Top 10 Best Laptops For Music Production [Updated: 14 April 2018] â Weâve curated the best laptops for music production this year. Go forth and make music! Choosing a good laptop for music production shouldnât be too hard but it is a critical decision to make. What you want is a laptop powerful enough for recording and music production. Here, we've rounded up the best free recording software for several operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
A Recording Studio for Your PC
There has never been a better time to buy digital audio workstation (DAW) software. Twenty years ago, to record a music album at a professional level, you needed a sizable mixing console, several eight-track digital records (such as ADATs or DA-88s), and a good selection of outboard compressors, reverb units, and other effects, plus a two-track deck to mix down to. In other words, you were looking at about $10K to $15K worth of gear to startâand that's before you got to microphones, speakers, and other accessories.
If you were on a budget, you'd probably stick with a tried-and-true Tascam or Yamaha four-track tape recorder and Alesis compressor, get used to bouncing tracks in mono, make peace with tape hiss, and remember to clean the tape heads every week. And you'd be sharply limited in the kinds of projects you could produce. The only easy multitrack recording you could do at the time was with MIDI, with hardware synthesizers or samplers, and maybe with a Mac or an Atari ST computer attached as a sequencer.
It's an entirely different world now. Software packages that cost a few hundred dollars now deliver hundreds of audio tracks and incredibly flexible editing. Some programs are even free. You can create as many instances of effects plug-ins as you want, including spot-on emulations of compressors that cost several thousand dollars each, and attach them to as many mixer channels as you want. It's all nearly unlimited and 'in the box' now.
Choosing the Right DAW
From the standpoint of someone recording 20 or 30 years ago, a DAW today is like a giant candy store; it's as if you can do almost anything. For the newcomer, though, it may seem almost hopelessly complex. Choosing the right audio software can be quite difficult. Most of the famous packages like Pro Tools and Logic have been around for decades. They've grown incredibly powerful, and as a result have user interfaces that are as complex asâ¦well, professional mix consoles.
So how to decide? To help with this task, we went out and tested the most popular DAWs. Numerous venerable (and excellent) recording magazines have reviewed these applications many times over the years. That's great for the existing user base of each DAW, but maybe not always quite as clear for newcomers. In each of our reviews, we did our best to approach each product as a whole, rather than devoting the majority of the space to just the latest features that were added in the most recent point update.
Before we get to the specifics, the simplest program for audio editing is a two-track editor; probably the most famous example here is the free Audacity. While Audacity aspires to some extremely basic multitrack recording with overdubs, its real use is as a solid stereo editor. If you're recording a podcast or editing a clip of your kid's piano recital that you recorded on your phone, Audacity is an excellent choice; you can probably start and stop there. If you need something more sophisticated, read on.
It helps to think about the kinds of projects you want to create. Are you planning on producing beats for hip-hop or fully electronic compositions? Do you want to record multiple musicians playing live instruments at once? Will you be using your setup to score for picture, or creating sound effects and dialogue for TV and video games? Do you need to produce fully polished, printed scores, or otherwise prefer to work with musical notes and staves? Do you plan on tuning the pitch of vocal performances? Working out the answers to these kinds of questions up front will help you narrow down your choices.
What Comes With Each DAW?
The good news is all of the packages can we tested can more or less do all of the above tasks, with a few notable exceptions. The trick is that each program has strengths in different areas, and some tasks may be a bit more complicated in one than they are in another. One overarching rule to decide faster is to look at what your colleagues or friends are using, and then choose the same package. That makes it easier to share tips or even projects between each other, rather than being the lone person using a particular product and then introducing session import issues.
Another is to look at what's bundled with each program. Would you prefer a DAW that comes with a ton of virtual instrument sounds, such as synthesizers, sampled violins, guitars, and electric basses? You may want to look at something like Logic Pro X, Cubase Pro, or Studio One, all of which include many gigabytes of sounds and loops. Do you have or plan to buy your own instrument plug-ins you want to use? Reaper is a fully stripped down DAW at an excellent price, and it makes an excellent host for third-party VSTs. It's also great if you're recording a band full of live instruments and don't need much in the way of virtual ones. Do your tastes lean toward the electronic and synthesized realm? FL Studio, Reason, and Ableton Live are inspired choices with plenty of built-in synths, though you can produce electronic music with just about any of these programs.
