Ideal Macbook for Traktor Gigs

[Daniboy]

I've been doing too much small gigs on wealthy people's house and bringing rented CDJ-2000s and DJM-900 everytime is a pain in the ass...
Considering I already have a XONE K2, I think simply plugging it on a macbook pro will be much easier, lighter and simple than using a CDJ setup everytime.

So I want to buy a Macbook.

Been doing a little research about it and found out people prefer 15-inch screen than the 13-inch one.

My first question is: If I'm just using the macbook for playing with Traktor, do I really need a 15-inch screen? Isn't it easier to change the 13-inch-computer's resolution to have a better "zoom" of the software? (I don't care about image quality)

Second question: Is this good enough for a flawless usage of Traktor (and maybe some simple edditing with Ableton)?:

2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM — 2x4GB
512GB Solid State Drive

Third Question: Is the XONE K2's soundcard good enough to use it's RCA Master Output as my setup's Master Output? (It will only be Macbook > K2 > Place's Sound System)

Fourth Question: I'm concerned about the ammount of work I will have beatgridding and placing markers on thousands of tracks, so, Is there a way of getting all the Traktor data on some kind of backup? I mean, is it possible to get the tracks that have perfect beatgrids and markers-placed on a computer and transfer them to other Traktor on other computer?


Thanks

[deevey]

My first question is: If I'm just using the macbook for playing with Traktor, do I really need a 15-inch screen? Isn't it easier to change the 13-inch-computer's resolution to have a better "zoom" of the software? (I don't care about image quality)

Thats completely up to you - everyones eyes are different

Second question: Is this good enough for a flawless usage of Traktor (and maybe some simple edditing with Ableton)?:

Any macbook built in the last 5 years is good enough for traktor.

Third Question: Is the XONE K2's soundcard good enough to use it's RCA Master Output as my setup's Master Output? (It will only be Macbook > K2 > Place's Sound System)

Yes - you may need to push the gains a little on the house mixer

Fourth Question: I'm concerned about the ammount of work I will have beatgridding and placing markers on thousands of tracks, so, Is there a way of getting all the Traktor data on some kind of backup? I mean, is it possible to get the tracks that have perfect beatgrids and markers-placed on a computer and transfer them to other Traktor on other computer?

Simply Backup your NI / iTunes folders and transfer them when needed. Just make sure the Locations are exactly the same on both computers

[Daniboy]

My first question is: If I'm just using the macbook for playing with Traktor, do I really need a 15-inch screen? Isn't it easier to change the 13-inch-computer's resolution to have a better "zoom" of the software? (I don't care about image quality)

Thats completely up to you - everyones eyes are different

Second question: Is this good enough for a flawless usage of Traktor (and maybe some simple edditing with Ableton)?:

Any macbook built in the last 5 years is good enough for traktor.

Thanks, so most important would be the SSD storage right? So I would have faster loading of stuff

Third Question: Is the XONE K2's soundcard good enough to use it's RCA Master Output as my setup's Master Output? (It will only be Macbook > K2 > Place's Sound System)

Yes - you may need to push the gains a little on the house mixer

Why is that? Will this volume raise be logic to the LED of the mixer showing a low volume?

Fourth Question: I'm concerned about the ammount of work I will have beatgridding and placing markers on thousands of tracks, so, Is there a way of getting all the Traktor data on some kind of backup? I mean, is it possible to get the tracks that have perfect beatgrids and markers-placed on a computer and transfer them to other Traktor on other computer?

Simply Backup your NI / iTunes folders and transfer them when needed. Just make sure the Locations are exactly the same on both computers

So if my music folder is located at "C:\Users\Daniel\Desktop\Folder1" on one computer I should transfer "Folder1" to "C:\Users\Daniel\Desktop" on the other computer?


Thanks for the answers bro!

[makar1]

An SSD won't make a significant difference to Traktor, but the laptop will be faster at booting up and opening programs. The K2 has a weak output compared to other sound cards although the quality should be fine.

[Daniboy]

An SSD won't make a significant difference to Traktor, but the laptop will be faster at booting up and opening programs. The K2 has a weak output compared to other sound cards although the quality should be fine.

Good to know, maybe because its powered by the USB cable right? (which I find very handy)

Thanks for the info

[makar1]

It's just the hardware A+H chose to put in. There are plenty of USB powered sound cards that are much louder.

[Daniboy]

It's just the hardware A+H chose to put in. There are plenty of USB powered sound cards that are much louder.

Cool, I plan to plug the master out of the K2 in one of the mixer's channel, some simple one-orange-LED volume adjusting on the mixer will do the job right?

[frankle]

Yes, set the gains on the physical mixer channel so that you're keeping out of the red and it'll be fine.

Also, plenty of us are using MacBook Airs, cheaper, lighter and certainly up to the task. And the 13" actually has the same 1440x900 screen resolution as the 15" MacBook Pro's native resolution, but with the smaller footprint of a 13".

[Daniboy]

Yes, set the gains on the physical mixer channel so that you're keeping out of the red and it'll be fine.

Also, plenty of us are using MacBook Airs, cheaper, lighter and certainly up to the task. And the 13" actually has the same 1440x900 screen resolution as the 15" MacBook Pro's native resolution, but with the smaller footprint of a 13".

Hm, good to know, thanks bro!