Should My Next Machine be a Mac?

[Mwhlr]

Hi there,

I'm in the market for a new machine and could use some advice.

For the past eight years, I've been firmly entrenched in the Windows ecosystem. My current machine is an Asus N552VW, and while it's served me well during this time, I find myself frequently pushing its limits.

I produce and mix music in Reaper, and my workflow often involves heavy use of parallel processing, FX, and VSTs. It's not uncommon for my sessions to surpass 100 tracks, including buses and FX tracks. As I build my sessions, my laptop's performance takes a noticeable hit. Looking back, I can honestly say that dealing with stuttering, performance issues and freezing tracks takes up about 50% of my production time.

Here are the full spec of my current machine:

Operating System: Windows 10
Model: Asus N552VW
Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz (8 CPUs)
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD

I'm looking for an upgrade that will be able to take just about anything I throw at it, and I'm contemplating the possibility of switching to Mac. With that said, the latest Macs are well out of my budget range. Ideally, I'd look for an older refurbished machine with enough power to run my sessions. Portability isn't a crucial factor for me, although it would be a nice bonus. I'm not going to give a specific budget, as I don't know what I'd be expected to pay for what I'm looking for. Really, I'm just testing the water to see what's available.

I'm also using some peripherals:

Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 8i6
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 650
Komplete Kontrol M32 Midi Controller
External monitor (HDMI)
iLok

While upgrading my audio interface wouldn't pose a significant issue, I do need to consider if a new machine would provide the connections needed to integrate the above.

Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

[RichardT]

I'd say stick with Windows unless you come across a compelling reason to move.

Particularly if you're thinking about refurbished Macs you can probably find a suitable Windows machine.

I think only if you're after cutting edge performance do the latest Macs have something of an advantage.

[MarkOne]

What’s your budget?

I’d agree that unless you go for an Apple silicon machine you’re probably better off sticking with windows, A lot of the pre Apple silicon MBPs were a little underwhelming, some had the butterfly keyboard issues, several had severe thermal throttling issues.

But, a recent M2 or M3 machine is an awesome bit of kit. (Even my M1 13 inch MBP never lets me down on audio,)

[ConcertinaChap]

iLok

See the thread on problems with iLok and the latest version of MacOS Sonoma. Might be as well not to get Apple kit anyway until this point is resolved.

CC

[resistorman]

You certainly don't want an Intel Mac. If you're going to be running 100 tracks and can't afford a current Pro with lots of RAM, you better stick with Windows.

I'm surprised you get anywhere near 100 tracks out of your current rig!

[Wonks]

The 120GB SSD system disk is pretty small. They fill up pretty quickly these days. So you may have a lot of stuff that should be on it that’s on the HDD and slowing it down. Fitting a bigger system SSD may well improve things considerably on your current laptop, though you may have to reload some stuff to get it working properly on the C: drive. But it’s hard to say without seeing it in the flesh.

Have you run LatencyMon to see if there are any programs slowing up the performance?

The Intel i7-6700HQ was launched in 2015, so it’s several generations behind the current chips. You’re looking at over three times the benchmark for a current i7 or Ryzen 7 laptop processor.

Plus NVMe SSDs are a lot faster than SATA SSDs, so a laptop with capacity for a couple of those will also speed things up.

DDR5 RAM is a bit faster than the DDR4 RAM you have in the laptop, and with the number of tracks you are using, 32GB would be a reasonable choice on a new laptop.

So you probably could up the performance of your current laptop, but it sounds like a new laptop is the better answer.

[Rebus316]

Just a word in defence of intel macs - and something you might not know if you're newish to Apple. (I'm a bit of a zealot these days, so bear that in mind )

The last generation of iMacs before the re-design (I bought my 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7 27" in 2020) have a purpose built hatch at the back which allows you to manually upgrade the RAM. (I think they were the last breed of macs to allow RAM upgrades.)

I'm no techie, but found it easy to upgrade an 16gb up to a 32gb on the day I bought it. Didn't even invalidate the guarantee. (As far as I know, you can add in as much as 128gb.)

