You’ll be amazed to hear the music quality recorded from home recording studios.
- Mac Mini For Music Production 2018
- Good Mac For Music Production
- Best Mac For Music Production
- Mac Specs For Music Production
- What Is The Best Mac For Music Production
- Mac Desktop For Music Production
Mac’s hardware is robust and if you are familiar with the system you will find a Mac easy to use. The main reason why many people prefer Mac is because of some music production software that is only available for Mac operating systems. Examples are GarageBand and Apple Logic Pro X. GarageBand will allow you to create music as an expert. The top 10 best computers for music production and recording. The following list is our recommended 10 best computers for production currently in the market. We made sure to choose a wide range of types. With this producer edition, you can easily record both external and internal audio easily without breaking a sweat. And of course, full audio recording and post-production are guaranteed. When editing your music, this software goes a very long way to bring you all kinds of features that make the hard-to-do very achievable.
That being said, should you go for a Windows PC or a Mac? There is a war going on because of this subject itself, but having produced on a Mac & Windows before, let me give you my insights.
- We compare them all and explain which Mac is right for you - MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro. There was a time when music production required hiring a studio for the kind of.
- In this article, I’ll be talking about the 10 best music production software that will definitely help you to make some awesome music. So let’s just head into the topic without wasting time. Also Check: Best Remote Desktop Software for Windows & MAC. Top 10 Best Music Production Software for Windows & MAC.
Should You Buy A Mac?
Apple Mac computers are beautifully designed and you feel good owning one. I started producing music on a Mac on Logic Studio. Logic Studio was made by the same company, Apple, so I figured I shouldn’t have any problems using them both.
I’d be honest. It was much easier to work on a Mac as compared to Windows. Installing my first software was pretty easy. I could depend on the Mac at all times. All I had to do whenever I wanted to make music is just power the computer on, launch my DAW and then make music. Good when inspiration strikes and you must put down ideas quickly.
With a Mac, you get Core Audio as your built-in audio driver. Core Audio is brilliant and you have close to no issues using it with your favourite DAW or when doing screencasting. On the other hand, Windows Audio is horrible when it comes to music production and screen casting. (I even had to find a new solution when doing screencasting on a Windows PC).
My second Mac machine was the iMac. I bought an iMac for my recording studio and continue to finish many productions on it.
Another reason why I liked the iMac a lot is because it was almost near silent-less. No noisy fans or loud spinning hard disks. That made it a perfect machine for recording in the same room if you’re recording in your home studio.
Let’s Look At Some Mac Computers You Might Buy
Macbook / Macbook Pro
Macbook Retina 2015First of all, please do not buy the new Macbook Retina 2015 for music production. Despite what people say, the Macbook Retina are not made for music production. It may be good for writers or web users on the go but not for a music producer.
On the other hand, Macbook Pros are fair for music production. Besides being portable, it has the power to take on many recording projects you throw at it. I’m not talking about big film scoring projects. For that, you’ll need a desktop machine, which we’ll get into later.
Macbook Pros also ships with a number of ports, like the Thunderbolt which is recognized by many audio hardware companies. It’s easy to find an audio interface with a thunderbolt connection.
There are a few things you have to watch before investing in a Macbook Pro. First, while it’s really fast, most Macbook Pros ship with very little hard disk storage. I find this limiting because I normally install lots of sample instruments into my computer. A Komplete Ultimate installation will take up to 320GB of space on your computer, more than what most Macbook Pros ship with.
Macbook Pros don’t ship with large hard disk space sizesA solution to this would be to install all your samples into a portable hard disk in which you carry with you.
Second, Macbooks are not upgradable. That is to say you have to upgrade your Macbook to the fullest specifications you can afford on the day you purchase it. You’ll need a lot of RAM for music production and you really have no choice but to upgrade the RAM on your Macbook to 16GB.
iMac
An iMac in a home recording studioI like the iMac a lot not because it’s really quiet, but because you get a large screen real estate. Trust me, I’ve tried working on a film scoring project with over 60 tracks on small laptop screen and though it’s do-able, I found myself squinting and scrolling all over my DAW.
