Anyone here do audio recording on there laptop?

Hi i work with alot of bands as a sound engineer, most of them are just starting out and ive been recording demos for them. Ive got a ok laptop and have been recording using a 2 in 2 out interface and using a friends Yamaha aw1600 to record the drums.I have good mics and ableton live 7 so im setup with software.

So my question to you is, im looking at getting a interface with 8 XLR in's, the only problem is that my laptop has no firewire ports. The only usb option ive found is the M-audio fast track ultra 8r trouble is its so new no ones reviewed it yet. Is there a firewire or interface card that can fit in the express slot on the side of my laptop.

I know this isnt a music forum but I have had unhelpful answers in most other forums and the people here are much nicer.

google

http://www.amazon.com/2-port-Firewire-PCMCIA-Cardbus/dp/B0001STHQ4

If your laptop is quite old (and thus doens't have a firewire built in) then it might be a good idea to get a faster and more powerful laptop if your going to start recording 8 inputs.

I was going to recommend a Cardbus firewire adapter, too. But, doesn't the cardbus run at the same speed as the USB? I.e. will it give you firewire connectivity at a fraction of its actual speed if your laptop only has USB1.1?

This is really good - plus you get all the exellent gearbox software included.
http://uk.line6.com/toneportux8/

However I'm quite skeptical about recording directly to a computer - especially 8 inputs at once. Umless you have a very powerful machine you're bound to get timing glitches. I always record everyting to my Boss 1600 and then import each track to my pc for final editing and mastering.

i record digitally
but not with pc or laptop
ive got a zoom h4 2 input 4 track
and a zoom h2 which is more for podcasting stuff but you could plonk it in the middle of the rehursal rooms and have the band facing it (it can record 360 degs due to 4 mics)
both record to SD cards either as cd quality wavs or mp3's

eying up their 8 input 16 track for some time in the new year for when i start doing more multi instrument stuff semi live

i upgraded from a tascam cassette based 4 track which i used to pump out via line in but only played back to pc once the tape was done as i didnt and still dont trust this pc to do one track recording for any length letalone 8 :D

i recomended the h2 to some random bloke who was mic shopping for his podcast interviewing setup
one pocket sized gizmo vs a laptop, 2 mics and any other gubbins you may need

Most studios are Pc/mac based now. logic / pro tools

I have a friend who has a lower spec laptop than me who uses a Fire pod firewire interface and recording 8 inputs is fine no audio glitchs. you wont get timing errors anyway just audio pops etc if the pc/drivers cant keep up. if i was recording and playing back 8 tracks latency would be a issue but with drums normally you would be recording to a click or a guide track.

my laptop is a toshiba l40 its a 1.6 core duo with 2gb of ram with a upgraded 250gb sata harddrive. running xp it performs very well. ive had 24 tracks in a project before with lots of plugins running and had no problems.

Plus ive striped windows to the bare bones and only use it for recording, i spent a day tweaking and reading up on the subject.

I know studios have been digital for over a decade (or more in some cases) but im wary of the consumer end of things
id be happier with the zoom 16 track or any other that uses a hard drive and is physically bult to do one job and one job only over a pc running xp or linux and having the inputs bolted on via usb or firewire
at the moment i cant justify the expence of a £500 16 track recorder, its not the £500 its the lack of a need for one, perhaps when im ready to do more with my end of the 'band' im meant to be in (im in cambridge hes in manchester) it might be cheaper

i remember when i transfered my (nearly) 30 minute sound scape from tape to my brothers pc (3 or 4 years ago?) ... oh the hard drive made such a noise and could have keeled over any second, if it was live and straight to pc id be well miffed if it died (mind you i accidentaly had the first take on the 4 track set to safe mode)

and both my toys are pocket sized, battery powered and can accept 2gb sd cards (used the 512mb bundled one on a solid take bout 45mins without looking 2gb over 3 hours :D )
so i can (when they sort out the rota in my favour) when the weathers better go to the riverside have a medative session on one 512mb card*, swap over to another and try and kill the damn bass (without it landing in the river) when i launch it into the air to see what it sounds like when it lands (preferably not in a cow pat)
cant really do that lugging a laptop around, its just one blatant steal me add on

*keeping it to 512 as i can stick the results onto a cd for manchester postal services to loose leaving the 2gb's for random pub annecdotes ive been meaning to record

Not sure if it is any use to you particularly, but Creative do some external kit which connects via USB 2 and its pretty hot. I use a cheap (£30) version but there's a £200 version too I think.

IPete2.