Surface Pro 11 - Is it any good for Music Production (updated)
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- There's a new Surface Pro in town and this one is running Windows 11 ARM (although you wouldn't know it) and so comes with all sorts of challenges for the Surface Pro music maker. I highlight what those problems might be and talk about why the outlook is pretty positive but it's still early days.
This is an update to the video I made yesterday (now deleted) when more information presented itself which was important to include.
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Thanks Robin. Found this interesting. Very much enjoyed the finger drumming.
I used asio4all drivers for 15+ years on my previous PC. To be fair, I only record, add some effects and mix in the computer and I didn’t change much in and/or around the system.
Cubase 13 works ok with Steinberg's own built-in ASIO driver. Since it's all emulated and not native ARM yet, performance of course isn't stellar, but it works for smaller projects. I tested this with a Surface Laptop 7th edition (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM). Latency with the Steinberg ASIO driver is 10ms Input/20ms Output when disabling the Input Device in the driver's setting.
Ableton 11 can also be installed, while 12 is blocking installation on ARM for now.
Roland Cloud Manager and their VSTs work as well.
The biggest issue is of course no drivers for Audio Interfaces yet. Time will tell if devs jump on the hype. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for the info. Yes, I'd heard that Ableton Live 12 actually looks for an x86 processor for some reason - doh! Useful information - thanks!
4:30 Yes what you are talking about is the hardware abstraction and drivers for Window OS
I see more ARM powered devices coming in the future, but it will take some time before there are enough in the wild to make it worth developing drivers. Maybe in a few years.
Great advice. It's always best to wait, and let others guinea pig things.
I don’t comment on your videos much, but I really enjoy watching them … have a nice 4th of July and good luck with the elections. I hope whatever side you’re on wins, if you’re on the good side that is 😂👍
Thanks mate!
What was wrong with the surface 2 and the surface RT?
I never looked at anything before the SP3. RT was just the worst version of ARM Windows that wasn’t compatible with anything outside the Win8 store…. I think
@@MoltenMusicTech I had an rt and I’ve currently got a 2 pro lol
I had betamax too 😂
Of course you did :D
So the simplest solution is that windows updates their native driver to see more I/O.
I think that because WASAPI is a generic driver it has to work with a thousand difference audio systems on a thousand different computers, which means it will always have built in safety buffers to cope with the crappiness of OEM implimentation and prioritse uninterupted Netflix playback - it has to work with everything on every system. A specialised ASIO driver only has to work with one thing, on one form of very standardised connection and so will always perform better and be more consistently stable.
@@MoltenMusicTech fair point. In my very limited understanding of software, drivers and such, I could imagine a system that works on the basis you describe and have a “search for more I/O” button.
Ive heard from a reliable source that MS are making a complete dumpster fire of development for these. Strongly sugggest holding off for at least a year.
Quick! Sell your intel stock!
The answer to everyone's question is No. The Surface Pro is not that great for running a studio. It's ok for an old plugin or a dedicated bit of software. I'd say if you really want to go down the PC route, best processor you can get, best memory you can get, biggest HD you can get, or get a MAC.
Yeah, not the point. The surface has other qualities in form and interaction that make it interesting. I’ve been running my studio on one since the surface pro 3. It’s great. You can do more, obviously, on a huge desktop machine, if that’s your bag.
My surface pro 11 has 1 Terabyte and 32 Gb of RAM. I’ve never had such a powerful PC in my entire life. My test project has 32 tracks, all analogic (guitars, drums, hardware keyboards, voices..), each with at least a compressor VST, an equaliser VST , and a sophisticated reverb. Some has modulation and delay too. Tell me I can't do music with my Surface...
I practice music production on my computer since 1998, when Logic Pro was running only on Windows..
@KentanLenneg this is true but (I've taken MS and Apple Prices here) Surface 11 with spec you state 2k1, Macbook Pro little less in memory 2k5. Surface only has 2 port Pro more. Not checked PC laptop prices. Size the Surface is great. I do use an old surface to run my mixer which mainly is used as extra inputs and routing to rack effects.
Awesome
I personally get tired of people who don't seem to understand the difference between a tablet with a touch screen and a laptop or a big desktop box. These are completely different hardware form factors.