Laptop recommendations

Started by Hog Mouth, March 31, 2014, 07:00:11 PM

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Hog Mouth

I would like to get a laptop (PC or Mac?) for soft synths live. From what I understand the minimum requirements for Omnisphere would be an Intel Core2Duo @ 3.0GHz with 4 GB Memory.  Will I need a sound card or can I use the VG-99? From what I have read, the VG-99 will have audio mutes during patch changes. So if the VG-99 is connected to a laptop by USB, the output sound of the soft synth will come from the 1/4" output or XLR output? So if you change patches is it the soft synth that will "mute"?

If not Omnishpere, what software would you recommend for a cover band?

montyrivers

Xoticpc.com is a pretty great reseller if you want a good windows laptop.  You can customize your own build for a good price.

Kevin M

Omnisphere is an excellent softsynth. Definitely don't use your VG99 as your audio interface for this. Depending on your connection needs a dedicated interface can be had for cheap.


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montyrivers

Omnisphere is pretty resource intensive.  Don't go by the bare minimum requirements.  Core2duo is a long obsolete processor from intel anyway.  Kmaus is also correct that you will need to use a decent audio interface to host it reliably, otherwise you might have some lag when switching patches.  If you want some plugins that are pretty synthy but don't demand an external interface/usb host look at the KORG legacy collection for some great stuff.  Z3ta+ 2.1 is also very powerful, but also a little resource hungry

carsonics

I recommend using a solid state hard drive (they don't crash if there's low frequency vibrations from the band/stage).  The recommended speed for a music hard drive is 7200RPM.  I've been very happy with IBM stuff.  I als highly recommend that you sit your laptop on top of a cooling fan (the fan usually plugs into a USB so it doesn't require any power).  The solid state drives are fast!  I changed to a solid state drive after my laptop crashed on stage a few times from vibration.  If the hard disk senses vibration it will stop or dropout.  Make sure the laptop has a firewire connection too.  Some manufactures have stopped putting firewire connections on laptops (but musicians still use that connection).  My Motu audio interfaces are firewire. 

Kevin M

For Omnisphere (and perhaps any setup) I'd go with an i5 processor and 8G RAM as a minimum configuration.


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jassy

#6
While Omnisphere is an absolutely amazing piece of software its not a typical workstation synth for a "cover band". Yo wont find the expected breath and butter sounds here (i. e. there is not a "normal" piano or electric piano sound in the enormous library included). I wish Spectrasonics would do that type of workstation synth (they have done most of  patches sounds for the most succesful synths and workstations, so they can do it very very well) but Omnisphere is not that type of beast.

Curiously while there are thousands of softsynths (mainly retro analog emulations) that type of workstation synth is one of the less recreated, so in fact there are very few around.
Comes to mind Sampletank although I think its very dated and not very good really for my taste. Sampletank 3 is around the corner (at least announced a year ago  ::)
Dimension Pro and Rapture are very good and can do that type of sounds.
Hypersonic, the best in this area, but absurdly discontinued.
Nexus although in more in the house scene.
Halion Sonic is another contender.
That doesnt mean you cant do a conglomerate with various softsynths, samplers (kontakt is the one here) and libraries and create sounds that any workstation cant dream, but thats a more complicated job.
About the laptop there are some very good I7 machines, mine is an Asus A55V (around 500 €) purchased last year that has an enormous reserve of power that lets me run many synths, effects, etc. with a good soundcard you can do very low latency, but you need a good one.


Kevin M

It really depends on your needs as to the synth to choose. Agreed that Omnisphere doesn't have the bread and butter patches. It does, however, have some truly amazing sounds and is extremely programmable. Also, I love the fact that you can easily find sounds via its browser. I also use Dimension pro and love its quality of patches (just wish it had a decent browser like Omnisphere). Another one along those lines is Camel audio.

mbenigni

Quote from: kmaus10 on April 01, 2014, 10:20:41 AM
I also use Dimension pro and love its quality of patches (just wish it had a decent browser like Omnisphere).

Agreed - I love Dimension Pro but hate its UI.  About 5 years ago my wife and I spent an entire weekend creating Ableton Live instrument library presets that wrapped each of the Dim Pro presets, so that I could use all of those sounds in Live without ever looking at that crazy Dim Pro UI and Browser.  :)  I think I still have those presets in a zip file somewhere, if you happen to be an Ableton user.

