which laptop for pyramix/hapi

[inlinemastering]

I'm looking for a good laptop to go on a mobile recording gig in august, I'll be tracking 8 channnels DXD or DSD ( not sure yet ... )
just basic tracking/collecting ...
pyramix 9 / native / hapi premium
any tips on a hidden gem/good buy ... not wanting to pay more then € 500,- , used market is no problem ...
looking forward to your reply ..

[Classic]

IBM ThinkPad

[DJS]

Very important to get two native SATA interfaces. One for system SSD and one for data HDD. ASUS gaming machines or HP ZBooks have the necessary twin native SATA interfaces.

[mpdonahue]

Thinkpad W540/W541 is the gold standard.
Add an expresscard to PCIE interface for $100 and it works with Masscore. (Thunderbolt to PCIE is a non-starter due to Interval Zero drivers. )
This is a couple bucks more than your target price but is well worth it. Just over $1000 new here in the States.
For 8 channels DSD/DXD with Native, virtually any laptop with USB3 will do and an gigabit ethernet port will do. I used an Asus X202 with a USB3 hub/ethernet adapter as a backup machine and it works fine. I've even used my 7 year old Asus F6A dualcore without issue.
All the best,
-mark

[inlinemastering]

thnx All, well that will be some thinkpad hunting

[DJS]

The W Thinkpads do not come in a 17in screen which I think is another mandatory requirement of a laptop location recorder, especially with higher track counts. Again the HP ZBooks or the ASUS gaming laptops come with excellent cooling, two Native SATA interfaces and 17in screens.

[mpdonahue]

David,
I have to politely disagree. To get the same 1920x1080 screen on a 17" Zbook is over $2000 and has an older graphics chip and less memory. Add to the issue that the connector layout is so tight that often you can't get a connector into the adjoining port... The screen size difference between a 15.6" and 17" is really not that great. Also, 17" laptops are disappearing from the catalog. I believe that the Z book is the last mainstream workstation that offers it. Also, 17" screens seem to max out at 1920x1080
I just bought another W541 from Lenovo yesterday that had Win7Pro64, a 3k screen, 9 cell battery (That's 8+hours working on the battery...great for editing on the go.) delivered for $1500. I add a $100 expresscard to PCIE adapter and I run Masscore on these things daily... and you can carry 2 computers and a Horus as a Carry On.
As always, YMMV.
All the best,
Mark

[DJS]

All good points Mark, although one can get around them easily. A short USB extension cable helps with tight connectors. I only have a mouse, PMX dongle and an ethernet connection when using PMX with HAPI. The 1920 screen res on a 15in screen is simply too small for my eyes now, and the 17in screen is wonderful for a full mixer view or timeline. RAM is cheap, adding an extra 4GB is not onerous. Having the second native internal SATA interface for the data drive means no external data drive connectors and extra stuff to carry.

Yes, 17in is getting harder to come by. I hope they don't disappear altogether. I agree the ZBooks are pricey, but with Lenovo shipping Superfish and more plastic now in their newer machines, they are not what they once were IMHO.

[phonoclassical]

Dear All ;

I have very good experience in mobile recording with the Dell Precision series m4800, no doubt about the Thinkpads they are also rocksolid!
best wishes
Iker

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/preci ... station/pd

[mpdonahue]

Dear All ;

I have very good experience in mobile recording with the Dell Precision series m4800, no doubt about the Thinkpads they are also rocksolid!
best wishes
Iker

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/preci ... station/pd

Iker,
I just took a look at this laptop and it looks great! have you attempted Masscore with the M4800? I'm interested if the AMD graphics uses the integrated intel graphics to reach the Laptop display or whether the integrated graphics is completely disabled?
All the best,
-mark

[kwithnail]

