Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Hello all ! I'm planning a live set, to air on february ninth - however, I have a small problem - I don't wanna bring my stationary, to-high-for-transport-tower PC, so I'm thinking of getting a notebook of some kind. The requirements are the usual: not too expensive, maximum reliability, good soundquality (wave only), and it has to have a MIDI interface (although I could bring my old 9-pin serial one...). At first I was thinking Mac, but how reliable is the Windows emulation? And it's probably too expensive anyway... What PC-brands are really reliable, and won't break down in the middle of the set, due to heat, moist, and other party-related factors? And are the built-in soundcards good enough quality for crystal-clear, VERY realtime wave playback - preferebly with *no* noise...? If you know anything about this, please help me out - it's rather urgent! Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Why would you use a windows emulation on a Mac? A Mac is a Mac not a PC...Yes you can use Virtual PC on a Mac but I do not see any point in that! If you are looking for real stability I do reccomend a (not that expensive) Mac such as iMac or iBook but that's just my opinion. Pc's are another area but be carefull. My expereience tell me that notebook's are too fragile and not at all stabile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 P.S! I do not know why you PC users still today think that Mac's are too expensive...They are not more expensive than most midrange PC's...Of course if you buy a G4 Power PC they are indeed expensive but if you example. buy the new iMac - 800 mhz (calculated to around 1.7 Gigahertz on a PC), 512 mb ram, 40 GB harddisk - it's not more expensive than most PC's with a decent power. The imac goes for around: $. 1299.- £. 1149.- Dkr. 14.490.- and the iBook's (portable) goes for a little less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Cool! Thanks Elysium - Virtual PC, is because I use Digital Orchestrator Pro - which is as far as I know only for PC... And you're right about the mac then... How are those about serial ports - do they have a 9-pin connector, or can I get a converter? I wan't to use my old Opcode MIDI-interface... The soundQuality on a Mac, how's that? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Well I do not suggest that you use a mac then becasue you properly need to get a lot of new software.... also the mac technology is based on USB instead of serial ports and MIDI is done via USB midi modems. The sound quality (build in soundcard) is some of the best you will find in the music industry but of course you can always install a bigger soundcard anytime you want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JC Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 I hate MAC why cant they just make it all compatible, f_cken money hungry companies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Thanks again Elysium... I'm still (stinking) thinking, and comparing prices and so on... Maybe I'll check back later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lifeform Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 I would have bought an imac instead of my PC but they look queer. and G4's are way to expensive, for me atleast.. Maybe not if your a millionare =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taika-Kim Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Heyy cool party people hello!! (new to the forum) I'm having a 100% same kind of problem. My plan is: To have a single stereo track that contains most of the currently playing track + A few MIDI tracks for live tweaking my 2 external synths with very reliable MIDI operation (EA-1 & mQ). Cubase etc are just way too heavy for this, and unstable like baboons on acid. I recently found something called Quartz Studio pro. It's freeware multitrack-software, but so far I can say nothing about it's stability. And about the machine: Yes, I have also planned to buy a laptop. £1000 is wayyy more than I'm prepared to pay for a laptop... I thought about getting a P200 or something like that, they should be quite cheap... Anyways I won't buy new devices, industrial production is a problem and I wont support it. With a bit of luck, old computers that would otherwise be thrown away can be salvaged from companies doing new purchases etc. Keep your eyes open! How are the MIDI connections on laptops? Do laptop soundcards usually have a MIDI-connection? Has anybody much experience with using laptops for musical purposes? How are latency etc with laptop soundcards? Must be +-20ms or something like that so that the MIDI sync will be OK I think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomble Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 I know that a few of my friends who do live sets recommend getting a laptop with all the tracks etc. on an external hard drive. The drive can be very stable, small and probably less fragile. Plus if you know that there will be a computer on site, you don't need to take the laptop. I am a Mac abUser too - I picked up an old one for £50 and it can handle sound very well as far as I can see. The problem with compatability is generally from Mac to PC and not often the other way round. I don't think that Mac's are way better than pc's but I invested the time in learning how macs work. My brother is an illustrator and he has a G4 which is a fabulous beast, if you can afford one ... bomble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 Yees, a G4 would be nice... To Taika: I don't know about the audio latency, but that is definetly an issue... I guess it depends on the specific soundcard... (duuh?) - but about the MIDI-connectors, I'm pretty sure you're gonna have to get an interface seperately, since there are usually no connectors for it... I'm going to make due with a 9-pin serial port, with my Opcode MIDI-interface. Then, latency in the MIDI should be no problem - as it could easily be otherwise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Indidginus Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 Hey Andreas! Children is looking for you Good luck with your live set! How did your didg recordings go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 Mike> Hehe, you still didn't get it - I made a didgeridoo out of a PVC pipe and some white bee-wax... Not being an expert, but it sounds sooo cool... So now, I have to figure out what to do with it, since my microphone is terrible Did yo uever record any? How did it turn out, and do you have some tricks up your sleeve? And any tricks on how to learn "circular breath" - it's quite exhausting ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Indidginus Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 Hi Andreas, Yep, that's me! I don't get very much Maybe we could do a music swap? Mail me on the above email if you feel like doing that, and we can discuss the intricacies of the didg further... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cujo Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 well, getting a mac , laptop, is not any good. if you work with pc's on a regular basis. it's mac or pc. not both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 Mike: Track swapping would be just fine - though I haven't used the didg yet... Have you? Some inspiration would be nice Cujo: Right... But some cool programs for sound-generation exist only for Mac - never the other way around, since the mac can easily emulate windows... So a mac is more flexible. And it's way more stable, so for liveperformance it's unsurpassed - except for Atari, but that won't do But i suppose a PC could be stable enough, if I got an IBM... But then, there's the money issue again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cujo Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 well, money issue? for buying a mac,, money will always be a bigger issue than for buying a pc. and why buy an IBM? there are plenty of other laptops, based on the same hardware outthere, at ½ price??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 cujo you can actually buy a Mac that are faster than most pc's for the same price than most midrange pc's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas of Amygdala Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 I know for a fact that IBMs a VERY stable... But you're right Cujo, the same money issue applies But my problem is solved so far - I'm borrowing a PC... But I'm still thinking of buying one... Or mac, that is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 Just for "fun" I have posted this link for the incarnated PC or sceptic anti Mac user :-) APPLE MYTHS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 sorry this should work better: APPLE MYTHS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 ok I give up...weird???? :-))) here's the link. http://www.apple.com/myths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elysium Project Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 Ok I found the mistake :-)) God 4 posts......! THIS DAMN WELL HAVE TO WORK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strumpling Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 he DID it! YES! -=- Matt/Strumpling -=- off-topi-*AHEM!* topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cujo Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 elysium>> REALLY ? WHERE? where can i get a mac, at the same price as a pc? i'd like to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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