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hello everyone,

 

Im wanting to start producing my own psychedelic trance, as i have such a passion for it, eat sleep & breath it :D

 

At the moment im saving up for a Sony Viao Laptop, with the following specs:

* 512 RAM

* 2/more GHZ speed

* 20 gig hardrive

and the rest is standard...

I presume the requirements on the this notebook would be powerful enough to handle one or two midi instruments.

I will be starting on Reason2.5 and Cubase SX2, just need to go through the manuals and thoroughly mess around and understand :)

Im also going to be looking for a external sound card to make things better, im on a budget and i dont really know which one would best suit this match.

 

i was also thinking what should i go for next, a midi keyboard or a pair of studio monitors, ive read some of the topics on the forum, but im a little confused.

 

ive been looking at workstaions as well,and i dont know if that pushing it for a begginer, so far ive only been interested in the Roland Juno D, now is worth getting or should i go for something like a Oxygen8, whick ive heard is alot more simplier?

 

Basically i need to know where to go from, preferrable wanting to use Windows on the notebook.

So if theres anyone who could splill the beans, that would be great!!!!! :D

 

Thanks for reading this post!

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First of all, why are you getting a laptop? You can get a stationary computer twice as good as that laptop for less! =) Unless you're gonna travel around with your gear or something.

 

Anyhoo, I think reason 2.5 +/ cubase sx2 is a good start, as well as a midi-keyboard and a couple of monitor-headphones (they are cheaper than regular monitors and you don't disturb your naighbours :rolleyes:). That's about all you need to get started IMO, no need for workstations yet, just get the feeling goin' and when you're ready to take it to the next step, do so. (:

 

That's all I could think of for the moment!

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First of all, why are you getting a laptop? You can get a stationary computer twice as good as that laptop for less! =) Unless you're gonna travel around with your gear or something.

 

Anyhoo, I think reason 2.5 +/ cubase sx2 is a good start, as well as a midi-keyboard and a couple of monitor-headphones (they are cheaper than regular monitors and you don't disturb your naighbours  :rolleyes:). That's about all you need to get started IMO, no need for workstations yet, just get the feeling goin' and when you're ready to take it to the next step, do so. (:

 

That's all I could think of for the moment!

250057[/snapback]

 

 

Yeah im going with a laptop purely for mobility, cause im in the UK for now, going back to Cape Town next year.

Thanks for input then.

So monitor headphones are cheaper than speaker then...

 

Thanks!

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Yeah im going with a laptop purely for mobility, cause im in the UK for now, going back to Cape Town next year.

Thanks for input then.

So monitor headphones are cheaper than speaker then...

 

Thanks!

250062[/snapback]

Yeah, monitor-headphones are both cheaper and more mobile than real monitors, don't you think? ;)

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hello everyone,

...

At the moment im saving up for a Sony Viao Laptop, with the following specs:

* 512 RAM

* 2/more GHZ speed

* 20 gig hardrive...

250054[/snapback]

20 gig?! Are you nuts?! First we have the format which will leach a few gig off your drive, so 1-2 gig - lets say 1.5 gig off. That makes the drive go down to 18.5GB. Then you have the WinXP install, another 1.5GB for XP Home/Pro which knocks you down to 16GB. 16GB is not enough for music making. Firstly you have to install Cubase, then VSTs, then your sample library - I'd say all of that would be from about 1GB-5GB unless you're a sample horder. Now you have 11GB of space left. Presuming you don't install anything else from the Internet / other that's 11GB to store your tunes and everything else. That 11GB will go very fast.

 

40GB at least, after all, once you start running out of space your system will run slower ;-)

 

I would recommend getting an external drive too, they are great for backups and storing samples that you may need but you don't think they are relavent to the track/album you are making.

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Yeh, take his word for it. 20 gig is nothing these days. In my PC I have 3 160gig drives. Not that I need it all, but I'm clocking over 250 gigs of content. Most of it is music and samples. If you want a word or two of advice, don't buy a Sony laptop. Don't get me wrong - they're very good, but they're extremely overpriced. For somebody who's on a strict budget, it makes no sense at all. Rather buy a more powerful laptop but get a decent brand. None of this PC-world nonsense. Buy a laptop online, look on ebay or somewhere else.

 

Music making is very very resource hungry and it's only lately that there are laptops powerful enough for this purpose. I'd say if you're getting an intel laptop you'll need at least a 2.8gig processor and minimum 512MB of ram.

