Anyone just use a laptop for Reason?

[plaamook]

no you'll only be able to load stuff faster.  it's still an amazing improvement, i haven't looked back.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Thanks.

[syncanonymous]

I first started running Reason 1 on a 233MHZ gateway on win95. Since then I've had various versions of Reason running on several generations of Sony VAIOs. USB latency was always a problem w/o a proper audio interface. I previously mostly composed with just a mouse. 10+ years later I finally have a system working pretty nicely. The heart of my workstation is actually a preSonus FireStudio Mobile. The presonus is really picky about chipsets, so I had to get a specific expresscard firewire adaptor. Reason is not hard on CpU, it's more of a latency issue if you are on a pc.

Last month, I fixed up a VpCEB3J0E (i3/Win7/64bit) that my mother in law abandoned for dead after having paid her pro IT guy to unsuccessfully repair. My much more expensive, but much older 18.4 AW21Z running Vista 32bit core2duo with OS SSD never got along with the preSonus FWS (I think its the nVidia gfx chip; runs fine in VGA mode) was stopping me from getting any midi work done. The back from the dead laptop is working great so far; I have yet to have a massive track count, tho. I'll see.... 

[eox]

I first started running Reason 1 on a 233MHZ gateway on win95. Since then I've had various versions of Reason running on several generations of Sony VAIOs. USB latency was always a problem w/o a proper audio interface. I previously mostly composed with just a mouse. 10+ years later I finally have a system working pretty nicely. The heart of my workstation is actually a preSonus FireStudio Mobile. The presonus is really picky about chipsets, so I had to get a specific expresscard firewire adaptor. Reason is not hard on CpU, it's more of a latency issue if you are on a pc.

Last month, I fixed up a VpCEB3J0E (i3/Win7/64bit) that my mother in law abandoned for dead after having paid her pro IT guy to unsuccessfully repair. My much more expensive, but much older 18.4 AW21Z running Vista 32bit core2duo with OS SSD never got along with the preSonus FWS (I think its the nVidia gfx chip; runs fine in VGA mode) was stopping me from getting any midi work done. The back from the dead laptop is working great so far; I have yet to have a massive track count, tho. I'll see.... 

I have the same interface! I've loved it for the last 4 years.

Anyways, I've actually read a lot of topics about Nvidia chipsets on laptops causing DPC latency and other hiccups. I can't remember the fix but if you run into that, google the problem and you'll find what you need.

Happy to hear all is well! Keep slamming out sounds with Reason!

[syncanonymous]

Thanks Eox:-) I have done a lot of troubleshooting on the AW21Z; I haven't found a specific fix for nVidia issues googling it....I'll hafta try again. The preSonus is alright....I did a lot of research b4 purchase....now if I can figure out how to fix my shift+p issue, it'll be slammin;-)

[eox]

Thanks Eox:-) I have done a lot of troubleshooting on the AW21Z; I haven't found a specific fix for nVidia issues googling it....I'll hafta try again. The preSonus is alright....I did a lot of research b4 purchase....now if I can figure out how to fix my shift+p issue, it'll be slammin;-)

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum ... rd.126080/
^ check and see if this helps!

Also, Nvidia - "Powermizer" is what I remember reading about that can cause high DPC which can result in the crackling noise you here. Here's a thread about that issue

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topi ... -drop-out/

Also, check out Latencymon and DPC Checker

Latencymon - http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

DPC Checker -
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Both programs will help show you any driver issues you may be having that are causing high latency or the crackling noise. Once you see which drivers are interfering I advise googling the driver with "high DPC" and I'm sure many threads will pop up that can help you fix the issue.

Now, if you continue to have trouble check out: http://www.sysnative.com/forums/

These guys are great at helping you figure out your problems and working them out! I hope this helps you going in the right direction my friend! Best of luck!


---Also, what shift+p issue are you having?

[Puckboy2000]

I have used Mac Book Pro's for the past 5 years.
When at around Reason/Record time, I started getting the "computer too slow" message.
On the new Mac Book Pro, I would get that message when I had a ton of RE's open when they first came out.
Now I have a 2014 Mac Book Pro and it runs like a champ!
(although I think the problem I had on my last MB Pro may have been due to the battery getting old?)

[eox]

I have used Mac Book Pro's for the past 5 years.
When at around Reason/Record time, I started getting the "computer too slow" message.
On the new Mac Book Pro, I would get that message when I had a ton of RE's open when they first came out.
Now I have a 2014 Mac Book Pro and it runs like a champ!
(although I think the problem I had on my last MB Pro may have been due to the battery getting old?)

