Laptop for audio work

darkaydix said:
Well, I suppose then if I was going for the Traveler, I'd just have another capturing software, then pull that into PT? (assuming I was going to use it)
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The Traveler comes with a free application called AudioDesk which is basically a limited version of Digital Performer. You can track your files in this program and then export the audio files as Stem and import them into ProTools to continue to work.
 
I use a Sound Devices 722 as my field recorder.

If I need to record more than 2 channels I have a Metric Halo 2882 that I can use with a laptop. The Metric Halo control software includes a multi-track recorder so I don't have to use a DAW. My only negative of this setup is that the Metric Halo 2882 doesn't offer a lot of gain on the mic pre-amps so I still need to use a mixer or separate pre-amps in front of it.
 
I've used the 2882 and dont remember lacking gain. I think I was using all lectro wireless set to 0db so maybe the signal was hot enough to compensate, but i thought i had a hard line boom going...

I use the Metric Halo ULN8 now. In either case, i was mixing with a behringer bcf2000 control surface and capturing with boomrecorder. Another advantage of the metric halo products is the on board dsp, like eq and limiter that doesnt take up any system resources. That said, there are a lot of people using the traveller with a mixer in front
 
At my last check, Boom Recorder was incompatible with Snow Leopard. The BR website seemed non-comital about upgrades.

Grant
 
Noiz2 said:
For instance I know there are people who use PT for production and think it's great. When I have talked to them it becomes very evident that they are working in a very different way than I and have different needs so it makes sense for them. I do a lot of "get it wrong and loose your job" kind of work so to me PT in the field is like sleeping on a train track that you know is only used once a year. 364 nights a year your fine.
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I have great respect for Noiz, but will provide my slight contraindication here: I have used ProTools in critical production roles for many years without a problem. Mind you, I'm using laptops that have not been upgraded since they had a stable ProTools setup (these are mostly 1 - 1.5 GHz G4s running 10.3 and ProTools 6.7). The trick (for me) to an ultrastable PT recording setup is to dedicate a laptop to it (e.g., don't install other software), don't ever upgrade unless there is a real need, use reliable drives (Glyph, for me!), give the computer some words of gratitude and encouragement once in a while.

That said, as soon as I could afford it, I moved to a field recorder for much of what I do simply because there's danger in every cable that may disconnect (and a laptop/HD/interface chain is far from robust), I share Noiz's paranoia that a computer WILL fail sometime, and the convenience/powering flexibility/dedicated hard controls/etc. of a field recorder make many tasks easier, more reliable, and allow you to work better (e.g., by being able to place yourself better or pay better attention to what matters). I use an SD 744, which has better quality, a lot more convenience, more robustness and redundancy, and better controls, metering, and monitoring than most small computer interfaces. I'd say there's some value in starting with something like the computer setup, and learning to be reliable with THAT, and then moving up to an expensive field recorder.... you'll develop a good sense of proper cabling, cable safety, strain relief, redundancy, backup, etc., which will serve you well when you move up to equipment that might make it seem that such precautions are not necessary...

I for a while used a Traveller, either with a laptop or as a standalone mixer feeding a MicroTrack via SPDIF. Again... a step between the laptop and field recorder that was less wieldy than I'd ultimately like.

As to ProTools vs. other software... I think ProTools is hands-down the best thing out there for pure audio work, in addition to being an industry standard. Once you start looking at MIDI and other "extensions", the competitors start to compete.

The Traveler comes with AutoDesk, which is pretty much Digital Performer without MIDI capability - fairly capable audio recording/editing software, but not as straightforward as PT. Certainly you could record with AudioDesk and edit in PT without a great deal of trouble. But MOTU software is a bit wonky and counterintuitive, and in my experience less reliable than PT.
 
matthewgglover said:
When I was first starting out I had ProTools LE with an MBox on a MacBook Pro, which I don't know how the mic pres are on the current models but mine are junk.
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Just curious... you mean Mbox, or Mbox 2? I have 2 original Mboxes, and work with a number of Mbox 2's now... and the Mbox 2 is comparatively lousy in a number of respects. The Original Mbox was built by Focusrite, and had decent preamps and a nice gain structure; the Mbox 2 has lousy preamps, terrible grounding problems, and a wacky gain structure.... the old Mboxes are around used for very low prices, and are a relative bargain... but I think support for them may have been discontinued in PT8?
 
I have the original MBox and after comparing the mic pres to the MOTU 896mk3 it seemed like night and day to me. Obviously though with the price point between the two there should be a difference. I'd like to eventually get up to the Digi 00 interface to get ProTools running again but I need a new computer/field recorder first.
 
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