Klarinet Archive - Posting 000259.txt from 2005/11

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Need to purchase a Laptop Notebook that has an input for
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:24:26 -0500

Hi Annie,

I think in some ways this is the wrong list to ask about such things...
;-) In any case, the short answer is, "It depends on how good you want
the quality of your recordings to be."

However, here are some general pointers:

(1) Decent audio work has some specialized needs relative to regular
computing tasks. It is perfectly possible these days to do it on a home
desktop computer or laptop, but you will probably need some extra kit.
Good microphones, for example, are important. ;-)

(2) A lot of the audio professionals use Macs for their work and some of
the professional recording packages don't run on anything else. Since
you want a laptop rather than a desktop computer, you would need a
Powerbook for decent audio work, or else a PC laptop with at least 1024
Mb of RAM. In any case, the more RAM you can put in your machine the
better. Audio work is much more demanding in this respect than most
everyday computer tasks!

(3) I was told that when recording, it's a good idea to do it to an
external hard disk rather than the one inside the machine. I guess that
the best way is via a Firewire 800 connection but don't trust me on
that---check it out! (The other typical way of connecting an external
hard disk is via USB connection.)

I think there are specialist retailers who manufacture laptops specially
configured for audio work, which can get as complicated and heavy-duty
as you need it to be; it might be worth talking to one of them to see if
they can set up something good for you. But I don't know who to recommend.

Hope this helps, anyway!

Best wishes,

-- Joe

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