Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

adsmaho · Apr 21, 2003, 04:34 AM

I'm a future powerbook owner but im a bit skeptical on the sound/audio side.

whats the sound like on a powerbook 17inch???
the apple site doenst have much information on what type of soundcard, sound quality .. etc...

what sorta thing would you use if you were to do some multitrack sound recording?

how are the apple pro speakers?? they look a bit small and weak.

Finrock · Apr 21, 2003, 06:00 AM

Sound on the 17" PowerBook is much improved over the 15" Titanium models. However, laptop speakers are rarely ever good. I have produced half a dozen CDs on my PowerBook G4 (15") and just started a project on my 17". I don't use Apple Pro speakers, of course, I use my studio monitors powered by a very clean amp. I use an external MOTU 828 to do most of my input work right now, which connects via FireWire.

Up until this, I've used Cubase VST/32, but have switched to Cubase SX, which runs in OS X.

So to summarize... speaker sound, while much improved on the 17", still is, well, laptop sound. If you want good sound, buy a nice set of speakers.

-Finrock

schuey100 · Apr 21, 2003, 07:50 AM

Firstly the internal soundcard is OK but it's never going to be adaquate for serious recording. Core audio and midi is nice but you still need to look for an external soundcard. I suggest something firewire such as the Motu 828, Firestation or the Mobile I/O

http://www.mhlabs.com/mobileio/mio_description.html

I have the 828 which is pretty good. Pre Amps are ok and it's relatively cheap. You could go USB and Digi offer a smaller unit, the MBox. It comes with PT LE although I don't think it's X compatible yet. I think the software is still 5. However you could always run DP3 or DP4 on it. It's a nice small unit for mobile recording and even cheaper than the 828.

On the speaker side you can leave the in built speakers alone. They're useless. Ok, they're fine for the average person who needs to listen to game sounds etc but for serious audio work you can forget it.

Software is always difficult as it really depends on what you are used to etc etc etc. Personally I would stay away from Cubase SX. Horrible program. I'd go for either Logic or DP4. DP4 has only just come out so is still in it's early stages but Logic is solid, owned by Apple and now with the new wrapper you can use VST Plugs with it too.

My current set up is :

17" Albook
Motu 828
DP4/Logic 6
Mackie HR824

The makies aren't that portable

but the Motu is easy to lug around. Here are some links:

http://www.motu.com/english/motuaudio/828/body.html

http://www.emagic.de/home/news/index.php?lang=EN

http://www.motu.com/english/software/dp/body-dp4.html

http://www.digidesign.com/

http://www.digidesign.com/products/mbox/

b3t4 · Apr 21, 2003, 08:37 AM

i am about to buy a rme hammerfall.

pretty nice mobility aspect and really nice quality.

http://www.rme-audio.com/

beta

jindrich · Apr 21, 2003, 02:42 PM

schuey100,

would you mind report your experiences with lapzilla and logic6?
does lapzilla run its fans when recording/editing?
how many exs24 voices? would you say it's enough to run the new Vienna Sound Library ?
how many platinum reverbs do you get, can you do a whole project with lapzilla alone? (aside freeze)
any shortcome, anything else to comment?

thanx.

schuey100 · Apr 21, 2003, 03:05 PM

Originally posted by jindrich:
schuey100,

would you mind report your experiences with lapzilla and logic6?
does lapzilla run its fans when recording/editing?
how many exs24 voices? would you say it's enough to run the new Vienna Sound Library ?
how many platinum reverbs do you get, can you do a whole project with lapzilla alone? (aside freeze)
any shortcome, anything else to comment?

thanx.

To be honst, I've only just started using Logic so I can't give any feedback in terms of older versions. I'm a DP user in the main. However here are some things I found:

The 17"'s fans do run but they are significantly quiter than the Ti. Hardly noticable and they only come on in spurts.

I haven't yet run into problems with not having enough power for tracks or plugs including reverbs.

All in all the 17" is a fantatstic machine. The Bus speed has really made a difference. I got hold of a copy of SX the other day and found that it could run 130 tracks and 12 Freeverbs!!!

Still haven't got a copy of DP4 yet but I'm hoping it should run well too.

dewhastme · Apr 21, 2003, 05:54 PM

I built a sort of daw with a Power Mac, and I am thinking about making my 17 in a mobile audio station, but I am always wary of using an internal hard drive on a laptop for audio or video. The first point is that you should partition your drive and keep your audio programs on one part and your daily apps on the other. I currently use an internal IBM ATA drive and 2 external maxtor firewire drives on the power mac for FCP and DP3. I am not sure but I think the internal drive on the PB runs at 4200 rpm. Apple certifies that its hard drives work with Final Cut, but I don't know about using an internal notebook hard drive on large, taxing files for video or even audio.

I would not recommend the 828, although I have one, for road use. Its just too big, in my opinion. I know there is a small PCI card available out there that works for most software. I don't know if it supports audio units yet. I would look for something smaller. The digi products look good, and in DP3 you can use TDM mode for those audio interfaces.

As far as audio software goes, its either Logic or Digital Performer in my opinion. I tried cubase back in 5.1 and I was not impressed. Logic is powerful but has a steeeeeep learning curve. Logic just isn't very logical, but it is very powerful. The plugins that you can order for logic are incredible, and they are already installed on your machine, so all you have to do is enter the key. DP is very easy to use and powerful. In fact, I am suprised that Apple didn't buy MOTU instead of Emagic, because DP has always been mac only.

Arch. · Apr 21, 2003, 07:52 PM

Maybe you guys could give me some advice. I want to record with this laptop but am finding that the line in is weak. All of my MD mics. and stuff dont work because the signal is too low. Even with the levels on the internal cranked all the way up I still need a bit more. Is there an external mic that wouldnt require me to run a pre amp? Are there pre-amps that are cheap and small? What are your opinions of sound studio?

jindrich · Apr 22, 2003, 10:12 AM

schuey100,
thanx for those first impressions. We all lok forward to hear a more indeep review. Looks promising anyway. I'm considering setting up a mobile studio with a lapzilla (or an hypothetical similar 15"alu), ext fire HD, rme multiface and logic 6 (plus hi-end mic pres and converters)

arch,
without any doubt your best option in the $450 mbox from digidesign. it's an external usb box with decent 2 mic/line pres with phantom, a/d/a and phones monitoring, that doesnt even require a/c power (totally mobile). It comes with protools LE software, wich is the standard DAW in the market, only the LE version it's limited to 32 tracks. Runs in osx as well as in 9, and comes with several plugins (compressors, delayus, reverb). it's very easy to use.