Often, it comes down to the details and the editing philosophies. Do you prefer pattern-based recording for electronic music? FL Studio is going to have plenty to offer. Would you rather have a 'do-it-all' DAW with a large built-in sound library at a low price? PreSonus Studio One beckons. Do you want to not just be able to bring projects into major studios, but collaborate online and also open sessions directly as you work on them with others? It's impossible to top Avid's Pro Tools for this. Is the music already done, and you work in post-production and want to produce more professional podcasts or videos? Adobe Audition is a prime contender for these tasks. And if you've got a Mac, it's worth giving the free GarageBand a spin, if only because it's more powerful than it ever was and you already own it.
How Much Do You Want to Spend?
Closely correlated to the bundled instruments and effects is price, and that's a factor that can cloud the issue a bit. Many of the top-tier packages also have less expensive (or even free), feature-limited editions available. It's not as simple as saying 'Reaper is a budget DAW at $60 and Studio One 3 is a professional-level DAW at $399,' because you can also buy the stripped-down (but still pretty feature-rich) Studio One Artist for $99. What do you lose? What do you gain? We try and touch on this as much as possible within each review.
Which DAW Is Right for You?
In short, read our reviews (linked below) and try some demos where you can. But otherwise, don't sweat it too much. We spent countless hours testing these products and putting together both the reviews and this guide. Despite the complexity of the software here, we've found it's honestly tough to go wrong. It's not like computers or cameras, where you can clearly see that of the latest crop of products, a few perform well and a few don't perform as well as the leaders. These are all mature, well-established products, each with thousands of fans.
As a result, more than half of the packages in this roundup score at least four out of five stars. You can get professional-level results with all of them. Each has some specific workflows that work really, really well for some peopleâhence the endless 'X is the best and Y is garbage' arguments on the internetâbut they all can work for just about anyone.
Even so, we single out two DAWs, one on the Mac and one on the PC, for Editors' Choice awards: Apple Logic Pro X, for its absolutely unbeatable value with its built-in instruments and effects plug-ins, and Avid Pro Tools, for its seamless audio editing and suitability up and down the pro studio chain. But we'd happily use any of the programs listed below for new projects. Choose one, learn its secrets, and get to work creating and editing amazing music and audio projects.
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Avid Pro Tools Review
MSRP: $599.00Pros: Still the cleanest audio editing workflow on the planet. Fast 64-bit recording and mixing engine. New cloud-based project collaboration tools. Robust, useful track freeze and commit options. High-end hardware and support policies are tops in the industry.Cons: Lacks built-in pitch correction. No VST plug-in support or instrument track presets. USB dongle-based copy protection. Monthly fee required for new software patches past 12 months.Bottom Line: Avid stays the course with Pro Tools and maintains its status as the standard cross-platform solution for professional audio editing work for music, film, games, and broadcast.Read Review -
Image-Line FL Studio Review
MSRP: $299.00Pros: Vector-based interface is attractively animated, and supports 4K, multi-monitor, and multitouch configurations. Brilliant loop and pattern-based MIDI composition tools. Visible automation clips are easy to manipulate. Light memory footprint. Free lifetime updates.Cons: Convoluted, inflexible audio recording (in higher-priced versions). Must manually assign instrument tracks to mixer channels. Built-in sound library could use some updating. Lacks notation editor.Bottom Line: If you want to produce some of today's slickest beats, right up to full electronic dance music tracks, FL Studio could be the ideal key to unlock your creativity.Read Review -
Adobe Audition CC Review
MSRP: $20.99Pros: Strong audio-restoration, sound-removal, and noise-reduction tools. Excellent stereo waveform editor. Useful visualization tools. Adheres to film and television broadcast standards for audio.Cons: Lacks MIDI support. Only available via an expensive monthly subscription.Bottom Line: Audition is a comprehensive audio editor for video post-production, podcasts, and audio restoration. It's expensive for what you get, though, and makes the most sense as a supplement to a video editor or as part of an existing CC subscription.Read Review -
Steinberg Cubase Pro Review
MSRP: $559.99Pros: Comprehensive editing and automation support. Robust plug-in bundle. Powerful mixer. Rock-solid stability.Cons: Expensive. Dongle-based hardware copy protection.Bottom Line: Steinberg Cubase Pro is a top-notch digital audio workstation particularly suited to MIDI and virtual instrument composers.Read Review -
Ableton Live Review
MSRP: $749.00Pros: Inspirational clip-based live and composition workflow. Fast navigation. Powerful automation. Suite version contains plenty of sample material to work with.Cons: No track comping. No notation view. No pitch correction tool. Mixer view could be more robust.Bottom Line: In its latest iteration, Ableton Live is a powerful all-in-the-box solution for composing music, particularly electronic-influenced, but it's not for everyone.Read Review -
