PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Ok, so after many years of using Creamware cards in my desktop DAW, I bought an XITE-1 with an Express Card so I can have a portable laptop music studio when I travel. I was very happy to see that Sonic Core offerred an Express Card option.

So now that I have the XITE-1, I'm shopping for a high-end laptop/notebook to serve as the host. Guess what? I have yet to find a high-end laptop that that has an Express Card slot! This is surprising, considering the ExpressCard 2.0 standard was delivered March 4, 2009 at CeBIT in Hannover. Nevertheless, one company (PowerNotebooks.com) even wrote:

"Please examine the Specifications page of any laptop you want to buy to see if they even have an ExpressCard slot. You will find it very difficult to find any laptops that have ExpressCard slots anymore. We do not carry any laptops that have them."

Shock!

I really need a video-gaming class machine for the kind of work I'm doing (Windows, not Mac). I require a powerful quad core CPU, a powerful GPU, several USB 3.0 ports, etc. Suggestions anyone?

Lenovo W520 is what I'm getting and a few others here already use.

...or get an older used lappy if you don't need it to be so high end. mine was $250 including shipping. it's a Dell Vostro with a Core2 Duo that is plenty powerful for me. if you need more power, it will cost more....

Check with ADK regarding any 'older' but new condition lappys that still have the slot that they may still have in their arsenal.

There are probably some still around from Dell as well.

Remember that with Xite you won't need all the latest bells and whistles unless you also plan on using a lot of big VSTis.

Good luck!

Greg

...and if you have those big vstis, then you really need a super max laptop anyway.

http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/view ... cordid=118

Big 4 Ya..?

dawman wrote:http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/view ... cordid=118

Big 4 Ya..?

vroom, vroom!!

dawman wrote:http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/view ... cordid=118

Big 4 Ya..?

Wow, i did'nt know ADK had expresscards with the newer Sandybridges. I know Scott mentioned expresscards are disappearing and at one point stated they were'nt in latest model laptops in similar words. But i do know Scott is a true Audio-computer-builder and knows the importance of expresscards, pcie, etc and how they affect Audio. So if any company would have expresscards it would be ADK since Scott is aware of the importance. Studicat as well should have them but is not as big as ADK. I figured Scott would've had the last generation i7's with expresscards but did'nt know about Sandybridges. Sometimes the older generation laptops outperform the newer as seen in ADK's benchmarks so latest is'nt always greatest.

Expresscards may be disappearing but as of now there is no good replacement for them. With complex and highly demmanding dsp platforms expresscard is the only truly viable way ATM. Thunderbolt is'nt a reality ATM and may be slightly worse then expresscard performance wise when it does become a reality and is adopted by most. Alot of laptops don't have expresscard slots but we just need to do a little searching to find the ones that do (hopefully those that find them post about them).

Thanks for the info on that portable beast!

Thunderbolt basically IS PCIe protocol, and expands performance over multiple devices with little or no loss down the pipe.

I've seen Thunderbolt tests with 5 harddrives and two monitors running of ONE Thunderbolt port on one of the new Macbook Pros.

So, I'm not worried about PCIe going away anytime soon.
Things like SATA and Firewire however.... we'll see.

Interface ports on computers nevertheless.... I think the industry is in a sort of transition period.

Greg

http://www.quatech.com/support/expressc ... atible.htm


not sure how old this list is but may be helpful

Thanks to all for your input, especially Dawman. The ADK 9000x is the winner, no contest really. Nice to see it has an express card slot for the XITE-1. The solution is expensive, but I expected that from the beginning.

Looking ahead...

If express card is becoming scarce, what is Sonic Core planning to do? Thunderbolt seems like the obvious "next step". Many of the other laptops I originally investigated already offer Thunderbolt (external PCIe). Any news from Sonic Core regarding future developments on this front?

Thanks again for everyone's input.

The clever idea from SC has been to have provided an external interface solution rather than something too deeply relying on host hardware interface.

First benefit for me is the current possibility to use it with a home studio Tower PC with the included PCIe card and only take an old good Lenovo laptop with the Xpresscard interface when moving around.

Then, if any new standard comes up, this wouldn't make the Xite obsolete as only a new interface would be necessary. Currently, chance for Thunderbolt would be the most important and perhaps only a kind of bridge would be necessary without any software modification...

i think that's correct. a thunderbolt connector shouldn't be that hard, at least in theory.

I presume that there will be 3rd party TB-to-PCIe and vice-versa cable adapters - if there are not already.

G

edit - like this one:
http://www.postop.com/sonnet-echo-expre ... -pcie.html

siriusbliss wrote:I presume that there will be 3rd party TB-to-PCIe and vice-versa cable adapters - if there are not already.

G

edit - like this one:
http://www.postop.com/sonnet-echo-expre ... -pcie.html

Does it work w/ Windows ???

Aren´t there standard HDMI >Thunderbold cables and/or couldn´t S|C come up w/ such a cable ?

Apple Displayport and Thunderbold connector seems to be the same.

Now I wonder if such a cable would work w/ XITE-1 and any modern laptop supporting Thunderbold and whether these cables support PCIe standards or not.

I´d like to have 1 cable from XITE-1 to a modern laptop, not a chain of TB adapter box and PCIexpress cable and both at prices of ~ USD 170.-.
That´s insane and adapters are shaky and unreliable connections anyway.

Bud

i don't think that just a cable is the solution.

The best option for SC is to come up with or find in the near-term would be an 'intelligent' cable with a driver chip in it to support the host PC in driving (or transitioning) Thunderbolt to PCIe. Even though there wouldn't really be any conversion taking place, this process still requires some small amount of power.

So no doubt there would be some cost involved either way - either via SC or the end-user.

In the near term one of these converter boxes could just be strapped/taped to the back of the Xite out of the way.

Greg

It says that Sonnet thangy works at 5 Gb/s if you buy the Pro ver - or just 2.5 Gb/s fo a standard cheapy one. Whats the max speed the XITE will talk at across it ? (eg is faster than plugging XITE into a normal DAW PCIe slot) ?

if someone were to actually use that, the pro is only $20 more at $169, than the standard at $149. there's no reason to buy the cheaper one at all.

garyb wrote:if someone were to actually use that, the pro is only $20 more at $169, than the standard at $149. there's no reason to buy the cheaper one at all.

I´d always buy the Pro version anyway because it also works w/ all kinds of PCIexpress adapter cards and at full speed.

But I know the Sonnet products always were Mac only and up to now there´s no answer these will work w/ Windows systems range from XP 32Bit over Win7 32/64Bit up to Win 8.

Do they ?

What about Thunderbold in Windows laptops up to now ?
Do we have stable chipsets already and working at full speed like in the Macbooks ?

Bud