As I start a study in May in Creative Media at SAE, I´ll get an I-Book, has somebody some experiences with this little thingie?
Is the I-book good for live sessions as it comes out of the factory or do I need to upgrade it with a usb sound interface for midi and low latency audio?
How can I compare the performance of the I-book to a PC DAW, will it collapse soon when I load some heavy VST PlugIns?
Well, when the I-book is too small to drive a live session, I think about to sell it and buy a bigger one. I won´t carry a whole PC system plus a 19" CRT monitor to a session anymore.
Thanks ahead...
I-Book for live sessions
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ChrisWerner
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I don`t have an experience yet, but it should work, like they say at http://www.synthesizerforum.de
if it's the 12" model - that's hard to beat in portability, very convenient 
you might want an external audio, tho - it has both USB2 and Firewire and there are lots of affordable devices.
Guessing from the Minimac the onboard audio isn't exactly bad, but most likely not what YOU'd expect.
For the 'bigger' 15" model (same screen res of 1024/768 as the 12"!), I'd rather prefer and iMac, not much more expensive, but more processing power and more screen estate.
The 17" model is very portable and you probably don't even need a (computer-) keyboard.
Not shure about the emulation of (current) PPC code on the new Intel versions (they are said to be very fast, but that's what they always say...) .
cheers, tom
you might want an external audio, tho - it has both USB2 and Firewire and there are lots of affordable devices.
Guessing from the Minimac the onboard audio isn't exactly bad, but most likely not what YOU'd expect.
For the 'bigger' 15" model (same screen res of 1024/768 as the 12"!), I'd rather prefer and iMac, not much more expensive, but more processing power and more screen estate.
The 17" model is very portable and you probably don't even need a (computer-) keyboard.
Not shure about the emulation of (current) PPC code on the new Intel versions (they are said to be very fast, but that's what they always say...) .
cheers, tom
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Nestor
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“A” laptop means nothing to me, I mean, specifications of the power it has, is the important thing. If it is small, obviouvly, it will not handle the load, but if you have a newer one, no problem as long as you MIDI.
If you were to use audio streaming, there you’ll have problems, as laptop HDs are painfully slowly. You can see it for instance, when you defragment them, they may take a whole night. A couple of weeks ago, I fixed one of those, and its 40 GB HD took 19 hours to defragment completely.
Right now I am fixing another of those, a Toshiba by the way, its HD, again, is very slow. This one has 256 RAM and a Celeron 2.7. It’s not a super computer, of course, but if I were to install Cubase and play MIDI through it, I would have no problems at all. Of course, you need a way to solve latency, as the components that usually come with a laptop are not thought for audio, at all. You need an external soundcard, or a way to tackle latency, like direct monitoring with an external module keyboard, using similar sounds to the one you are working with. Then, when you play back, you enable again the sound from the synth you are using within your sequencer.
That’s it. Good luck man
If you were to use audio streaming, there you’ll have problems, as laptop HDs are painfully slowly. You can see it for instance, when you defragment them, they may take a whole night. A couple of weeks ago, I fixed one of those, and its 40 GB HD took 19 hours to defragment completely.
Right now I am fixing another of those, a Toshiba by the way, its HD, again, is very slow. This one has 256 RAM and a Celeron 2.7. It’s not a super computer, of course, but if I were to install Cubase and play MIDI through it, I would have no problems at all. Of course, you need a way to solve latency, as the components that usually come with a laptop are not thought for audio, at all. You need an external soundcard, or a way to tackle latency, like direct monitoring with an external module keyboard, using similar sounds to the one you are working with. Then, when you play back, you enable again the sound from the synth you are using within your sequencer.
That’s it. Good luck man
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
Chris, I'm not sure if it'll help your decision or not, but you should check out What SoundOnSound were saying about the VAIO GRT. It comes bundled with software called Sonic Stage...
"The basic equaliser is a three-band version of Sony’s Oxford EQ, but a five-band version which also includes high- and low-pass filters is also available as a download for a modest additional cost of about £30. The Waves plug-ins comprise the Renaissance Bass enhancer, S1 Stereo Imager, and L1 Ultramaximiser, all in their full versions but optimised to run within the Sonic Stage environment."
quoted from the SOS reveiw <a href="http://www.soundonsound.com/news&NewsID=6800">HERE</a>
Note the part in the quote where it says they offer a more advanced 5 band version of the Oxford EQ to VAIO owners .. for a MERE £30 !!
VAIO's can be had for excellent prices on Ebay if you're VERY careful who you buy from.
There's one on Ebay <a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-VAIO-GRT-816 ... m">HERE</a>
.. but I didn't look into the seller's history, you'd have to do that yourself
I really like the VAIO (nice quality) & these plugins for Pro Tools or Powercore would cost more than a VAIO with them bundled !!!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Shroomz on 2006-02-18 05:56 ]</font>
"The basic equaliser is a three-band version of Sony’s Oxford EQ, but a five-band version which also includes high- and low-pass filters is also available as a download for a modest additional cost of about £30. The Waves plug-ins comprise the Renaissance Bass enhancer, S1 Stereo Imager, and L1 Ultramaximiser, all in their full versions but optimised to run within the Sonic Stage environment."
quoted from the SOS reveiw <a href="http://www.soundonsound.com/news&NewsID=6800">HERE</a>
Note the part in the quote where it says they offer a more advanced 5 band version of the Oxford EQ to VAIO owners .. for a MERE £30 !!
VAIO's can be had for excellent prices on Ebay if you're VERY careful who you buy from.
There's one on Ebay <a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-VAIO-GRT-816 ... m">HERE</a>
.. but I didn't look into the seller's history, you'd have to do that yourself
I really like the VAIO (nice quality) & these plugins for Pro Tools or Powercore would cost more than a VAIO with them bundled !!!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Shroomz on 2006-02-18 05:56 ]</font>