PreSonus Studio One Review
MSRP: $399.00Pros: Fast workflow for music composition and audio recording. Robust included sound sets. Attractive drag-and-drop interface. Powerful free version. Multitouch-enabled on the Windows side.Cons: No notation editor. No easy way to import session data or save I/O templates. MIDI editing is still weaker than the competition. Cluttered mixing console.Bottom Line: PreSonus reinvented the common digital audio workstation in 2008 with Studio One; the latest version is the most inspired yet.Read Review -
Propellerhead Reason Review
MSRP: $399.00Pros: Versatile array of bundled instruments. Awesome sound set serves as instant inspiration for new electronic tracks. Fast composition workflow. SSL-style mix compression and EQ.Cons: Aging rackmount-and-patch-cable UI idiom. No surround or scoring features. Track editing still lags the competition.Bottom Line: Despite its flaws, it's tough to knock Reason as an all-in-one recording, mixing, and mastering tool, particularly if you're into electronic or hip-hop music and want a tremendous array of sounds and beats right out of the gate. It's still as much fun to use as it has always been.Read Review -
Cockos Reaper Review
MSRP: $60.00Pros: Multi-channel audio recording, mixing, and mastering at a bargain price. Heavily customizable. Fast. Extremely light memory footprint.Cons: No built-in instruments or loops. Uninviting, unintuitive interface.Bottom Line: Reaper offers nearly all of the features and flexibility, if not the ease of use or visual appeal, of powerhouse digital audio workstations like Pro Tools at a fraction of the cost.Read Review -
Apple Logic Pro X (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $199.99Pros: Excellent value. Stunning array of bundled instruments and effects. Terrific interface. No copy protection, unlike many competitors.Cons: A few older plug-ins still need a UI makeover.Bottom Line: Apple Logic Pro X 10.4 is a tremendous update to an already-excellent digital audio workstation, and if you own Logic Pro X, it's free.Read Review -
Audacity Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Free. Lots of editing options ideal for dialogue, sound effects, and trimming music tracks. Supports multitrack audio and batch processing.Cons: Destructive editing only. Multitrack audio support is exceedingly basic.Bottom Line: If you're looking to get started in podcasting or recording music, it's tough to go wrong with Audacity. A powerful, free, open-source audio editor that's been available for years, Audacity is still the go-to choice for quick-and-dirty audio work.Read Review
About a decade ago, music was composed and produced in special studios that were equipped with the latest hardware to record at the highest quality possible. But these days, anyone can compose and produce music on laptops. All they have to do is to find the right mix of specs and find a laptop in their budget. Here, we are going to summarize the top 10 best laptops for music production and recording in 2019. You will find Windows and Mac OS laptops with the range of price you are looking for. You can choose between them by looking at their specs and prices to see if they fit your budget.
Do check our review of best laptops under 700 here. Also, if you are a Mac user, find out these best wireless printers for Mac OS X. Selecting the correct laptop is always tricky. Itâs a one-time investment because you canât upgrade or modify the hardware specs later as you like (itâs limited). Always think about using the same laptop for the next 3-5 years to meet the upcoming new Operating Systems and programs you are going to use. Therefore, allow your budget to expand while purchasing a laptop and buy the best laptop in the category you are looking for.
Top 10 Best Laptops For Music Production in 2019
1. Apple 15â³ MacBook Pro, Retina, Touch Bar (Latest Model) â Best Mac for Music Production
A latest model MacBook Pro from Apple. Expensive but high powerful for music editing and processing. Apple MacBook Pro is currently the best laptop available for music production and recording. Based on Appleâs macOS, MacBook Pro provides the highest level of performance needed to compose music without any delay in rendering or production. MacBook Pro latest version has the 6-Core i7 Processor running at 2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz), 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB SSD storage. SSDs are the fastest storage units available in the markets right now. With this, you can make the whole music composing, recording and editing process a lot quicker and better.
Sporting a 15-inch IPS Retina display, the laptop has a 2880 x 1800 resolution which is more than enough to fit more than one music composing software on the screen. Also, the battery backup of MacBook Pro is said to be 10 hours which gives you plenty of time to create music on the go. Moreover, you will find plenty of free and paid apps from the Apple App Store for audio/music editing and recording, for example, GarageBand is one of them. This is one of the expensive laptops for music production and editing, but you canât have any better laptop than MacBook Pro if you are looking for a professional laptop for music recording.
