Hello,

I am in the market for a new PC laptop. I am only interested in PC laptops. No interest in a Mac/Apple.

I was curious as to what laptop RealBand / BIAB users use.

What brand?
What processor? i5/i7 etc.
What hard drive size? SSD or HDD.
What amount of memory? 16GB etc.
What OS Win 10 Home or Pro?
Screen size? Touch screen?

Thank you all so much and if I forgot anything please let me know.

Cheers!!

I use an i7 with 16 Gig RAM and 512gig SSD. But I only use it on stage to play backing tracks.

What you need really depends on what you intend to do with it. A lot of top end instruments and plugins require (or recommend) at least an i5 with 8gig RAM. A top end orchestra could easily have requirements for well over 100Gig storage and often state SSD storage. BB uses a lot of storage once again over 100 gig for the UltraPak assuming you’re storing it on the laptop (but it does not require SSD).

Of course you can store stuff on external drives but you then really need good USB (USB 3) in most cases.

As well as RAM and Storage consideration needs to be given to IO ports. What do you need to connect: a USB Audio device maybe a MIDI device external hard drives a slot for eLicense or similar if you are using some types of software.

First consider your needs in terms of how you intend to use the laptop. Then search on current requirements for what you want. Then look at what you’d really like and add a bit of future proofing.

That would be my advice. For example if you add up your storage and it comes to 400 gig then get at least 1000 gig. (If you went to 512 you’d soon be out of storage.). I mention earlier a lot of high end plugins recommend a minimum of i5 a few years ago the same plugins probably required only a duel core processor.

My thoughts
Tony

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your thoughts:)

Anyone else? Specific laptop names?

Thanks

Just do a few searches for New Laptop in the forums. This question has been asked dozens of times and you should be able to get some useful results.

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your thoughts:)

Anyone else? Specific laptop names?

Thanks

I'm a hobbyist and have a Dell laptop. I like Dell because their website offers one stop support for everything I've purchased. Their website is easy to navigate, operation and service documentation is available for download, drivers are tested, an app is available to select, download and install only drivers that work with your specific machine. The laptops are dependable and if something does happen parts are plentiful.

The Dell sounds like a very good option. Thanks Jim

I have Dell laptops but I do not use them for my music. My downstairs computer that I use for scratchpad work on new song ideas is just an i3 with 16 GB of RAM. Upstairs in the main studio room that one is an i7 with 64 GB or RAM. That one also has Pro Tools on it and I needed the horsepower for that. I rarely use Pro Tools anymore but I have the computer for it if I want to.

If you go laptop, at LEAST an i5 and as much RAM as the motherboard will support. Are you going to dedicate the laptop to music? Will it travel to gigs? If not, and it doesn't need to be portable, then why a laptop?

Like I just bought a new i5 with 32 GB of RAM to dedicate to video steaming. Note. Music and video computers are both dedicated computers. As cheap as computers are now it's very doable to have dedicated computers for dedicated tasks.

Thanks Eddie to an all that replied with great ideas!!

I like the idea of a dedicated computer. I wasn't sure about the i5 though. Isn't that an old slow one?

THANKS!!

When I'm not on a Mac, I tend to use Lenovo Thinkpads, my last being an X240. Been using them since I bought my first laptop, an IBM Thinkpad 600E, 300mhz I think!

Officially though, we haven't noticed any particular brands of laptop that run Band-in-a-Box any better or more compatible than others.

Realistically, I think just about any reasonable laptop would be good enough for Band-in-a-Box. Our system requirements are not very high - just about any multi-core laptop with a couple gigs of ram will do it. Really the main consideration is hard drive space, as even the smallest package takes up 16gb of space (which can be a large chunk of a small SSD).

Compared to i7, i9, and i10, yes. But in speaking of "at least this" vs "way overkill", the i5 is the minimum you should consider. The computer with the i7 has an i7 because I run Pro Tools on it and that is pretty much the minimum for Pro Tools.

I actually run Real Band down here on an i3 and don't have problems with it. When I ship the file upstairs it runs on the i7. I scratchpad down here and complete up there.

I don't particularly like laptops for creating music because the hard drives are typically cheaper hard drives that don't spin at the top RPM, often as slow as 5400, usually 7200. That comes into play if you are "under memoried" and the data coming across the data bus into the RAM will be a potential bottleneck. When you start adding tons of RAM to reduce the frequency of memory swapping to virtual RAM space, and then invest in SSDs, you need to start considering WHY you are spending money on a laptop at all??

