TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- To Mac or not?
Pages (4): [1] 2 3 4 »

To Mac or not?

Sssup folks, gonna dust off this decades old turd - Mac vs PC. Strange me asking this question, considering I'm a computer pro and work in IT for a living. But I don't have any perspective on producing with Mac, hence my question.

I've been mucking around with my ancient dell and finally got to a point where number of tracks I throw at it choke it to shit. My choices are now:

* Build my own PC monster
* Order high-end system like HP workstation with 6 cores, 9GB of RAM for under $1000
* Give into temptation and get a MacBook Pro

Here are some factors I am not quite easy with, when it comes to Mac vs PC:

1. Personal disdain for Steve Jobs. Yes, I hate what he's doing with Apple becoming a censorship entity, rather than just focusing on IT. I know it's irrelevant from technical standpoint but I sort of do feel somewhat uneasy supporting a company that irks my freedom-loving soul.

2. Need to use a system for work - whatever I end up buying, most likely will be work/play. I'd love to dedicate a system to just recording but I find it hard justifying spending so much money if I'm just going to use it for recording. I need win XP/Win7, yes I know you can do boot camp... the fact that it doesn't have another bay for hard drive is a bummer. I don't want to use USB drive, as performance on those sucks and I run VMWare off of mine with tons of heavy VM machinery. I know there's like an ultra-bay for MAC but using that one seems to void your warranty. (another gripe about lack of freedom on Mac!)

3. Software. Software. Software. Lots of items I have today are WinXP-based. Lots of stuff that still works on XP but I'd have to upgrade or buy new to run on Mac (unless I ran XP on Mac) - but could I run XP directly on Mac hardware, without VM?

4. I occasionally test out software by downloading cracked versions. Yes. you heard me right. Not every company makes a demo of their product. I've been burned by way too many purchases that were duds and before I spend money on software I DO TEST IT OUT. If I like it, I buy it. If not, off it goes. So, please save your lecture. My understanding that there are not as many cracked versions of music apps for Mac as there are for PC or they are harder to find. Can someone (without pontificating) chime in on this?

5. PCMCIA port. Yes, I know I should be going to PCI-E. But I already own RME Multiface + PC Card, I'd hate to spend another $400+ on a new PC card. So, the thought was to buy an older (used) Mac that has PC Card slot but I have no idea how old those models are and whether they're even worth buying (how recent is the hardware?)

6. Logic - always tempted me. Seems like many producers use it. Is it worth the hype compared to say... Ableton? I like Ableton but I do tend to revert to Cubase 3 SX every now and then. Curious to find out if Logic would be a worthy investment and worth considering. Seems like there are bunch of bugs with it and it's not as good as it once was.

I know I may be somewhat answering my own questions but I hope someone could try and "sell" me on a Mac.

So, thoughts?

almost everything cracked for pc has been cracked for mac.. In fact there are probably more modern apps cracked for mac than there are for pc. This thread won't get anywhere fast.

But from what you've described, I would just get a pc as it seems to fit your needs better. I personally won't ever touch a pc again unless it is a matter of life or death.

WIndows 7 is apparently good and it is possible to get a stable system and considering you are building the system, i'm sure you know enough about computers to maintain a pc. I chose Mac because I just got fed up of maintaining my pc. I have yet to meet someone with a pc that wasn't computer savvy that didn't have a virus infected bogged down piece of shit computer. If you know windows and computers , I think windows 7 could be good enough. Macs aren't that great. You just pay for the ease of mind.

PC people will deny and I am no mac fanboy. I just honestly have not ever seen someone with a pc that didn't really know much about computers have a system that wasn't completely ridden with spyware and junk. I'm not saying this for effect. I am basing this on maybe 30 systems of had the honour of witnessing then fixing.

I didn't have that many woes with windows although I did do much more maintenance but I know quite a bit about computers.Now my girlfriends pc laptop, I have to reinstall windows about every 3 months and she is the typical person using a computer.

iMac and Logic/Ableton. decent specs, decent OS, tidy looks/build/performance, easy setup/maintenance. supports all major software. I agree that Steve Jobs is a douche though and its the one reason im still consider hardware. 2000 can get you a decent yamaha or roland workstation or something like that. theres really no need for a full OS to make music, id like to have something more dedicated. but it doesnt exists. fucking world, i hate it.

