Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Here's a very basic answer for you. Apple 12" Powerbook. It's fast
enough to record live audio, super easy to use, gorgeous to look at,
and with Cubase, Logic, Deck, Battery, and Garageband, and tons of
open-source freebies, you have plenty of choices for music/MIDI apps.

I recommend the 12" over the other Aluminum Powerbooks simply because
of it's size and price. They're tiny, cheap, and super durable. And
you don't need to add any 3rd party soundcards to it. (even though a
firewire MOTU device would kick@ss ;)

I run my DTXII into the line-in on my Powerboook when I'm doing
multi-track recording. Works like a charm. 

With Apple's new focus on music, these are wonderful times to be a
musician/music lover.


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Creighton Higgins" <creighton@l...>
wrote:
> sound blaster does make an external USB soundcard for laptops- the
Extigy I
> think. I have no idea if latency is an issue for midi work.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: jjcorley0000 [mailto:jjc@s...]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 1:24 AM
> To: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [DTXpress] Re: Really Very Basic But Quite Important Question
> 
> 
> 
>     I don't know what your needs are, but personally if I were buying
> a computer to use primarily for multi-tracking music I'd never get a
> laptop.
> 
>     a) They usually have lots of proprietary junk in them, they are
> expensive (compared to a desktop), and usually darn near impossible
> to upgrade other than putting more memory in them.
> 
>     b) The sound cards are usually an afterthought and given point
> (a), they usually can't be upgraded.
> 
>     c) For the amount time you spend working at the computer when
> doing recording, the joystick/pad mouse emulator devices, tiny
> keyboards and smallish screens will drive most people up the wall.
> Many people eventually end up putting a mouse, monitor and keyboard
> on them... and then stop moving them around because its a pain... and
> then they have essentially an expensive desktop that can't be
> upgraded.
> 
>     Do you absolutely need the portability of a laptop?
> 
>     This is from someone who lugged more than his share of laptops
> through airports on business.  My personal hate for laptops stems
> from often going from my in-office development environment of dual
> 21" monitors and egro-keyboard, etc. to flying X hours at a moment's
> notice and having to do debugging sessions under the gun on a "spare"
> laptop.
> 
>     Bitter?  Me?  Noooooo.
> 
>     All that said, if you really need a laptop for other reasons and
> are careful about checking the specs of the sound card, it can work
> just fine for some people.  Just know that portability comes with a
> pricetag.
> 
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "bigcleverturnip"
> <bigcleverturnip@h...> wrote:
> > Hey,
> > I'll start with the obvious - I'm a drummer and for christmas I got
> > a Yamaha DTXpress II. I love the machine!
> > Anyway, I also play and compose a lot of music, as I play other
> > instruments as well.
> > I'm hoping to get a laptop very soon, on which I'll be doing a lot
> > of music composing (using something similar to Cubase or Cakewalk
> > hopefully), but unfortunately, I have no idea how I'd go about
> > connecting my DTXpress II to my computer/soundcard and using it for
> > drums in tracks I'd write (presumably MIDI?). I know I really
> should
> > know about this, but I'm afraid I don't! Any help would be very
> > greatly appreciated.
> > Also, since I'd be using a laptop for my music creation, I presume
> > I'd need to buy a new soundcard, as laptop soundcards are
> > notoriously poor? What are my options here? Any recommendations?
> > Would it have to be an external card?
> > Thank you in advance for any help anyone can offer,
> > Ferdie
> > PS Please talk as simply as possible to me, I understand little or
> > no technical jargon! Thanks.
> 
> 
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