Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

[krankguitarist]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

I'll chime in as a Diehard PC fan.

Not that I don't like macs or anything: they're nice computers, but I can't get along with their price tag. Cheaper for me to build a PC of quality parts. Having somebody else build one for you...thats where the line gets a little blurry. If you can build 'em yourself, though, I just don't see the advantage in investing that much money in the computer.

Now, I've got a pretty massive system in terms of power and I abuse the **** out of it. Multiple sample and synthesis-based VSTi's along with audio tracks, effects, blah blah blah blah. The only time I ever run into trouble is when I run out of RAM...which is difficult to do at 6gb. Still, it happens, and I'm gonna be expanding it to 12GB here pretty soon.

Macs will get the job done, no doubt about it. They may be a little more user-friendly...though I don't find PC's to be overly difficult to work with. But, for me, mac's just aren't a worthwhile investment.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

12GB is nice. And that's for visual effects/ compositing. I can only imagine how much leeway it would buy you for audio. Weirdly, I haven't used my desktop for any audio more intensive than a handful of voiceovers.​

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[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

Thanks for all the replies here, this is really helpful.

If I go PC, it'll be a custom desktop, built with only high quality parts. I've already priced everything, keeping the whole package under $2000. At $2K, I'd be looking at the 27" iMac, and the custom PC still kills the iMac in terms of specs. Processor speed, RAM, storage...all better on the PC.

I guess I started this post because I feel like I'm missing something. Like Mac must be offering something I can't see in the specs.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

They offer OSX, really slick industrial design, and a more limited number of hardware variations -- relying most often on older, more established tech -- to make sure everything works together.

If any combination of those things* is appealing enough, you pay the premium. Otherwise, you don't.


*-I'm not taking into account the fashion-accessory aspect of being seen to be a Mac user, but that's a sword that cuts both ways. Some people see it as hip; others see it as ******y, so...

I guess I started this post because I feel like I'm missing something. Like Mac must be offering something I can't see in the specs.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

At $2K, I'd be looking at the 27" iMac, and the custom PC still kills the iMac in terms of specs.

Like Mac must be offering something I can't see in the specs.

Start shopping smarter - I got my i7 (2.8ghz Quadcore) 27" iMac for $1600 this summer, as it was a refurbished model from Apple. Was from the generation that was introduced in Nov '09, but the latest model is still just .13ghz faster.

I was going to build a badass PC and get a huge monitor for it, but the screen on the 27" iMac is virtually unrivaled. 2560x1440 is AMAZING to work on.

What you're not seeing is something you really just have to experience while working with the OS - some people jive with it, some people don't after working on OS X for more than a week or two, I was sold and found it incredibly difficult to go back to producing music on a PC. I prefer everything on OS X - at the end of the day, I want to get work done, not work on a computer. OS X doesn't feel to me like I'm using a computer, I'm just being productive.

That feeling can definitely be had with a PC - don't get me wrong. It's just a matter of what you like and what your workflow gels best with.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

2. The popular advice seems to be "stick with whatever you know best." Then why is every recording studio using Mac? Anytime I see a pro studio, they've got Macs in there.

Macs historically had an advantage over PC's for one reason... go back to wild west days of recording audio on a PC, back in say 1995 and if we wanted to do "serious" work and record a bunch of musicians playing together in real time there was really only one option. Pro Tools, which at the time was only available to on Macs.

Today that isn't the case and hasn't been for several years.

PC's are more then fine for recording... I get projects all the time that were started on Macs or end up going from my machine to a Mac. Compatibility really isn't an issue.

Really the best thing you can do, either way is to dedicate a system to recording. If you run a PC and keep it clean... optimized for audio without any internet/gaming garbage then even an old machine can run dozens of tracks without breaking a sweat.

At the same time, get your new super computer with 6 gigs of RAM, load it up with anti-virus and games and you'll be lucky to get 8-10 tracks playing back without a glitch...

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

I use a mac (for simple demo type stuff at home in my underwear half drunk). But there's a lot of cool free crap for PC recording on the net if you go that way. Not as many free goodies for a mac.

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

This will be a dedicated system either way...no games, no internet...nothing but the recording software.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

Now if I was going to have one computer for recording only would I go Mac or PC?
That is the simple question really.
Now I’m confirmed Mac user and these days I use a Mac book for recording purposes. This enables me to be portable, which is nice.
I like Macs, I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of why, or knock windows, I just like Macs.
That said if I was going to get a dedicated recording computer that did nothing else but record I’m not sure I could justify a Mac, I would probably do the following.
First – Chose our software. Go with something popular and current that seems to be well supported.
Next check the ideal required by the given software and then get someone to build you a PC to at least those given specs using good quality components and include a second hard drive so that you can have operating system and software on one, recorded audio on the other.
Now when it comes to installing windows get them to install it with the minimum number of boxes ticked that will enable it to work with your given software and turn any auto update options off.
Do all this and you should have a nice, stable system for not much money.
If you go out and buy a Mac it’ll be doing much more than you need it to do. If you buy an off the shelf PC it’ll be crammed full of bloatware which you don’t need and may get in the way.
Once you’re all set up make sure you are not connected to any form of network and off you go. If it works when you first set it up why would you need any updates!
I do think about doing this myself, but I just don’t get round to it