 

If you're looking for a cheap soundcard that'll do the job, look no further than the Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX. My friend has bought both an M-Audio firewire external card and one of these. He mainly uses the audigy - even for music production. Reason being it's a very good card and it's very simple to use and set up. It's also quite powerful and you shouldn't need more than this - epsecially if you're starting. They're also incredibly cheap for what you get. Look on www.komplett.co.uk for one.

 

If you're moving back to Cape Town, I don't know how you're going to take studio monitors with you. They're fuckin big and heavy and you'll have to export them. You can use a good set of phones in the meantime but you'll need a set eventually if you want to EQ your mixes properly. No phones come close to monitors in reality, even mastering headphones.

 

Otherwise you're planning on heading back home are you? I'm also from Cape Town (Marina da Gama - Muizenberg side of things) and came up to Europe in August. The reason being I wanted to get into music production. You might find things very expensive in Cape Town as far as equipment is concerned. Also - the UK is so much better connected. You might decide if you want to get into it seriously that you want to come back here. I miss the sun though, as I'm sure you do. Even if I did go back for Newyears. Vortex rocked ;) They're having amazing parties all summer.

 

Cheers m8, goodluck!

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Can you give some tips on good monitor headphones?  :D

250475[/snapback]

Some quality brands:

 

* Sennheiser

* Beyer

* Koss

 

Some good headphones:

 

* Sennheiser HD 280

* Sennheiser HD 250 II

* BEYER DT250

* BEYER DT770

* BEYER DT770PRO

* BEYER DT660

* AKG K171STUDIO

* Koss Esp950 (real expensive, like 1900$ :rolleyes:)

 

There are tons of other good ones, but these were the ones I could think of.

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I used to have some KOSS phones. I fucked them up in about a month :o

They weren't cheap either.

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I used to have some KOSS phones. I fucked them up in about a month :o

They weren't cheap either.

250810[/snapback]

Wtf did you do to them? (; I've got a couple of Koss that I bought about 5-6 months for about 30$ and they're still the shit!

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I put them in my bag and somebody (or maybe me) sat on them! It was about 2 years ago, I can't remember exactly. :unsure: Also - be careful of the wire.

But yeh, they're quite sick phones I have to say. Maybe I'll get another set one day.

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Great input guys, :)

 

just want add that the hardrive size mentioned was the minimum, and i already have a 250gig external.

 

Now more on the keyboards...

can anyone recommend a decent keyboard that i can start off with and could even use abit later when experience is gained?

 

Thanks :D

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Great input guys,  :)

 

just want add that the hardrive size mentioned was the minimum, and i already have a 250gig external.

 

Now more on the keyboards...

can anyone recommend a decent keyboard that i can start off with and could even use abit later when experience is gained?

 

Thanks :D

251246[/snapback]

http://www.psynews.org/forums/index.php?sh...ndpost&p=250653

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yeah the reviews for Reason3 sound convincing, hopefully will be getting it soon and SX3.

 

ppl, i was wondering i mentioned that im trying to get a notebook to work on...

Now does anyone know of any particular models i should be looking at, trying to go cheap :lol:

If you could include the Brand Models and the Specs of those, so i can take a look that would be great! :D

 

Irieness!

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yeah the reviews for Reason3 sound convincing, hopefully will be getting it soon and SX3.

 

ppl, i was wondering i mentioned that im trying to get a notebook to work on...

Now does anyone know of any particular models i should be looking at, trying to go cheap :lol:

If you could include the Brand Models and the Specs of those, so i can take a look that would be great! :D

 

Irieness!

251367[/snapback]

When you start gettin deep into Reason and addin more and more sounds, especially in Reason 3.0. Make sure you have a nice sound card and a fairly highend processor, then ul be sailing. I suggest minimum 2.0ghz for ur proccesor and for ur soundcard, maybe a Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS. or just look at some of the soundcards from the Creative Labs line.

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When you start gettin deep into Reason and addin more and more sounds, especially in Reason 3.0. Make sure you have a nice sound card and a fairly highend processor, then ul be sailing. I suggest minimum 2.0ghz for ur proccesor and for ur soundcard, maybe a Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS. or just look at some of the soundcards from the Creative Labs line.

