PC or Mac? whats better for music?

[Andyh 56]

Chips or Roast Potatoes ? whats better for eating?

Now are we talking once cooked chips or twice cooked?
Twice cooked, infinitely better...

with tomato sauce

[johnny h]

Question for the pc users: I haven't used windows 7, I've been out of the game, but would you not say that for someone that doesn't want to get into understanding and maintaining their machine mac is still better.

Yeah, definitely.

Windows 7 is a very good OS, its fast and looks quite nice, but there are all these security upgrades which can be a total nightmare. You have to give permission to install everything multiple times, its constantly warning you like you are treading over a minefield all the time!

There are loads of little things which need to be tweaked and messed around with to get to work (ie file sharing) because of security. Some (very modern!) applications need to be run in compatibility mode, or in Administrator mode to work properly etc etc.

[/quote]

[Exalted Wombat]

>Whether you like it or not, marketing and image are extremely >important. Ask Acorn Computers.

Sure, you can't fault Apple's marketing. They've positioned Mac as the aspirational brand extremely successfully.

>Yes it doesn't matter if you have a PC or a Mac Pro hidden away in >your cupboard, but believe me, if you turn up to a gig with a dell >laptop under your arm and the next act has a Macbook Pro, you will >look cheap and unambitious.

Only if you've fallen for the hype. Have you? Anyway, why would I be taking a computer to a gig?

[brothersjohnson]

I agree with Scope, It is only now that Windows have bridged the technical gaps that existed between the platforms in their handling of music creating, sequencing and editing. I did a course at the London School of sound and this argument was raised to which the solution was "use whatever you can afford but know the strengths of both systems and adapt to your needs."

Mac's are the image of Industry and for very good reason too while PC's being largely more affordable have tended to the needs of the beginners, small scale studios and budgeting music enthusiasts.

Try both if you get the chance and see what works for you.

[Exalted Wombat]

Mac's are the image of Industry and for very good reason too while PC's being largely more affordable have tended to the needs of the beginners, small scale studios and budgeting music enthusiasts.

Try both if you get the chance and see what works for you.

This reminds me of discussions on audiophile groups where, however much sense is spoken, you know they're all going to go out and spend hundreds on magic cables anyway

[matt keen]

Somebody lock this

[ken long]

Somebody lock this

[johnny h]

>Whether you like it or not, marketing and image are extremely >important. Ask Acorn Computers.

Sure, you can't fault Apple's marketing. They've positioned Mac as the aspirational brand extremely successfully.

As have Microsoft in positioning Windows as the only choice for PC hardware. Indeed they seem to have dug themselves out of the Vista hole pretty well in the past year and cleaned up their image no end.

>Yes it doesn't matter if you have a PC or a Mac Pro hidden away in >your cupboard, but believe me, if you turn up to a gig with a dell >laptop under your arm and the next act has a Macbook Pro, you will >look cheap and unambitious.

Only if you've fallen for the hype. Have you? Anyway, why would I be taking a computer to a gig?

What does "fallen for the hype" mean? Being image conscious, or aware of what is going on in society? Pretty important things in the music industry, really. Always have been.

I am aware you *might* not be aware that some people use laptops in live performances... if you've been living in an cave of ignorance for the last 10 years... but they do. So now you know.

[robinv]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ntr-pw_6C0

[Dynamic Mike]

some people use laptops in live performances...

Sometimes as many as 450

[TBTS]

Although Macs are higher priced, they depreciate in value far less than equivalent PC's

always handy when you wish to upgrade.

[oggyb]

Although Macs are higher priced, they depreciate in value far less than equivalent PC's

always handy when you wish to upgrade.

Factual and cultural error.

Mac users, I've noticed, are more likely to sell and buy second than PC users, who upgrade their systems and run them into the ground before building a new one. Talking about equivalent machines, of course.

[johnny h]

Although Macs are higher priced, they depreciate in value far less than equivalent PC's

always handy when you wish to upgrade.

Factual and cultural error.

Mac users, I've noticed, are more likely to sell and buy second than PC users, who upgrade their systems and run them into the ground before building a new one. Talking about equivalent machines, of course.

Pc and Mac machines aren't equivalent, however. Macs are better designed on the whole, more expensive and use very specific hardware. Its very often not worthwhile buying an old PC; you don't know whether it will work or not - it could be full of viruses or use rubbish components.

[Stan]

The way i read it so far - i think i can say with the certitude normally accorded to the commonly accepted facts of science, that Macs are for snobby types.

[eepyikes]

Ohhhh, the scary virus talking point again. I actually can't wait until Macs get as popular as PCs becuase all the fanboys won't have anything to talk about. Viruses will own a Mac same as PC. Only, when the IT guy goes to fix the Mac, there will be no fixing because of the infinite amount of places to hide things in a unix OS. Only way to fix, once again, will be to reinstall the whole OS.

Also, as an IT specialist, I have talked with Mac support many many times (and have friends who work at the Genius Bar). At least half of those times I talked to unbelievably arrogant kids on the phone who sounded like they had better things to do than to answer a single question. One of them even said that I must be using a PC to cause this issue (even though it was a brand new iMac, the only computer in the building.)

I state again, as both an IT and music expert, choose the tools that you like. Forget what anyone else says. And to the brilliant mind in the post above that said something about showing up to a gig with a PC...I'll show up to a gig with an atari and still make good music. It's just a tool. Like you.

