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As you can see from above there are not many cables involved. The Firewire connection is the best connection for MIDI and audio between the laptop and external soundcard, since it offers very low latency (the time it takes to transfer information) and allows very high speed transfer.
The above setup allows the soundcard to handle both the audio and MIDI processing while the laptop has less processing to do. This soundcard has no sounds of its own - merely a box for connecting MIDI and audio. However, as we're connecting to Cubase SX, we can use the Virtual Instruments from within
Cubase to trigger sound. Simply open the VST Instrument menu, assign a virtual instrument and set the MIDI output from within Cubase to point to your new instrument.
Audio Setup
To record external audio with the setup above all you have to do is attach a sound source to the audio inputs of the soundcard - the firewire will allow the audio to be recorded into the laptop. For instance, plug a microphone into the front of the M-Audio box and start recording from an audio channel setup within Cubase.
Monitoring Audio / VST Instruments
If you want to monitor your recording you can either attach headphones to the external soundcard or connect the Line Outputs of the soundcard to a mixer or amplifier which in turn is connected to speakers.
Benefits of Laptop Computers
- First and foremost - Portability! Allowing you to setup all of the hardware on a regular sized desk including speakers to monitor and move it quickly, if you need to.
- Most laptops have a conpartment allowing for a second hard-drive which allows removable drives to be used with large multiple audio projects, easily.
Benefits of Desktop Computers
- Desktop computers, in general, are faster.
- Hardware can be installed internally - more space for more hardware.
- Hard-drives can be located away from the recording area - allowing you to have less background noise when recording audio.
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