Thinkpad W540/W541 is the gold standard.
Add an expresscard to PCIE interface for $100 and it works with Masscore. (Thunderbolt to PCIE is a non-starter due to Interval Zero drivers. )
This is a couple bucks more than your target price but is well worth it. Just over $1000 new here in the States.
For 8 channels DSD/DXD with Native, virtually any laptop with USB3 will do and an gigabit ethernet port will do. I used an Asus X202 with a USB3 hub/ethernet adapter as a backup machine and it works fine. I've even used my 7 year old Asus F6A dualcore without issue.
All the best,
-mark

Hi Mark - sorry to butt in. Could I just ask you to expand a little on that point about Thunderbolt and Interval Zero? Like lots of others, we're restricted to Pyramix Native on laptops as we have MBPs. This is the first I've heard of Masscore working via ExpressCard, which is exciting (and I'd love to hear how well it works), but also of course we'd rather not buy a load of new laptops! Perhaps I ought to put Macbook Masscore on the feature request list!

K.

[mpdonahue]

Hi Mark - sorry to butt in. Could I just ask you to expand a little on that point about Thunderbolt and Interval Zero? Like lots of others, we're restricted to Pyramix Native on laptops as we have MBPs. This is the first I've heard of Masscore working via ExpressCard, which is exciting (and I'd love to hear how well it works), but also of course we'd rather not buy a load of new laptops! Perhaps I ought to put Macbook Masscore on the feature request list!
K.

I suspect you will be waiting a long time for Macbook Masscore....The holdup is actually the RTX driver from Interval Zero (Not Merging). We've tried all the available Thunderbolt to PCIe adapters and they all have the fundamental problem of RTX not seeing the Merging Network card. There was a discussion over a year ago about trying to get Interval Zero to use an OEM Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter to work with the driver. There has been radio silence since then.

I run Masscore on my Lenovo W540 all the time. I found an passive (Has to be passive1) Expresscard to PCIe PCB on a Chinese website years ago. It is designed to allow use of an outboard graphics card on a laptop. The RTX sees the card just like an internal slot and it actually works pretty phenomenal on the Lenovo with the standard caveat about using onboard video. (High count DSD and DXD are not happy with Intel Integrated video) I recently recorded an opera with over 80 tracks of 192 on it and it works faster than my 2 year old silent builds. W540 also has Thunderbolt which I use for an outboard storage array.

I've ordered one of the Dell M4800 laptops with the integrated AMD Firepro graphics($1500 fully loaded). Will let you know how it works as soon as I get a chance to test it here.

FYI, The W541 had even more issues with the 24+ channel DSD/DXD than the W540. I ultimately returned it (I suspect it has to do with the 3k display) The only way to record without Masscore overs is to minimize the PMX window and leave the computer alone so the graphics do not update.

On another front, we have been prodding Merging to offer a paid (MTSecurity) high track count version of the Ravenna Native driver like the extended Native IO option. We'll see how that proceeds.

All the best,
-mark

[mpdonahue]

One more thought... If you are planning to use Masscore on more than one computer (Studio system and laptop) you will need to invest in the Interval Zero Hasp key so you can easily move the licence between systems.
All the best,
-mark

[kwithnail]

Thanks Mark, that's very helpful (even if it is bad news!). I wonder if the compact-fanless-ATX route is the way to go then, since desktop power consumption keeps getting better.
Your comment on Intel Graphics is an interesting one. I knew about the nVidia restriction - but had hoped it was only caused by Powermizer. Have never had issues running Native on nVidia machines with Powermizer disabled, but wondered if you had tried Masscore?

[mpdonahue]

Thanks Mark, that's very helpful (even if it is bad news!). I wonder if the compact-fanless-ATX route is the way to go then, since desktop power consumption keeps getting better.
Your comment on Intel Graphics is an interesting one. I knew about the nVidia restriction - but had hoped it was only caused by Powermizer. Have never had issues running Native on nVidia machines with Powermizer disabled, but wondered if you had tried Masscore?

It really comes down to your requirements. If you need to do multitrack DSD and DXD then the fanless is the way to go, but is more expensive and much larger. If PCM is all you need then any of the good workstation laptops will fit the bill.
All the best,
-mark