VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Dan-O · The Gates of Troy Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 1636

What should my minimum requirements be for a traveling studio when I go on vacation? I just want to plug-in to my lap top and record on Audition.

So, what should my lap top specs be?
Sound card recomendations? (I do not want to go as high as an M-box or the like.)
Do you travel with pre-amp?

Anybody with experience in this please help. Also, where do your store your gear when you are away from your hotel room? The thought of leaving out that much investment frightens the crap out of me.

billelder · Guest

I have my backpack for my laptop and a big ole camera bag that holds the mixer, USB audio interface, mics and cables. I use a Dell Pentium III 1 Ghz 265 RAM and 20GB hard drive. You can get a USB interface for a laptop for about $40 (less on E-Bay) and a Behringer mixer from Musicians Friend for about $40. Be sure to take a mouse to use. A touchpad will drive you crazy if you have to edit.

Good luck with this.

Hart · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:57 am Post subject:

Art · Guest

One way to minimize the load is to plug a Samson USB mic directly into your laptop. Only other thing you need is a mic stand.

The Samson mic sounds really good, but its noise floor is only about 55 dB down. Using the free Samson SoftPre will get you another five dB, and also give you a low cut filter and a good big meter.

Mic sells for $80, and eliminates preamp or mixer and USB interface.

The noise floor will show up in a studio (although it's really "clean" noise and easily gated or filtered), but its noise level is about the same as a good quiet hotel room. Plenty clean for any productions where music and FX are mixed with the voice.