buying a computer strictly for live5

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:11 pm

FaX-01 wrote:
ayentee wrote:using the demo on my laptop..like it so far. haven't been able to record audio in just yet.

ok now for the big question. does anyone have any suggestions for the type of computer i should buy to run this program? I kinda want to stay away from mac but if its really that much better on mac then i'd consider it. Lets say my price range is around 1500 for the comp and another 500 for the sound card. lets hear some suggestions.

Centrino / Dothan / Sonoma with dedicated graphics card.
1.7ghz @ up too 2.13ghz will suffice.
Toshiba / Ibm would be my first suggestions for a solid stable notebook but check what others are using.
What do you need from sound card input/output wise ?
Probably stay away from Maudio firewire interfaces if possible.
Try and snag a laptop with Ti based cardbus and Firewire chipsets if possible.
Though my next lappy may be a Samsung M50 .
17" 2ghz Centrino w/ 2meg Cache
4.5 hours battery life
Weighs only 1.9 kgs.
Titanium Alloy Case
Good Graphics and buss powered 6 pin F/W port which is unusual for a PC.
Currently using a Toshiba HT P4 3.2ghz 17" wxga desknote and it is rock solid with Live and my other apps.
My eyesight isn't the best so I need a largish screen myself.
Not very portable however and not terribly great battery life either.
On the upside it has lots of grunt but a 2.0ghz Centrino would be just as powerful in real world use with LIVE IMHO.
i'd still hold on to the MPC.
I sold my RS7000 and still wish I had it for what it's worth.

Sorry, bad news, the Samsung uses cheapo Ricoh not TI firewire. I think the only other pc with 6pin FW is Acer.

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:33 pm

Check out the Live + Performance + Test copy and paste that into the search function and you got abreak down of how computers work with Live

Sample away straight into Live, no worries

drag the yellow thing that says one ot the first beat - set your loop and away you go (set the end beat to)

I sample records all the time, all the time - I try to beat match them first before I record in that way I'm getting the right pitch and what not - old school style

peace

a

FaX-01 · Post by **FaX-01** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:52 pm

rikhyray wrote:
FaX-01 wrote:
ayentee wrote:using the demo on my laptop..like it so far. haven't been able to record audio in just yet.

ok now for the big question. does anyone have any suggestions for the type of computer i should buy to run this program? I kinda want to stay away from mac but if its really that much better on mac then i'd consider it. Lets say my price range is around 1500 for the comp and another 500 for the sound card. lets hear some suggestions.

Centrino / Dothan / Sonoma with dedicated graphics card.
1.7ghz @ up too 2.13ghz will suffice.
Toshiba / Ibm would be my first suggestions for a solid stable notebook but check what others are using.
What do you need from sound card input/output wise ?
Probably stay away from Maudio firewire interfaces if possible.
Try and snag a laptop with Ti based cardbus and Firewire chipsets if possible.
Though my next lappy may be a Samsung M50 .
17" 2ghz Centrino w/ 2meg Cache
4.5 hours battery life
Weighs only 1.9 kgs.
Titanium Alloy Case
Good Graphics and buss powered 6 pin F/W port which is unusual for a PC.
Currently using a Toshiba HT P4 3.2ghz 17" wxga desknote and it is rock solid with Live and my other apps.
My eyesight isn't the best so I need a largish screen myself.
Not very portable however and not terribly great battery life either.
On the upside it has lots of grunt but a 2.0ghz Centrino would be just as powerful in real world use with LIVE IMHO.
i'd still hold on to the MPC.
I sold my RS7000 and still wish I had it for what it's worth.
Sorry, bad news, the Samsung uses cheapo Ricoh not TI firewire. I think the only other pc with 6pin FW is Acer.

And the Acer in question uses shared Video and is 12" only :( .
If push came to shove and the Ricoh didn't work well with my FW audio drive a PCMCIA F/W card would fix the problem.
Nice looking laptop though.
Good build.
Good battery life.
Big screen.
Though I'm tempted to just save for some hardware to expand the laptop system I have as i can't afford to continually upgrade notebooks and the Toshi has more than enough grunt for a few more years use,

forge · Post by **forge** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:03 am

Machinate wrote:the step up from 16bit, 44.1 to 24,48khz is quite big, soundwise. To my ears, at least. From then on it's only really usefull for extreme repitching and such.

I can definitely hear a difference with 24 bit, but not 48k - it's sampling rate I'm wondering about

ayentee · Post by **ayentee** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 7:15 am

im sorry. i was way unclear in my earlier post. the 1500 would be in dollars, Im in the US. Also, im not interested in using live on a laptop. i want to run it on a desktop. the only ins i need are an rca for my turntable and either a stereo 1/4 inch for a preamp, or if it has a built in pre, then 1 mic input. im using live to make hiphop so i dont need much.

would i be better off getting someone to build a custom computer for me or do you think i'll be fine with a shelf model?

forge · Post by **forge** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:01 am

ayentee wrote:... Also, im not interested in using live on a laptop. i want to run it on a desktop. ...?

My advice is dont make a purchase that will limit you down the line with this in mind...while at this point you dont think you'd want to use live on a laptop, once you get to know it and discover what it can do you might find yourself changing your mind.

ayentee · Post by **ayentee** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:51 am

if i ever decide to use live on a laptop i'll buy a laptop that can handle it. but i hate making music on laptops. it really puts a strain on me. i'd much rather work on a desk top. im not much of a traveller or a performer.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 11:48 am

get an amd64 with at least 1gig of ram and some fast hard disks.

djsynchro · Post by **djsynchro** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:19 pm

forge wrote:
Machinate wrote: I can definitely hear a difference with 24 bit, but not 48k - it's sampling rate I'm wondering about

Though it's technically superior to 44.1, 48 Khz is not a good sampling rate to use if the master is intended to be an audio CD because converting from 48 to 44.1 introduces rounding errors. Best is to use either 44 or 88.

24 Bit is better than 16, when the mastering is done it means there will be more bits to do the eq/compression calculations with and it can be dithered down to 16 bits.

Read here:
http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id ... ge_id=119/

djsynchro · Post by **djsynchro** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:23 pm

About cutting your samples to loops: Do it, because then when you browse them in Live it will play them in sync with your project, so you can hear if a loop will work before you have even loaded it in.

Ones you get handy with the program it will take you a couple of seconds to cut the loops.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 5:01 pm

djsynchro wrote:About cutting your samples to loops: Do it, because then when you browse them in Live it will play them in sync with your project, so you can hear if a loop will work before you have even loaded it in.

No need to do this at all. If the loop is set right it will preview warped and ready. Non-destructive is the way to go, mate.