Suggested Gear for a Mobile Composing Rig

I would choose for myself an MacBook Pro M3 Max, maybe together with an Acasis TBU401E Thunderbolt SSD enclosure with a Lexar NM790 SSD for sample libraries, depending on how much libraries you have and how large the MBP's internal SSD. Advantage of the Lexar compared to others is, that it doesn't get so hot and is pretty fast ... so no throttling due to heat.
And because the enclosure is Plug&play without screws, I would choose two SSDs, one for libraries and one for Time Machine backups.

As a DAW I'm a fan of Studio One 6 Pro ... best for songwriting in my opinion. Alternatively I also like Logic.

As a guitarist I use an Apogee Jam+ interface, which is pretty small. Keyboard players might choose a different interface. For headphones I'm a fan of Beyerdynamic.

Other opinions might vary.

I'll add a second vote for a well specced macbook. I like to get out my house a few times a week, hit up a coffee shop, and get a little work done there... I have an M1 Max MBP and it's become my go to... I personally feel its worth spending the money on a large internal disk, but I also get that being cost prohibitive for some, in which case it's easy enough to carry an external SSD.

I have a small portable Novation launchkey mini. It's not the best portable keyboard, but it gets the job done for me.. The whole operation fits in an average sized backpack. (There are a lot of better portable keyboard options, NI to AKAI, etc)...

I'm also using Beyerdynamics (DT-700 Pro X). I bought them in October and think they're fantastic...They sound great while also being really durable, plus closed-backs will allow you to work in any environment, even if it's a little noisy...

jcrosby said:

... plus closed-backs will allow you to work in any environment, even if it's a little noisy...

Click to expand...

Noisy is a good keyword ... here I would prefer my Apple AirPods Max ... superb noise canceling with pretty good sound and huge soundstage for closed headphones.

And when it comes to latency, they can also be used wired. But for pure mixing and arranging Bluetooth is ok.

PS: And the AAMax are superb for binaural Atmos mixes. And for the traveling scenario I think they are hard to beat, because they also allow phone calls.

Perhaps it would also be helpful to have an idea what your budget is?

Computer specs, audio interface, Kybd controller, backup drives, microphones , monitoring ?
All of these can vary significantly in various price ranges.

I'm trying to put together a mobile rig just so that I can compose at various times away from the main rig. I've got the MBP M1 Max, which is awesome. I just got Art Conductor / MetaGrid up and running on the iPad. And I'm using AudioSwift on a Magic Trackpad for my faders and XY pad. (Here's a link to a blog post about my custom skin for AudioSwift.) And I am anxiously awaiting my Seaboard Block Ms so that I can use either one when space constrained or two when I want four octaves at my disposal. I've got two tiny SSDs hanging off the side of the MBP for libraries, etc. I think it's going to be pretty darn powerful when it's all up and flying.

One of the things I'm going for is fewer cables, which just seem to be a total PITA to deal with, especially when you're moving around, constantly setting up and tearing down. The Block Ms are battery-powered and Bluetooth, and the iPad and Trackpad are obviously wireless. That means I can work fully wireless for quite a while before I have to plug in and recharge a few things. And I can work with or without the iPad and Trackpad depending on the tasks at hand.

Goals...