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I’m having a really hard time choosing a laptop to purchase. A couple of years ago I bought a big fancy Dell desktop and did two things wrong from the get-go… 1) I didn’t buy a laptop, which is what I should have done instead and 2) I didn’t figure out why they didn’t offer me a upgrade for a sound card.
Latency Problems
The main reason I purchased this fancy computer was for music production. I don’t do a lot but, as an Elementary Music Teacher, I create scores and backup tracks for songs I’m teaching and I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time on the mechanics of getting the songs in. I usually try entering music into my programs using real-time midi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) input from a musical controller keyboard. I’m having a huge latency issue which is where the sound I hear comes after I press the key, not simultaneously - you know, like those late night movies where the mouths move and then you hear the words. If the songs are easy, I can sometimes get them in in realtime, however, if there’s anything complicated or fast, I have to enter the songs note by note which is time consuming and irritating when I know I shouldn’t have to do it.
I have searched and searched and have found very little information on how to put together a computer optimized for music production. There’s a lot of equipment available but very little information on how to use it all. Anyway the problem keeps coming back to the fact that I need either a more powerful sound card or some additional external hardware. The only information that’s taught me anything coherent is from Tweakheadz, so let me put in my plug and link to Tweak’s page:
- Homepage: http://www.tweakheadz.com/index.html
- “The Guide”: http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
- Midi page: http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_get_started_with_midi.html
New Laptop Purchase
Now I’m trying to purchase a laptop for mobility and I’m running into the same exact problem. I first checked with Dell and there is now a small choice for a sound card but it’s a software upgrade, not hardware. Then, today, I just went through building a computer on the HP (Hewlett Packard) web site and there was not one hint of an option for upgrading my sound card. The gamers all get to choose their videocards but we musicians (who give the games their auditory spark) get squat! Needless to say, I haven’t bought anything yet, but I was able to save the system for 30 days. We’ll see where this goes.
If anyone out there knows of a good site for information about building a computer optimized for music production not simply listening enjoyment, let me know!
Thanks for listening,
Joanna
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