As you fill your DAW with tracks, you’ll start to crave for more screens to work upon. The iMac also has lots of ports for connectivity. I like to think of the iMac as a big laptop. And oh, you have to buy as much as RAM as your budget allows when you buy the iMac. Sucks, I know.
Which iMac Should You Buy?
It is always better to get a computer with the fastest processor, but if your budget won’t allow. You should be fine with starting off with an Core i5 at bare minimum. RAM however should be upgraded to the max. As for screens, having a big screen is nice but you can always add another screen later on.
My iMac 09′ lasted me for about 4 years before I finally grew sick of it’s sluggishness in coping with the latest softwares and projects size.
Mac Pro
All the computing power you’ll ever need in the studioGot all the budget and want to go big? Then get the Mac Pro.
I’ve never got my hands to actually finish a music piece on a Mac Pro, but looking at its specifications I’d say it’s worth a go if you want the best on a Mac platform.
The Mac Pro is actually an overkill for music production. Why? I’ll lay down the pros for you.
- Speed – You have everything you need to record loads of tracks and plugins
- Storage no longer an issue – We talked about having storage issues when it comes to samples. Not anymore on a Mac Pro
- Mac Pros are customizable – Yes they are giving you more space for future proofing your computer.
- Multiple Video Cards – Multiple outputs for your screens. You’ll need more screen real estate when you go bigger.
And oh, enjoy watching the jealousy on people’s faces when they visit your studio.
Check the complete list of Mac Computers here
It said that that Mac is the industry standard for recording and music production. But that isn’t the case. Even big time composers such as Hans Zimmer and Tom Holkenberg, uses multiple linked PCs for their work. Read Inside Track – Sci-Fi Movie Divergent
Maybe a Windows PC is something never considered for music production back in the days. However Windows OS have evolved so much that it’s not an excuse not being able to make music on a Windows machine anymore.
People have been asking why I made the switchWhen I made the switch to Windows, many people wondered why. The first reason I made the change was because I had lots of students who were making music on the Windows platform. I figured I had to be on the Windows platform too, so I’d be able to help them on the VSTs, softwares and plugins as we go about the music production classes.
And oh please. A Mac DO NOT sound better. Your skills makes the difference regardless of what OS you’re making music on. Period.
Call me a semi geek, but I like to have control over my computer and the systems I’m working on. In short, I love being able to customize.
When I made the switch, I had to look for a new DAW because Logic Studio doesn’t run on Windows machines. I then chose to go for Steinberg Cubase, which I bought over in Amazon.
Upon switching to Windows I quickly realized that there was so much customizing I could do. I was using the M-Audio Profire 2626 as my audio interface. So what I did was I purchased a Firewire card for my desktop PC, and voila I’m able to use the audio interface to record. The M-Audio Profire 2626 connects to the computer with a Firewire cable.
You may argue that Firewire is outdated, but being able to customize my computer to run with legacy hardware and devices was very much appreciated. So the PC allows for lots of customization and networking. You could use that to your advantage in future proofing your production computer and also to add more computing power to your recordings.
The Downside Of Windows
There are few things I dislike about Windows. There’s always going to be pros and cons, right?
Firstly, Windows Audio. Windows Audio driver is great for your everyday uses on the computer from watching videos, playing games and listening to music. But not when it comes to music production. It’ll be hard to produce music on a Windows PC without actually investing in an audio interface, acting as your main audio driver.
Secondly, there are various of motherboards and chipsets controlling things when you buy a PC, conflicts are most likely to occur. With a Mac however, you get one motherboard and everything configured for you out of the box. The solution to this problem is to do more research and make sure you know your stuff. If you’re more of a person who just want things done out the box, go for a Mac.