Now for a laptop to take out to a gig where you are just playing back, you get to the "whatever" place. Playing back is nowhere near as CPU intensive as the crunching that goes into RB's track generating engine. I don't even understand why people insist on playing back multi track files in RB or BIAB when it's fed into a PA system that flattens those tracks out anyway. I just use WAV files when I go to a songwriter circle night. There is no need to care that the pedal steel track is on track 11. If you mixed it right, the pedal steel will be the right volume no matter what track it was on initially. So for computing power, it's horses for courses. Fit the computing power to the application. An i7 with a ton of ram just to play back WAV files is like buying a Maserati to drive to the store for milk.

simon. re any reasonable laptop.
(my background is working in tech for many years, finally i have free time to comment on this topic
which always interests me. wont bore you with my medical stuff. but all good now.)

you are correct sir that biab will run on pretty much anything.
BUT the problems arise when people are useing slow computers AND then load them up with plug ins that demand lots of computer resources. which is why some big studios
invest in very high end computing resources.

if one peruses various recording forums one will see that even high end computers sometimes have problems handling high resource load.

as i said in a thread recently frankly i am not happy with current computer architectures.
this is the nub of it.
for what a lot of people REALLY want to do, the processors are still too slow imho.
i want much faster cheaper processors.

the sad part is that biab/rb and/or pg might get blamed because the users computer cant handle the resource needs of the plug ins. eg slow drives and/or processor etc etc.

the other issue is obsolescence. how much life will one get from a major computer investment ??
which is why i stay a bit behind the curve , and invest in refurbished computers.
i have yet to have a problem with one yet , and ive bought more than a few for family and friends. ive yet to have one failure and saved a bundle.

in summary here are my personal rules for success.
1. test out the new computer or refurb before buying. look for it to boot fast. get a warranty.
2. cpubenchmark.net is your friend. before buying look up the rating of the processor.
i use an i5 refurb rated around 4500 on there. but i dont use resource heavy plug ins.
remember , the higher the rateing the more youll have to pay for the computer.
3. i use only low cpu useage plug ins in biab and/or my daw.
and before i commit to useing a new plug in i test it out to see the cpu useage.
i also use ssd's.

there are some great deals around. ive seen refurbs that cost new several thousand dollars for 500 dollars. so one can save lots of money that can be better spent on say a nice audio interface or mic etc etc.
just remember to test before buying or make sure
there is a return policy.

now i'm sure someone somewhere will disagree with my comments.
so be it. i'm just trying to save some people operational heartache.
biab is a wonderfull product and i love 2020. but one has to be prudent on plug in choices imho. it all comes down to resource useage.

simon, like everyone else i would like more realtrak channels in biab.
(per the wishlist) which would cut down the number of times i need to transfer traks to my main daw.
but the question remains , will our computers be able to handle it , particularly if people load up on plug ins ?

ps. if people new to this really want to delve further there are lots of computer configs posted on various recording forums eg gearslutz.com music computers section.
thousands of posts includeing building yourself a computer.
often audio interface manufacturers have their own forums also regarding this topic.
also daw multitrack software forums.
my advice to readers is dont overspend in ones search for computing nirvana because of the possibility of obsolescence.
(good wishes in your search voxbox.)
respectfully.
mysterymuso.

justanoldmuso - most of our users don't use any other plugins at all, or stick to only the ones we include (Sforzando and the PG DX plugins).

Voxbox, could you tell us a bit about your usage scenario? Are you planning on running any other DAW's or plugins? As justanoldmuso said, this could require a faster computer than strictly using Band-in-a-Box with no other music apps. If you're only considering Band-in-a-Box and not any other software or plugins, then most laptops can do it.



Also, just to clarify something, an i5 CPU is not necessarily an old one. Yes, Intel has been marketing CPU's as i5 since 2009, but are still making brand new chips with that model series. The i5 is a class of CPU, and not an indication of age.

Think of it in terms of cars - let's use the Mustang as an example. Back in the 90's they had Mustangs with L4's, V6's, and V8's. Obviously the V8 is the most powerful but the V6 is quite capable. Fast forward to now - they still make a V6, but it's equally powerful to the 90's V8's.

That's my long-winded way of saying that a modern i5 CPU can be much faster than an early i7 CPU, and a modern i5 should be more than enough if you're only going for BIAB. If you're going for any other plugins or DAW software, then go for an i7 or higher.

I thought the Biab Hardware Version was due out soon ???

simon/other readers.
you might find this link interesting from a tech buying perspective. i'm not suggesting people rush out and do it.
its another perspective.
https://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/106/quad-pro-thunder-computer/
notice the comment about the new win pc handling resource load versus the
"old pc". of course one needs to have the budget for such a custom built pc.
but the article is another intelligent perspective.
unfortunately i have other financial commitments lol.

respectfully
mysterymuso.

The 90s???

How about the 60s when the Cobra Jet had that crazy 428 in it!!!!

A friend down my street had one of those. I had a Z-28 Camaro with that hot 302 in it and I used to regularly dust him because my car was much lighter. And I was a WAY better driver than he was. I came off that line like Shirley Muldowney!!