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

First – Chose our software. Go with something popular and current that seems to be well supported.
Next check the ideal required by the given software and then get someone to build you a PC to at least those given specs using good quality components and include a second hard drive so that you can have operating system and software on one, recorded audio on the other.
Now when it comes to installing windows get them to install it with the minimum number of boxes ticked that will enable it to work with your given software and turn any auto update options off.
Do all this and you should have a nice, stable system for not much money.
If you go out and buy a Mac it’ll be doing much more than you need it to do. If you buy an off the shelf PC it’ll be crammed full of bloatware which you don’t need and may get in the way.
Once you’re all set up make sure you are not connected to any form of network and off you go. If it works when you first set it up why would you need any updates!
I do think about doing this myself, but I just don’t get round to it

This is almost exactly what I was about to type. If you go this route you dont need the biggest baddest hardware out there. Get something that is tried and true, but not the newest and fastest (and therefore not the most expensive). I would be willing to bet that I could build an awesome music production PC using this method for under $1000 including software (not including my recording interface)

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

At the same time, get your new super computer with 6 gigs of RAM, load it up with anti-virus and games and you'll be lucky to get 8-10 tracks playing back without a glitch...

I can't say that this has been my experience:

I've got a few games on my system, a nice video card as well. I surf the internet on it, and have Avast! antivirus.

I don't have any problems with glitches, and I keep my computer clean.

Only place where I could see a problem is actually running a game, or the internet, or an antivirus sweep while running a recording program. Which is just...silly.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

Only place where I could see a problem is actually running a game, or the internet, or an antivirus sweep while running a recording program. Which is just...silly.

Indeed but I get calls from folks all the time who have problems with their rigs not behaving and 95% of the problems always lead back to trying to make the one computer do everything.

The only way to make that really work is to have a dual boot configuration...

Even if you disable the internet, you know... physically unplug it while recording you'll still get background processes and other programs that'll wake up and look for updates in the middle of a take.

If you're only recording 2-3 tracks at a time and have a low overall track count maybe its not a big deal, it'll just gargle along and be sluggish. If you're trying to record 20+ inputs at once and generate multiple monitor mixes in a real situation it IS a big deal.

Depends on your circumstances I guess...

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

mmm, maybe that's the difference then. I only record one or two tracks at a time, albiet while my VSTi's are running. That includes Trillian which tends to take up a few gigabytes of ram, as well as superior drummer, and all the random synths that I have.

Granted, if I had the money and the space, I'd have two different systems. But I've been able to make a compromise system work pretty well.

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

If I were using Mac, I would just use Garageband. What's popular, simple, and easy to use on a PC?

 

[J Moose]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

If you like Acid why not just stick with that?

Other popular choices would be Cubase and Reaper...

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

mmm, maybe that's the difference then. I only record one or two tracks at a time, albiet while my VSTi's are running. That includes Trillian which tends to take up a few gigabytes of ram, as well as superior drummer, and all the random synths that I have.

Granted, if I had the money and the space, I'd have two different systems. But I've been able to make a compromise system work pretty well.

Same here. I only record 1 track at a time, and playback maybe 5-6 at the most with EZ Drummer running and a couple of simple VST effects. Never had an issue with my p4 with 2g of ram. But, I dont use that PC for surfing (or anything else) anymore so I might just go ahead and install a minimal OS and dedicate it for recording.

If I were using Mac, I would just use Garageband. What's popular, simple, and easy to use on a PC?

Reaper is always going to be my suggestion here. Unless you have a reason to use something else (like you have to work with acid every day or you have to move tracks back and forth with another band member who uses protools etc)

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate it. I'm going to do a little more software research before I make a final decision.

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate it. I'm going to do a little more software research before I make a final decision.

I just downloaded Studio One Artist (Presonus)...its $20.11 through today only. (www.presonus.com/namm) If you are going to buy new software I would suggest this. Runs on Mac or PC.

I prefer Macs and Logic although I have not spent much time recording on a PC. I did recently get Pro Tools 8 LE and Studio One so I've been playing around with those. Studio One seems to be the easiest to set up to record and the editing is really fast. The 'artist' version doesn't allow for third party plug ins so I'm still using Logic based on the delay/reverb designers. ProTools is much more complex but it has Beat Doctor and Elastic audio.

For the project I am working on now I will use:
Studio One = recording and simple editing
Logic = AU effects and automation (automation because I am used to it and efficient)
ProTools = Beat Doctor and Elastic Audio.

I can't recommend garageband. On the surface it seems great but once you get into a detailed project the shortcomings become quite apparent. Maybe the latest few updates are better than the one I used.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Mac vs. PC...A Few Simple Questions

After supporting Windows PCs and sneering at Mac prices for the last umpteen years (since Win 3.11 anyway), I've just about had it with Microsloth's suicidal OS crap.

Just around Christmas of last year, my PC (XP Pro SP3) takes the latest AutoUpdate, and upon rebooting decides to consume a portion of the registry. BSOD at startup.
Of course I reinstall from the disk and get the nag screen about authenticating.

However, since it's already been installed on my machine once, it tells me it can't be validated. So I call the 1-800 number and read the Product number to the robo-chick, who then tells me this copy of Windows cannot be activated.


This is a legit Win XP Pro SP3 disc. It's got the purple-ish holofoil label, the M$ watermark logo, and the SAggitarius and Blue Oyster Cult watermarks on the inner ring, etc etc. Yet once again I have to get on the phone with MS's Indonesian Customer Disservice reps (thank you for calling tech non-support, how may I disserve you today?) and explain to them that the installation murdered itself, and basically listen to them tell me I have to "upgrade" to either Vista or Win7, despite the fact it will cost me almost $4000 to replace software and hardware I have that is proven to not work in anything beyond XP.

If I'm going to spend that money, I may as well buy a f'n Mac - unless Mac OS also has a self-destruct timer that forces you to buy the latest version?