[Nick]

Anyone with some skills or knowledge of software and hardware required for a decent set up.

I have 0 knowledge in this field other than i know what things like cubase and protools are. I know what dfhs is and how it works etc.

If possible could someone post a decent setup with the likes of cubase dfhs and a decent audio input on a laptop (what sort of spec required would be helpful also)

and a rough price.

thanks, and rep! for any help

[7slinger]

just some basics for you, that maybe you already know

RAM and fast hard drives are important, for the present day stay away from Vista, firewire is the way to go for your interface IMO so the laptop would need firewire input(s), also lots of drive space is nice, so either bigger hard drive or an external hard drive works well...

sound card not really important. With many of the firewire interfaces, like a Presonus Firebox (which I'm looking at right now), the interface becomes your audio device. So on-board MB sound would be fine.

[Jeff]

Thinkpad T61
Nvidia NVS graphics
2048MB of RAM
200GB 7200rpm hard drive
DVD-R/W
2.5Ghz C2D Intel dual core
Multibay SATA drive adapter
additional 200GB for Multibay adapter
Windows XP Pro

The whole deal for about ~$1500 for that, and then I echo 7Slinger for the Firepod. DAW software becomes largely personal taste; I recommend rolling with the Cubase 4 that comes with the Firebox to start with, and downloading and trying demos from the various companies. Any respectable company will have a demo of their software.

I personally use Tracktion from Mackie, but it's not for everyone.

I am running a T61p, which is a workstation level laptop version of the one I outlined above, and it has 3GB of RAM, two 200GB 7200rpm drives (second is modular of course) and a 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo. All weighs a tad over 5lbs, and will handle an assload of tracks and plug-ins.

[Nick]

anyone in the uk got any ideas where i could pick stuff like this up as cheap as possible

[Deschain]

Novatech or pcspecialist.co.uk - both allow you to build your own systems from scratch and have pretty good reps.

[Benzesp]

MY rig mobile rig:

HP6515b AMD Turion X2 TL-64
RAM 2X1024MB 800MHz DDR2
200GB SATA Hard Disk
UMA Gaphics
XP Pro

This is a Buisness grade platform and is built like a tank. For the price you cant beat it.

The ATI UMA RS690 SB600 chipset is great, even plays games pretty well unlike the intel 965i which sucks ballz.

You do not need a discrete graphics card if you get the 690 chipset. Waste of money if your just want a DAW.

Digidesign Mbox\Protools or Mbox II, Have great built in pre's and pretty much everything you need to get up and running right out of the box. I've used Cubase, Protools, Logic and a had full of others. I still prefer to work with Protools.

Cheap way out: Ubuntu Studio 7.10.. Its free and has a lot of goodies built in.. All you have to do is buy a interface of your choice. and your off. I found it kinda hard quirky but you can definatley produce with it.


newegg.com still rules

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Benzesp

MY rig mobile rig:

HP6515b AMD Turion X2 TL-64
RAM 2X1024MB 800MHz DDR2
200GB SATA Hard Disk
UMA Gaphics
XP Pro

This is a Buisness grade platform and is built like a tank. For the price you cant beat it.

The ATI UMA RS690 SB600 chipset is great, even plays games pretty well unlike the intel 965i which sucks ballz.

You do not need a discrete graphics card id you get the 690 chipset. Waste of money if your just want a DAW.

Digidesign Mbox\Protools or Mbox II, Have great built in pre's and pretty much everything you need to get up and running right out of the box. I've used Cubase, Protools, Logic and a had full of others. I still prefer to work with Protools.

Cheap way out: Ubuntu Studio 7.10.. Its free and has a lot of goodies built in.. All you have to do is buy a interface of your choice. and your off. I found it kinda hard quirky but you can definatley produce with it.


newegg.com still rules

With Ubuntu you can't just choose the interface of your choice and go. There's often not drivers available for it.

[7slinger]

Originally Posted by Nick

anyone in the uk got any ideas where i could pick stuff like this up as cheap as possible

Originally Posted by Benzesp

newegg.com still rules

does newegg ship international? if so, ya they are a good retailer to deal with

I don't think I saw it mentioned yet that there have been lots of problems with software hardware and Vista, mainly driver issues. I hope that by now some of these issues are getting resolved, but I haven't been following closely so I can't say for sure. Consider sticking with XP or maybe a dual-boot scenario

[Benzesp]

Originally Posted by Jeff

With Ubuntu you can't just choose the interface of your choice and go. There's often not drivers available for it.

Very true,

I I've tested the onboard audio with with many systems and it usually works fine. Check the Ubuntu Studio HCL for working External interfaces.


Oh yea newegg does not ship internationally man, try CDW?

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by 7slinger

does newegg ship international? if so, ya they are a good retailer to deal with

I don't think I saw it mentioned yet that there have been lots of problems with software hardware and Vista, mainly driver issues. I hope that by now some of these issues are getting resolved, but I haven't been following closely so I can't say for sure. Consider sticking with XP or maybe a dual-boot scenario

I would just deal directly with the vendor, either Lenovo or Dell, depending on who you go with. With Dell business as well as Lenovo, you can select XP Pro as the OS; which you definitely want to do.

I wouldn't go with Vista. It's still consistently 10-15% slower compared to XP on identical hardware. I like Vista; I am testing it here for work. But for audio, I wouldn't use it.

Originally Posted by Benzesp

Very true,

I I've tested the onboard audio with with many systems and it usually works fine. Check the Ubuntu Studio HCL for working External interfaces.

Onboard audio is one thing; firewire interfaces is another. I've given up on Linux for audio, for now. It simply does not have the selection for software or devices or the support XP and OSX do.