Let's open a can of worms... Mac Vs PC
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blueprintstudios
New member
I love PC because it's cost efficient.
The amount of new PCs you can get with one powerhouse mac, you could probably start a mini BF2 LAN party. and nowadays each of such pc is fast enough for multitrack recording. and my statement is based on my 2.4ghz non hyperthreading , 1gig ram 333mhz (one of my ram went down before and multitrackrecording was still possible at 512mb), 7200rpm parellel ata133 hdd. recently I bought a new pc pretty much cost me about $800? 2.8ghz/onboard vidcard,lan, dvd writer cost like what $75 now? but of course we're talking about homerecording here, if you're that "professional" budget is at least 4 digits. but when it comes to stability it's probably not gonna stand out unless you maintain your OS often. defrag.clean out tempfiles, reinstall. etc
i've never really used a mac before so I'm not too sure if Mac needs any maintenance at all? all computers would slow down when they get cluttered up right..?
and yes, imagine the money to buy a big time powermac or somethin, and use that exact same amount to build a big time powerhouse PC. and still got sparechange for a meal and cab fare home from simlim.
The amount of new PCs you can get with one powerhouse mac, you could probably start a mini BF2 LAN party. and nowadays each of such pc is fast enough for multitrack recording. and my statement is based on my 2.4ghz non hyperthreading , 1gig ram 333mhz (one of my ram went down before and multitrackrecording was still possible at 512mb), 7200rpm parellel ata133 hdd. recently I bought a new pc pretty much cost me about $800? 2.8ghz/onboard vidcard,lan, dvd writer cost like what $75 now? but of course we're talking about homerecording here, if you're that "professional" budget is at least 4 digits. but when it comes to stability it's probably not gonna stand out unless you maintain your OS often. defrag.clean out tempfiles, reinstall. etc
i've never really used a mac before so I'm not too sure if Mac needs any maintenance at all? all computers would slow down when they get cluttered up right..?
and yes, imagine the money to buy a big time powermac or somethin, and use that exact same amount to build a big time powerhouse PC. and still got sparechange for a meal and cab fare home from simlim.
bernardgoh
New member
I use both platform. but still, on recording, I prefer PC. 
for me, I wanted something that I would know how to fix if anything goes wrong in a studio. cause is never good to have 1 weeks downtime to sent it to service center.
If you took great care of your PC, you wouldn't encounter too much problems.
for me, I wanted something that I would know how to fix if anything goes wrong in a studio. cause is never good to have 1 weeks downtime to sent it to service center. If you took great care of your PC, you wouldn't encounter too much problems.
I would have prefer MAC as there are more features for you to play around in regards to the sound & stuff that you can ever find on PC. Have u try the MAC OS X ?
But i do have to agree that in $ sense, if you are on a tight budget PC is better as you can customized/built it up with all the gd equip for less than 1k provided you know how to DIY.
But i do have to agree that in $ sense, if you are on a tight budget PC is better as you can customized/built it up with all the gd equip for less than 1k provided you know how to DIY.
blueprintstudios
New member
its easy to DIY, even lil' punks nowadays I know, know how to DIY.. but they just chicken out when it comes to troubleshooting :lol:
IMHO, this thread of Mac vs PC is a little "off" in that we are comparing DIY PCs with Macs.
As there is no such thing as a DIY Mac, it's a little hard to compare "side by side".
Having the choice of your own components is due to the fact that it's DIY, not because it's a PC.
A closer comparison would be "branded" PCs to Macs. Now, I'm sure if you compare branded PCs to DIY PCs, one would not have much "change for meal and cab fare" left if one goes the branded PC way! Of course, you have a choice to upgrade components for branded PCs, but so too with the Mac. However, I don't think the branded PC co. would cater to your request if you asked for a higher powered PSU, for example? There are some components the branded PC would not accede to change even if you asked for it. Lest it won't be "branded" anymore, I guess! 