Hog Mouth

Thank you all for the advice,input and recommendations!
Quote
While Omnisphere is an absolutely amazing piece of software its not a typical workstation synth for a "cover band". Yo wont find the expected breath and butter sounds here

This was my concern. I need a workstation synth. Now i'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just grab an EMU Proteus 2000 and call it a day. Some people have said that using MIDI over USB has better accuracy and less latency. Then there is this,
QuoteThe critical path weak link is the VG-99's Guitar to MIDI processing is slower than GR-55 - regardless if the resulting MIDI is output via 5pin DIN MIDI Out or "MIDI over USB"
I'm confused.

Other than being limited to the sounds in a hardware synth and not being able to use USB(which may or may not be better?) what advantage is there to running laptop synths?

thebrushwithin

Love Omnisphere, but as was stated, it's just not cover band friendly. The Korg legacy series is great, but honestly, for live use doing covers, I cannot get away from the Roland GR30, as it's internal patches are very close to a Fishman Triple Play, in terms of reliable, very fast triggering, and is great for bread and butter patches. I would not even consider any soft synths without a Fishman Triple Play. I've had good success using an FTP into a MacBook Pro(quad core), using Ableton Live 8 as the DAW. Eventually, I will give FTP into iPad a shot, but even then, I will only use soft synths for more exotic sounds, in more adventurous material. A GR30 is not very much larger than an IPad, and covers all the "covers" quite well.

Kevin M

Quote from: Hog Mouth on April 01, 2014, 04:13:53 PM
Thank you all for the advice,input and recommendations!
This was my concern. I need a workstation synth. Now i'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just grab an EMU Proteus 2000 and call it a day. Some people have said that using MIDI over USB has better accuracy and less latency. Then there is this, 
I'm confused.

Other than being limited to the sounds in a hardware synth and not being able to use USB(which may or may not be better?) what advantage is there to running laptop synths?

The ability to have a bunch of synths on the laptop as opposed to a bunch of hardware synths to lug around!  :-)

carsonics

In my opinion a few hardware synth multi timbral modules are much more stable than software synths on laptops.  So many things can crash on a computer, especially when you start putting demands on the CPU.  And if you stream your audio samples in from an external hard drive (which is the preferred method for software synthesizers) you have to bring more computer stuff to the gig.  Midi information is easy for a computer/laptop to process and I've never had any problems with midi and hardware, but have had enough problems and crashes from laptops and software to know that I can't afford to take those risks for professional gigs. 

szilard

Latency is about the speed of the processor so it's important for soft synths and even more so for guitarists. The number of cores will determine how many synths you can run in parallel, number of effects you can use and so on. Unfortunately notebooks are concerned with battery life and heat so they tend to be slower than desktops and the faster machines are usually premium. Just an FYI.

I like Omnisphere and agree with previous comments. I would also point out that it's not setup to do patch changes, so if you're going to consider it investigate what you plan to use as host SW and how to change patches. Currently Omnisphere, Alchemy, and Wavestation are my go to synths, but I wouldn't recommend Omnisphere or Alchemy for a cover band. Rapture is a good starting point for a synth and you'll probably want a sampler or rompler as well.

Try googling musicradar best vst synths

neuromancer

fwiw... I've been using Omnisphere on my desktop music pc (old gaming pc's get shuffled to the music room) for a few years in Sonar 6 Producer. Old as in 2004 old! Yikes. 4gb RAM, single core 3.2Ghz, 32 bit XP machine with no probs AS LONG AS THERE ARE ONLY 3-4 synth VST'S going & around 4-5 audio tracks, plus my install of Sonar has approx 20-30 ms of buffer/latency (with Tascam usb audio interface). Not ideal but my point is if it runs as well as it does for me on THAT machine (albeit a desktop) from ancient times, at least it can only get better with any sort of 64bit multi-core & solid state drives.  8)  ok, I need a new music pc don't I?   :'(
It's time to move on to the next step in the psychedelic revolution. We've reached a certain point, but we're not moving any more. - Ken Kesey

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This thread may provide some incite on new computers for audio/ DAW application.

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