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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992 |
fianoman
well actually to be completely honest mate.
after testing a ton of lappies this year for friends my conclusion
is most el cheapo lappies are consumer junk.
i wont bore you with all the puter engineering details :-)
but poor firewire chipsets/slow drives/bad dpc are just a few issues.
imho they need a decent round of re engineering.
the only lappies i suggest folks look at are the adk ones..but
they are pricey.
moi..i'm staying desktop.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 42
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 42 |
We are in absolute agreement there puterman. :-)
I did commercial graphics for a number of years and a laptop will not come close to a desktop for processing power. However...
I have two places, weekend and workweek, and it is a little tough to pack up a cpu, monitor, keyboard, etc. and schlep it back and forth so laptop wins out.
When I get some extra coin, I will probably move over to the Mac platform. I have let Mister Softie irritate the dickens out of me for a couple of decades so I figure I will give Mr. Jobs a crack at it soon....
In the meantime, I will get my laptop lean and mean and hopefully have some fun!
Thanks for the input.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992 |
fianoman well actually i'm no great lover of the mac platform either . cos if i got a mac and it goes on the fritz i gotta send off to apple care. and my studio is down. other reason is new processor technologies are prolly coming (as they always will do mate..eg 16 cores.),.... and i dont wanna spend big buks on say a quad core mac to find its superceded. my basic issue with macs is you have to constantly rebuy the whole shebang. at least on a pc desktop i can slap in a new mainboard n processor. eg right now i can upgrade one of my old desktops to a quad for a couple a hundred buks. cant do that with macs. as an alternative, check out the pc quad core lappies sometime here.. (they are also an apple dealer.) www.adkproaudio.comas always ymmv/i got nothing to do with em. but they are properly configged imho. and a good alternative to macs.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 42
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 42 |
"record 64 tracks live" Pretty bold statement!
Thanks for the site, I had not heard of them. Looks like some cool gear...
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992 |
fianoman
re adk..check out their client list mate.
but of course the big names can afford such.
(whereas us poor schleps cant..lol).
if you want a no brainer el cheapo solution
to save yer hard earned buks. ..but desktop.
look for a refurb dual core amd 64 desktop .
such normally go for 200 buks with warranty.
or a dual core intel C2Duo.
then install a second 70 buk drive 7200 rpm internal
with 32 mb cache<<<note the cache...
and your rocking. for bout 290 buks.
(if the refurb has 1 gig of ram...add another gig. )
easy 80 traks in a song.
way more than you need.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 134
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 134 |
I'm writing this on a windows laptop with a GB of Ram, early centrino processor and WinXP that's been awake for over a month. I never run virus software since it chokes the life out of your computer ... and only got bit once by a virus bad enough to have to reinstall when I stupidly opened a link I knew I shouldn't. It's all about where you go on the internet and what you download or open.
Whenever I think 'herky, jerky,'' I always thnk the soundcard buffer is set too low for whatever it's trying to do and is unable to keep those bytes flowing to the CPU. The fact that changing the instrument back to VSC cleared all the problems is pretty strong evidence to me that the computers fine ... and there was some parameter setting not working right with the forte.
BTW ... I'm with the kid. Reinstalling is the last thing I ever want to do given all that's loaded on my machines ... using disk imaging software like Acronis is another story. Just keep track of those restore points and every so often rewrite the backup disks after a lot of installs.
Something goes wrong with your computer? My experience is that it's about 5% a new install, 1% an actual hardware failure/ change and 94% you weren't paying attention to something you were doing and made some change you didn't intend.
This sounds like a 5% problem.
Prado
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 88
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 88 |
Quote:
BTW ... I'm with the kid. Reinstalling is the last thing I ever want to do given all that's loaded on my machines.
Trust me when I tell it's the last thing I wanna do, too. It was a joke. Every time I say it, I'm kidding. And my son knows I'm just bustin' his chops. It's always the first thing out of my mouth when people come to me with computer problems: "I'd format and reinstall."
I will say this, though, and I mean this with all seriousness: If your machine has been hit with a virus or serious malware, it's not really your machine any more. The only way to be absolutely sure your computer's clean of viruses, trojans, or really bad trash apps is to F & R.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992 |
Schnazola
used pc's are so darn cheap and at throwaway prices...
if one doesnt have a lotta buks...use 2 pc's.
one for the net and one for the studio daw.
my studio pc never sees the net.
runs like a charm.
one problem ive seen is , many times , sometimes
people are useing one pc for everything.
the net, real time chat, family finances, etc etc..
n the poor thing is loaded up to the gills with junk.
then people wonder why the poor thing isnt doing
a good job at music creation.
first thing i do is look in the temp directory.
a good clue as to how well a pc is looked after.
then i run tests on how fast dialogues display.
as well as a dpc test. n do hard drive tests etc.
its like a car , ya gotta maintain it properly
and configure it properly.
and most importantly choose the right configuration...
processor//memory//drives etc etc.
my bug about lappies is the manufacturers put in decent dual core processors these days,
and skimp elsewhere. even on the mac people were complaining bout the switch of
fw chipsets on pro recording forums.
but to be fair to manufacturers its a hotly competitive market driven by consumers often wanting
cheap prices.
people just arent willing to fork out for a proper configged daw laptop like adk has.
with say a nice quad core processor and decent drives n chipsets.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 88
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 88 |
Quote:
my studio pc never sees the net. runs like a charm.
I keep a remarkably clean machine. Clean Desktop, very little running in background, tidy Registry. Obsolete apps removed. By my colleagues' standards, it's a lean, if not mean, machine.
But still, you make a good point. Why burden even a hot rod with network junk and other stuff unrelated to creating music. A dedicated workstation sounds like just what the doctor ordered!
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
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Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
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We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
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Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
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