Build your own PC monster.
I am going to do the this soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad almost everything cracked for pc has been cracked for mac.. In fact there are probably more modern apps cracked for mac than there are for pc. This thread won't get anywhere fast. But from what you've described, I would just get a pc as it seems to fit your needs better. I personally won't ever touch a pc again unless it is a matter of life or death. WIndows 7 is apparently good and it is possible to get a stable system and considering you are building the system, i'm sure you know enough about computers to maintain a pc. I chose Mac because I just got fed up of maintaining my pc. I have yet to meet someone with a pc that wasn't computer savvy that didn't have a virus infected bogged down piece of shit computer. If you know windows and computers , I think windows 7 could be good enough. Macs aren't that great. You just pay for the ease of mind. PC people will deny and I am no mac fanboy. I just honestly have not ever seen someone with a pc that didn't really know much about computers have a system that wasn't completely ridden with spyware and junk. I'm not saying this for effect. I am basing this on maybe 30 systems of had the honour of witnessing then fixing. I didn't have that many woes with windows although I did do much more maintenance but I know quite a bit about computers.Now my girlfriends pc laptop, I have to reinstall windows about every 3 months and she is the typical person using a computer.

I'm not worried about viruses/malware - my recording system does not connect to internet for browsing. I may jump on for an update but I don't do anything that would get it to be infected. I have a separate (old junker) system that I have antivirus on and I load all "funny" stuff on it first, to see if it catches anything. It has a firewall too - so any time something is trying to get out to the internet, it's inspected and most of the time discarded right then and there, if it's fishy.

But you are right - Win7 is a bloatware, even though I like it as an OS. I'm also pretty peeved that every time I build a system, it's SP +400MB in hotfixes, reboot +200MB more, reboot +40MB more, reboot, etc.

I spend about 4 hours just patching the system after the install and then another 2 killing services and components I don't need to optimize it. I started using Ghost when the process started taking more than 4 hours to rebuild - start to finish.

Build this pc using 8 sata2 ssds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny Rogers 2000 can get you a decent yamaha or roland workstation or something like that.

I got more hardware based synths than I care to list. I'm actually getting rid of a lot of them (No, analogs are not for sale) .

...and btw, least impressive systems I've owned were all "workstations" - e.g. roland, korg, yamaha. I consider them consumer-grade, semi-pro junk. There's not one ROMpler that I'd want to own today, not even Korg Oasys.

Portion of the proceeds will be used to fund my new system. Here are some:

Build a high end PC and install OSX on it for dual boot goodness.

i kinda feared and assumed exactly that. theres nothing on the market working for me. im never going back to pure synths atleast. maybe elektron stuff, id love to try it out someday.

hackintoshes are fun but honestly, what a pain in the ass. STick with windows if you go pc. It just isn't worth it.

Macs certainly have their appeal, particularly when you consider Logic, but in your situation, I'd stick with a PC. It would be a much more cost-effective route, considering your knowledge and existing software/hardware. Windows 7 is very stable and stays out of your way. And, definitely build your own machine - I learned a long time ago to avoid the Dells, HPs, etc. - too many proprietary parts, so upgrading or customizing them can be a PITA. Not to mention that you can build a machine that kicks a comparably priced Dell or HP right square in the ass.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad hackintoshes are fun but honestly, what a pain in the ass. STick with windows if you go pc. It just isn't worth it.

I was considering it! I have a lenovo T61P - C2D, 4GB RAM, AND it has Cardbus slot +512MB NVidia video... How hard is it? I'm willing to give it a shot.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny Rogers i kinda feared and assumed exactly that. theres nothing on the market working for me. im never going back to pure synths atleast. maybe elektron stuff, id love to try it out someday.

....And this in reference to???

quote:

Originally posted by aNYthing I was considering it! I have a lenovo T61P - C2D, 4GB RAM, AND it has Cardbus slot +512MB NVidia video... How hard is it? I'm willing to give it a shot.

Installing OSX on something you haven't purchased in an apple store depends entirely on your hardware configuration.

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

The process has gotten so much easier in the past 18 months with bootloaders now. It's depends on how computer savvy you are honestly. I built mine because I'm poor and I'm a total computer geek.

But in the end if you have the money just go with a real mac.

If you want to go PC, then build it, don't buy off the shelf or even manufacturer configured systems.

For you I would actually say go for a mac.

Why? becuase like you I used to work with computers and tech support (for audio/broadcast) and one day I got to the point I just got bored of maintaining PC's just to run normally as they should do.

I was kind of gainst macs becuase they didn't offer all those deep tweaking options that windows does but was forced to get mac by a new job as the studio only uses macs.

It was like seeing the fucking light. Not because of OSX (i don't care either way), but just simply because of the sheer amount of time I saved not doing anything in terms of maintenance. My workflow instantly increased by about 20% in th long run just because I was fighting with XP or Vista or Win7 to make it doe what it fucking should.

Then I just stopped even thinking about maintenance apart from a very occasional, 5 min repair disk permission. I have three PC laptops for various other uses (business, personal, and audio) and each onehas it's own set of problems, and weird kinks, that make me so much more appreciative to sit in front of my imac.

So I can't upgrade much on my imac. Give a shit. I have the soundcare I need, all the memory I need and ample USB, DVI out and FW sockets. it's nearly 3 years old now, I've put that thing through hell and I'm only just getting to the point I need to consider a reformat.

