First of all, I'd like to pre-emptively apologize for the length of this and thank anyone who can offer any help or suggestions.
Here's the deal. I've been wanting a laptop for a while now, and I've finally decided on a 12" Superdrive Powerbook. Aside the basic word processing/music listening/internet use, the main thing I'd use it for is sound recording/processing. I already own a Midiman Oxygen 8 keyboard/MIDI controller, a 15" LCD that I can use as an external monitor, and I also have a 120 gig, 7200 RPM internal hard drive for which I plan to get an external firewire enclosure and use as a dedicated audio drive. This is what I want to accomplish:
- Get a set of monitors/speakers to use both for monitoring recordings and use for basic things like listening to music on iTunes and watching movies. I like the Roland DM-20, since they have a digital input and an RCA input to which I could hook up my turntable.
- Pick up an external audio interface and software. My top two choices right now are either getting the Digidesign MBox, or getting the M-Audio Firewire 410 and picking up Logic Express with a student discount. I definitely need an audio interface with at least 2 XLR inputs, and S/PDIF I/O is good since I can hook up my guitar processer and hook up monitors with a digital input. However, I've heard conflicting reports as to whether or not the MBox can be used for playback outside of Pro Tools, and I've also heard bad things about the drivers for the 410. The lack of MIDI on the MBox also concerns me, since I would then have to rely on the USB capabilities of the Oxygen 8. I'd also like to use the Oxygen 8 and the Powerbook in a live application (since I already have Reason), but I wouldn't want to be stuck standing on stage for 10 minutes waiting for the keyboard driver to work properly.
My main concern, then, is reliability. I want everything to work together logically and I want the drivers to work dependably. I'd also like something that has a decently low latency when recording so I don't have to mess around with buffer times and whatnot.
I also have an iPod and a USB printer that I'd be hooking up to the system while at my desk, so with only 1 firewire and 2 usb ports, what would be the best configuration for hooking it all together?
Overall, I'd like to spend under $800 for an interface, monitors, and software, but if spending a little more results in a big difference in quality, I could be perceptive to that (although I definitely can't afford to spend more than $1000).
Here's the deal. I've been wanting a laptop for a while now, and I've finally decided on a 12" Superdrive Powerbook. Aside the basic word processing/music listening/internet use, the main thing I'd use it for is sound recording/processing. I already own a Midiman Oxygen 8 keyboard/MIDI controller, a 15" LCD that I can use as an external monitor, and I also have a 120 gig, 7200 RPM internal hard drive for which I plan to get an external firewire enclosure and use as a dedicated audio drive. This is what I want to accomplish:
- Get a set of monitors/speakers to use both for monitoring recordings and use for basic things like listening to music on iTunes and watching movies. I like the Roland DM-20, since they have a digital input and an RCA input to which I could hook up my turntable.
- Pick up an external audio interface and software. My top two choices right now are either getting the Digidesign MBox, or getting the M-Audio Firewire 410 and picking up Logic Express with a student discount. I definitely need an audio interface with at least 2 XLR inputs, and S/PDIF I/O is good since I can hook up my guitar processer and hook up monitors with a digital input. However, I've heard conflicting reports as to whether or not the MBox can be used for playback outside of Pro Tools, and I've also heard bad things about the drivers for the 410. The lack of MIDI on the MBox also concerns me, since I would then have to rely on the USB capabilities of the Oxygen 8. I'd also like to use the Oxygen 8 and the Powerbook in a live application (since I already have Reason), but I wouldn't want to be stuck standing on stage for 10 minutes waiting for the keyboard driver to work properly.
My main concern, then, is reliability. I want everything to work together logically and I want the drivers to work dependably. I'd also like something that has a decently low latency when recording so I don't have to mess around with buffer times and whatnot.
I also have an iPod and a USB printer that I'd be hooking up to the system while at my desk, so with only 1 firewire and 2 usb ports, what would be the best configuration for hooking it all together?
Overall, I'd like to spend under $800 for an interface, monitors, and software, but if spending a little more results in a big difference in quality, I could be perceptive to that (although I definitely can't afford to spend more than $1000).