Music Production Laptops in 2018?

[cats+beats]

Currently using 2011 iMac (well over due an upgrade), wanting to go as portable as possible with laptop 12-14" and happy to switch to windows, minimum quad core.

 

Usage:

Ableton Live 10, Max MSP with rme ucx and push 2.

Usually working with 96khz, 24/32 bit audio.

Heavy audio processing/sample based, willing to learn tricks to chill CPU.

Only using Live's built in plugins.

 

Interested in

Razer Blade Stealth

...but will the processor be powerful enough with it's quad core 1.8Ghz i7-8550u?

 

Any experience with the Razer and/or other alternatives welcome?

similar portability, build quality, better performance if possible.

 

Budget

max £1500ish

 

 

Cheers in advance

 

PS...please no mac vs windows bulls**t. I'm interested in performance, portability and aesthetics only, not OS or brand.

 

[vanished]

It will be hard to find something with build quality similar to the Razer... perhaps an old HP that's been used for crypto mining?

 

In all seriousness, they are not great.

 

As for what to get, you'll want a good CPU mainly (it will allow you to get away with a smaller buffer and/or handle more live effects at once and thus reduce latency, as well as make processing effects quicker when doing your post processing), and a system that stays quiet perhaps, if you intend to have it close to microphones.

[DrMacintosh]

In Music editing, you are not going to be leveraging the CPU all that much. An i5 would be enough. 

 

That being said I would not get a Razer Blade Stealth. Razer has a history of Quality Control issues. 

 

Now for anything related to Video and Music editing I always stand by the Mac. However, unless you are using Logic the Mac is not necessarily the best option. 

 

Something like an XPS 13 might work well for you. 

 

That being said I would recommend a 13" 2017 MacBook Pro. 

[jtmoseley]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

In Music editing, you are not going to be leveraging the CPU all that much. An i5 would be enough. 

 

That being said I would not get a Razer Blade Stealth. Razer has a history of Quality Control issues. 

 

Now for anything related to Video and Music editing I always stand by the Mac. However, unless you are using Logic the Mac is not necessarily the best option. 

 

Something like an XPS 13 might work well for you. 

 

That being said I would recommend a 13" 2017 MacBook Pro. 

that's a lie, alot of music programs need full fledged desktop CPU's...

[DrMacintosh]

3 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

if you intend to have it close to microphones.

I'd hope any laptop for sales today doesn't sound like a Reference 290X

[vanished]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

I'd hope any laptop for sales today doesn't sound like a Reference 290X

Well some do, but even then it wouldn't have to be that bad to be picked up though

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, jtmoseley said:

that's a lie, alot of music programs need full fledged desktop CPU's...

 

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001663530-Live-10-Minimum-System-Requirements

 

Core 2 Duo count as a "full fledged desktop CPU"? 

[vanished]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

 

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001663530-Live-10-Minimum-System-Requirements

 

Core 2 Duo count as a "full fledged desktop CPU"? 

It depends what you are doing.  Minimum requirements are a far cry from running multiple live recordings with VST plugins on all of them all while keeping latency to an acceptable level for monitoring

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

It depends what you are doing.  Minimum requirements are a far cry from running multiple live recordings with VST plugins on all of them all while keeping latency to an acceptable level for monitoring

The point is to show if that it runs on a Core 2 Duo than even a laptop CPU today will handle it fine. The program is not insanely demanding and RAM would probably play a much bigger factor. 

[cats+beats]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

 

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001663530-Live-10-Minimum-System-Requirements

 

Core 2 Duo count as a "full fledged desktop CPU"? 

Those requirements are the bare minimum...with my audio/track usage a quad core with at least 8gb of ram and an ssd are my minimum.

[Enderman]

Don't get  Razer laptop unless you only care about looks.

The quality is bad and you will likely have issues within months or a few years and have to return it, where they rarely fix your issue and just charge for your repairs.

 

Get a Macbook Pro or XPS13/15 for something with great battery life and portability.

Both have more than enough power for music production.

[DrMacintosh]

9 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

It depends what you are doing.  Minimum requirements are a far cry from running multiple live recordings with VST plugins on all of them all while keeping latency to an acceptable level for monitoring

Also my Dad runs Ableton Live 9 in his Music Studio production on a 2011 iMac which has a 2400S Quad Core i5. 

 

Significantly slower than even my base model 2016 MacBook Pro. 

[vanished]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

Also my Dad runs Ableton Live 9 in his Music production on a 2011 iMac which has a 2400S Quad Core i5. 

 

Significantly slower than even my base model 2016 MacBook Pro. 

My point is you don't want to ignore CPU entirely.  It will definitely have an impact if you do more complex things.  You could get a passive machine with a celeron for absolute silence but I don't think it would handle anything too difficult well.

[DrMacintosh]

6 minutes ago, cats+beats said:

Those requirements are the bare minimum...with my audio/track usage a quad core with at least 8gb of ram and an ssd are my minimum.

That was just to refute the claim that Music production requires a significant amount of power. 

 

A modern Dual-Core hyper threaded machine would handle Ableton perfectly. even with your work flow. 

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

My point is you don't want to ignore CPU entirely.  It will definitely have an impact if you do more complex things.

Of course not, my point is you don't need something like an 8 Core i7 to create music without slowing down. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

A newer MacBook(newer as in within the last couple years) would do the trick, plus allows the option to expand over to Logic Pro in the future should you choose to.

[cats+beats]

5 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Don't get  Razer laptop unless you only care about looks.

The quality is bad and you will likely have issues within months or a few years and have to return it, where they rarely fix your issue and just charge for your repairs.

 

Get a Macbook Pro or XPS13/15 for something with great battery life and portability.

Both have more than enough power for music production.

Ah okay...I was considering the XPS13 but heard that Dell had issues. I'm new to windows vast laptop options and don't know about the companies.

 

I've been mac for 10+ years and know their quality, just not impressed with the current selection (power vs price).

 

I should really have stated more windows laptop alternatives...

[cats+beats]

10 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

A newer MacBook(newer as in within the last couple years) would do the trick, plus allows the option to expand over to Logic Pro in the future should you choose to.

Started out on Logic, it's really not for me so not important at all.

[ShadySocks]

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, cats+beats said:

Started out on Logic, it's really not for me so not important at all.

Well, even so a MacBook would do the trick.

 

Or possibly a midrange laptop from Asus, Lenovo, or possibly Acer.

[cats+beats]

36 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

In all seriousness, they are not great.

 

As for what to get, you'll want a good CPU mainly (it will allow you to get away with a smaller buffer and/or handle more live effects at once and thus reduce latency, as well as make processing effects quicker when doing your post processing), and a system that stays quiet perhaps, if you intend to have it close to microphones.

Any laptop/company recommendations?

[cats+beats]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Well, even so a MacBook would do the trick.

 

Or possibly a midrange laptop from Asus, Lenovo, or possibly Acer.

Cheers I'll check them out

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, cats+beats said:

Cheers I'll check them out

I particularly like the Lenovo ThinkPads, although those might be a little out of your budget.

[cats+beats]

4 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I particularly like the Lenovo ThinkPads, although those might be a little out of your budget.

I just checked them out...very nice. Shame they are just a bit out of my price range

[Crunchy Dragon]

3 hours ago, cats+beats said:

I just checked them out...very nice. Shame they are just a bit out of my price range

Ah that stinks. Maybe if you went for some of the slightly lower end ones or just saved up a bit more...