Honestly, I don't think I could ever go back to a PC for full time audio production, and I've owned a PC in one form or another since I was 5 years old.

And trust me, when it comes to a frech install it's a fucking 45 minute breeze. Back it up, slap the disk in, install your extra peripheral hardware (IMO also easier and faster than on a PC) run software update (once) and install your programs of choice.

Last time I did the whole thing was done in 2.5 hours, and that includes every audio, video and graphic program you can think of.

And then there's logic.....

also another thing for pcs

Search online for people that have a system with your soundcard that is rock solid so there are no surprises. There are so many variables and components that to just chose without checking what others have done is rubbish. Find the system most people seem to agree is stable and just go with that. Don't deviate at all and you will avoid alot of hassles.

quote:

Originally posted by aNYthing ....And this in reference to???

i dont get the question?

i have a quad cpu 2'7ghz and 4gb ram on windows xp 64 bit and i can tell you that with few channels & fx's i hear distortion.

A mac for djing is not my cup of tea as i believe there's no much difference but for heavy producing i think mac wins clearly

i dont think distortion has anything to do with anything. and theres a huge difference when it comes to djeing, id never dare to dj with windows. sorry but you got it mixed up

it's not a secret that Mac is more efficient handling the software and that for heavy tasks such as graphic modeling, audio editing and similar tasks is the recommended option.

When it comes to djing mac could be more stable but i rarely see crashes on my windows laptop, i have used it some times for 2-3 hour sets and no problems or freezes.

but djeing is like 100 times more critical that producing, so u need the most stabile platform available. macs just better for anything creative

If there's one thing I learnt even as a kid, it's that you buy brands for laptops but you never, ever, buy brands for a desktop. You build your own.

PC seems better suited for you. Win7 is brilliant. Forget the people mentioning maintenance, they are projecting their experiences with previous windows versions. I've had my new system since Feb and I haven't done a single bit of maintenance on it. I don't even remember doing a defrag yet, apart from a month ago when I went to do one and it told me there was no need as fragmentation was minimal.

Logic/Cubase - Same shit. Shouldn't sway your decision all that much if you're using the latest versions.
Ableton runs rock solid on any system so this also shouldn't affect your decision.

If you're also going to be using it as a general purpose system and occasionally gaming, PC is again a better choice.
Make sure you get a MOBO with a TI firewire interface. The Gigabyte UD3/5/7/9 all have it with USB3 too.

You said you're not connected to the internet so autoupdates don't really apply here, but if you do, they are a breeze. Where XP ocassionaly used to break something during an upgrade, you can't even notice anything with Win7. It just happens and it works fine.

Take any Windows criticism with a grain of salt, because most opinions are based around XP/Vista, not Win7.
You're also going to save a shit tonne of money not just in the short term, but long term as well.

I'd go PC... Mac lacks the PCMCIA port as you mentioned so its just going to cost you a fortune. And macbooks aren't really great value for money IMO. Mac Pro's and iMacs might be a bit better (especially the iMac) but mac pro's are really very overpriced I think.

To be fair on mac, there are lots of cracks out now for it I think, and most software generally is compatible with mac. Some freeware stuff and more obscure programs aren't, and that would probably bother me. But those things shouldn't sway your decision too much.

I think its really a matter of your attitude to computers. With PC, you get used to being constantly on the cutting edge, always upgrading hardware and software to get the best performance and most interesting new features. Personally, I like that, because it makes things a little more exciting being able to run some weird program that someones just written but is a little unstable.

With mac, there are lots of people who are still running a ten year old system for recording, and are happy doing it. Its a completely different mind set IMO, much more about functionality, where the computer is really just an appliance rather than something you have to put work into. I guess it has its advantages for situations where you need rock solid stability, but that has its down sides too IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny Rogers iMac and Logic/Ableton. decent specs, decent OS, tidy looks/build/performance, easy setup/maintenance. supports all major software. I agree that Steve Jobs is a douche though and its the one reason im still consider hardware. 2000 can get you a decent yamaha or roland workstation or something like that. theres really no need for a full OS to make music, id like to have something more dedicated. but it doesnt exists. fucking world, i hate it.

What are you talking about? No one uses those daft workstations any more except wannabe RnB "beatmakers" and TV jingle composers who have to bang something out in less than 15 minutes ten times a day.

If you're any good with a windows based pc don't bother getting a Mac because you should be able to create a fairly equal (if not better) setup with Windows in terms of stability and performance.

Unless you want to run Logic or any other mac-specific application. Or if you don't like Windows. Those are (imo) the only fair reasons to go Mac.

I'm more anti-mac by the day. But I won't bother explaining because it would not contribute.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips What are you talking about? No one uses those daft workstations any more except wannabe RnB "beatmakers" and TV jingle composers who have to bang something out in less than 15 minutes ten times a day.

u didnt read all

i said that the thing i want really doesnt exists. id love to see better complete workstations/groovemachines.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.