# Can laptop successfully replace my desktop for orchestral music?



## GGaca (Jul 18, 2022)

Can laptop successfully replace desktop for orchestral music? (not big orchestral templates)

Currently i'm using Intel i7 4790k 4ghz; 24gb ram 1333Mhz CL9,
I often hear audio distortion when my project is in it's 'medium-late' stage (i have to change buffer to 2048).
Typically i'm using 4-5 kontakt instances (one instance = ~8 intruments inside -> one instance for strings, one for brass, one for woodwinds etc) + Amplitube5 + modo bass + Modo drums + reverbs and EQ

I'm using mainly these libraries and plugins (within Reaper):
Orchestral (bigger) Libraries - Tokyo Scoring Strings, Areia, Century Strings, Century Brass, Talos, Nucleus, SOLO, Cerberus, Requiem (pro/light), Chorus
+ Amplitube 5, Modo bass 2, modo drums 1,5
Reverbs - Seventh Heaven and Convology XT.

My question is: Can Laptop Msi Vector GP66 (15'') with i7 12700H, rtx 3070ti (allows me to plug-in 2 screens), 64gb RAM DDR4 3200Mhz - replace my desktop for, like 3-4 years? Are these specs good enough to maintain high performance for few years? (I'm also worrying about thermal throttling).

I don't want to spent more than 2200€.


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## tressie5 (Jul 18, 2022)

Does Reaper have an instruments rack-type system like Cubase where you can pull up one instance of Kontakt and load in your 32-40 instruments as Kontakt has 60 assignable outputs + 4 aux? I'd imagine one Kontakt might be easier on your CPU than 4-5 instances.


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## Jrides (Jul 18, 2022)

I’m surprised your current set up can’t handle that. It sounds like light work. Perhaps it’s the Amplitube stuff? The projects you described sound like stuff that could be handled by most modern computers that of course have enough RAM.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 18, 2022)

The model of the CPU is pretty old. Between that and how CPU hungry MODO Bass and Drums can be, along with the reverbs and EQ depending on what you’re using, I could see that maxing out quickly. 

You’d probably be fine bouncing your MODO tracks to audio during the mixing phase. 

To answer your question, yes you can absolutely run music projects on a laptop. My Surface Book 2 hooks up decently well as long as I stick to mix microphones.


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## GGaca (Jul 18, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> Does Reaper have an instruments rack-type system like Cubase where you can pull up one instance of Kontakt and load in your 32-40 instruments as Kontakt has 60 assignable outputs + 4 aux? I'd imagine one Kontakt might be easier on your CPU than 4-5 instances.


I assigned 16 outputs, and i'm using different instances for different sections purely cause of workflow, maybe i should change that 



Trash Panda said:


> The model of the CPU is pretty old. Between that and how CPU hungry MODO Bass and Drums can be, along with the reverbs and EQ depending on what you’re using, I could see that maxing out quickly.
> 
> You’d probably be fine bouncing your MODO tracks to audio during the mixing phase.
> 
> To answer your question, yes you can absolutely run music projects on a laptop. My Surface Book 2 hooks up decently well as long as I stick to mix microphones.


That problem started even when i was using only Kontakt x5 (x~8-10 instruments inside) + reverb and EQ. Now with MODO (i understand it's modelled so it's heavy on CPU) it's a bit worse. Don't get me wrong - as You said it's an old CPU and i get it has it's problems now (+i guess format would help a little but i can't do it - too many other things - it's sadly not dedicated for music only).
I'm just wondering if laptop can replace desktop - because i don't know if it can maintain it's performance within 6h sessions without problems caused by termal throttling.
I also don't know how much better are mobile CPUs this days than my CPU (i looked at benchmarks but can't find DAW/audio benchmarks). If i buy new gear i wish it could work at least 4 years without problems with performance.


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## Kabraxis (Jul 19, 2022)

Jrides said:


> I’m surprised your current set up can’t handle that. It sounds like light work. Perhaps it’s the Amplitube stuff? The projects you described sound like stuff that could be handled by most modern computers that of course have enough RAM.


IIRC somebody somewhere made a video comparison for 1 instance + multi outs vs multi instances for Kontakt and some other samplers, and results were very surprising as multi instances was way much lighter in CPU since each instance doesn't load the full plugin but just the difference between, and audio summing of instruments inside VSTs was much worse than leaving that task to DAW.

