P_liz
October 30, 2017, 6:09am
#1
I have a very old laptop that barely runs Ableton live, and I’m wonderingwhat laptop you guys use for music production or live shows?
My studio has a Mac pro ( the cylinder) so itseems like a logical choice to go for a macbook pro or something for compabilty. What do you guys think?
MirEko
October 30, 2017, 6:25am
#2
Macs are very nice. I have used both pc and mac a lot.
Which is more important to you? Go for that
Dell XPS15.
Got one of the 9550 models a few months ago and have NOT been disappointed.
It’s got the footprint of a 14" laptop. Thin and light. 1TB SSD, 32GB Ram, Quad Core and 4K screen.
All for £1600.
I got it direct from the Dell Outlet Online (not their main online store).
The newer model is the 9560 which is a tiny bit faster I’d imagine but not worth paying the extra for if you can find 9550’s on the outlet
Seconding the XPS15. At that size you can’t beat it.
The XPS can handle Ableton? What OS you fellas running?
@Kegeratorz I don’t actually use Ableton, but I’ll eat my hat if an XPS has trouble with it.
Spec as above + Windows 10
Runs Ableton Live, Maschine, Reaktor Blocks all fine and all at the same time too. No complaints!
The last track in ableton live i did had
- Maschine on one track
- Maybe about 10 other audio drum tracks
- NI Razor for Bass
- NI Razor for String/Synth
- 2 x NI Reaktor Blocks (quite complex and processor intensive blocks setup) for modular-like sequancing
- Various EQ/Compression and automated Effects on every channel
- Vocal Audio Channel with FX
- Compression/FX on Master
- No channels were frozen. All running either audio/midi
The 15" models are quad core - thats the one you want.
The 13" models are only dual core. I don’t think anyone is making 13"s yet with quad cores.
The XPS can handle Ableton? What OS you fellas running?
I have a lower spec dell latitude (I think) and ableton runs fine in 64bit mode (windows 10 pro) unless I’m being stupidly heavy handed with the plugins.
I’ll let you know DO NOT buy a Windows Surface!! I am very happy with it for my academic work, but audio drivers crash regularly, require restarting etc. etc. etc. It’s nuts. Nothing works. Only FL Studio runs approaching satisfactory.