And I dusted off many Z-28 Camaros with my 289, Holley 650 4-barrel carburetor, 4/11 rear end gears, 2 main, 2 second and 2 third leaf strings and 4 on the floor Mustang!

But those were the good ol' days were they not?

The Z-28 was hot for ONE year. 1969. That was what I had. Chevy Blue with white racing stripes. That special edition 302 ran at 11:1 compression. It was essentially a blown out 283, overbored to as big as they could make it and still have cylinder walls wide enough for a water jacket, with a very heavy duty cam, pistons and crankshaft. I bought it on July 3rd, 1969. On July 5th, 1969, I took it to a drag strip just east of Cleveland and ran 10.4 with it. Direct from the showroom floor. And it cost me (ready?) $3839.50. The 1970 model came out with a regular Chevy 307 and ran at 8.5:1 compression. All the "heavy duty" was taken out of it. They literally drained all the horsepower out of it.

In 1970 I also went into the Army, and I had to sell it because I knew a GI wasn't going to be able to make car payments. Only after I had been in a couple of years did I find out, from another GI, that banks had a program where I could have kept my car if I paid interest on the loan. $17 a month. I openly wept when I found that out.

Hello All,

Thanks for all of the great input.

I have been considering several laptops and also thinking about getting the:

Intel NUC NUC8I7HNK Mini PC, Intel Quad-Core i7-8705G Upto (base frequency 3.1 GHz) 4.1GHz, 32GB DDR4, 1TB SSD, AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, WiFi, Thunderbolt 3, Supports Up to 6 Displays, Windows 10 Pro (32GB RAM + 1TB SSD)

Cost is about $1050.

Will need a monitor and keyboard of course.

I think this may meet my needs for BIAB as well as other audio recording applications.

The Intel NUC has 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports. I have been considering updating my setup with a Thunderbolt 3 (40GBs) Audio Interface and many laptops don't have one let alone two. Latency is almost non existent with proper cables.

Thanks for all of your input!!

Voxbox - that sounds like a slick setup! I've been considering the Intel NUC's myself for a few things. Post back here and let us know how it goes!

With the car engine analogy, y'all have some great stories about your old cars! I personally had a 1994 Mustang that I miss dearly, but not quite as much as my old Mercury Cougar! Sadly I wrote that one off after an accident in the crazy Vancouver rain, and am now driving a Pontiac Vibe - not quite the horsepower as I used to have, but it can haul way more music gear!

Never could afford nicer cars when younger. The wife and I now have a nice pair of Camaro convertibles. Hers: 2014 RS (V6) white with black stripes. Mine: 2018 SS (V8) black with white stripes. As Star Wars geeks we also have a theme going on the rear plates. Hers is Stormtrooper, while mine is Darth Vader.

Hello,

Thanks for all of your responses.!!

I will let you all know how it goes.

A 1962 Nash Metropolitan Caribbean Blue on Frost White is more my speed. LOL

Cheers,

VOXBOX

That's cool. I had to look that up.

Heh, a couple years ago I visited a collection in Wisconsin (pretty much a museum) of Nash/Hudson based vehicles. I took a ton of pictures.

I think it was called Kissel Museum, Kissel eventually was morphed into Hudson, Nash, AMC etc. (somehow Evenrude even came into play if I recall correctly)

Pretty amazing to see cars with wood frames. That surprised me. Funny how things evolve..in one short lifetime.
They had an original Cadillac (2 cylinder if I recall), a Doge that came in a kit and you bought the parts through mail order as you could afford until eventually you had yourself a car!
And a Sears car you could buy from the catalog.
Pretty interesting place to wander around in for a few hours. <grin>
Cars from 1900 to now.
Everything from a RedRyder wagon with a Briggs & Stratton motor (and pedals) to a super Javelin, to a new 'vette. Kinda fun. They even have an operating Steam Train on premise.

Fun to visit if you are ever in the area .. one of those weird finds.

Hello and thanks to all of you that responded.

Update:

I purchased a 17" laptop: Intel Core i7-10750H Processor 2.6GHz; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max P 6GB GDDR6; 32GB DDR4-2933 RAM; 1TB M.2 Internal SSD X 2, Windows 10 Pro, 1 thunderbolt 3 port, 3 USB 3 ports, built in cam etc etc.

Thanks again for all of your replies.

Cheers!

I have had plenty of success with refurbs. HP EliteDesk 800 G2 Mini Business Desktop PC Intel Quad-Core i5-6500T up to 3.1G,16GB DDR4,512GB SSD,VGA,DP Port,Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit-Multi-Language-English/Spanish (Renewed), $274 at Amazon.

You can find plenty of refurbs like this and more powerful than this for very good prices. Plenty of horsepower for BIAB and RealBand.

Hello,

Thanks for your input!

Sounds like a good deal.

One of my main requirements was a Thunderbolt 3 port. I plan on getting a ultra fast thunderbolt 3 audio interface soon

Cheers!