I use both platforms - the PC, out of necessity and the Mac, out of preference! :lol:
I recently started doing some training in a Mac lab, after 6 years being "out of the scene" from Macs (ie, 6 years of PC-only environment!).
I realized that there was a lot LESS requests from student participants, during training, about the "why-no-sound" syndrome in the Mac lab!! :lol: End result? The students were able to get a little more focused on learning the things they are supposed to do as opposed to "struggling" with the hardware!
Anyway, it's MY opinion only! :wink:
QF
As there is no such thing as a DIY Mac, it's a little hard to compare "side by side".
Having the choice of your own components is due to the fact that it's DIY, not because it's a PC.
A closer comparison would be "branded" PCs to Macs. Now, I'm sure if you compare branded PCs to DIY PCs, one would not have much "change for meal and cab fare" left if one goes the branded PC way!
Of course, you have a choice to upgrade components for branded PCs, but so too with the Mac. However, I don't think the branded PC co. would cater to your request if you asked for a higher powered PSU, for example? There are some components the branded PC would not accede to change even if you asked for it. Lest it won't be "branded" anymore, I guess! I use both platforms - the PC, out of necessity and the Mac, out of preference! :lol:
I recently started doing some training in a Mac lab, after 6 years being "out of the scene" from Macs (ie, 6 years of PC-only environment!).
I realized that there was a lot LESS requests from student participants, during training, about the "why-no-sound" syndrome in the Mac lab!! :lol: End result? The students were able to get a little more focused on learning the things they are supposed to do as opposed to "struggling" with the hardware!
Anyway, it's MY opinion only! :wink:
QF
Cheez
Moderator
I believe this topic was discussed and argued before sometime in the distance past in this forum. This battle between choice of PC and Mac will go on forever.
I've used both in the past. I'm all for Mac and if I have the resources available, I would get one.
However, certain applications (music included) run only on the PC and I've no choice.
Most arguments about Mac being more stable than PC are unfounded in terms of music production. The problem with PC users is that they install junk in their PC. And again, repeating myself for about the 23rd time, DAW must be dedicated to music and nothing else - no internet explorer, no microsoft office, and absolutely no games. Once it's dedicated and optimised, it becomes very stable. And dedicating a PC to music is not expensive and difficult. One doesn't have to buy a PC just for that function. We can always dual boot.
Sure, Mac has a lot of eye-candy. But in music production when you just stare at the audio tracks/sequences most of the time, all these eye-candy doesn't really matter. Even on the PC platform, on my DAW boot partition, I've disabled all those fancy stuffs - my windows run on a boring blue background and looks like Windows 98; no animation and cute fading out of menu boxes etc. But then, even if I turn them on at the expense of my CPU usage, I don't get to see them often since the environment I work on is just the standard audio/sequences track view.
I've used both in the past. I'm all for Mac and if I have the resources available, I would get one.
However, certain applications (music included) run only on the PC and I've no choice.
Most arguments about Mac being more stable than PC are unfounded in terms of music production. The problem with PC users is that they install junk in their PC. And again, repeating myself for about the 23rd time, DAW must be dedicated to music and nothing else - no internet explorer, no microsoft office, and absolutely no games. Once it's dedicated and optimised, it becomes very stable. And dedicating a PC to music is not expensive and difficult. One doesn't have to buy a PC just for that function. We can always dual boot.
Sure, Mac has a lot of eye-candy. But in music production when you just stare at the audio tracks/sequences most of the time, all these eye-candy doesn't really matter. Even on the PC platform, on my DAW boot partition, I've disabled all those fancy stuffs - my windows run on a boring blue background and looks like Windows 98; no animation and cute fading out of menu boxes etc. But then, even if I turn them on at the expense of my CPU usage, I don't get to see them often since the environment I work on is just the standard audio/sequences track view.
killinghall
New member
Nothing beats UNIX on memory management. Try switching multiple apps on a PC and Mac and see what happens. Leave both for weeks on stretch and see which dies first.
jbarks
New member
+1 for Macs.
