CPU for sound editing

[xev11]

I am looking to buy a laptop with a primary intention of using it to make music. It will be connected to an electric piano and will have some audio editing programs on it to create songs and other similar things.

What kind of cpu do I need to look for when getting a laptop?
Would the regular integrated sound card be ok?

 

[KainXS]

to make audio well your gonna need a pretty decent cpu, at least a 2.8ghz dual core I would say, and ontop I would reccomend a laptop with expansion for a second hard drive as for a sound card, integrated isn't gonna cut it for hooking up equiptment, m-audio makes some midi equiptment that works with laptops, as well as some other companies.

 

[BroBQ]

I would be more concerned with memory. Make sure its atleast 4gb

As far as the sound, etc ... there are ways to connect musical equipment to any pc/laptop via usb

 

[FreedomEclipse]

to make audio well your gonna need a pretty decent cpu, at least a 2.8ghz dual core I would say, and ontop I would reccomend a laptop with expansion for a second hard drive as for a sound card, integrated isn't gonna cut it for hooking up equiptment, m-audio makes some midi equiptment that works with laptops, as well as some other companies.

2.8Ghz would be nice - i think its a little overkill unless you got money to spend since most places will charge you up to £200 just for the extra to upgrade from a 2.4Ghz to a 2.8Ghzprocessor.

with that in mind, a 2.4ghz processor is more then enough to handle most audio editing. just make sure you got enough ram on board cuz I myself sometimes tend to have 2 music editing apps on at the same time.

& again - spare hard drive = not entirely important. laptop hard drives are getting bigger - something around 320gb or higher will suffice if not then buy an external hard drive or start burning stuff to dvd.

as for laptop audio theres plenty of options to choose from & is more then adequate for making music - just get some decent speakers. however if you do find that you dont like the built in audio then there are 'breakout' box's available as mentioned from M-Audio & also Creative which can be used to connect keyboards, multiple mics & guitars etc etc. im no expert in that field so i cant really advise you what to go for. with a Line 6 POD - making guitar recordings is stupidly easy.

----

 

[xev11]

Thanks guys, so a 2.4 ish dual core intel and a 250+gb hdd
I will try to get the best sound option available but this will be a relatively cheap system.
It's actually a gift and i cant afford a serious sound editing platform, just a basic one that will get the job done.

I will just connect a piano and i have the appropriate cables already.


more advice please

 

[FreedomEclipse]

well if you give us a budget that will help a lot rather then just saying you need a laptop for music editing.

 

[xev11]

I would say around US$650, maybe some more. But preferably kept to a minimum.

US buckaroos

 

[FreedomEclipse]

USD, CnD or GBP? - sorry you havent exactly told us your location

 

[xev11]

usd, sorry

 

[FreedomEclipse]

well i cant help much with US laptops but a dell Studio 15 comes in at pretty much just under $650 for this spec

SYSTEM COLOR Black Chainlink

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6500 (2.1GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit

OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9

WARRANTY AND SERVICE Classic Protection: 1yr Ltd Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis

HD DISPLAY 15.6” High Definition+ (900p) Bright LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera

MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz

HARD DRIVE Speed: 500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor

VIDEO CARD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load Super Multi (DL DVD+/-R Drive + RAM support)

WIRELESS CARDS Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card

BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)

SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0

KEYBOARD Standard Keyboard

there are more options available but since your budget is $650 its a tricky, the only thing I would change here is the processor but that would add another $125 on top for the 2.4Ghz upgrade, so its pretty much up to you.

maybe some of the other members might be able to help you more as im not too familiar with looking for laptops in the US.

best thing to do is check around best buy & newegg to see if they got any cut price deals going on..

use what ive quoted as a reference to what you basicly need, when looking for laptops try to avoid brands such as ACER, TOSHIBA & Gateway. Acer usually has very good laptops for a really low price for its spec but it wiill break within 6 months so their not the best to go to for reliability & build quality.