Rain Computers

Once you make the commitment to move your laptop around you will want to make sure you protect your investment

Gigging with a Laptop

I received an email through my site, www.keybomb.com, with some questions about gigging with a laptop, specifically about the need for an external audio interface. I’d like to share the exchange so that we may all share in the collective pool of knowledge. Here is an excerpt of the email:

I want to start running my keyboard via MIDI through my computer and using that setup on gigs. I have a MIDI interface (one of those M-Audio that goes into the USB drive on my computer). Now I'm wondering if I need to get an audio interface that will connect my computer to my amp. The only other way to connect my computer to the amp would be to go out the headphone jack on my computer, which is not 1/4 inch, so I would need to stick a converter on the end of my amp cable. You mentioned that during live performance you just go out the headphone jack into a mixer, but I don't have a mixer, instead all I have right now is a Roland keyboard amp. What would be the benefit of adding a audio interface to my rig, or any other piece of equipment?

Interfaces

To answer the question, the main advantage of having an audio interface is that, depending on the interface, you can have more outputs going to your mixer so that you can have quick hardware (not virtual) access to control your outputs in terms of their volume, EQ, effects send and any other parameters your mixer channels allow you to control. Depending on your preferences, you may like to have actual knobs to turn to control those aspects of your sound. All keyboard amps have built-in mixers which range in their features so actual hardware control of your outputs will be as feature rich as your mixer allows. I have two different mixers that I use for live use depending on the venue and how much routing options and control I will need. The audio interface I use is an M-Audio Firewire 410 which gives me 4 stereo pairs of outs. This is plenty of individual output control for my compulsive side. I can route individual soft synths to separate outputs to my mixer if need be.

In some cases, an audio interface takes on some of the processing burden so your laptop’s CPU is not pushed so hard. However, this is becoming less and less of an issue as computers are getting more powerful.

In terms of sound quality, most audio purists will argue that 1/4" outs are cleaner than a headphone jack. In a recording studio I will go along with that as you do want to do everything you can to reduce any possible hint of output noise because, the more you layer tracks on top of each other, the more that noise can add up and become very apparent. This does start to cloud a mix in that situation. However, on a gig situation, if anyone gives you a hard time about coming out of a headphone jack, tell them to play in traffic. In any event, the 1/8" inch mini jack on your laptop and the 1/4" out on your keyboard are both unbalanced outputs and there is no real discernible difference between them in a live situation. On smaller gigs I often forgo using my audio interface and come straight out of my headphone jack into my mixer. For the record, I’ve never had a problem and I’ve been doing this for several years now.

Cables

To go from your laptop’s headphone jack to your amp, you can get a cable that is 1/8" stereo (TRS) to two (dual) 1/4" mono (TS) plugs. Most local music stores or electronic stores should have those locally. Conversely, you can always get that kind of stuff cheaply on eBay or other internet sites. Hosa brand cables are rugged enough yet not super expensive and should last you years if you take care of them properly. Since keyboards don’t move around nearly as much as guitar and bass and therefore do not incur nearly as much regular wear and tear you do not need to buy super expensive cables.

I always recommend getting 2 of those cables so, in the event one breaks on a gig, you will have a backup. DO NOT take a 1/4" cable and put a big 1/8" adapter plug on it and plug that into your laptop. Because they are smaller, 1/8" jacks are not nearly as rugged as 1/4" jacks and you do not want to put a lot of weight on the headphone jack of your laptop by putting a huge plug in it that sticks out several inches. It will work like a lever and snap your headphone jack. That is not a cheap repair. Also, make sure that the cable has sufficient slack and is not pulling on your laptop. I recommend getting a cable that is a minimum of 10 feet. That sounds long but it isn’t. While you don’t want an excessively long cable, it’s better to have a little more length than not enough.

Protecting Your Investment

Be very careful to keep your laptop far away from any amp or speaker cabinet. Speakers have large magnets in them that can really wreak havoc on a hard drive. For that matter, protect your laptop at all times on a gig. Depending on your location, if you are going out of sight of your gear on a set break, take your laptop with you. Laptops are too easy to steal. USB interfaces are usually hot swappable which means you can plug and unplug them while your laptop is on. This is not always the case with firewire interfaces so be sure you read the manual and know for certain that you can unplug your laptop from your interface while they are both on. In some cases, you can cause serious damage to both your laptop and your interface if you plug or unplug them while on.

Once you make the commitment to move your laptop around you will want to make sure you get a rugged carry case. Personally, I prefer laptop backpacks and have had an Ogio brand backpack for several years and love it. I got mine from ebags.com which has a large selection to choose from. However, there are many great brands out there and many great places to get them so don’t be afraid to shop around.

Finally, make regular backups of your files and make regular drive images so, if your drive goes bye-bye, you can restore from an image and be up and running in no time. For Windows backup I recommend using the built in functionality included with Windows 7. It’s fast, efficient and you can easily create a recovery image as well as automatically backing up your important files using whatever schedule you prefer. For Mac, I recommend SuperDuper by a company called Shirt Pocket for images. For backups and images, you will need an external drive to image to. I prefer Seagate drives because most of them have a 5 year warranty. I have used this warranty service twice in the past and they are a very easy company to deal with. Drives are very cheap now and you can get a ton of storage for very little money. Protect your investment.

Copyright 2011 Howie Gordon and licensed to Rain Computers, Inc. All rights reserved.