Laptops are now a part of the life of every talented electronics music producer, composer, and DJ in recording studios and on live stages. These artists often express their affection for their laptops with stickers, tattoos, and custom patches. It is not because the laptop makes them look cool, but it helps them in their creative work style every day.
Laptops are now industry-standard companions for professional and amateur singer-songwriters, classical musicians, rappers, country crooners, and DJs for recording sessions, brainstorming, and live performances. Apart from music instruments, a laptop is the most crucial physical investment you would make, so you must ensure that you get value for your money.
How To Select the Best Laptop for Music Production?
To choose the perfect laptop for music production, you should go with fast processors and adequate RAM to smoothly handle a load of multiple audio processing. The typical DAW (digital audio workstations) applications are resource-hungry, and with numerous browser tabs open in the background, it can be a dicey task for most laptops. The applications generally used by the music production industry may run on low-end laptops, but with a moderate-level workload, the processor will overheat and start jittering.
It will help if you consider the size, weight, and form factor while buying a laptop as a sound artist. As a new musician or sound artist, you might have to travel frequently and work remotely many times. In such cases, a bulky laptop can develop pain in the shoulders which you don’t want. You should keep in mind the hardware requirement of the studio applications you use most. Check out the requirements for FL Studio, Magix Acid, Ableton Live, etc., to get a picture of the need you have.
What to Consider While Buying a Laptop for Sound Artists and Musicians?
First, you need to consider the frequency of usage. Ask yourself why you need the laptop and what you want from it. Are you going to use the laptop only for sketching new tunes occasionally, or are you going to put rigorous hours into generating entirely new tracks? Determine whether you will work either as an employee, a freelance pro, or aim to become a social media personality. Depending on the usage pattern, your dependency on the laptop will vary. If you are reading this, there is a good chance you are going for severe in-depth work as a sound artist professional. So, it would be good to invest in a decent laptop even from a business point of view to increase your productivity and collaboration. If you are already a pro and considering an upgrade because of lags, then maxing out the specs is the correct answer.
Which Processor (CPU) to Opt For?
The processor is the most delegated computer component, which ensures the processing speed and power. Moreover, the CPU is the component that draws the lifeline of a laptop. If you want the device for the next 5+ years, then opting for high-end CPUs is recommended. To capture audio from multiple sources, render real-time effects, and minimize the lag time, you must go for more cores and more threads. The 12th gen Intel Core i7 CPU contains 12 cores and 20 threads, which will serve you with blazing speed and performance. Ensure you are going for a laptop powered by the latest-gen Intel or AMD CPU, and it features a 4.0 GHz of clock speed for sculpting responses. When you are brainstorming and putting creativity on the paper, no waiting time is acceptable. If your laptop is lagging and you are concentrating more on making it work, you might lose the idea due to a lack of focus. Creative block is a real issue, and the perfect laptop can help sound artists stay away from it. The latest-gen Intel Core i5 can be a good option for low-budget buyers. AMD Ryzen is an excellent choice for gaming and office purposes, but Intel Core is better for sound artists with a ₹60,000 – ₹80,000 budget.
How Much Memory (RAM) is Enough?
It typically depends on what CPU you are using and what extent of multitasking you will do. As we know, the job of sound artists involves brainstorming & sketching ideas, online research, sample testing, editing tracks, mixing multiple tracks & tunes, etc. For that, you will be doing heavy multitasking avidly. So, in 2022 I would recommend going for 16GB DDR4 RAM to meet the need. With 8GB RAM, your PC might work fine, but when multitasking heavily where 10+ tabs are open, DAW software and a few more apps are working simultaneously, the pressure on the CPU will increase. With increasing pressure, the temperature would rise gradually, and we all know an overheated CPU neither performs well nor lasts long. However, if you opt for a laptop with 8GB RAM due to a tight budget, make sure your laptop has an extra memory slot for future upgrades, unlike many laptops out there which do not offer such.
SSD or HDD Which One You Should Choose?
As most Laptop manufacturers are shifting towards SSD over HDD, it is widespread to find SSD-installed laptops these days. SSDs are over 20x times faster than HDDs, and the speed will help you while booting, installing & launching resource-heavy apps, and managing huge raw files. So, even if you are getting a great deal, opting for a laptop with HDD is a big “NO” in 2022. Opting for a laptop featuring 512GB M.2 SSD is recommended over any laptop featuring a 1TB HDD.
Connectivity Features Needed for Sound Artists
Listening to their creations and checking out what others are doing in the same space is a crucial part of the job for sound artists. For that, they need to use high-quality earphones, earphones, headphones, etc. Using a wired headset will make your setup look messy and hamper portability. For that, Bluetooth earbuds and wireless headphones are excellent choices, and this is why high-speed Bluetooth 5.2 is a need for sound artists and musicians. High-speed internet is the foremost need for any sound artist, so WiFi 6 will help you a lot. High-speed USB 3.2 and micro-USB C-type ports can help you if you want to keep your data on an external drive safely. In short, the modern-day connectivity features are tailor-made for enthusiast professionals like sound artists.
Recommendation By Industry Experts
I would suggest exploring products from reputed brands like HP. If you are not looking to spend ₹1,00,000+, then you’ll easily find notebooks that come with an Aluminum body for a rigid build. Opt for the latest connectivity features and security features like BIOS level encryption and hardware-level protection.
You can check out the HP ProBook 440 G8 Notebook, which comes with the latest-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM, Intel Iris-X GPU with a 14″ display, and 8+ hours of battery backup. If you are looking for a laptop that can give you better performance than Macbook Pro in the Windows segment, you can opt for the HP ENVY x360 Convert 13-bd0515TU. This one features 11th gen Intel i7 with 16GB RAM, a touch-screen interface, a 360-degree hinge, a camera shutter, a fingerprint reader, a backlit keyboard, and Intel Iris-X GPU with a 10+ hours battery and costs around ₹1,00,000 only. With a 13.3″ display and only 1.3 KG weight.
Sound artists need powerful machines that help bring out the artist in them. So instead of skimping on the budget and later toiling with the machine to give you the performance, it’s better to invest in the right hardware from day one so that you can do ‘worry-free’ music creation!
Click here to visit the HP Online store for some really great deals on the products discussed above.
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