The display card Intel UHD Graphics 630 with 4GB display RAM adds extra value for this laptop. With music editing and production, if you have an idea for animation or graphic design, this laptop is the all-in-one best choice for you.
2. MSI GV62 8RD-200 with OPTANE Memory
With the latest 8th Generation i5 processor, this is the best Windows-based laptop available for music composing and production with reasonable price from MSI. If you want a machine which can deliver you the highest level of performance under any load and which can do your tasks fast and without any problems, this is the laptop to buy. It comes with a beautiful 15.6 inches Full HD display. Though the Full HD and screen size is not going to make much difference for the music editors, these all features show the power and up-to-date hardware specs in the market.
MSI GV62 8RD-200 features an 8th Gen Corei5 Processor 2.3-4.0GHz speed, 8GB DDR4 RAM. It comes with 1TB HD and 16GB Intel Optane memory to give a boost for OS and music editing programs. This will allow you to install the Operating System and other core programs on the Optane memory and use the traditional 1 TB hard drive for other storing purpose like music and audio files. Also, the display card is the latest NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti with dedicated 4GB DDR5 display memory. The high-class configuration can match any music editing or mixing programs on Windows OS environment. This laptop is suitable for people who will use it in one place without much carrying because of slight heavy.
3. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Latest Model)â Mac laptop for Music Production Under 1000
If you are still looking for a Mac laptop for your music work, here is another option around 1000 Dollars for music production and recording. Not as powerful as MacBook Pro but for people who are on a tight budget but still want the best laptop for music production can opt for the MacBook Air. MacBook Air is best for people who want light and often end up traveling a lot due to the nature of their job. It features a 13.3 Inch display with 2560 x 1600 display resolution. Intel 1.6 GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz), 8GB of RAM (1600MHz) and 128GB fast SSD storage.
MacBook Airâs battery lasts for up to 12 hours making it ideal for people who donât have access to a power source all the time. As said earlier, having a Mac laptop for music production will be an added advantage of because of suitable pre-installed and app store apps. With the 2 Thunderbolt (USB-C) type ports, it should give the freedom to connect all type or audio mixers and inputs with MacBook Air.
4. Lenovo Legion Y520 â Best and Cheap for Music Recording
Listed as a gaming laptop, but it will be suitable for music composing and production too. Lenovo Y520 is similar to the MSI GS70 mentioned above except for the fact that this one is more lightweight, cheaper and has a backlit keyboard. It also has the latest NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics card with dedicated 4GB Display which can deliver you more performance. It has the powerful 7th generation processor i5 and 8GB RAM by default. You have the option to upgrade the RAM to 12 or 16GB while purchasing it. This is one of the cheap Windows 10 laptops in our list of best laptops for music production and recording any beginner can get in the year 2019.
Though it comes with 256 GB SSD hard drive for faster disk access. It is still a great laptop for its price considering its full HD 15.6-inch display, USB 3.0 ports and Lenovo Energy Management software which can significantly help increase the battery life of the laptop. The sound and display quality will make this laptop more suitable for music editing. As usual, the built quality of Lenovo is always best compared to other laptop brands.
5.Acer Predator Helios 300
Acer produces some of the best laptops for the unbelievable price, and this model falls into the same category. A Full HD IPS 15.6â screen, latest 8th generation i7 Processor and DDR4 16GB RAM make this laptop super powerful for the reasonable price. Several options are available to customize the laptop while purchasing. Specifically made for gaming, but it has all features to fulfill and manage all audio and music editing tasks.
This model comes with 256GB SSD that allows running music editing software with higher speed without any I/O issues. Also, the additional hard disk socket allows you to expand the storage whenever wanted with another SSD or normal HDD. Surprisingly this laptop comes with dedicated 6GB display RAM that would be useful when you run several music recording programs at the same time. Also, the display card becomes handy if you want to do the video editing as well as on the same laptop. The Acer TruHarmony and Dolby Audi Premium Plus Sound System are super powerful and useful for music lovers/editors like you. It has USB 3.1, Gigabit Wi-Fi and other all required ports where you can connect other music equipment and record sound.
6. 2019 Surface Pro 6 SP6 12.3â³ Touchscreen
Here is the laptop from Microsoft for music production and recording. With the high-end hardware specification and reasonable price, the latest Surface Pro 6 takes place on this list. It is just under 900 Dollars but with the 8th Gen i5 Processor and 8GB RAM, you can get maximum multimedia experience out of this touchscreen convertible laptop. Another major advantage is, it comes with 128/256GB SSD storage for faster read and write on disk. This will improve the music recording or editing work on this laptop.
