Best laptop for Music production: very curious - Macbook?

[Tarekith]

If you agree with me, get rid of that thread and post a real stress test, then you'll see real numbers.

Why don't you do it? If you have a clear cut goal or plan of attack, there's no reason I need to be the one to post a new test. I personally think the whole idea is a bit silly these days, like I said I haven't done anything related to the performance test in 6-7 years at least. People just keep reposting something done ages ago.

By all means come up with a better test, maybe we can sticky it if it gets enough interest and people find it useful.

[mekanism1200]

To the OP. If you are open to a windows machine you might want to check out ADK. I had a custom laptop built for me 3 years ago that I was able to upgrade. I can easily swap out RAM, CPU, and Nvidia graphics. While its not a thin device I have an SSD, HD, and still get to keep my DVD drive. I have a 17" but they make a 15" too.

With that said though, If was going to start fresh now I would build a really fast tower, and spring for a Surface Pro 4 for portability. I rarely move my laptop as its always plugged in to an external monitor, hub, etc making using it for a laptop kind of useless. I had different needs when I purchased it though. Touch is the future in computing, so keep that in mind. In any case its nice to have options.

[stringtapper]

the problem now is that Apple is dropping development and maintenance of their Core Audio Firewire driver from El Capitan onwards. for now it seems that most stuff still works, but for how long?

Goddammit, really? Shit.

[Machinesworking]

the problem now is that Apple is dropping development and maintenance of their Core Audio Firewire driver from El Capitan onwards. for now it seems that most stuff still works, but for how long?

Goddammit, really? Shit.

Just was reading up on this, it mostly matters for companies like Apogee who don't write their own drivers.
MOTU and RME for instance aren't going to be affected by this much. Until they stop writing drivers for their 'legacy' devices.

Kind of self defeating though for them to stop developing drivers that a mac only company like Apogee use.

[GusHage]

To the OP. If you are open to a windows machine you might want to check out ADK. I had a custom laptop built for me 3 years ago that I was able to upgrade. I can easily swap out RAM, CPU, and Nvidia graphics. While its not a thin device I have an SSD, HD, and still get to keep my DVD drive. I have a 17" but they make a 15" too.

With that said though, If was going to start fresh now I would build a really fast tower, and spring for a Surface Pro 4 for portability. I rarely move my laptop as its always plugged in to an external monitor, hub, etc making using it for a laptop kind of useless. I had different needs when I purchased it though. Touch is the future in computing, so keep that in mind. In any case its nice to have options.

I will check out ADK!
I am hoping for a certain degree of portability since I will be using this laptop daily, but the investment is focused on music production.

[H20nly]

To the OP. If you are open to a windows machine you might want to check out ADK. I had a custom laptop built for me 3 years ago that I was able to upgrade. I can easily swap out RAM, CPU, and Nvidia graphics. While its not a thin device I have an SSD, HD, and still get to keep my DVD drive. I have a 17" but they make a 15" too.

With that said though, If was going to start fresh now I would build a really fast tower, and spring for a Surface Pro 4 for portability. I rarely move my laptop as its always plugged in to an external monitor, hub, etc making using it for a laptop kind of useless. I had different needs when I purchased it though. Touch is the future in computing, so keep that in mind. In any case its nice to have options.

I will check out ADK!
I am hoping for a certain degree of portability since I will be using this laptop daily, but the investment is focused on music production.

the ADK machines look nice, but IMO if you're going to spend that kind of money there really is not much argument for not getting a Mac... other than "Fruity Loops" or "I LOVE Windows". one could argue that you can change your own parts too... but as previously discussed there's not much to change in a laptop. And, if you're really serious about using a high end device for music production, skimping on the RAM is not something you should do with a "i'll get more later" mindset, IMO. so the only other argument left is replacing the battery... and that's years away, unless you feel you MUST have a spare.

end of the day; it's a tool and one you plan to spend a lot of time with... so make sure you're comfortable with it. there are excellent computers made but multiple companies. i hope you find the right one for you.*

*be mindful of all the programs you stand to lose/gain if you switch platforms.

[mekanism1200]

To the OP. If you are open to a windows machine you might want to check out ADK. I had a custom laptop built for me 3 years ago that I was able to upgrade. I can easily swap out RAM, CPU, and Nvidia graphics. While its not a thin device I have an SSD, HD, and still get to keep my DVD drive. I have a 17" but they make a 15" too.

