S96J for Music Production?

I'm ordering an S96J (as soon as I can get my dad on the phone with PowerNotebooks), because it seems like a great deal, a dedicated GPU with decent performance under 17" (taking it to classes), and I had mostly planned on basic desktop applications, some heavy gaming (oblivion, BF2, CS:S), and graphic design involving LARGE files. Yesterday, however, I got pulled into doing some music production for a friend's hip-hop project, and I hadn't really considered S96J's ability to do that. Does anyone who knows about it know if i'll be able to do this effectively? I assume theres enough power between the T2500 and the 2gigs of RAM, but I dont know about sound output, if there are special cards I can get, or if it would be as simple as plugging some port-filled device into a usb port.

 

The integrated Intel audio is the new HI-FI chip, and it should be good enough quality as long as you use it with external speakers or headphones. However, if you're an extremist and need a higher level of quality, then you can purchase an external turtle beach soundcard which plugs into the USB port (its really tiny, costs about 40$), and it will give you a better sound. If you really really want GREAT sound, i recommend buying those Creative 90$ sound cards that go on the ExpressSlot.

Considering i do some music production on an integrated 3 yr old audio, with a 1gig on a Pentium 4 @ 2.4Ghz, I don't think you should have a problem lol.

BTW what programs are you planning to use?

 

I use a PreSonus FireBox which is a firewire audio/MIDI interface and comes with a mountain of cool software. While it can be bus-powered, the 4-pin connector on most laptops won't provide the power, so you'll need to use the included wall wart. The Alesis I/O2 is also pretty cool for about half the price and is powered by USB 2.0 ports. If you're doing a lot of audio tracks, you'll want a 100GB 7200RPM drive. Sonicalabs.com specializes in building PCs for audio production and they are using the Z62F for their builds. The integrated GPU is superfluous for audio production, so the money is better spent on RAM, HD and CPU upgrades. If you want to game too, then that's a different story. The Z62J/Portable One EX is the same chassis with a GeForce 7300, WXGA+ screen and built-in bluetooth.

 

Yes I'm still going to be gaming so the gpu is still primary. I'll probably be using FruityLoops and Acid as those are the only two pieces of software I have at the moment, but i'm sure once i know what I'm doing more I'll move on to other things. Kburst- could I ask you what you think of the E-Mu 1616 ( http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/pr...rdbus_digital_audio_system?full_sku=103242384) ?
Its pricey, but for the next month or so I'm an employee of guitar center and should hopefully get a decent discount.

Otherwise, would you recomend something cheaper that would work just as well, seeing as I'm not going to be getting a ton of live instruments in, just vocals and maybe some turntable mixes?

 

Is there such a thing!?! I thought they only had cards on PCMCIA. I would buy one tomorrow if they had it on the Express!

Could you give me a link/smth? thanks

 

The S96J isn't really going to be better or worse than any other laptop when it comes to music production, AFAICT.

What it really comes down to is specs, so the higher the specs you get the better! Be sure you get the 7200rpm drive if you possibly can. Don't know about the S96J's sound quality, but it doesn't really make a difference as far as music production goes (you should probably be checking everything on different systems or with different peripherals anyway, given that any internal audio solution is kind of suspect as far as accuracy goes, in my estimation).

It is possible that the x1600 rather than integrated graphics could help take some load off the CPU (and RAM for that matter), but practically any dedicated graphics solution should be just as good.

 

The only downside of s96J is that it doesn't come with PCMCIA, which is not really a problem if you have no plan of using it.
If you decide to go a little bit serious and invest a fair amount of money for a firewire soundcard, there is a small possibility that ati might cause a problem. Presonus firebox had compability issue with some of the mobility ati 9000 series cards and I read a report on focusrite saffire having problem with a mobility ati card as well(can't remember which series though).

 

Audio applications almost all support multiple cores and, clock for clock, Core Duo is the current king of dual core processors so it should blaze any app. The few that don't yet, probably will by year end.

Personally, I use a firewire audiophile connected to a mixer and Sonar 4. My plan is to manage with firewire until Expresscards come out.

 

EMU is notorious for hinky drivers and so/so support. Don't expect to monitor through your DAW engine with less than 10ms latency. PreSonus' drivers are very good with latency below 3ms on ASIO drivers. FireBox comes with Acid, Cubase, DiskWelder, Discrete Drums, loops, plugins, etc. A massive collection of goodies. Guitar Center sells PreSonus as well. Which GC are you at?

For $150 the Alesis I/O2 is the best bang for the buck. USB 2.0 bus-powered, mic pres, S/PDIF, MIDI, ASIO 2.0 drivers. Includes Cubase LE. Good unit.

 

The laptop's speakers are atrocious. But headphones / external speakers should be fine.

Krista

 

the s96j has no firewire ports, correct? so I would be aiming for something in the USB dept.?

 

It actually does have a firewire port.