
For vinyl transfer these will work great.
Ripping CD to MP3 is easy, Soundforge can do it but I prefer Audiograbber or MusicMatch (faster).
Hope that helps.
I love Thinkpads & have been using them for ages... Since man... Before the 701c.
I have an X40 (fortunately mine is company supplied).
P4/ 1GB Ram / 20gb Drive.
This works fine for me, but yes I do have to use the Ultradock with the internal CD-Rw/DVD unit.
The bad part bout mine is no built in Firewire, but a $39 Adaptec PCMCIA card solved that.
I slip it in & that links me to my 180GB firewire drive, DVD burner & 002 if needed.
I do have a seperate dedicated Audio PC (Dell PC, P4 3.2Ghz/4GB RAM) which I use exclusively for the serious audio, it's networked & I can do small shit on my laptop & then shuttle it back to the Dell for big work.
I share my business/work apps & audio apps on my X40 & don't ever have problems.
Plus it dual boots between XP Pro & Linux.
I have an X40 (fortunately mine is company supplied).
P4/ 1GB Ram / 20gb Drive.
This works fine for me, but yes I do have to use the Ultradock with the internal CD-Rw/DVD unit.
The bad part bout mine is no built in Firewire, but a $39 Adaptec PCMCIA card solved that.
I slip it in & that links me to my 180GB firewire drive, DVD burner & 002 if needed.
I do have a seperate dedicated Audio PC (Dell PC, P4 3.2Ghz/4GB RAM) which I use exclusively for the serious audio, it's networked & I can do small shit on my laptop & then shuttle it back to the Dell for big work.
I share my business/work apps & audio apps on my X40 & don't ever have problems.
Plus it dual boots between XP Pro & Linux.
yeah you need the seperate power doohickey thing. Booo on that.
But honestly, powering USB/1394 devices via laptop is a serious battery killer.
It's convenient for mobile work, but I try to plug into AC when possible.
I keep 2 Ultradocks & 2 power supplies.
1 at work & one at home, so all I gotta do is slap in the Thinkpad & I am set.
But honestly, powering USB/1394 devices via laptop is a serious battery killer.
It's convenient for mobile work, but I try to plug into AC when possible.
I keep 2 Ultradocks & 2 power supplies.
1 at work & one at home, so all I gotta do is slap in the Thinkpad & I am set.
I used to do this with my old shitty Compaq. You know, the stuff I made then actually sounds pretty damn good considering that fact...
I'd highly recommend a Mac - all the software bundles, and all the wireless and portable peripherals come installed - which is why they're more expensive than a PC. And no homo, but Garageband 2 is doing a wonderful job for recording and mixing my tracks. You need an I/O sound card though, don't fuck with the built in audio. Since you're planning on Serato, you should get an additional external harddrive for saving your music library and files on, this will free up space on the laptop and help keep it's performance up to snuff.
