Re: Is it True that MAC is the Way to Go when Wanting to Record via Computer?
Wattage said:
Fighting over PC vs. MAC is so ultra-geek it's scary.
Pick the platform you understand and "get" and build a real good machine. Recording machines are or should be purpose built and ideally that is their sole use.
Speed, memory, the fastest HDDs you can afford, quality I/O and a good recording program. The program is probably the easiest part of the equation. Make sure you decide what program you want to use first and then buy completely compatible computer gear, it'll save you from shooting your brains out.
IMO unless you are real savvy with computers, extremely patient and pretty phat in the tech gear you are probably better off with a standalone recorder then just dump the tracks to a good computer setup for mixing.
That's the first bit of
solid advice I've seen on this thread!
The Mac vs. PC debate is so freakin' old that it doesn't hold water anymore. You need to pick the software
first...
then your audio interfaces and let the rest of it roll from there. Who you're exchanging files with is a
big consideration too. If all your buddies are using DP on a Mac then you probably shouldn't buy Sonar on a PC because you'll encounter headaches along the way. If everyone is using something different then it doesn't matter, get the program & platform that YOU want to use.
Back in the day...like early '90s...the Mac WAS the only way to go if you needed something that was stable and you
actually wanted to get work done. The first program that worked out of the gate was Sound Tools, a 2-track version of PT and gawd was it painful in hindsight but it was
sooooooo freakin' kool at the time. From there it morphed into Pro Tools, 8-tracks IIRC at around $12K (my how the prices never seem to change!) and today's PT systems work on the same principle, a hardware & software package that are dependent on each other AND the computer to run. The first systems were Mac only, there was a PC version but it was buggier then the Mac versions. After a while people started developing PC systems like the Layla card, Cakewalk etc. but they were semi-pro at best.
Today...almost 15 years AFTER that 1st system saw the light of day, there's plenty of great native hardware & software solutions that run well on a Mac
OR a PC. Earlier this year I replaced my super old DAW (I ran a 2” 24-track for a long time, still have it!) with a whole new system and went with a PC. Partly because I’m familiar with them, and partly because it’s way cheaper. Also, there’s some developments on the Mac horizon that are a little scary, namely them moving from proprietary processors to Intel chips. The initial reports from beta-testers were ugly, existing stable software would crash & lock up, lots of bad mojo there and it was sounding like Apple & ALL the other companies (Motu, Adobe, Avid, etc) were going to have to rewrite drivers and patches if not develop
entirely new products to run on Apples and really…that could take YEARS. The real key to having a stable system is to dedicate it to that purpose...don't use your music computer as a general computer because it
will bite you at some point, usually when the project is at critical mass...like two days away from mastering or when you have $10K in rental gear sitting there for a tracking session.
The only thing I can really recommend is that if you don't NEED Pro Tools, don't buy Pro Tools. There are too many equivilent programs out there that cost less to get into and you won't have bought a ticket on Digi's runaway train of perpetual upgrades. Plus, sorry to say it...but the stuff doesn't sound that great. The Motu interfaces aren't much better but at least they're a lot cheaper AND you have the ability to upgrade the hardware & software independently of each other.