What Type of Windows PC Should You Buy?
I suggest going for PC makers who specialize in building PC desktops & laptops made for audio production. Browse for computers from sites such as Scan.Co.UK or ProAudioLabs. With them you’ll be sure to get a system that simply works for music production.
However that is not to say you can’t build your PC yourself. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when building your PC for music production.
1. Silent PC Casing
That’s it, you’re ready to go. FreeNAS supports sharing protocols for all major operating systems including CIFS/SMB (Windows), AFP (Apple), and NFS (Unix). Nas for mac. Simply copy your files to a FreeNAS system and set up the proper protocol to access them. Not only does this free up storage space, it saves time and makes it convenient when you need to transfer things across devices.
Cooler Master Silencio 352Try to get a silent casing with built in padding when you built your PC. A good case not only helps with the cooling of the computer, but it should also be silent enough. Noises are usually emitted from hard disks and fans in your computer system. If you have a one room home recording studio, getting a silent case is so every crucial.
There are many silent PC cases in the market from all ranges. If you want something that works and isn’t very expensive, I’d recommend the Cooler Master Silencio silent case.
2. Power Supply
Cooler Master 800W Silent Pro GoldNever skimp on power supply for your computer. Go for a cheaply made PSU unit for your computer and you might risk getting hums whenever you record. True story.
You’ll also have to look at the output capacity of your the power supply unit. It depends on the number of devices you’ll be plugging in into your computer. The more devices you plug in, the more power you’ll need. For a music production system, going for a 800W power supply will be more than enough.
A silent and efficient power supply is what you need for a good music production PC. I’d recommend going for the Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W 80 PLUS Gold Power Supply with Modular Cables (RS800-80GAD3-US)
3. Motherboard
There are various kinds of motherboards you can get out there – no restrictions for this. A rule of thumb when getting a motherboard for music production. Lower temperatures of CPU means a quieter PC – the coolers need not work so hard to cool the CPU. Get a motherboard with good voltage regulations.
4. RAM
As always, get as much RAM as you can. Sampler instruments and plugins are always RAM-hungry, so you make sure you have enough RAM for a smooth producing experience. There are few things to look into RAM. Make sure it has a frequency of at least 1600Mhz.
Audio Mentor prefers the Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L-1600 MHz
5. Hard Disk Drives
Other than just SSD, normal Hard Disk does a great job for storing dataIf you have budget, use an SSD for your main operating system and DAW. Then use HDD with at least 7200rpm for your project files and samples.
I find this to be the best setup for music production on a PC. This setup ensures your system is blazing fast while you have enough space for the other samples. Audio Mentor recomends the WD Green 2TB Desktop Hard Drives
6. Processor
Always go for Intel processors. They seem to work the best with DAWs and you’re better of with an Intel processor over and AMD processor. For recording music, I always advise getting an i5 processor as a minimum.
I hope I covered enough for you to get started in recording and producing music in your home studio. There would be an endless debate on which operating systems and hardwares are better for producing music, but most importantly, you should focus on your music and skills.
Don’t waste time meddling with too much technical stuff when buying or building a computer. Get one that works for you then jump in right in to producing.
What are your current setup? What are some hardware or setup you can recommend? Comment below.
![Music Music](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134299633/635897912.jpg)
[Updated: 14 April 2018] – We’ve curated the best laptops for music production this year. Go forth and make music!
Choosing a good laptop for music production shouldn’t be too hard but it is a critical decision to make.
What you want is a laptop powerful enough for recording and music production. On top of that, it will last you many years to come, eventually making sense of your investment.
You possibly travel a lot as well and want a laptop to produce music, that isn’t bulky or heavy.
I totally understand. In fact, in my years of producing music, I owned over 5 laptops, Macs & PCs in the past 10 years of producing music.
How To Choose A Good Laptop for Music Production
First of all, you need to think about the OS you’d like to produce music on. Will you primarily make music on a Mac or PC?