Honestly that depends on your CPU and Ram you had on your old MacBook Pro. As well as if you were running stock audio drivers (mac's built in drivers) or an audio interface. The battery shouldn't have altered it's state to where it causes that message to appear. Unless there is a power switch that I'm unaware of inside of mac that cuts performance to preserve battery if not plugged in.

Either way, glad you have a great new macbook running it like a champ!! I'm in the market to get one myself but can't afford that much right now

[Puckboy2000]

I have used Mac Book Pro's for the past 5 years.
When at around Reason/Record time, I started getting the "computer too slow" message.
On the new Mac Book Pro, I would get that message when I had a ton of RE's open when they first came out.
Now I have a 2014 Mac Book Pro and it runs like a champ!
(although I think the problem I had on my last MB Pro may have been due to the battery getting old?)

Honestly that depends on your CPU and Ram you had on your old MacBook Pro. As well as if you were running stock audio drivers (mac's built in drivers) or an audio interface. The battery shouldn't have altered it's state to where it causes that message to appear. Unless there is a power switch that I'm unaware of inside of mac that cuts performance to preserve battery if not plugged in. Either way, glad you have a great new macbook running it like a champ!! I'm in the market to get one myself but can't afford that much right now

Yeah, I am not sure what the issue was exactly.  I just thought the battery may have been it.  Swapped upgraded my RAM but that did not seem to work either.  Go figure.
My new one has a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 with 16 Gb memory.  
(I was told at the store that I can't swap out ram on the new Mac Book Pros like I did my old one, so I guess I am stuck with what i have)

file:///Users/puckboy2000/Desktop/Screen%20Shot%202015-03-29%20at%2012.27.26%20PM.png

[dvdrtldg]

My new one has a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 

So does that make a huge difference?

I'm running a 2010 MBP with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, and while it's basically fine, I do hit the CPU ceiling pretty fast when piling on the REs. Are you using lots of REs and finding it no problem?

[Puckboy2000]

My new one has a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 

So does that make a huge difference?

I'm running a 2010 MBP with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, and while it's basically fine, I do hit the CPU ceiling pretty fast when piling on the REs. Are you using lots of REs and finding it no problem?

It usually takes a lot of REs to get that message again.
I would say the capacity is about 10-20 times more with the new Mac Book Pro.
It's happened a few times, but with my old mac, it was happening all the time.
It also happens if i have a bunch of songs open at once, when there are a lot of REs used on them.

[syncanonymous]

Thanks Eox:-) I have done a lot of troubleshooting on the AW21Z; I haven't found a specific fix for nVidia issues googling it....I'll hafta try again. The preSonus is alright....I did a lot of research b4 purchase....now if I can figure out how to fix my shift+p issue, it'll be slammin;-)

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum ... rd.126080/

^ check and see if this helps! Also, Nvidia - "Powermizer" is what I remember reading about that can cause high DPC which can result in the crackling noise you here. Here's a thread about that issue

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topi ... -drop-out/

Also, check out Latencymon and DPC Checker Latencymon -

http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

DPC Checker -

http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Both programs will help show you any driver issues you may be having that are causing high latency or the crackling noise. Once you see which drivers are interfering I advise googling the driver with "high DPC" and I'm sure many threads will pop up that can help you fix the issue. Now, if you continue to have trouble check out:

http://www.sysnative.com/forums/

These guys are great at helping you figure out your problems and working them out! I hope this helps you going in the right direction my friend! Best of luck! ---Also, what shift+p issue are you having?

Thanks eox

I did try everything on the preSonus knowledge base, except log a support ticket. DpC for example; which was showing me WIFI taking a lot of resources, for one. Also, on my other machine, there are quite a few Ricoh controllers; which (I suppose) cause a conflict.

On another note, more related to this thread, this i3 that I am using right now, running RSN8 is complaining computer too slow at 15 tracks. That's 7 audio tracks and 8 instrument tracks. I did have quite a few the Echos and pulverizers & excess thors in this track, but even slimming them down is not giving me much headroom. I upped the Reason cpu% use from 80 to 90 which helped a little. I have about 7 tracks of automation. Changing buffer settings on the preSonus FSM from 256 to 512 is not much improvement, actually, I seem to get more clicks and pops at 512. 

[Marco Raaphorst]

For 12 years I am only using laptops. Back in the day I used a Sony, then I moved to MacBook Pro. My current one is a late 2013 MBpro retina model. Super fast, super quiet and mobile. 