With that said though, If was going to start fresh now I would build a really fast tower, and spring for a Surface Pro 4 for portability. I rarely move my laptop as its always plugged in to an external monitor, hub, etc making using it for a laptop kind of useless. I had different needs when I purchased it though. Touch is the future in computing, so keep that in mind. In any case its nice to have options.

I will check out ADK!
I am hoping for a certain degree of portability since I will be using this laptop daily, but the investment is focused on music production.

the ADK machines look nice, but IMO if you're going to spend that kind of money there really is not much argument for not getting a Mac... other than "Fruity Loops" or "I LOVE Windows". one could argue that you can change your own parts too... but as previously discussed there's not much to change in a laptop. And, if you're really serious about using a high end device for music production, skimping on the RAM is not something you should do with a "i'll get more later" mindset, IMO. so the only other argument left is replacing the battery... and that's years away, unless you feel you MUST have a spare.

end of the day; it's a tool and one you plan to spend a lot of time with... so make sure you're comfortable with it. there are excellent computers made but multiple companies. i hope you find the right one for you.*

*be mindful of all the programs you stand to lose/gain if you switch platforms.

Considering I saved about $1000 by going with ADK over a similarly spec'd MBP I would say I came out ahead on my purchase, but that is what worked for me and my own needs. I'm platform agnostic and think Apple makes great products but their hardware is over priced IMO. You pay their software tax when buying Apple. Basically my train of thought when buying a computer for music was buy the highest spec'd machine within my budget no matter the platform, PC won out this time.

[H20nly]

right on. glad it worked out for you... and for the record i'm in general full agreement with you... just had to throw my head back that last time i looked at ADK prices and say "for a PC!?"
but to be fair, i didn't comb over their specs. i doubt i'll ever be in the market for a laptop at those price points regardless of who manufactures it and what OS is on it. not a spec/OS thing just a financial roadblock on my end.

I'm platform agnostic and think Apple makes great products but their hardware is over priced IMO

agreed. i like to bust Apple's balls a bit because i expect more out them, or anyone, who charges what they do. still, good hardware is good hardware. Microsoft have a big pain in the ass by working with so many vendors and parts manufacturers, but i have seen mostly improvements from them over the last few years, or them improving what they recently hosed. *glares at Windows 8.0*

Apple on the other hand... i don't know what the fuck they're doing anymore. it's mostly good too i think, but damn. *glares at ghost of Steve*

still, not looking for a PC/Mac debate or flame war. Pros & Cons are all over the map.

[deva]

Considering I saved about $1000 by going with ADK over a similarly spec'd MBP I would say I came out ahead on my purchase, but that is what worked for me and my own needs. I'm platform agnostic and think Apple makes great products but their hardware is over priced IMO. You pay their software tax when buying Apple. Basically my train of thought when buying a computer for music was buy the highest spec'd machine within my budget no matter the platform, PC won out this time.

I'm not an Apple fan as such and I tend to dislike the company... but Apple has a huge advantage in selling me new gear because I have so much invested in Mac software. It is not just the dollar investment, but how much time I have invested in becoming proficient with what I use. I'm also not audio exclusive, so the laptop I buy has to serve many needs. Light and portable is important because I carry it all over and usually by bike or bus. I do a fair bit of volunteer work and am often over at one office doing some web design... over at another place doing a photo shoot... and so on.

The majority of people I work with (doing graphics/audio/video type stuff) use Mac laptops. There are a range of models and years and there is a consistent and reliable character to the monitors. Those with PC laptops their monitors have a wide range of monitor quality and color consistency. Same with fan noise, battery life etc.

When I ordered my new 15" MBP, I didn't have to look at it, think about it and so on. I know what Apple offers. If I were to look for a PC laptop, there are so many companies offerings to choose from. So many variations and quality levels. I'm not confident, not knowing the PC laptop market, that I would get something I would be happy with. Which means I would have to do a bunch of research. That is already more than I'm interested in.

btw, I just checked the ADK site and it is hard to understand and not easily informative, but I think I picked a close equivalent to the 15" MBP and the cost difference was negligible. The Dell site really sucks. Apple knows how to sell stuff to people.