I’ve covered this topic about choosing a computer for music production previously, but just to add, choosing an OS to make music on usually depends on the DAW software you want to use.
Personally, I started my music production journey in 2006 with Logic Express. Since then, I have switched between multiple DAWs such as Cubase, Studio One, and even switch between using Mac & PC a few times only to finally finding myself buying a MacBook Pro Retina to use Logic X almost 10 years later in 2016.
Choosing a good laptop for music production boils down to three main factors:
- Main DAW software you’ll use
- Processing power – You’ll want the fastest processor you can afford.
- RAM – You need more RAM for VST intensive production. I recommend a minimum of 8GB.
Don’t make the mistake I did, by jumping into buying a laptop that didn’t quite like for music production. I bought the Asus GL552VW on impulse. Good affordable laptop but not without some annoyance.
See the review video:
Of course, things such as battery life for making music on the go, available storage space to store your samples or available ports are important as well. But there are often workarounds for those.
Let’s get started.
Best 10 Laptops For Music Production in 2018
Here are the best 10 laptops that you can consider buying in 2018 for music production. I’ll also briefly explain the pros and cons of each.
1 – MacBook Pro Retina 2015
One of the best laptops to go for when it comes to music production is the MacBook Pro.
Why? Because it simply works. I’m not going to discuss the war between PC or Macs for music production but having used both & while it really boils down to personal preference, I still prefer using a MacBook Pro over any Windows laptop to produce music.
With a MacBook Pro (the Retina 2015 model), you get everything you need to make music immediately. Fast SSD drive, Core Audio, RAM, battery life & CPU power to take on most music production demands.
Hey, what about the latest Macbook Pro? To be honest, the current MacBook Pro model with the touch bar isn’t bad. The reason I didn’t feature it here is that of the need for more ports on a laptop for music production. The current model does not have enough ports without using a dongle.
Most MIDI controllers & audio interfaces all work on a USB3 connection. And to be honest, the touch bar on the new MacBook Pros doesn’t actually help your production workflow.
One more thing. If you’re planning to buy the MacBook Pro & need to add more RAM, don’t buy the 13″ model & upgrade the RAM. Instead, it makes more monetary sense to buy the 15″ base model as it comes with 16GB RAM installed, together with an i7 processor.
Pros
- Ready to use out-of-the-box.
- Solid performance & quality.
- Little driver or software issues with a Mac system.
- Comes with Garageband (which is great for beginners)
Cons
- Small SSD space. Not enough for keeping large samples.
- Expensive.
- May lack enough ports.
- Not very upgradable.
- RAM only up to 16GB.
- Slower processor compared to many other Windows laptop.
2 – Razer Blade Stealth 13.3″
If you’ve been around the internet looking for a high-quality laptop, you may have heard about the Razer Blade Stealth. This laptop is great in many ways for music production and here are some reasons why.
It has the 8th generation Quad Core i7-8550U that will deal with all your DAW & plugins processing. It comes with 16GB of RAM which sadly isn’t upgradable but should definitely do the trick for a travelling producer. In addition, it also has an NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 106, which will be an extra help for your RAM usage when producing music, as it’ll help with some plugin processing.
A nice feature is the touchscreen display, so you could in fact, use the touchscreen to tweak your audio plugins & draw automation. The standard SSD storage that comes with it, is a 256GB SSD, but you can upgrade it to 512GB. The 1TB version will cost you quite a bit more, and I foresee most music producers using an external hard disk with the Razer Blade.
However, a quick workaround is to use the USB-C port, where you can use an external SSD or HDD to load any of your projects, plugins or virtual instruments with ease. While the USB-C is pretty fast, make sure you get an external drive, preferably an SSD that is fast enough to load & save samples.
Though the Razer Blade Stealth is marketed for gaming, where you’ll be putting down money for design & the graphics card, the laptop will perform great for any music production usage.
Pros
- Solid performance and quality.
