Long gone are the days when music could only be recorded and produced in special studios. Thanks to technological advances music production can now be done from a laptop. There is a catch though. Not just any laptop can be used to produce music. You need to find a laptop that is capable and has all the right attributes. Remember that music production requires many applications to run at the same time. These include those needed to edit and design the music. What are these laptops that you can use as a music producer and succeed without any glitches? Here we look at the best laptops for music production 2017.
Best Laptops for Music Production in June 2017 (Under $500-$2000)
When looking for a laptop for music production the price tag is not enough. There are many other things that you should bear in mind. The first is choosing between macOS and Windows. While Windows is known to be less stable it can be easily stabilized and can be as good as a Mac. Another attribute to look at is the CPU and RAM. For running multiple applications at a go, the best CPU is i5. As for the RAM, the recommended is 8GB but if you only have a small library you can do with 4GB. Remember that you can always upgrade the RAM as you wish.
SSD drives are recommended for their fast write speed but they have less space than HDD. The screen size is equally important as it will determine how much you can see at a go. Choose a large one for doing lots of production work. If portability is an issue choose a smaller one and with a long battery life. Be sure to get a laptop that has several USB ports for easy attachment of gear and you will be happy. With these considerations in mind you will surely find a laptop for music production 2017 that will suit your needs. Here are some you should have on top of your mind when deciding.
1. MacBook Pro 15.4”
This is the best Mac for music production hands down. The fact that it comes with the ‘Garage Band’ app installed should give you a hint that this is a great computer to use to make music.
The display is just enough to do all the production work you want, play tracks and plug-ins while still remaining small enough for easy portability. The retina display will not hurt your eye even if you remain at the laptop all day long. All the graphics are well-detailed thanks to the Intel HD Graphics 530 that has 128MB embedded memory and the words visible with no strain thanks to the many pixels fitted into the display. The computer’s powerhouse is Intel’s quad-core i7 with which you will be able to do anything you want without limitations. The battery life goes up to 10 hours and it comes with backlit keyboard making this the perfect laptop to produce music on the go.
This Music production laptop has Flash storage which has superfast reading and writing capabilities. The Mac responds faster and comes with a whopping 256GB storage space. The Mac Book Pro Touch Bar comes with two Thunderbolt 2 ports that make it easy to connect up to twelve peripheral devices, six on each port. There are two USB 3 ports as well as an HDMI port, headphone port and SDXC card slot.
To capture every sound that you make while reducing background noise are in-built dual mics. To listen the new compositions there are stereo speakers that give crisp, high quality sound output with optimal balance and a wide dynamic range.
[amazon fields=”B01LTHXAO0″ value=”button”]
2. Asus Zenbook Pro 15.6”
If you are more comfortable with Windows then this is the best music production laptop. Asus is one of the leading makers of laptops and they have not disappointed in the Zenbook Pro. It comes with intel’s core i7 processor coupled with 16GB RAM to give a fast computer that responds to commands as soon as they are made with no delay. The SSD storage in place is the 512GB PCle x4 has transfer speeds of 1400MB/s which means it can be written and read really fast. With these multitasking is eased and even when using applications to edit the music which can take up lots of resources there will be no slacking. This massive storage is backed up with 16GB ASUS WebStorage account for cloud storage that is free for a whole year.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M GPU in place makes the graphics perfect so you will not struggle with making the perfect music video. To help you record and listen to your music with ease, the Asus ZenBook Pro is fitted with the latest inventions by the ASUS Golden Ear audio engineering team. This is the SonicMaster Premium which incorporates the ICEpower, Bang and Olusef technology. You will get the best sound in the class with clear vocals.
As for connecting to other devices you will be able to easily do this via the 3 SuperSpeed USB ports. These will open files faster and charge mobile devices faster as well. To share with ease you can use the dual-band WiFi that has speeds of up to 867Mbits/s. The battery lasts for over six hours and so you should be able to work away from the studio longer
[amazon fields=”B071CTS1DM” value=”button”]
3. ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH74 15.6”
This is yet another powerful music production laptop. This however is not all that stands out about this laptop. Another attribute that stands out is its storage capacity. It comes with 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD so all your storage needs are taken care of.
Intel’s sixth generation i7 core is the processor in place and is coupled with a 16GB RAM to ensure that this machine is as powerful s it is rich in storage. The 15.6” display has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 so you are able to see what is on the screen with clarity and the graphics enabled by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB VRAM.
For convenient connection this laptop comes with USB 3.1 type C port. For easy input of command the keyboard has 100 solder points and is backlit for easy typing in low light areas. To ensure that the sound quality given is the best, GL552VW-DH74 comes with the SonicMaster technology.
[amazon fields=”B01LTHXAO0″ value=”button”]
4. Apple MacBook Pro 13”
This is the perfect laptop for a music producer who works on the go. It has a colorful display thanks to Retina display, has great graphics, is powerful and is thin and light in weight. The 2GHz dual-Core i5 by Intel is the heart of this laptop and is supported by 8GB RAM to make a powerful machine that can do open any number of applications at a go without slowing.
With the 64MB embedded DRAM you need not worry about the graphics. They will be perfect allowing you to concentrate on making amazing music. The Final Cut Pro X allows editing of multicam projects from up to three streams at a high speed.
The 256GB SSD that the latest MacBook Pro comes with has an incredible read speed; a whopping 3.1GB/s. the battery will serve you for 10 hours. That is a whole day of work without the need to plug it in, how great for site recordings, right?
The audio system will allow you to listen to the music with more bass and clear sounds. The dynamic range is also great and the volume much higher than in previous models. With this, editing a track will be a breeze. For video output of up to 40Gbps, there are four Thunderbolt 3 ports. You can charge, transfer files and do more with these ports.
