Laptop suggestions?

**Lanz the joiner** · 06-10-2015, 01:29 PM

The faster your processor, the lower your latency. I don't understand exactly how this works, but it seems to be the consensus from the articles I've read. So if you use kills switches, drum pads, or any rhythmically-responsive control while you perform music, you will benefit from getting the best processor possible. If you only use EQ knobs and volume faders on your MIDI controller, it might not affect you so much.

Similar for music production. If you want to use CPU intensive plugins, like physical modelling synths or virtual analog synths and effects, you will also benefit from having the fastest processor possible within your budget. The faster it is, the more effects you can use at any time, and the more notes polyphony you can achieve with virtual analog synths.

When people say you don't need an i7 for DJ and music production purposes, it means you can DJ and produce music with a lower spec processor. It doesn't mean you won't benefit from getting the fastest one you can afford.

**calgarc** · 06-10-2015, 01:43 PM

lol dell is bad... i get 25% off and i still wouldn't buy one.

personally what I have found is that both thinkpads and macs are the only companies that properly ground their boards. which is good because you won't hear that buzzing sound going through the soundsystem

other then that almost any laptop intel i5/AMD a10 or better should work. If you want stability look at some gaming laptops, those things are designed to handle heavy loads and pressure

**calgarc** · 06-10-2015, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Lanz the joiner

The faster your processor, the lower your latency. I don't understand exactly how this works, but it seems to be the consensus from the articles I've read. So if you use kills switches, drum pads, or any rhythmically-responsive control while you perform music, you will benefit from getting the best processor possible. If you only use EQ knobs and volume faders on your MIDI controller, it might not affect you so much.

Similar for music production. If you want to use CPU intensive plugins, like physical modelling synths or virtual analog synths and effects, you will also benefit from having the fastest processor possible within your budget. The faster it is, the more effects you can use at any time, and the more notes polyphony you can achieve with virtual analog synths.

When people say you don't need an i7 for DJ and music production purposes, it means you can DJ and produce music with a lower spec processor. It doesn't mean you won't benefit from getting the fastest one you can afford.

its all in the CPU cache... the bigger the cache the faster the CPU can get to the information

**deevey** · 06-11-2015, 10:01 AM

The faster your processor, the lower your latency. I don't understand exactly how this works, but it seems to be the consensus from the articles I've read. So if you use kills switches, drum pads, or any rhythmically-responsive control while you perform music, you will benefit from getting the best processor possible. If you only use EQ knobs and volume faders on your MIDI controller, it might not affect you so much.

Depends very much on the drivers as well, many ASIO drivers on Windows PC's achieve near Zero Audio Latency regardless of the Processor, similar to using Core Audio Drivers on a Mac.

The latency of your DJ or Other Audio software's output however is dependent on many factors including the Effects Processing, keylock algorithms etc.

Any PC with a Processor i3 or Higher with a reasonable amount of RAM (8gb minimum) and fast disk should be able to handle the latest iteration of Traktor / Serato / Ableton etc. without any issue as long as the PC has been optimized and all background tasks have been optimized

If you intend running a ton of External VST's in Ableton or other DAW, i5 or Higher. To speed things up more upgrade to an SSD and as much Ram as you can afford.

its all in the CPU cache... the bigger the cache the faster the CPU can get to the information

I would disagree, its far from "all in the CPU cache" for audio. Hard Disk Caching and Disk speed as well as properly written (or OS native) audio drivers are far more important to your final latency and eventual reliability.

**Jamzhouse** · 06-11-2015, 10:03 AM

Dude I use a Samsung i3 laptop to DJ with Traktor
I also use it to create DJ mixes with Ableton
the power of an i3 is more than sufficient to run these apps and I never had any problems with the software crashing
I have been using this for just over 3 years now

But if you are gonna use it for music production then the i3 wont suffice

Schalenberg · 06-11-2015, 01:32 PM

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...imlinks&NID=CJ

"Core i7 processor, Radeon R9, 8GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and a 1080p display? That’s a whole lot of laptop for $749. [Lenovo Y40-80, $749 with code USPY48US610]"

**Lanz the joiner** · 06-13-2015, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by deevey

Depends very much on the drivers as well, many ASIO drivers on Windows PC's achieve near Zero Audio Latency regardless of the Processor, similar to using Core Audio Drivers on a Mac.

The latency of your DJ or Other Audio software's output however is dependent on many factors including the Effects Processing, keylock algorithms etc.

Any PC with a Processor i3 or Higher with a reasonable amount of RAM (8gb minimum) and fast disk should be able to handle the latest iteration of Traktor / Serato / Ableton etc. without any issue as long as the PC has been optimized and all background tasks have been optimized

I agree that you can use Traktor with a lower-end CPU without any issue. It wasn't my intention to claim that you need a super i7 beast to run Traktor smoothly. I was trying to point out that high end CPUs are beneficial for DJing if you want the latency as low as possible while still allowing whatever effects and keylocks you want.

The latency on an optimized i3 setup will be usable, but not so great for finger drumming or using kill switches in my opinion. With a more powerful CPU, the latency will be lower. Maybe you disagree. What kind of latency time (or range of times) would you expect from an optimized i3 setup?

**Pippo91** · 06-15-2015, 03:37 AM

Take a pc (ASUS or LENOVO are a good start point) with 8gb of RAM, i7 processor and a good video card (ATI Radeon is better), around 800$, and replace the hard drive with a 500gb Samsung 850 PRO SSD. The total should be around 1000/1100$ and you will have the PC you need.

Obviously, you should know how to do a system optimization in order to use the PC at 100% of its possibility.