- Has USB-C. One of the most powerful USB connections to date.
Cons
- Expensive.
- Little option for upgrades.
- There are cheaper alternatives if you’re in a pinch.
3 – Dell XPS 15
The Dell XPS series is a laptop series that has been around for some time. The Dell XPS 15 is also one of the sexiest 15-inch laptop you can buy for music production.
Unlike many other Chinese-made laptops which can be quite flimsy with its build, you’ll appreciate the strong & premium build of the XPS 15, its nice borderless display, the touch deck & how slim-profiled the laptop is. It’s seriously a beauty of a laptop.
Performance wise, there are few models you can choose from, depending on your budget. But be informed that the Dell XPS is pricier than other laptops with the same performance, due to the build and component quality.
The entry model starts at $999 with the 7th gen i3 processor. I’d advise you to bump your budget up and get the $1249 model that comes with the 7th gen i5 processor at a bare minimum. Or better yet, get the model with the i7 processor to future-proof your laptop purchase.
The entry model sports a 7200RPM hard disk drive which would be fine for music production, but if you’re afraid of hitting into bottlenecks with the storage drive speed, get the higher end models that come with SSD.
The RAM on every model is upgradable to 32GB, making it ideal for music production. There’s also plenty of ports from USB3.0 to Thunderbolt, so connectivity in the studio shouldn’t be an issue.
Pros
- Beautifully designed & solid
- Very nice display
- Powerful. Expensive models come with Nvidia graphics card.
Cons
- No option to have 2 storage drives.
- Pricier option. You pay for the build quality & brand
4. PCAudioLabs (MC Mobile M7S)
PC Audio Labs makes laptops and computers for music producers. What you get is not off the shelf basic PCs, but specialized Windows systems, tweaked specifically for professional audio. Compared to many off-the-shelf laptops, where drivers are built by Windows, PC AudioLabs take it further by tweaking the drivers specifically for music production.
The MC Mobile M7s comes packed with an Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ, it has the power to handle all of your processing in your DAW. In fact, the systems built by PCAudioLabs (including the MC Mobile M7s), has been used to score films, power DJ performances and becoming the heart of many commercial recording studios. Why you could upgrade the RAM to 64GB if you want!
Storage wise, you have an M.2/PCIe or an option for an SSD or an HDD. All of the storage can be upgradable to your needs.
In addition to the purchase of this laptop (other PC AudioLabs’ products/custom PC included), PC AudioLabs also comes with pro audio training from OBEDIA, a well-known company which profession is in helping music producers with training and solving technicalities. This largely separates them apart even from big companies like Apple. They also come with free lifetime phone and email tech support even when your warranty has already come to an end.
In summary, this laptop just shouts customisability and if you’d like the idea of having a laptop built specifically for music production, this one is a go.
Pros Ableton for mac.
- Made for music production.
- Lifetime phone & email support by pro audio hardware & software techs.
- Extremely customizable towards your needs & budget.
- Comes with pro audio training from OBEDIA.
Cons
- It’ll come with a cost.
- Favors intermediate & pro producers who know what they want. As a beginner, you might do OK on normal laptops.
5 – HP Pavilion Power 15
The HP Pavilion Power 15 is a nice laptop with enough screen size for busy DAW edits. Packed with an Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ, you’ll have enough processing power for large music arrangements and recordings. On the contrary, it only packs 4GB of RAM in which can be upgraded to 16GB only (max). The battery is a plus on the Pavilion if you like to do a bit of writing out of the studio.
The big thing to shout about with this machine is the fact that it has a dual storage option. With the capability of having an SSD and an HDD, you can put your programs on your SSD and dump all of your plugins and VSTs on your HDD which can be upgraded up to 2TB.
Video editing or some light film score on this laptop will work too, with an NVIDIA GeForce 1050. The Pavilion Power 15 makes a great laptop for the beginner or intermediate music producer who enjoys making music and doing other tasks. Just make sure you get the specs you want right from the factory, to save troublesome upgrades later on.