Sometimes I take my studio with me. I have done work in other studios. Sometimes for Dutch radio and television. I remember when I still had my Sony sitting in a studio in Hilversum. We were mixing. The engineer asked me anytime I rendered something "how can this be done faster than in real time?". They were using Pro Tools which we needed to bounce 3 stereo stems. Since it was a documentaire of 50 minutes, rendering these stems in real time on Pro Tools... a couple of hours. At least we were still smoking back in the day At the time I was using Reason with Ableton Live 6. That config didn't crash ones during 3 full days of mixing. The Pro Tools setups kept on crashing. Even when rendering a mp3 file!

Laptops are nice. But I am sure one day soon I will be using a tabled. Nothing more.

[syncanonymous]

For 12 years I am only using laptops. Back in the day I used a Sony, then I moved to MacBook Pro. My current one is a late 2013 MBpro retina model. Super fast, super quiet and mobile. 

Sometimes I take my studio with me. I have done work in other studios. Sometimes for Dutch radio and television. I remember when I still had my Sony sitting in a studio in Hilversum. We were mixing. The engineer asked me anytime I rendered something "how can this be done faster than in real time?". They were using Pro Tools which we needed to bounce 3 stereo stems. Since it was a documentaire of 50 minutes, rendering these stems in real time on Pro Tools... a couple of hours. At least we were still smoking back in the day At the time I was using Reason with Ableton Live 6. That config didn't crash ones during 3 full days of mixing. The Pro Tools setups kept on crashing. Even when rendering a mp3 file!

Laptops are nice. But I am sure one day soon I will be using a tabled. Nothing more.

This is why I love SAW Studio: opens in 15sec, tops- closes is 15 sec; extremely fast. Very low cpu hit as well. All automation on one layer. Sounds good, too. Is it pretty heck no!

[prndrsn]

I find the question kind of irrelevant. Unless your laptop is very crappy, how is there a difference? Outside of video cards I don't think the average modern laptop is specced much differently to the average modern desktop. Laptops aren't inherently less powerful. If money isn't an issue, you can get a very very powerful laptop.

I use only my admittedly quite beefy (for the size) 2012 13" laptop (3.6GHz dualcore i7, 12GB RAM, 128GB SSD*) plugged into a 24" 1080p monitor, wireless mouse and USB audio interface, and a bunch of gear connected via USB (powered hub) and MIDI; all of which are things I would buy/use if I had a desktop. It works exactly as a desktop does except I get an extra screen and I can take it with me.
I have been considering building a desktop for music production just because I would like to have a separate computer of any kind for it, but the only reason for going with a desktop is because I could make it way cheaper than an equivalent laptop. I'd go with a quadcore i5, 8GB RAM, onboard graphics and a 128GB SSD (sufficient as I have external storage), all of the parts (except the PSU, as I already own a quality one since before) would be the cheapest possible. I'd make sure the motherboard isn't known for having problems, outside of that I'm not worried about stability issues, especially with the external audio interface.
I've also considered buying a low spec laptop for general use and instead making this one the dedicated production station, or buying a 15" laptop of similar specs to the planned desktop and using that for production. Buying a desktop is probably the kindest to my wallet.
I'm using the same peripherals for laptops and desktops; the user experience in Reason is exactly the same when everything is connected. If you're asking me what is better for Reason, I say the one that is better suited for your budget and lifestyle.
The benefits of a desktop lie in easier expandability and upgrade options, the benefits of a laptop lie in flexibility, portability, being able to work on the same machine no matter where you are, and having a second screen. It kind of sucks working on the laptop when you're somewhere where you can't connect it to the peripherals, but with a desktop you wouldn't be working there at all.
 
*Technically it came with 2x128GB SSDs configured in a RAID0, but I run them separately with Linux as my main OS on one and Win 7 64bit for games and production.

[tronam]

The primary performance differentiator between the i5/i7 chips in the MBP and desktop systems like the iMac is clock speed which does scale a bit higher in the latter (most likely due to thermal limitations), so they'll almost certainly perform better in FPU heavy applications like digital audio. That being said, I've managed to survive pretty well even now with a 2009 Core2Duo, so either route will be an enormous performance boost for me. I'll be going the laptop route for my next upgrade. The portability advantage is too enticing to pass up this time around, but I'm holding out until (hopefully) this summer when the 15" MBPs get refreshed.

[RFX]

I used to. I had it connected to a 23" 1080p monitor, I basically only used the laptop as a secondary screen.

