Laptop recommendations for usb-b recording with SW5

[stylosParticipant]

Hello all,
I am looking to purchase a new laptop for recording with my SQ. My old budget HP laptop is on its last legs. I am aware that some users have had digital noise when recording so wanted to check if anyone has had problems using the new MacBook Air? Reviews put it as one the best value laptops on the market right now. Or does anyone have any recommendations for any other laptops-have traditionally always used PC’s but was thinking on making the switch to Mac.any thoughts welcomed.

[volounteerParticipant]

@stylos

many things can cause noise.
there are many settings in software that can affect sound related problems.
and there are a number of ways usb especially usb3 could be troublesome.

did the reviews just look at the macair as a pc or also as an audio device?
i am sure it got good reviews as a pc, but as you wisely asked will it have problems with SQ and audio?

hopefully you can find some folks who use the macair with an SQ but that number may only give small sample statistical results.

you should say exactly how you plan to use the macair with the SQ as that could affect the results you get.

[stylosParticipant]

Thanks for the comment volounteer.
Of course silly not to add details!

Reviews for MacBook Air were essentially general PC use but did mention that it was powerful enough for HD/4K video editing etc.

Intention is to run reaper for studio and live event recordings up to 32 channels Simultaneously. Sq5 is used as audio I/0 with waves server and multitrack running on a separate laptop.Therefore will be using very few plugins within reaper maybe a few spot effects or the occasionally vst instruments but mainly for audio recording and playback. My 7 yr old budget HP laptop has always performed flawlessly recording up to 32 channels and playback/editing/mixing this way but needs upgrading now. I currently use a Mac in one the studios and thought it might make sense to be able to seemlessly use projects/Ext hard drives With both.

[volounteerParticipant]

@stylos

not questioning the power or speed of the mac
wondering about settings in software and opsys that affect audio quality issues and the usb risk
those can usually be adjusted but then see the two discussions at the top of the page with the long history of usb issues

if you do not need RT capability in pc, then recording to local usb drive and sneakernetting the file to pc might be better

if the HP is working I would keep it in place. if it aint broke dont fix it.
i still use 98se and xp for certain tasks.
both are far better than 8.1 an win10 unless they cant run the needed program.

[SteffenRParticipant]

btw he was talking about a Mac… initially
if you are using Waves Soundgrid there should be a driver available that enables the Mac to record from the Soundgrid network

have a look…
https://www.waves.com/soundgrid-systems/driver#soundgrid-connect-more-processing-power

[nottooloudParticipant]

Intention is to run reaper for studio and live event recordings up to 32 channels Simultaneously.

The new M1 Macs are lovely, but anything will meet your needs. You could use a Macbook Air from 2012. Cripes, even a vanilla Macbook from 2008.
Cockos does have a native M1 version of Reaper in beta, but for now, the Intel version runs just fine, and is more compatible with third party plugins.
It’s also true that Reaper is completely cross-platform, so there is absolutely no issue sharing between Mac and PC.

I would be concerned about the size of the stock 256k drive. I have a maxed-out M1 Mini on order for my studio, but the upgraded models aren’t shipping until late January.

What is your old laptop not doing for you?

[stylosParticipant]

Thanks for the comment-old laptop takes forever to boot up, half of the keys don’t work and the screen is hanging off! It’s done me well but Has had a hard life. It’s time for an upgrade. Yes looking at mac air or pro but have also been advised to look at “gaming” pc laptops in a similar price range. As I said in original post old budget laptop Has worked well so I would expect any newer laptop to perform just as well but have seen the other posts about the digital interference and appreciate any recommendations before I part with cash. Since live events have been put on hold and finances have tightened i don’t want to regret any purchase that would not suit the specific purpose it was purchased for!

[stylosParticipant]

Thanks for commenting that is a valid option. So far I have been happily using usb-b for recording and playback in my set-up with sound grid set-up as inserts on inputs, groups and aux sends. If I could I would like to continue as I have been but this would be an alternative if usb was causing issues! Throwing it out there for recommendations on anybody’s experience with a recently purchased laptop. Many thanks

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