Pros
- Huge storage w/ dual storage option.
- Good amount of ports including USB-C.
- Long battery life – up to 14 hours.
Cons
- RAM upgradable to 16GB only.
- Plastic-built
6 – Dell Inspiron 15 7000
An affordable gaming laptop that looks just twice as expensive the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is a workhorse, that should be considered. With models that start from only $799, the Inspiron 15 7000 comes with the latest 8th generation Core i5-8250U processor.
It packs a lot of power for the intermediate music producer.
There are also dual drives built into the laptop, with an SSD as its main drive, so DAW will feel snappy on this laptop. While the laptop comes with a big 15″ display, giving you plenty of real estate for working in your DAW, the display is somewhat not as vibrant as compared to many other laptops.
This will be slightly discouraging if you plan on making videos with it as well as the colors are not exactly accurate. However, if producing music is your main focus and nothing else, then Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is worth a consideration – without spending too much!
Pros
- Long battery life – up to 11 hours.
- Decent performance at its price.
- Great build, looks professional and solid.
Cons
- Dull & inaccurate display
- Heavy.
- Bottom of the laptop can get pretty hot with more need for processing.
7 – HP Spectre x360 (2018)
Another well made laptop, the Spectre X360 allows you to use it like a normal laptop or as a tablet. Although a little small, it’s very well built. Also, expect great battery life on the Spectre X360. It is capable of running up to 8 hours with continuous online browsing.
Now sporting the latest 8th gen Intel Core i7, you’ll have all the power to record & produce music. You could upgrade the Spectre’s storage to a whopping 1TB SSD, so streaming your tracks with it should be fairly fast while having all the space you need.
Where it used to fall short, now the RAM can be upgraded to a max of 32GB. This means the Spectre x360 while being a touch-screen laptop is capable of processing intensive music work such as film scoring.
The bummer would be the available ports on the laptop. There’s only single USB3.0 port that you could use for your audio interface or MIDI controller. On the right side of the laptop, there’s another two USB type-C port which is meant for charging and a Thunderbolt 3 port. Using the HP Spectre X360 for music production means investing in some USB-hubs, unfortunately.
Mac Mini For Music Production 2018
If you find yourself travelling a lot & like a thin laptop that you can produce music on, then consider it. However, at the tech specs, you’re getting, the Spectre costs considerably more than other laptops in its range – mostly due to the build quality and slim profile.
The graphics card that comes with the Spectre X360 is not as powerful as the other gaming laptops I mentioned earlier, but for some light photoshopping or video editing, it should do fine. Just don’t expect to play games with high graphics intensity on it – which I’ll doubt since you’ll be more busy making music.
Pros
- Great battery life for travelling & producing.
- Very nice 4K display.
- Can be upgraded with the latest processor, large SSD and RAM.
- A silent laptop.
Cons
- Very few ports. Need to get USB hub.
- Heats up pretty quick due to its thin build
- Decent graphics card.
- Gets expensive with all the upgrades.
8 – Asus GL503 15.6″
The Asus GL503, (refresh from the FX503) is a gaming laptop that works well for music production. Why? It’s pretty damn powerful for its size and weight. You get the latest Intel Core™ i7-8750H processor that would take on any recording and plugin processing without a hiccup.
As with most gaming laptops, the GL503 comes with a very powerful graphics card, an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB GDDR5 VRAM – which essentially is an overkill for any music production work, but very much welcomed if you’re doing some video editing and film scoring as well. You could upgrade the RAM to 32GB, should you be a heavy plugin and effects user.
As for storage space, I’d recommend you go for the 256GB SSD to install all your softwares and upgrade to the 7200rpm HDD (not the 5400rpm), to store and load your samples quickly. The build of the laptop isn’t the best one out there, but if you can live with gaming-looking laptops, with lots of led lights and mostly a plastic build, you’ll do fine.