Now that I built my Desktop, I only use my laptop when producing on the go. I didn't run into too many problems when using my laptop though. Reason isn't very CPU hungry, like other DAWs I've used. I mainly have problems when using REs. Mainly when using Radical Piano (which I use quite often in Happy Hardcore) or a patch made of 16 Ammo 100LA and multiple FX units.

To be honest, my desktop isn't that powerful, it only has an Athlon II X2 255. Reason runs quite nicely on it though. Running into some issues with REs, as mentioned above, but other than that, it runs just fine. I will replace the CPU with an AMD FX-6300 later on though. I tried using Reason on one of those and it was just amazing. everything was perfectly smooth, even on the lowest latency my Audio Interface allows.

But as prndrsn already mentioned, it doesn't really matter nowadays. A lot of modern laptops are more than powerful enough.

[tumar]

The primary performance differentiator between the i5/i7 chips in the MBP and desktop systems like the iMac is clock speed which does scale a bit higher in the latter (most likely due to thermal limitations), so they'll almost certainly perform better in FPU heavy applications like digital audio. That being said, I've managed to survive pretty well even now with a 2009 Core2Duo, so either route will be an enormous performance boost for me. I'll be going the laptop route for my next upgrade. The portability advantage is too enticing to pass up this time around, but I'm holding out until (hopefully) this summer when the 15" MBPs get refreshed.

It doesn't matter here, because Reason can't make any use of the hyperthreaded i7. For example, I have iMac i7 and Studio One shows 8 cores.

[RequiemMachine]

I use both a Macbook Pro and an iMac with my refills/Sound library and project files synced through iCloud. I have found that I tend to write more on my macbook pro using Lemur and rsTouch on my iPad said controller. I tend to write on the go alot. I really only mix and master on the imac.

[mrj1nx]

I use a new early 2015 Macbook Air 11" and it works surprisingly well I must say, I expected less.

[chimp_spanner]

Lenovo Z500T; i7 3632QM, 8GB RAM + Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6. Basically all I need right now, and has been for about 2 years!

[paulm0000]

Yerp.... Aspire V3571G took alot of poorly built desktops and slow laptops to get here lol




 

[syncanonymous]

Well, I sorted my scrolling issue in on my AW21Z this past Friday. Latency Monitor still saying that AW21Z has issues with latency (CPU throttling, etc). nevertheless, my scrolling issues seems to be gone. essentially, I believe, it was the nVidia m9600 gt drivers. I had a 7.x version driver; the 8.x driver seems to have done the trick. I did some other stuff that may have been of help like turning VERIFY DRIVERS off via cmd line. I haven't done any serious audio work on that AW21z since fixing, tho.

I should also say that only the driver version from the VAIO official site worked... other, more manual scenarios, did not work.

[KEVMOVE02]

Until recently, I only used a laptop. If you don't have an overpowered laptop, you can eke out better performance by upgrading a few components and disabling others that either use resources (free ram or processing power) or disrupt streaming audio. I made the following upgrade or tweaks to my laptop:

• Made sure the internal hard drive was 7200 rpm. limits your time on battery power, but improves streaming audio
• Only use the factory power supply. I found that after market power supplies that have multiple power tips tend to create line noise that creeps into audio interface.
• Disabled wifi and bluetooth.
• Disabled every built in device that is not need to record.
• Using a guide, disabled nonessential services and startup programs
• Limited the installed software to audio software and audio libraries needed for that project. 

I know it's a luxury to dedicate a laptop for a single purpose, but if you limit yourself to your most used programs (like Reason and Ableton) and leave other programs on an external drive until you really need them, you'll get more out of your system. Its all about making sure that you minimize the interruptions to the audio stream from your hard drive and not tax your cpu with alot of processes to run in the background. Today's browsers run multiple processes to manage add ins, even when they are not in active use. Also, I know its old school, but learning to use the effect send/returns on the mixer (versus building long effects chains on each mixer channel) will go a long way to conserving cpu for just one more track. This is probably the one place where it would be prudent to ask yourself the question: "If I could only afford to buy 1 reverb and 1 compressor (or any other efx unit you want to use), how would I use them to modify the most amount of tracks in the least amount of time.

[dvdrtldg]

YEAHHHH I'm about to upgrade to a new MB Pro with 2.8 GHz Intel quad core i7 (turbo boost up to 4 GHz), 16 GB of ram and flash drive. Looking forward to stacking on the Antidotes/Etch Reds/TSARs etc

[Data_Shrine]

15' MBPr here.. top of the line. Not sure if they released another 15' since the 2014 upgrade. It's fast but then again I'm on RE8 with barely any Rack Extensions.