Laptop spec for Keylab 88ii

[Dslm44]

Hi all,
I have just bought a Keylab 88 mk ii, and ideally would like to use a windows laptop.  Please could advise a suitable laptop specification to avoid glitching?
Many thanks,
David

[MajorFubar]

Welcome.

The keylab itself is of negligible burden on the system (same as a joystick). How powerful your computer needs to be is dictated by the software instruments you intend to play, the polyphony you require, how much latency you can personally tolerate, and how many software instruments you intend to play continuously (such as multiple tracks in a DAW). A general rule is to buy the most powerful PC you can afford with as much RAM as you can afford. Arturia's minimum specifications states 4 GB RAM with a quad-core 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz turbo-boost) CPU. But that is just a minimum. I would double, and probably quadruple, the memory for a start.

If you were buying a new Mac instead of a Windows PC, my recommendations would be much easier. Literally every new Mac is powerful enough to run any software instruments you might throw at it, in spades. Apple transitioned most of their new Macs to their own silicon (M1) in 2020, they are now two generations of chip into the transition (M2), and for our needs, the quantum-leap in performance and efficiency compared to similar-priced Windows equivalents was stratospheric. It will be a decade or more before even the cheapest most basic M1 Macbook Air or M1 Mac Mini is no longer powerful enough to run then-current software instruments like Analog Lab 12 (or whatever it will be called by then).

[LBH]

Hello,

In addition i can suggest you read this for some generel tips: https://support.image-line.com/action/knowledgebase?ans=214
It's the same principles no matter which DAW you use or don't use any at all.

[Lince Pálido]

I am not an Apple fanboy, but tired of having bad experiences mixing mainboards, sound cards, and so many more problems and problems, I ended up buying a Mac Mini M1 (2020) with minimum specs.

I would probably not recommend Apple/Mac for other tasks, but for music production I do, and you even have a free DAW and instruments included (GarageBand), which is a very good software, included in the price you pay for having Apple MacOS computer.

I am not using GarageBand, nor AU plugins (for Logic Pro, cheap DAW), but instead I am using Reaper and VST3, due to unknown future compatibility, and unknown future Apple prices, so if I may be going back to Windows in the future, at least I am not closing too many doors.

I find my Mac Mini M1 (basic specs) working great for music production, at least now, in late 2022, with Apple Silicon support widely extended, and on-board sound card with low latency.

The M1 is not a rocket, but it is the best I've ever had for music and it pays itself overtime due to the low power consumption, another reason why I bought it.

It works like a charm with Arturia instruments now and a lot lot more I have tested. I have only found somehow limiting CPU when I ran through several layers of UVI WorkStation, but I have other projects with lots of Waves effects and plugins, and Arturia, AAS or Korg VST's.

I had several crashes with latest Ableton Live 11 Suite (demo) for Apple Silicon though and I stopped testing Cubase after disgusting installation process and mouse pointer covering mouse hover tips and hints.

I am satisfied with Reaper and external instruments and effects, and it is just $60 if you're almost not making money. I tested Reaper much much longer that the license allows but I had no limitations anyway. I decided to pay for it just so it becomes better and better. I am all-in with Reaper now.

Also if you use modelled instruments VS sampled instruments you will save a lot of hard drive space requirements, so the lightning fast SSD included would be great.

May be you could find problems getting used to MacOS, but overtime I made that step myself, so I find my way of doing things and it's just working.

I also find the big Trackpad (touchpad) used in MacOS very helpful to swap between screen desktops while you're browsing, using the DAW and tweaking sounds. 3-finger swipe left or right and you're where you want without touching your keyboard.

I just went for MacOS and iPad due to recommendations by more experienced musicians, although I was very proficient in Windows already.

I wanted to avoid the chaos of picking bad combinations which always happened to me with Windows and several brands, even the good and expensive ones.

Apple has several issues too though, but it's working, and MIDI over bluetooth was in Mac like 10 years before now that I think it is also available in Windows (but who knows if it is working).

I think it also depends on the DAW you're going to use and if you're paying for the software or temporarily grabbing it from somewhere else.

If you plan on using connecting microphones or real instruments may be you should also consider an external audio interface, like those from Arturia (I am using a cheap Audient EVO for casual and it's working very well anyway, although most of the times I don't need to even plug it in and use just the keyboard and the onboard audio jack).

For what I have read, latencies below 13ms are good enough to be used without noticing it. In fact, bands and musicians in-stage can have higher latencies caused by the distance to the speakers, so really, don't try to go looking for below 1ms latencies spending thousands bucks.

I hope this helps you.

[Lince Pálido]

Anyway, if you're looking into Windows laptop I would probably pick an Asus or Lenovo.

256 GB lightning fast SSD drive absolute minimum, but may be using Windows I would recommend at least 16GB RAM instead of the 8GB minimum I would recommend with M1 Mac.

There's also a lot of things in Windows that may be you need to Tweak to achieve higher audio performance without glitches, there is so much documentation that I got tired of searching and went to Apple, but may be worth it for you, specially if you are going to use Ableton or Cubase as for the problems I found with those DAWs in Mac M1.

You would only know if you need an external (USB) audio interface after you try ASIO4ALL drivers if you don't have native ASIO drivers for the sound card bundled in your new laptop.

There are so many different models with so many different physical electronics circuits on board in PC world that it is hard for anyone to tell you unless they have the same specific laptop model, because some chipset or driver may interfere with something else, even with the same PC laptop model but assembled in different factories with different chips inside, so you would probably have to invest a little bit more in the external audio interface (near 100€ at least for a decent interface).

Don't mind if it is a USB2 or USB3 interface, really, you don't need a faster USB interface because USB2 already has enough bandwidth for lots of audio channels simultaneously, and having 5, 10 or 40Gbps transfer speed bus will not improve (lower) your latencies, be it Thunderbolt 3, USB 3 or USB 4. There exist better USB 2 audio interfaces (that also cost a lot more) than many USB 3 ones.

Also look for balanced connections if your electricity network may have hum or noise and you don't have a proper connection to ground. I can only achieve a good mass/earth connecting with my Mac Mini M1 when I connect it to the TV and the TV itself is connected to the building antenna which is connected to ground, because the Mac Mini itself only has a 2-pin connection for electricity mains, no ground. Using laptops you would also have the same problem because the AC/DC conversion transformer doesn't handle properly the ground connector if any, although being a laptop you could try to go full use on batteries if everything is being powered by your laptop (audio interface and MIDI keyboard usually) AND you are using balanced audio cables to your external speakers, which would not be powered by the laptop. In that case for example my cheap Audient EVO audio interface would not be able to nullify the hum/noise because it doesn't use balanced audio cables (3-way cables just for mono, dual 3-way cables for stereo, which cannot be RCA type -2 way only-, and must be -each one- stereo like jack plugs or XLR/Mic like).

Oh my, I'm going mad again, lol...