While the GL503 does boast about its cooling proficiency, it does get a little warm when you’re doing lots of processing on it. As with most gaming laptops, the battery isn’t that great when the laptop starts putting lots of load on the processor. But if you’re going to be plugged in when making music, the Asus GL503 will perform like a charm.
Pros
- Very powerful for its size & weight.
- Enough ports for most music production needs
- Customizable & upgradable to the power you need.
Cons
- Battery life isn’t as good.
- Gets hot with lots of processing.
9 – Samsung Notebook 9
Want a laptop that is thin & light, but doesn’t sacrifice on performance? The Samsung Notebook 9 is a great 15″ laptop that is powerful, given that it comes with an i7 processor, 256GB SSD drive & 16GB RAM.
The Samsung Notebook 9 is thinner than a MacBook Air and despite that slim built, it also comes with a dedicated Nvidia 940MX GPU built in. While the M.2 SSD 256GB SSD might seem small, it can be upgraded up to 1TB.
Design for the traveler in mind, there’s also a USB-C port on the Samsung Notebook 9 that you can use to charge the laptop with a standard phone charger. Samsung claims that a 20-min charge would give enough battery juice for the laptop to last for 2.1 hours.
For us as music producers, there are also plenty of connectivity with USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and strangely a microSD port instead of a standard sized SD port on the laptop.
Pros
- Extremely portable and ideal for the travelling music producer
- Nice display and screen real estate
- Upgradable SSD to 1TB a win!
Cons
- RAM only upgradable up to 16GB. Won’t be able to handle samples which are too huge.
- Weird to have a microSD slot instead of a full standard sized SD card.
10 – Asus Zenbook Pro
Prefer a thinner ultrabook, not as chunky as most gaming laptops, but is slick, slim and gets the job done? The Asus Zenbook Pro is an amazing laptop for music production with its powerful Intel i7 processor. Once again like most HP laptops, the RAM is only upgradable up to 16GB only.
This laptop has many ports and if you’re a MIDI controller person, you’ll be happy to know there’s enough. Storage on this guy is not that great but you’ll be relieved to know that they are PCIe SSD storage. This means you’ll have fast transfers speeds despite the low storage count.
In all seriousness, I think this laptop may be a little underrated but it seriously does its job as a slim, slick, powerful ultrabook.
Pros
- Great performance & build quality.
- Excellent display.
- Decent amount of ports including Thunderbolt.
Cons
- RAM upgradable to 16GB only.
- Low storage capacity.
Bonus #11 – Eluktronics P650RP6 Gaming Laptop
![Mac For Music Production Mac For Music Production](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134299633/611303503.jpg)
Never thought I’d recommend this beast of a machine here but upon studying it, this is a must-have on this list.
The Eluktronics P650RP6 is a beast for a laptop, created by the Eluktronics, a US company who feels that 5400RPM hard drives shouldn’t be placed inside modern laptops anymore. They pride themselves to use the best components and parts in the laptops they build.
Of the many models offered, the Eluktronics P650RP6 is one that shows promise in performance and also serving as a laptop for music production. With the top models, you can beef up the laptop, powered by a powerful i7 processor, 1TB SSD, 7200RPM HDD secondary drive & RAM upgradable to a whopping 64GB.
With all this packed into a laptop, it makes the Eluktronics P650RP6 possibly one of the most powerful and best laptop for music production. Packed with a truckload of connectivity options for all your audio devices, it’s also a no-brainer if you use a lot of MIDI controllers or if you’re planning to hook up multiple displays in the studio. Battery life on the laptop is also decent with approximately 4-5 hours of non-intensive usage.
In my opinion, the Eluktronics laptop falls short with its noisy fan noise under heavy computing load. This might not be so much of a big deal if you work in a two-room recording studio setting. But if you record & mix in the same room, the noisy fans might be a nuisance when recording. Other than that, the Eleuktronics P650RP6 is a true beast of a laptop for music production at the right cost.