[STUDIO ONE ROCKS]

As a pro user I say PC as it's just so natural. Never liked MAC but I would never say that it's im possible to do music in a mac (like many Mac user do) to say today that a Mac is better than a PC then you are an ooooooooold man, there is no difference today.
It all comes down of who you think will win in the fight of giants and I think Microsoft will win in the end as the people at Apple fight all the time, the man who came up with Iphone and IPod has left Apple, that should tell you something about their future.

Who do you want to give your money to?

Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? You all know who will be the last guy standing.

[Will_m]

Pc and Mac machines aren't equivalent, however. Macs are better designed on the whole, more expensive and use very specific hardware. Its very often not worthwhile buying an old PC; you don't know whether it will work or not - it could be full of viruses or use rubbish components.

.....Here's Johnny...and he's full of crap ladies and gents

I'm sure if you had any sense you would ask what components were in a computer before buying no? Then while your at it do a clean OS install. Also I'm not sure that macs are more expensive, sure they charge more for the same hardware but a P.C not being a closed system can have any components, meaning a limitless amount can be spent. Like putting four Nvidia Tesla cards on mobo

[johnny h]

Pc and Mac machines aren't equivalent, however. Macs are better designed on the whole, more expensive and use very specific hardware. Its very often not worthwhile buying an old PC; you don't know whether it will work or not - it could be full of viruses or use rubbish components.

.....Here's Johnny...and he's full of crap ladies and gents

I'm sure if you had any sense you would ask what components were in a computer before buying no? Then while your at it do a clean OS install.

Um well that's the thing, not everybody wants to do that

Also I'm not sure that macs are more expensive, sure they charge more for the same hardware but a P.C not being a closed system can have any components, meaning a limitless amount can be spent. Like putting four Nvidia Tesla cards on mobo

yeah .. i guess..

[Exalted Wombat]

A PC of course can be as expensive as you want it to be. Though it's becoming frustratingly difficult to specify a sensible DAW (leaving out the soundcard, which would have to be added to either platform) costing more than £1000. All the bragging rights go to Mac buyers in this department

[STUDIO ONE ROCKS]

The way i read it so far - i think i can say with the certitude normally accorded to the commonly accepted facts of science, that Macs are for snobby types.

I bet you never work with pros before. I don't know where you come from but here in Sweden PC's are in 50% of the biggest studios and guess what we are one of the leading countries in the world of songwriting and production.
I always say that having a MAC is like having a great Xbox without the cool games... You get what you get but if you want to upgrade sell your crap.

[Will_m]

Pc and Mac machines aren't equivalent, however. Macs are better designed on the whole, more expensive and use very specific hardware. Its very often not worthwhile buying an old PC; you don't know whether it will work or not - it could be full of viruses or use rubbish components.

.....Here's Johnny...and he's full of crap ladies and gents

I'm sure if you had any sense you would ask what components were in a computer before buying no? Then while your at it do a clean OS install.

Um well that's the thing, not everybody wants to do that

You mean find out what it is you're buying before you buy it? Yeah who would do that, I choose my harware based on how shiny the case is.

Exalted Wombat, you make a good point, it's usually only the dual cpu stuff from scan etc that breaks the £1000 barrier very well. I spent around £800 on my build and got well above the performance of the mac pro. Quids in for software then!

[KJF]

Neither... You can't beat pen and paper.

[Richard Graham]

I build and use PCs and they are all different. I think it mostly depends on the case.

If the case is plastic, it just goes 'clack'. If you buy a decent metal case, it will go 'ding' whereas a cheaper one will go 'clang'. Highly damped cases, like the Antec Sonata, which I personally favour, make more of a 'donk' sound.

I tried to have a go on my friend's MacBook but when he saw the drumsticks he freaked out and took it away.

[N WILLIAMS]

If you are using a PC for purely music production with no connection to the internet, then this will be a cheaper and better option. I think Mac's are totally over priced for what you get for your money. You should be able to buy a purpose built PC with a much higher spec for a lot less than than a MAC. All the myths about PC's are from years ago. These days they are very solid machines in comparision to old one's. The motherboards, chipsets, processors, RAM and hard drives are much better quality, loads faster and perform a lot better - and they are cheap!

[CarillonAC1]

Wow, the MAC forum side was locked ages ago but we've been allowed a little more fun here haven't we!

Some Pros;

PCs - Windows actually scales across cores better then OSX which with music software and multi thread CPUs is important.

PCs - We can also modify the BIOS on a PC where as the MAC uses a locked EFI (MAC BIOS equivalent) This means we can turn off power save features and get better low latency performance

MACs - They do have a closed system with limited hardware so in theory have the potential for easier testing for bugs on drivers and software

Some things to clear up, people have said you can just run windows on a MAC, this is true but the drivers aren't great and Apple aren't too bothered about getting great performance in Windows for obvious reasons.

MACs do not use special hardware, they are large company so they can get boards customised to their spec similar to how Dell and HP operate but it's all standard components and chipsets there is no performance or reliability to be had over the equivalent PC parts.

At the moment the truth is that in many applications Windows PC will outperform a OSX MAC, hardware side there is very little difference just less choice on the MAC side.

I'm not getting into the Virus side of things because I don't see it as particularly relevant for music computers.

And at the end of it all, even with my Bias, it doesn't really matter in the grand scale of things, music comes first!