Recording With a Laptop

James Quillian · Post by **James Quillian** » 6 Jun 2024 5:10 pm

I have always recorded with a PC.
What specs must a laptop have to effectively replace a PC?

I generally record one track at a time, never more than 2.

I typically do about 6 tracks.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 7 Jun 2024 3:55 am

Any modern pc will work fine. I did a 16 track recording in Pro Tools about 10 years ago with a Dell Laptop. Input was from Presonus mixer. Laptop handled it with no problem at all. Your needs are much less. Just use a good interface with it and you should be fine.

Nicholas Cox · Post by **Nicholas Cox** » 11 Jun 2024 1:32 am

I agree with Mark. Any decent laptop will be able to record multiple tracks at a time, let alone the one at a time you require. Just make sure not to get a Chromebook or other such laptop that can’t support a major DAW.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 15 Jun 2024 6:42 am

Two things I’d recommend: external storage and at least 16gb of RAM. It’s not necessarily the recording process itself that taxes the system, but playbackof all tracks with plugins and effects will.

My setup is pretty advanced with a lot of RAM and I still end up having issues at times when using certain plugins. I also use a RAID array for storage—its best not to have your DAW and all your files running from the same drive and also good to have a 3rd drive for backup.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 15 Jun 2024 6:57 am

Mike Neer wrote:Two things I’d recommend: external storage and at least 16gb of RAM. It’s not necessarily the recording process itself that taxes the system, but playbackof all tracks with plugins and effects will.

My setup is pretty advanced with a lot of RAM and I still end up having issues at times when using certain plugins. I also use a RAID array for storage—its best not to have your DAW and all your files running from the same drive and also good to have a 3rd drive for backup.

My very first venture into recording was with Garage Band on a 2014 MacBook Air ... later moving to PreSonus Studio One ... I don't use it for that anymore, (though wouldn't be afraid to even with its lowly 8GB) opting for my iMac instead. Its a 2017 5k that I upped to 64 GB with an internal 3TB HD ... Like Mike EVERYTHING is run from external HD's and even after 7 almost 8 years I still have 2.65TB available on my internal. I bought a CalDigit 12TB RAID in 2018, and surprisingly only set that up late last year or early this year. Don't even remember how I did that now

may need some RAID tips from Mike

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 30 Jan 2025 6:21 am

Just be aware that many laptops are throughput limited to keep them cool with minimal internal airflow. The same processor that rips through huge files in a desktop may hang you up in its laptop iteration. This is not always made evident by marketing departments so research carefully before you buy.

Paul Seager · Post by **Paul Seager** » 3 Jun 2025 3:50 am

A while back I took over my wifes old laptop, bought in 2011. I switched the hard disc to a SDD, upped the RAM to 8GB, upgraded to Win 10 and bought a used USB interface with 2 track i/o. Total investment was less than 150$.

My main use-case for recording is to sketch out ideas - I have no intention of making an album. I run Audacity for analysing on-line material (e.g. Youtube) and Cakewalk for blending MIDI and audio.

I don't really go much over 4 audio tracks or bother with plug-ins so for me 8 GB RAM is enough. I use the standard MS OneDrive for cloud storage.

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Recording With a Laptop

Recording With a Laptop

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