Ableton Forum

Ok, since I now own an APC40, and intend to gig with it, here's a question I have yet to see answered anywhere:

What do you guys think I should do about some sort of hard/flight case for it?

Obviously if I'm karting it about, it's likely to get knocked about (judging by past experiences, I've had many speakers die because their tweeter got knocked on a sharp corner =S), and I don't want to break it.

Bonus points if I can get the APC, laptop and maybe even a small keyboard all into the same case =]

Cheers, Ed

SKB makes a case called the Studio Flyer 4U. it's a laptop and 4-space rack combo case... the APC40 will fit two racks and you should be able to get a smaller 25-key controller into the other two racks. i would just put a simple shelf to separate the top 2 rack spaces from the bottom 2. you'll definitely want to measure your controller though because some are a little too wide to fit into a rack.

All that said, I don't like SKB cases. I think they are pieces of shit and I actually have a submersible laptop case made by them. not saying it wouldn't work, but i'll never test it. just wanted a hard shell laptop case.

if you want a good quality hard case, seek out a company that makes them by hand out of wood. i actually have all my racks and cases custom built now because my gf's brother does it for a living. they've made cases for fender custom shop and HP among others. they make a great guitar cases. and if you seen my setup pics here...
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... start=2115, they made all those cases including the dj coffin case for my Korg Zero 4 which i couldn't find a case that fit it right.

Hmm, that Studio Flyer 4U is quite scary, and with it being a rack-oriented thing it's a little far from what I had in mind.

Apparently a company called odyssey make special APC ones (although to be honest it just looks like someone took a standard flight case and cut out the foam with a stanley knife =), however they don't seem to sell these in the UK yet =[



any other suggestions out there? got plenty of APC users so some of you must have cases!

i'll have them build you one... what do you want to put in it? the owner is from the UK. who else is interested? how much would you be willing to pay for a custom built hard case to house a laptop, APC, 25-key controller?

sounds sensible, although this wasn't exactly on my quick-purchase list (still trying to figure out if I can afford a little phatty and blofeld first) =D

what sort of price are we talking? I'd be willing to pay a couple of hundred quid for a good quality one, when I do eventually get a case. The things I'd want to put in it would be a 15.4" lappy, an MPK25 and an APC. Oh, and leads. lots of leads =] maybe even one of those NI audio 2 DJ thingies.

Just throw it in a pillow case. That should do it.

If a company or reviews are going to claim "solid and sturdy design" then I'm going to hold them to it.

Rave wrote:why fooking bother. Manners cost nothing

ahem, if you're referring to my lack of reply to your mention of padded bags, my bad, I had a looksy and they weren't what I was looking for, I'm talking actual hard cases here, padded bags are, in my experience with guitars, not so good for keeping twiddley knobs on things =]

Ed J wrote:sounds sensible, although this wasn't exactly on my quick-purchase list (still trying to figure out if I can afford a little phatty and blofeld first) =D

what sort of price are we talking? I'd be willing to pay a couple of hundred quid for a good quality one, when I do eventually get a case. The things I'd want to put in it would be a 15.4" lappy, an MPK25 and an APC. Oh, and leads. lots of leads =] maybe even one of those NI audio 2 DJ thingies.

would you want the items stacked or layed out like a coffin case ready to open and play? what i have in mind is probably a lot different from what you would want! draw up a diagram and send it to me.

well, I was thinking the APC and MPK would be pretty much plug-in-and-play from inside the case if possible, vaguely like a pedal board, but my lappy would overheat way too quickly for that so not the same for the laptop. but the more I think about that idea, the sillier it sounds !

To be honest, I haven't really though this one through properly yet, I'll try and work something out and put up an image =]

the simpler the design, the cheaper. and the smaller it is, the cheaper shipping costs would end up being...

I recently started playing with a drummer, so I put this rig together.
I used this case and removed all but one of the dividers so that my APC sits angled. Also used a griffin elevator laptop stand. Everything fits in quite nice.

http://www.eurolitecase.com/cd-dj-cases-rolling.html

Dude that case is PERFECT, I just ordered one. Where did you get the nicely sized foam pieces for beside the APC40 to hold it in place?

-Jason

You'll love the case. Since it's supposed to be for CD's/DVD's, I just removed all but one of the dividers that come in the case. So I just left that one in place, and the APC fit perfect, angled up nicely

I can roll that thing up, set it on a table, put the laptop and duet on there, and be setup and fully running in less than 5 minutes. It's been working great for rehearsal with my drummer, can't wait to get out and play some shows again.

awesome man, I am in the exact same situation here, my DJ partner is also a drummer and weve been wanting an easy portable case like that to carry around and set up with his drumkit too. Been hard to find something that would fit right where I could put the laptop IN FRONT of the APC rather than off to the side and keep it relatively small.And also something that I could keep it hooked up so its ready to go in 5 minutes like you said. Just bring the case and a small stand into the club and plug right into the DJ mixer and youre good to go, before the computer even finishes booting up!

Glad I could help.

I brought the APC to guitar center and tried a bunch of different cases and was not too happy. I was actually leaving the store, but I saw that thing and was like hmmmmmm.........
It really is pretty sweet to roll up to the rehearsal space, unfold a small table, make a few connections and that's it. And you're right, by the time I get the laptop on there and turn it on, just a couple switches and I'm usually setup before Ableton is open.

Let me know how it works out for you when the case comes in.