On Topic for a change - Laptop system?

[jnorman]

can someone please tell me what it takes to put together an effective laptop recording system? i need to be able to do only 4 tracks at one time. what kind of PC (not mac) laptop is required (processor, HDD, etc)? should the soundcard be internal or external? what kind of audio interface is recommended - is USB adequate, do i need to have external AD converters, etc? what recording software should i use to be compatible with ProTools (that's what my mastering house uses), so i can burn *.aif(?) or *.wav files and mixes in 24 bit to take to the mastering engr? is it absolutely necessary to use some kind of external storage, or can i just have two swappable internal hard drives (one for normal email, word proc, internet, etc, and a seocnd one dedicated to audio)? do i need to worry about latency? what are the basic plugins i would need/want? i want to keep it as simple and as portable as possible. thanks.

[KnightShow]

I suggest you look into the Digidesign MBox (only Mac right now, but will soon by PC compatible too)... or if you can wait... try the Tascam us428.. I would suggest you get a name brand laptop like a Dell or a Sony Vaio... in fact, go for the Vaio... oh, and the MBox is only 2in-2out for analog... but the us428 should be perfect. It comes with plugins and software... you should be set with that. Nick

[offramp]

As well, you might investigate a PC/MCIA card with breakouts on it (if the laptop you use has a slot).

[gtrmac]

I would steer clear of the Tascam US-428. I just set up three Nuendo systems with US-428's and it seems like a toy to me. The audio playback was riddled with dropouts and as a controller for Nuendo it crashed the system frequently. Since I work for a Nuendo dealer I know that this is not normal behaviour for the software. If you want further evidence go to the Tascam website forums and lurk around the Computer Audio Forum and see what you think. By the way I tried latest driver and followed Tascam's Win2k optimisations. Actually I had already optimised the system since it is something I normally do for Nuendo with any soundcard. Having said that I would recommend something like what we have been using to demo Nuendo this past year. Dell Inspiron 8200, RME Hammerfall-DSP audio Interface, external 7200rpm Firewire hard drive. I have run Nuendo with a demo song with 32 tracks and it doesn't seem to be trying hard. REM Audio has a lot of information on their website from tests they have done on various laptops: [url=http://www.rme-audio.com]www.rme-audio.com[/url]