MBA for audio production?

[DrewM2]

I’m a public radio reporter looking to get a Mac laptop in the not too distant future. I know a MBP would be the logical way to go….however….I am really drawn to the size (or lack thereof) of the MBA. Has anyone done any audio production on the Air? I wouldn’t be doing anything too intense, mostly editing interviews and a bit of multi track mixing for stories. Also, is there a equivalent to Adobe Audition for a Mac?

Thanks

 

[RemarkabLee]

I’m a public radio reporter looking to get a Mac laptop in the not too distant future. I know a MBP would be the logical way to go….however….I am really drawn to the size (or lack thereof) of the MBA. Has anyone done any audio production on the Air? I wouldn’t be doing anything too intense, mostly editing interviews and a bit of multi track mixing for stories. Also, is there a equivalent to Adobe Audition for a Mac?

Thanks

The Air could probably handle that okay.

Amadeus is a nice little multi-track editor. Not as serious as Cool Edit Pro/Adobe Audition. A whole lot cheaper too at $40!

If you want to get into Pro Audio Apps (e.g Logic) you should go for the MBP.

 

[dXTC]

The Air could probably handle that okay.

...

If you want to get into Pro Audio Apps (e.g Logic) you should go for the MBP.

Agreed. Although the Air would be OK for casual audio editing, those who plan on serious recording would opt for the MBP, if for nothing else than FireWire. FW is more stable for recording audio than USB, even at slower speeds, and is widely considered the professional's choice for audio interfaces.

 

[darngooddesign]

Another issue is that the Pro has a higher res screen which would allow you to have more of the track info visible at one time, ie. less scrolling.

 

[McGilli]

I've been using Audacity for OSX lately on my MBA to record my dj sets. The software is free - and it's pretty good. I come from like 10 or more years using the Sound Forge software on Windows computers - and Audacity feels like a 'lite' version of it. But - it works well and is worth looking into.

As mentioned above - the screen rez on the MBA is tough once you have a few tracks going at the same time - but only if you are really used to using high rez screens i think. I did alot of portable laptop work on windows for years with sound forge and I just adjusted...

for your needs it sounds like a good fit.

I just take mine on the road - hook my mixer directly into a Griffin iMic - into Audacity - record the entire set - then use Audacity to split up the individual tracks i spun so I can then burn cd's for people at the party.....

 

[ChrisA]

I’m a public radio reporter looking to get a Mac laptop in the not too distant future. I know a MBP would be the logical way to go….however….I am really drawn to the size (or lack thereof) of the MBA. Has anyone done any audio production on the Air? I wouldn’t be doing anything too intense, mostly editing interviews and a bit of multi track mixing for stories. Also, is there a equivalent to Adobe Audition for a Mac?

Thanks

The most used muti-track editor for the Mac isof course Garage Band, because it ships free with every mac. The next one would be Apple's "Logic" or "Logic Express" although Logic is associated with music production it is a general purpose multi track editor. You can simply ignore the features you don't need, like MIDI editing, drum loops and so on.

The bigger question is going to be which audio interface to use. You can't plug a professional mic into the computer's 3.5mm line-in. You will need a USB audio interface

Every USB audio interface ships bundled with some "lite" version of some multi-track audio editor. For your use this "lite" version may be enough. You might select an interface based on the bundled software. Or you might decide to use Logic (or even GB)