On the other hand, rig you have described sounds like an overkill since all the music you love so far most probably composed on a rig with the fraction of the power you'll have. Sometimes _decreasing _the buffer helps, magically. Or getting a better audio interface?


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## GGaca (Jul 19, 2022)

I have m-audio AIR 192|4 as my audio interface.


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## widescreen (Jul 21, 2022)

GGaca said:


> I have m-audio AIR 192|4 as my audio interface.


I have an AIR 192|14 on my desktop (i7-11700, 128GB DDR4-3200) and no problems (using S1). But for mobile use the AIR series would be too big for me. There I prefer my NI Traktor Audio 2 Mk2. As small as a pack of cigarettes (not that I'm smoking  ). And enough power to drive a 250 Ohm headphone properly through USB powered.

Casually I bought a new creator notebook these days with similar specs to your mentioned MSI. AMD Ryzen 7 5800H as base, which I upgraded to 64GB DDR4-3200 and 2+4TB SSDs. To do this myself saved me up ~2000-3000€ (the 64GB/4TB versions across all manufacturers cost ~4-5000€!)

If you like, take a look at the Asus ProArt StudioBook Series, pretty similar to the MSI, but a little better in details (jog dial, touchpad writable with a Stylus). And you can get a calibrated OLED UHD+ Screen with 100% DCI-P3/133% sRGB colour for the same price (vs. 60% sRGB at MSI). Plus a bigger battery (90Wh vs. 65) at the same weight.
I paid 1699€+175€(64GB)+725€(both SSDs)=2599€
As you probably won't need a 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530 or Corsair Force MP600 Pro XT, you can save ~500€. So keep the 1TB SN730 that's included (I moved it to an external case) and just add a 2TB drive for ~170-200€, so you can stay in your price range. Or the 1TB is sufficent and you keep the 2nd slot for future upgrade?
Normal price for the model I bought is 1999€. But even with that you can get a maybe better solution than the MSI for less than 2200€. The only arguments I see for the MSI are the slightly newer CPU and the PCIE 4.0 slots vs. 3.0. Considering the extremely weak factory SSD of the MSI (Micron with only 3000 MB/s throughput) you have to upgrade, before you can have any benefit of 4.0.

But I prefer OLED by far now that I've seen it. The Ryzen 7 5800H equals the i7 11700 desktop version that I have in the studio which is enough for most purposes. Most users still work with SATA SSDs without any problems, so PCIE 3.0 should not be a bottleneck for many years. IOPS are more important than sequential throughput.

Of course I would take everything together, but then we are at ~3000€+.


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## jblongz (Sep 2, 2022)

I have been in the similar pursuit…to take heavy deskstop workstation projects on travels.

After buying and returning a few options, I ordered the Asus ProArt StudioBook with i7-12700H and 3060 (arrives next week). I bought 64gb ram on Amazon. Like the previous laptops with two NVME slots, I’ll use a 2TB PNY for boot and fill spare slot with 2TB Seagate Barracuda Q5. These drives were pulled from my existing desktop and thermal performance was not a consideration. I considered heat when I choose the RTX 3060. Even though I use premier and after effects, I figured I could send visual rendering projects to the desktop remotely for rendering. 3070 pushes the temps a bit and you may want the best optimization for the cpu. 

The main reason I chose the ProArt is build quality (metal) and documented specification about handling 4TB internal storage. While other laptops (like Zephyrus G15) will allow you to do that, it’s documentation may say “up to 1tb + 1tb”. That’s marketing code for ‘heat may be a problem beyond that’. Thankfully I experienced those issues before the return window closed.

Another important reason is dual ram slots. Some of these new ddr5 laptops have 8gb or 16gb soldered, with 1 slot for expansion. This can be a problem for compatibility and efficiency when expanding.

I tried the AMD 6900HS laptops and they were okay, but I was missing Thunderbolt connectivity to the Macs (network over Thunderbolt is awesome) I watched some YouTube testing that showed the i7-12700H and i9-12900 are nearly the same in rap world media apps and rival Apple’s M1 Max. I hope to report good news in a week.


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