I use them at work (I work in a branding agency) and the intuitiveness of the Mac OS versus Windows XP is amazing. Yes, I've used both and I've been switching to and fro for 4 years already. If I wasn't going in to NS by the end of the year, I'd have bought one and sold my Acer laptop, but that's beside the point.
Cheez is very right in his argument that if you intend to seriously do DAW, just install the DAW software and nothing else -- some video editors I know don't even give their computers an internet connection; they just install what they need and leave it there. I've seen DAWs still running on OS9 because it just works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
If you're just looking for a DAW, get a good computer and good software, and maybe two monitors (one for tracks, the other for files and everything else) and you're good to go. Of course, Macs work great out of the box... Drivers, software, most of it is settled. You don't really need to install anything if you're going to use GarageBand, but then again if you're doing this seriously you won't be using it.
As for the reliability of the Mac, whoever says they don't crash is telling a big fat lie -- but they do crash a lot LESS than their PC counterparts when you've got lots going on at the same time. I'm not sure why (I'm not a tech head) but that's just the way it's been for me. Of course, if you're just using it for recording then it won't matter.
$0.02
I use them at work (I work in a branding agency) and the intuitiveness of the Mac OS versus Windows XP is amazing. Yes, I've used both and I've been switching to and fro for 4 years already. If I wasn't going in to NS by the end of the year, I'd have bought one and sold my Acer laptop, but that's beside the point.
Cheez is very right in his argument that if you intend to seriously do DAW, just install the DAW software and nothing else -- some video editors I know don't even give their computers an internet connection; they just install what they need and leave it there. I've seen DAWs still running on OS9 because it just works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
If you're just looking for a DAW, get a good computer and good software, and maybe two monitors (one for tracks, the other for files and everything else) and you're good to go. Of course, Macs work great out of the box... Drivers, software, most of it is settled. You don't really need to install anything if you're going to use GarageBand, but then again if you're doing this seriously you won't be using it.
As for the reliability of the Mac, whoever says they don't crash is telling a big fat lie -- but they do crash a lot LESS than their PC counterparts when you've got lots going on at the same time. I'm not sure why (I'm not a tech head) but that's just the way it's been for me. Of course, if you're just using it for recording then it won't matter.
$0.02
Since we're just talking about recording, it boils down to the software you need to use and not whether the OS is nicer or has better design etc. Most of the time, if you're serious enough, you might need software from both sides, otherwise either platform will do well as long you dedicate it to music.
In my opinion for most pple, if you stick to a low budget and you'll end up with a DIY PC. After all, you're going to need money to get the software too, which would add up to the cost of another PC.
In my opinion for most pple, if you stick to a low budget and you'll end up with a DIY PC. After all, you're going to need money to get the software too, which would add up to the cost of another PC.
absynthe
New member
i prefer using a PC for music programming mainly cos the progs i use only run on xp.
but i've been fooling around on garageband in my friend's mcbkpro and i have to admit, it did tempt me to get a mac just so i can use Logic. not a fan of garageband.
whenever i think about the whole Intel Chip thingy, i'd rather buy a pc.
but it's true, xp users tend to install loads of different things on their com. as for me i use my pc only for music programming and photoshop, sometimes Maya.
nothing more.
but i've been fooling around on garageband in my friend's mcbkpro and i have to admit, it did tempt me to get a mac just so i can use Logic. not a fan of garageband.
whenever i think about the whole Intel Chip thingy, i'd rather buy a pc.
but it's true, xp users tend to install loads of different things on their com. as for me i use my pc only for music programming and photoshop, sometimes Maya.
nothing more.
MadWerewolfBoy
New member
i think u just needa powerful sound card to do that... and resonable amt or rams and processing power... ta da!
guitarsarefun
New member
i think macs just look nice
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