[Martin Gifford]

Just compared Macbook Pro to Lenovo Thinkpad T550 with some improved customisation. Lenovo wins easily at $1,800 (Australian) with 25 hour battery, docking station, and numpad. The base line Macbook Pro is $3099. The only cause for hesitation would be that I don't like the direction MS is going with Windows, and that the Lenovo lacks Core Audio, of course.

[scheffkoch]

...bad comparison...afaik the thinkpad is an i5 and has an spinning drive whereas the 15'' macbook pro is a quadcore i7 with ssd...

[Martin Gifford]

...bad comparison...afaik the thinkpad is an i5 and has an spinning drive whereas the 15'' macbook pro is a quadcore i7 with ssd...

You're right about the processor.

The SSD doesn't make much difference given that you can buy one for $120 and keep the HDD as external storage or sell it.

But the dual core processor might be a deal breaker. A Lenovo T540p has i7 quadcore, and to spec that up to the Mac costs about $3,020, which is the same as the Mac! Only benefit is the numpad.

[scheffkoch]

...wow...didn't know that a full spec'ed lenovo would be nearly the same as a mac...people always complain about apple being too expensive...but yep...you should get a quadcore, especially when you're doing live stuff...

[jlgrimes]

ABLETON LIVE 9.2, expecting to update regularly.

I am aware that higher processing speeds and more ram are always a benefit, no matter what you are doing, but I am looking for at portable work station for everyday life as well..

I've looked at a lot of Retina MacBook Pros (I am currently using a windows desktop) and even though they look nice and feel nice in general, I am not sure if they are the right choice for music production.

I have an old (7 years I believe) 2,4 ghz quad core processor, 4GB of ram and I am running into some strange performance issues.. It might be that my PC is simply old and tired, because I recently upgraded to Win10 from Win7 and it seemed snappier for some time and then struggled again..

I have projects with up to 30-40 tracks sometimes most of them with multiple effects on them.
I have a PUSH which I am fond of and planning to carry around with my future laptop. I might perform live, but that is not a main concern.

- well, my actual question is:
1 are the current MacBooks the right choice for me / are they worth it?
I don't mind buying a used one (I'm from Denmark) and I don't mind waiting a little longer if someone thinks a performance upgrade is around the corner.

2 is there an alternative that makes sense?

I search the forums daily, but felt the need to ask directly.
Thanks in advance.

I'm guessing RAM/HD performance is what is messing with your system.

30-40 tracks can put a bind on you. I remember having performance issues with Live years ago on Windows because I only had 2-4 gigs of Ram. It worked fine in Sonar but I think that is Live being more geared for Live use, utilizing probably more RAM than other applications that doesn't require gapless playback.


That said I went Mac, Mac mini 16 gigs of Ram and do not have any issues doing multitrack projects although I tend to do multi-track projects on other DAWS like Studio One/Reaper because of workflow reasons when it comes to dealing with large track counts and mixing/automation capabilities.


I would think the two biggest performance increases are going to like 8 gigs or higher of Ram and SSD type drives. If you are on a mechanical drive, it can only handle so much (especially if your program doesn't have the best disk streaming code) but even then it takes time for the drive to find the proper files it need especially when the disk gets near full. With SSD, there is no moving parts and it the performance is almost as fast as RAM access, so it will be much faster doing alot of things.


Performance wise I don't think Mac vs PC makes much difference but it is more what components your Computer has. In general Macs tend to use higher end components, so it can be harder to go wrong with a Mac but that said even with Macs you get what you pay for. A MacBook Retina Display should be able to do about any task you need audio wise provided you get one with enough Ram. The processor should already be pretty powerful. A MacBook Air will be a different story though. From a SSD perspective, MacBook Airs load up very fast but their processors tend to be pretty outdated. Good for recording/mixing audio, but not so great for using Softsynths as they only have dual core processors. Going PC you could save some money but there will be some tradeoffs most likely. But that said with Mac or PC, you should be able to make music in the end.

[login]

...wow...didn't know that a full spec'ed lenovo would be nearly the same as a mac...people always complain about apple being too expensive...but yep...you should get a quadcore, especially when you're doing live stuff...

You can get the same of best specs than a mac from Lenovo, MSI, asus or even dell. quadcore CPU, GPU, 15gb RAM and 256 SSD for cheaper.

But when you look for similar build quality the price go up and becomes as or more expensive than apple. And normally you don't even get as good screeen, trackpad or kb.

So teah, MBP are expensive but PC's with same quality are the same.