Pros
- Pricer but price is right for the performance & power.
- RAM up to 64GB. Run all the samples you need!
- Laptop with most connectivity in its class.
Cons
- Noisy fans under heavy load.
- Bulky and not very sexy.
Conclusion
There are so many laptops you can choose to produce music on. However what matters at the end of the day is that you put your craft into practice and actually make music.
Many amateur music producers lust too much over new gear but don’t spend the time to record, compose & produce.
I hope you’re not one & despite the laptop, you decide to get, make sure you produce music. And if you do, feel free to post them over on Audio Mentor’s Facebook page so that the community can take a listen.
Lastly, what do you think of this list? What laptop are you using currently to record and produce music? Comment below.
Best Laptops For Music Production From 2017
Good Mac For Music Production
We’ve kept some of the best laptops from yesteryears here below. Remember, choosing a computer for professional audio is different from choosing one to play games. The key is to know what you need in a system before getting one.
Feel free to reference them from the list below!
1. Acer Aspire VX 15
The Acer Aspire VX 15 is an affordable gaming laptop with a starting price from only $800. Although catered more towards gamers, it serves well as a music production and video editing laptop too. The entry model has an Intel i5 processor while the higher end models have an i7 but no matter the model, solid performance is not lost.
Best Mac For Music Production
RAM can only be upgraded up to 16GB. The starting model only has a 256GB SSD built in hence, you’ll need to rely on external storage devices. A 2.5inch HDD drive can also be added with some assembly required.
2. ASUS FX502VM-AS73
The is a powerhouse of a laptop with plenty of ports from USB 3 ports, USB-C, HDMI & even a mini display port. It is fitted with the latest 7th gen i7 core processor & upgradable RAM up to 32GB. This laptop performs well as a video editing laptop too as it is equipped with an NVIDIA GTX 960M graphics card.
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The laptop comes with an exceptional, impressive cooling system that keeps everything at bay even with the heaviest CPU/GPU workload. It is recommended to get the top end model because it comes with an SSD that is upgradable to 512GB and an HDD of 1TB so, you can install your programs on one and larger files on the other. The downside of this laptop is the battery life.
3. Asus ROG Strix GL553VD
The main attraction for the Asus ROG Gl553VD is the two storage drives. An SSD of 512GB and an HDD of 1TB at 7200RPM. Running with the latest Kaby Lake Intel i7 processor with the RAM upgradable to 32GB, there is no sacrifice in performance.
Equipped with an NVIDIA GTX 1050, your DAW will be able to take advantage of the GPU processing. There is a CD drive on the laptop too if you still need it.
This laptop falls short in which the battery life is limited and the touchpad is pretty lousy hence, it doesn’t really make it ideal for producing music when travelling.
4. Lenovo Legion Y520 Laptop
The [easyazon_link identifier='B06XWFCKYX' locale='US' tag='audiowebazon-20'] is a laptop that shouts performance at a price that won’t disappoint. Packed with the latest i7 processor, it is a pity that the RAM is only upgradeable up to 16GB. Fitted with an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, it should be pretty snappy to do some video editing or photoshopping on the side.
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If you use a lot of MIDI gear, you’ll be happy to know that there are enough USB ports for them. You get to choose from a 256GB SSD, a 2TB HDD or a hybrid storage. Do take note that the HDD is not a 7200RPM type, so I’d suggest getting the model with an SSD and use an external drive to store your data.
5 – HP Envy 13
Unlike the Spectre X360, the [easyazon_link identifier='B06XKW9M56' locale='US' tag='audiowebazon-20']HP Envy 13 is yet another slim laptop that packs a punch. You could go for the 15″ model if you like a bigger real-estate for making music, however, for the added screen space we personally felt the 15-inch variant wasn’t priced for value. Again, it could make sense to go with the 13″ variant. It’s small, lightweight, slim and powerful.