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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2004
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OP
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I am looking for suggestions/advice on selecting a laptop.
I would like to be able to plug my guitar into the sound card (if possible), and do real time recording (check timing)
I shudder at the thought of Windows 8+ (I haven't used it yet!).
How much memory will be adequate?
Which sound cards are BIB friendly?
Which CPU is needed?
What else is desirable in a laptop?
Thanks
Roy
Roy
Les Paul Standard
Taylor 416 ce
Ibanez Musician Bass
Deering Sierra Banjo
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Roy, Your post would attract more responses if it's placed in the "Off Topic" forum found here. There are a number of incredibly clever computer-wise people who pop in and out of that forum  All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I used BB along with a few other music programs in my "Off the shelf" Dell lappy for many years before I built my custom studio DAW.
Most modern lap tops are more than powerful enough to use with BB/RB and more. Even the low end cheap ones these days are extremely powerful and should be able to run any music related program with relative ease. It's generally not a laptop specs issue. The problem is in the built in sound card and the driver it uses. The MOBO manufacturers go on the cheap side on this area since 99.999% of the people using their laptop will use it to play mp3's, watch movies and play games. So the cheap sound card chips they use will do the job for that without any issues. Not so for the musicians who use it like we tend to do.
My advice.... spend the money to purchase a USB audio and midi "pro" interface which has the following features:
2 Audio inputs for low and high impedance mics and instruments. (More if you need more.)
Audio preamps on the audio inputs, (check out Focusrite)
48 volt phantom power for condenser mics
a sufficient number of outputs for powered speakers
headphone jack
uses native ASIO driver (not some crappy codec or wrapper)
A decent external USB interface will cost around $150 to $250 depending on the features and the manufacturer. I consider the interface to be the heart of the studio so don't be afraid to get a good one.
It's possible to use an adapter and plug the guitar and some dynamic mics into the soundcard on the lappy, either direct or thru a mixer board. However, you are generally limited to the MME driver which does not handle synths very well so you will end up with horrendous delays and latency in playback.
Avoid using a USB mic. They have other issues when it comes to recording and getting it to sync properly for playback in sync. There is a HUGE difference between a USB mic (piece of junk) and a dedicated professional level USB interface like I described in the paragraph above.
My Saffire by Focusrite interface is a fire wire connection not a USB. Today, I would get a USB for a number of reasons. However, my point is this, I bought that Saffire when I first re-started back into recording along with the purchase of the DELL off the shelf lappy. It worked perfectly for several years on that DELL with Cakewalk software and then also with BB and RB. When I built my new studio DAW, I moved that same Saffire interface to it's rear firewire port and it continues to function perfectly on the studio DAW.
I can not emphasize enough that a decent interface will make all the difference in the world to how well the studio you set up will function.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2004
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OP
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Thanks...I've checked out the Focusrite 2i2 it seems to be at a minimum, but may fulfill my needs. I am reading about a DAW. What is your recommendation on the DAW?
Roy
Les Paul Standard
Taylor 416 ce
Ibanez Musician Bass
Deering Sierra Banjo
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Roy, just as with laptops, you will get a wide variety of suggestions for DAWs that mirror the ones we already own. The nice difference is that you can download demos of many DAWs and try them. All DAWs do the same basic functions, so it's mostly a matter of how you feel about the user interface (and that does differ greatly).
Don't forget that you already have a DAW that comes free with BIAB, called RealBand. Give that a try first.
And I concur with Guitarhacker that most laptops will be fine, but you need a good interface.
If it means anything, I like Toshiba laptops and I use SONAR.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Roy
Les Paul Standard
Taylor 416 ce
Ibanez Musician Bass
Deering Sierra Banjo
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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The Focusrite is great gear and you won't go wrong with it, but I don't know the price point. You may also take a look at the PreSonus AudioBox USB, which I have been using for two years with great results for my purposes. Last time I checked (a couple of days ago) Guitar Center had a bundle with a mic, headphones, and cables for $200. (The interface by itself sells for $150.) Its limitations are that it only samples to 24 bit/48 kHz (you may want more), it only has two channels (ditto), and I'm not sure whether it has preamps. This doesn't bother me since I run everything through a mixer first.
Any package comes with an introductory version of PreSonus' Studio One DAW software. Remember, though, you get the RealBand DAW with BIAB. It has a few limitations, but that is far outweighed by the fact that the two programs are designed to work together seamlessly while retaining many of BIAB's unique features.
HTH,
Richard
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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For a DAW, yes, it is correct that Real Band is a DAW. I find some things to be a bit confusing or hard to use on it so I use SONAR as well.
