HP Rocks NAMM 2012

Cakewalk is back from NAMM and we will have a full recap of the show shortly. We would like to thank HP for outfitting our entire booth with the latest HP Z Series Workstations and HP EliteBooks. There is no doubt that HP computers are up to the task of handling any recording session you throw at them. The Z800 Workstation, which was used on the main stage, was a rock-solid superstar that barely blinked when thrown even the largest projects. Cakewalk presenters and special artists alike were all impressed with the ease at which it handled the rigors of a trade show.

Cakewalk Product Specialist Seth Perlstein reports that at one point he was running a project that contained:

  • 25 tracks
  • 12 soft synths
  • 65 ProChannel modules
  • 17 audio effects
  • 11 busses
  • Settings: 1.1 msec latency with a 48 sample buffer (7.5 msec roundtrip latency) at 24-bit/44.1kHz
Buffer Settings

All of this is using less than 20% of the system resources on the Z800.

CPU Meter

Over at Roland’s “Better Life With Music” stage, Cakewalk set-up a Z210 CMT Workstation. This machine was used daily for the Cori Yarckin and TC artist performance. Again, even with the pressures of live performance, it worked flawlessly.

Finally, we used the HP EliteBook 8560w Mobile Workstation on our demo stations. This mobile solution offered more than enough power for serious recording sessions, while still offering easy portability. It’s sturdy design makes it the perfect option for any true road warrior.

Demo Stations

Here’s a clip of Cakewalk Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Robin Kelly, discussing these EliteBook Mobile Workstations.

You can read Cakewalk’s full review of each computer by visiting our DAW Labs page. 

Thanks again to everyone at HP for providing these amazing systems. Special thanks to Dan Bennett at HP, who worked closely with Cakewalk to choose the perfect systems for the show.

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