251391[/snapback]

 

So it doesnt matter which particular one i get, as long as it has at least 2GHz processor speed, and go for a decent Sound Card, like the one you mentioned.

 

Well thanks alot ppl, for the input.

 

If anyone has anything to share, Feel free please! :D

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So it doesnt matter which particular one i get, as long as it has at least 2GHz processor speed, and go for a decent Sound Card, like the one you mentioned.

 

Well thanks alot ppl, for the input.

 

If anyone has anything to share, Feel free please!  :D

251569[/snapback]

Well, don't buy an Intel Celeron processor :S They suck, the only good thing about it, is that they are cheap as hell. AMD or P4 should do the trick (:

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Well, don't buy an Intel Celeron processor :S They suck, the only good thing about it, is that they are cheap as hell. AMD or P4 should do the trick (:

251570[/snapback]

 

So a P4 with at least 2GHz speed, and a Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS sound card to start off with... :D

 

Cool cool

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damn don't go there, its one sick place with bad people that will tell what music to make and if you go on your own you will post your songs here till the end of your days :P

 

ND

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damn don't go there, its one sick place with bad people that will tell what music to make and if you go on your own you will post your songs here till the end of your days  :P

 

ND

251575[/snapback]

#

 

:blink::blink::blink:

?????

 

Sounds good :rolleyes:

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if you want to go with a lap top you could do worst than check out this site.

http://www.nusystems.co.uk/buy.asp?categor...io_Laptops&b=11

 

You get to select the soundcard you want and all that stuff but just watch the price go up as you do. :( I would recomend you get a Desktop for the production and then a Laptop for giging some time later. If your going to get a studio together in time it wont matter if it moblie or not cus it wont be. PC big and heavy but more powerful and cheaper than a lap top.

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if you want to go with a lap top you could do worst than check out this site.

http://www.nusystems.co.uk/buy.asp?categor...io_Laptops&b=11

 

You get to select the soundcard you want and all that stuff but just watch the price go up as you do. I would recomend you get a Desktop for the production and then a Laptop for giging some time later. If your going to get a studio together in time it wont matter if it moblie or not cus it wont be. PC big and heavy but more powerful and cheaper than a lap top.

 

 

 

yeah thats true, <_<

 

But if i go for a laptop, not for its make, but its processor, like a P4/AMD, and invest in a good soundcard, surely that will be good for now... :huh:

 

Cause the thing is im needing something mobile, while im still travelling, etc.

Maybe when i get home, ill invest in a good desktop.

 

What you think? :blink:

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Yeah, the sweetest thing you could buy for yourself would be an AMD 64 (one of the higher range). When you go home, see if you know anybody who can buy from Retronix or Sahara because they have some of the best prices by miles.

 

About the laptop - again, I wouldn't recommend even a Centrino chip. It actually does matter very much on the processor you choose. There are good ones and shit ones. The shit ones are cheap but no good to you - trust me. Rather save and spend some more money on something you wont try and sell in a month because its not good enough. Don't go and buy top of the range obviously because you'll just get ripped off - just get a high end system. If you can find a laptop with a P4 Prescott chip inside, then that'll be great. Unfortunately there aren't many around and the ones are will be pretty bulky and heavy. Still, it's worth the sacrafices.

 

If I was you, I wouldn't spend anything less than £1000 on a laptop. Even if you need to take out a loan to pay it off. Look online at http://www.dell.co.uk and build a custom PC. Gig of Ram, 2.8 - 3.2 Ghz P4 Prescott, a nice graphics card if u wanna play games, etc etc. Can't go wrong.

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hi all,

Ive decided im going with a desktop instead of the laptop.

 

Now would these specs be good to start, i mean buying the PC like this then, buying additional features:

 

Intel Pentium 4 3.0ghz Prescott CPU

1,024MB 400mhz Branded DDR

200GB Western Digital Hard Drive

16x Double-Layer DVD-RW

Sony Floppy drive

6 x USB 2.0

Onboard 256-bit 64MB graphics

Ethernet LAN

5.1 Channel 3D Sound

ASRock P4S61 motherboard

Stylish Black/Silver ATX Case

3 Years warranty - Click here for full T&C

Operating System Not Included - If required please let us know at checkout. Windows XP Home SP2 is available at a very low price. We will install Windows XP, set up all the drivers and install the latest updates for FREE.

 

 

Found this on a shop at Ebay.co.uk, could anyone comment please!

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