Cakewalk makes what they call a "beginners DAW" called Music Creator. It's version 6 now. I will tell you from practical experience as I own MC4, MC5, and MC6 plus Sonar X1.... the MC series is a very powerful DAW and does everything that I needed to get done in a straightforward manner. Much of my earlier music was recorded on MC4.
As has been mentioned, Real Band is a DAW and you can certainly take the time to learn how to work with it before you decide that trying something else might work better. I'm using Sonar simply because I started with it first and have learned how to do what I need done in it.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Great info already posted. Listening to these guys, I recently bought a PreSonus Audiobox USB audio interface. It is awesome (and I'm sure the FocusRite is, as well). PreSonus has it specially priced at $120 right now. It comes with StudioOne Artist, which is a pretty decent DAW to get your feet wet. I'm still planning to switch to Sonar in the near future, simply because I like the Cakewalk Midi engine. The one benefit of the USB audio interface, which I hadn't planned on, is using it in a live setting. I'm able to send the signal from the laptop through the interface and out to the mixer. Much better than going through the mini phone jack on the laptop.
As far as the laptop goes, I tend to like Intel processors. I'm running an i5 with 8GB RAM and Windows 8.1. I've had no issues with Windows 8, but I recently found a utility called pokki. It gives you a kind of start menu where you can pin shortcuts to applications and files. Makes the whole Windows 8 experience much better.
Rich
Windows 10, 64 bit | BIAB 2019 PlusPak | Studio One 2 Artist
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I recently set up a budget laptop for a friend with BIAB, It took ages - 15 hours or so to install the software because it was so underpowered, however after installation the whole thing ran fine. Even if BIAB is still stuck in the days of 32 bit, I would recommend a 64 bit laptop, it wont benefit BIAB but if its put to other tasks there are many advantages 32 bit Windows can only access about 2 gig of ram, 1.2 gig of which is used by windows itself - no headroom
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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32 bit Windows can only access about 2 gig of ram, 1.2 gig of which is used by windows itself - no headroom
I think you meant to say, 4 gig
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/13/14 03:51 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Yes, a 32-bit Windows can address only 4 GB of RAM. Only a little more than 3 GB of that is available to an application without using virtual memory (disk = slow).
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Roy
Les Paul Standard
Taylor 416 ce
Ibanez Musician Bass
Deering Sierra Banjo
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I've run my studio since I got back into digital home recording on 32 bit machines with 2G in the lappy and 4g in the custom DAW.
I've never had an issue with running out of memory on either.
The lappy was a bit slower in many respects and it ran much higher CPU activity levels... Duo Core 2 in lappy vs i5 quad in the DAW....
I stay with 32 bits XP pro because it is rock solid stable in the DAW and....... if I went to 64 bits, I would need to update all my plugins and synths that are 32 up to 64 so they would work properly without having to bridge them. I would likely have to purchase a bunch of them all over again for the updated versions....gahhhhhhh!!!
I'm 100% sure, that at some point...that day will arrive. Likely when the DAW MOBO crashes and the DAW becomes non-fixable and only 64 bit stuff is available..... I often joke that my next upgrade will not be to 64 bits but to 128 bits....
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/14/14 04:25 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Hello All,
I plan on purchasing a new laptop hopefully by this weekend.
The retailers like Office Max have very long and detailed product descriptions of the individual laptops, but nowhere does it specifically indicate if it is 32 or 64 bit, unless I'm overlooking it.
How can one glean this info?
Percy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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If you can use a demo on display, bring up the Control Panel, System. It will say there.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hello All,
I plan on purchasing a new laptop hopefully by this weekend.
The retailers like Office Max have very long and detailed product descriptions of the individual laptops, but nowhere does it specifically indicate if it is 32 or 64 bit, unless I'm overlooking it.
How can one glean this info?
Percy Easy.... look at the OPERATING SYSTEM.... that's what determines the bit rate we are discussing. It's a relatively safe bet that ALL new "off the shelf" computers now, whether it's a lap top or a desk top, are all running a 64bit OS. Most likely Windows 8. Unless you are building a machine and specifically purchase a copy of XP Pro 32 bit as I did. It took some effort to find that legal copy of XP Pro 32.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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I thought it would be much more complicated.
Thank you,gentlemen.
Percy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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You're welcome. And I think Guitarhacker is right; almost any computer you would purchase new off the shelf will be 64-bit based and running Windows 8, probably updated to 8.1 (which is good; you can boot into the desktop again with no third party utility).
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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