First Steps

adam · Post by **adam** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:57 pm

I'm new to Live and am just trying to work out what i need. At the moment i don't have a laptop. My plan was to learn Ableton on my desktop and then invest in a laptop when the time comes.

Has anybody got any ideas in terms of soundcards and controllers, bearing in mind my main reason for turning to Live is to DJ.

darkenedsoul · Post by **darkenedsoul** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:51 pm

If you are going to be doing live work as a DJ I'd say look at an external USB configuration for your audio connectivity. And make sure on your laptop you don't have a shared memory video setup in it. You'll want a separate video card installed/built in, not shared memory usage as that will bog your system down when doing audio (according to my buddy who knows more about this than I currently do).

Mike

adam · Post by **adam** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:15 pm

thanx for the help

dthree · Post by **dthree** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 4:55 pm

darkenedsoul wrote: You'll want a separate video card installed/built in, not shared memory usage as that will bog your system down when doing audio (according to my buddy who knows more about this than I currently do).
Mike

then how do i separate the memory usage?

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:46 pm

You can't, it's a feature of the laptop. Cheaper laptops have graphics processors that typically "share" some of the main system memory to do their thing, this is called shared graphics memory. For your average person, this is no big deal. However, for people buying laptops for music, it can have a significant impact on the performance and stability of the system. When you're shopping for a laptop, just check the specs to make sure it has it's own dedicated meory for both the system and graphics adaptor. If you can't find that information, chances are they don't want you to know it's shared

darkenedsoul · Post by **darkenedsoul** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:27 am

Yeah, what tarekith said is true. Most will list what's in it for a graphics adapter. nVidia, ATI, Intel (don't care for Intel graphics personally). A 32Mb or higher dedicated. If you can afford it, find one with 64+Mb. They've got 128 and 256Mb graphics in some of the higher end models (great for playing a game if you wish to).

Mike