If all this does not make this the best computer for music production I do not know what does.
[amazon fields=”B015ZG997I” value=”button”]
5. Inspiron 15 7000 Series
This Windows operated computer brings together power, great looks, long battery life and great graphics in one. Powering it up is Intel i5 and i7 quad-core processors. There are several hard drive options to choose from including 128GB SSD and 1TB HDD dual drive so you choose the one the suits your storage needs best.
Great graphics are enabled by the NVIDIA GTX 1050 that has 4GB GDDR5 discrete memory. With this you will be able to edit videos and transcode faster than ever before. The battery is a 6-cell 74Whr that promises an extended battery life.
What is more? Overheating will never be an issue. There are two fans, three exhausts and big vents that keep the computer cool no matter how long it is in use. The WavesMaxxAudio Pro ensures that you get studio-quality music by the time you are done with the production. There is an in-built subwoofer to make the sound quality best.
There are several options to connect peripherals including media card reader, USB 3.0, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone and power adapter port.
[amazon fields=”B06XFGF7SN” value=”button”]
6. Asus Zenbook 13.3” Quad HD
The touchscreen display may be only 13.3 inches long but it should not mislead you to looking down upon this laptop. The design is great with aluminum chassis with metallic finishes and the performance even better. The multitouch display has a resolution of 3200×1800 for best clarity.
The processor used is the i7 by Intel and is assisted by 512 GB SSD and NVIDIA GT 940M graphics for great performance for fast app launches as well as multi-tasking. It is the most powerful Zenbook yet.
This is among the cheap laptops for music production but has a commendable battery life of over 7 hours. The images displayed are crystal clear so you can concentrate on what matters. This is enabled by an anti-glare coating and a contrast ratio of 770:1. For typing in low light the keyboard has backlights and you can easily control the computer via the touchscreen. This is a great laptop to work on when on the go.
The ASUS SonicMaster technology is in place to ensure nothing short of the best sound quality with clarity, deep bass and a high volume.
[amazon fields=”B014VHVZFQ” value=”button”]
7. Dell Inspiron 15 5578
If you have been looking for cheap laptops for music production this might just be the one. It is stylish, versatile and powerful. On the outside is a dark gray finish covering a matte black on the inside.
The 360-hinge degree is one of its kind allowing you to use this as a laptop and even as a tablet. The 15.6” display is expansive enough to allow you to see all you would like to see in one look. Logins are quicker with the infrared camera option that allows Windows 10’s facial recognition log in.
The processor used is the 2.4 GHz Intel i3 which though less powerful, the 4GB RAM almost makes up for it. The 500GB HDD packs in even more power into the machine to keep it working without slugging.
The audio system in place is the Waves MaxxAudio Pro that gives great sound. To make the graphics look great is the Intel HD Graphics 520 that comes installed.
[amazon fields=”B06X9T7SH4″ value=”button”]
8. DELL XPS 15
This laptop is touted to be among the best 15-inch performance class laptops. The superspeed processor inside is Intel’s sixth generation i7 quad core. To help load graphics even faster, this laptop comes with an optional 2GB NVIDIA GeForceTM GTX 960M graphics card. Get this and video editing and making tracks will be much easier and faster. It also comes with a 512GB SDD for storage that is easy to store to and retrieve from. To make characters and image even clearer and more vivid, the XPS 15-9550 17 has an ultra resolution of 3840 by 2160 on the touchscreen display.
For easy transfer of files this best Windows laptop for music production comes with USB 3.0, a memory card slot, Ethernet port, Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI. There is headset jack that you can use to connect a microphone to record and use the same to listen to the composed music.
[amazon fields=”B01B9TQR7K” value=”button”]
9. ASUS ROG GL552VW 15.6”
This is a powerful laptop that lets you produce your music with ease. The i7 Intel quad-core and the 16GB RAM ensure that you get great performance and the best frame rates. With this multitasking is eased greatly. There is a 1TB hard drive and 128 SSD to provide enough space for all your storage needs and cloud support for even more storage space.
The screen has a resolution of 1920×1080 giving just enough color and clarity while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 M graphics makes it easy for video editing and all graphics to look good.
To allow you to share your creations you can transfer them via USB connection using any of the four USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth or HDMI. The laptop also has Next-Gen Intel’s wireless AC connectivity. There are microphone and headphone ports as well.
To allow portability, this laptop is only 4.85 pounds in weight and 0.9 inches thin. The battery life lasts a long time and the keyboard has backlights for easy typing even in the dark.
[amazon fields=”B015ZG997I” value=”button”]
10. MSI GP62MVR Leopard
This is the best for gaming and music production so if you are into both you should get this one. The 15.6 display is large enough to view many items on one window while the True Color Technology makes items appear clearly.
This powerful machine is run by the intel Core 17-7700HQ and uses the NVIDIA GTX 1060 3G GDDR5. The RAM is 16GB while the hard drive is a 256GB M2 SATA drive. To keep all these operating optimally with no overheating issues, the laptop is fitted with 6 heat pipes. You can make music and game day and night and this laptop will not complain. The keyboard comes with the steel series full-color backlight so you can see the letters as you type in dark areas.
[amazon fields=”B01MY2NJSH” value=”button”]
Those are the 10 best laptops for music production in 2017. Whether you prefer macOS or Windows 10 there is one for you just choose wisely. The laptops are sold at different prices on Amazon and will suit people of different budgets so be sure to consider how much you have before making a pick. These reviews are based on personal user experiences and internet reviews. Only truthful information is contained herein. All the best in choosing a good laptop and of course in your video production endeavor.
Leave a Comment