Ultrabooks for Music Production?

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dvcphung

Guest
Has anybody used an Ultrabook for Music Production? I like the whole small size factor, because I travel a lot, but I'm not sure whether it can handle all my VSTs, etc. As of now, I got a Core2Duo @ 2.4GHz and 4GB RAM, but I'm looking at the new Samsung Series 9 right now! It has a i5 (I hope they come out with a i7 soon!) and 8GB RAM. Do you think the Ultrabook is just for regular basis usage or is it possible to do full-scale music production on it too?
 
Full scale production? I doubt. If you're using something like Reason and reading the files off an internal SSD, that should work fine. You should still record vocals on an external drive, but all midi production can be done internally. I highly recommend an i7. I use my Macbook Air for light production (1.8GHz core i7, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD), but I still bring it to the big rig at home for intensive plugins like EastWest and spectrasonics. Reason is the most CPU efficient DAW in its class though.
 
I use Ableton Suite 8. Got huge libraries of VSTs, mainly Omnisphere and Trillian with their 60+ GB harddrive. But yeah I don't really use Reason anymore, mainly Ableton with a lot of plugins. How does your MacAir handle your production work?
 
dvcphung said:
I use Ableton Suite 8. Got huge libraries of VSTs, mainly Omnisphere and Trillian with their 60+ GB harddrive. But yeah I don't really use Reason anymore, mainly Ableton with a lot of plugins. How does your MacAir handle your production work?
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I'm in the same boat as you. I mainly use Ableton with Vienna Ensemable and a bunch of plugins reading from 2x 512GB SSD (Crucial M4). This is via a custom built Mac Lion 10.7 desktop (runs Windows too). When I'm away from the studio, I use the Air for some Reason work or building drum kits in Geist. It all gets imported to the studio rig easily via Rewire and plugin format respectively.

The Air handles Reason very well. Again, this is strictly in midi production, not audio recording. I don't record audio to SSD. My studio rig has a dedicated HDD for that.
 
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I'm a pro-Microsoft guy and anti-Apple LOL, so there's no way I will make that switch, even though I love their hardware! The closest PC that comes to the Macbook Air or is better, is the Samsung Series 9 (2012), however, I'm waiting for their next update with i7 Ivy and perhaps 8GB+. I'm just not sure whether the small, sexy design are worth it over a bigger laptop like an Alienware that is more powerful.

So yeah what would you do? Ultrabook vs. Alienware Laptop? If both are the same price.
 
Don't get wrapped up in the marketing. "Ultrabook" is just a marketing label.

Stay focused on what the specs of the laptop are. If it doesn't tell you upfront some of the key specs (like CPU speed, or hard drive speed)... assume the worst lol. Or dig deeper... b/c that's what will really answer your question.
 
CPhoenix said:
Don't get wrapped up in the marketing. "Ultrabook" is just a marketing label.

Stay focused on what the specs of the laptop are. If it doesn't tell you upfront some of the key specs (like CPU speed, or hard drive speed)... assume the worst lol. Or dig deeper... b/c that's what will really answer your question.
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I agree. Also since you're doing music, make sure it has good fan exhaust. Music programs are a lot of math to the CPU, resulting in lots heat generated from the calculations. Another reason why I choose Mac is because the Aluminum casing gets the heat out faster, which promotes longer component health, especially the HDD.
 
I feel you guys. So what if the Ultrabook has good specs though? Like i7, 16GB RAM, will that be good enough then? The Samsung Series 9 has an aluminum body chassis.
 
Yea thats not bad at first glance. What's the clock (i7) speed (GHZ)? and what is the size (GB) AND speed(rpm) of the drive?
 
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