It doesnât have many connectivity options. You may need a USB 3.1 hub to connect more devices. Surface Pro 6 gives the best portability and convertibility from laptop to tablet when you do editing tasks from Coffeeshop to a multimedia studio. The 12.3 inches screen may not be enough to run the editing software, but easily connecting to a monitor via Mini display port or docking station can throw the display on bigger screens. Surface Pro 6 is one of the best options as the best Windows 10 laptop with higher portability for music recording.
7. ASUS ZenBook 15 Ultra-Slim Compact Laptop
Cakewalk Sonar 5
The latest Asus ZenBook 15 Ultra Slim laptop is another good option on our list. Its powerful 8th Generation i7 Quad-core processor and 512GB SSD disk match the hardware requirements for music editing and processing software. As usual, Asus make solid and superb build quality laptops that can be seen in this model.
It is another stylish Windows OS laptop with a great Nano-edge display technology. HArdware configuration is up to the mark with the 16GB DDR4 RAM and dedicated display card. This configuration should be enough to handle any software or tools for music recording. It is having all other features and ports to be one of the professional Windows 10 laptops for music production. Portability and style of this laptop make this laptop extraordinary in this list. USB Type C port and Bluetooth 5.0 are available to connect any music/audio devices. Gigabit Wi-Fi is another great feature when you stream or edit music on the wireless network.
8. HP Spectre x360
Another latest and powerful laptop in this list of best laptops for music production is from HP. HP Spectre x360 is a convertible laptop with powerful hardware specification. As required by other laptops, you need to connect the MIDI controller or external sound cards for additional sound or music production quality, but this laptop has only one USB 3.0, USB Type-C and Thunderbolt ports. It comes with 7th gen the ration i7 processor and 16GB DDR 4 memory.
512GB SSD storage is part of the laptop. The touchscreen, stylus and tablet mode on this great hardware configuration laptop with a reasonable price is a good choice for music lovers and producers. It is recommended to have a USB 3.0 hub with you to connect more devices to this laptop during the music editing or mixing. Suitable for the people who travel and move frequently due to its compact size and convertibility.
![Recording Recording](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126030348/383325035.jpeg)
Best Free Home Recording Software
9. ASUS ROG STRIX Scar II â Best Asus laptop for music production
We canât have a list of laptops without including multiple Asus laptops. Their superior build quality and hardware specification make the Asus as one of the best laptop brands. ASUS ROG Strix Scar II is one of the new laptops for music recording. If you are not familiar with macOS, then you can think about this laptop as best Windows laptop for music production and editing. Its powerful latest 8th Generation Intel Core i7 Hexa-Core processor can do all music/audio mixing easily with its 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD.
If you are looking for the best laptop for music recording and gaming, this laptop is for you. Its NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 gaming graphics card with 8GB dedicated VRAM is super enough for gaming too. This laptop may look expensive compared to other models, but worth to consider as it packed with the maximum configuration you can get on a laptop. Asus has taken extra care on the cooling system that allows you to do music production/editing for a long time without any heating issues. It keeps the laptop cool and increases processing power.
10. Razer Blade â Worldâs Smallest 15.6â³ Gaming Laptop
Razer is one of the best gaming laptop brands you can find in the market. Its hardware specification may match the requirement for music production. You can treat this as the best Windows laptop for music production in 2019. As one of the expensive laptop on this list, but it provides an impressive hardware configuration.
The Razer Blade 15â comes with the 8th Generation 6 Core i7 processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM to handle any load of sound editing or production software and 512GB SSD for quick I/O. As it built for gaming, you get the 6GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070.
The faster sound card supports music production very well. Also, it comes with FL Studio 12 producer edition on it to cater to the music editing requirement on a Windows laptop.
So there you have it, a small review of 10 best laptops for music production and recording in 2019 ranging from Windows 7 to Mac OS X. Though you can find plenty of laptops on Amazon with high specification and the latest hardware, they are definitely going to cost more. We have combined and selected all range of models for all kind of budget you are looking for. Making this list involved reading the reviews on the internet, personalized user experiences and also some knowledge about the exclusive features available on each laptop. So, go ahead and pick one for yourself. If you are looking for gaming laptops with the latest generation 7 Intel processor, you must check this list of laptops.