Mine came with 512gb as the default SSD, and there's 6 slots on the back of the machine for external drives, interfaces, etc.

I run a Focusrite Scarlett, use iLok (software only) with no problems, and use an external monitor through a USB3 to HDMI cable.

On the M chips, they are great, but I also use an M1 Macbook Air with 8gb, and that starts to struggle quite a lot earlier than the iMac does, so the uber-ram upgrade on the iMac seems to make a chunky difference.

(I'm sure the M2/M3s are a bigger upgrade, but if you're on a budget you're probably not looking at those.)

Obviously if you want a mobile option then this won't work, but if you can get one of those iMacs on a good deal and you've got a bit left over to upgrade the RAM, too, you can end up with a pretty high spec machine that's still relatively new.

[tea for two]

I produce and mix music in Reaper.

Focusrite Scarlett 8i6
Komplete Kontrol M32 Midi Controller
External monitor (HDMI)
iLok

I do need to consider if a new machine would provide the connections needed to integrate the above.

latest Macs are well out of my budget range. Ideally, I'd look for an older refurbished machine with enough power to run my sessions.
I don't know what I'd be expected to pay for what I'm looking for

My current machine is an Asus N552VW
.... dealing with stuttering, performance issues and freezing tracks takes up about 50% of my production time.
Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz (8 CPUs)
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD.

Portability isn't a crucial factor for me, although it would be a nice bonus.

As several on ere foruume I have wind lol and mac.

If you are in ewekay
with 12 months warranty lowest priced is £350 M1 mac mini 2020 with 256GB ssd 8GB RAM has hdmi 2standard usb ports, 3thunderbolt usb4 ports : has connections you require (cash converters).
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_ ... specs.html
You should find M1 8core cpu upto approx 100% more cpu performance compared to your current i7-6700hq for Reaper.
On this M1 mini 256GB storage sould be approx 4x speedier than your current ssd in your asus although only 256GB means you'd have to run most things from a usbC nvme external drive as Crucial x8, Samsung T7 1tb approx £70 new would be approx 2x speeder than you current ssd in your asus (I run Crucial x8 1tb on my imac2019). 8GB RAM mac osx handles RAM more efficiently than wind still 16GB would be preferable which bumps up price by another £200.

Alternatively currently there is an AMD Ryzen 7 5700u cpu HP laptop model HP 15S-EQ2510 at £230 with 2 years warranty (cex). Bit of an anomaly in price should be around £330.
Ryzen 7 5700u 8cores 16threads from 2021 sould give upto approx 50% more cpu performance compared to your current i7-6700hq 4cores 8threads for Reaper as Reaper is better written to make use of more cores threads.
This HP laptop has hdmi, 2standard usb ports, 1usbC port : connections for your requirements.
512GB Nvme ssd which would be approx 3-5x speedier than your current ssd in your asus. RAM is 8GB which is easy enuff to upgrade by unscrewing the bottom panel. 15inch 1920*1080 screen.

::

I had a HP Ryzen 7 3700u laptop it was excellent. Ryzen 5xxx series cpu and more recent 6xxx 7xxx preferable as they have improved cpu performance with more cores threads speed faster as well as lower power draw.

[Mwhlr]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm going to consider all of this carefully before making a call on it!

[MarkOne]

You mention over on the PC forum that your budget was around 1K.

With a bit of careful searching on the 2nd hand market an M2 Mac mini with 512 internal SSD and 16GB is well within reach for that kind of money. If you hold off a month or so and save up a bit more then machines with 32GB RAM and 1TB drive are around the 1.2K mark.

Something like that would eat your sort of projects, and probably wouldn't ever spool up the fan

[Dave Rowles]

I work on both Mac and Windows for various projects, and my preference is Mac.

That said, there's nothing wrong with windows machines if you like the OS and get on with it. I just don't.

I've got an M3 max and honestly, I don't see how I'm going to use all the power in this thing at the moment. A lot of my friends who have M1s or M2s aren't hitting limits yet either.

have a scout around and you can find some bargins.

[johnny h]

I can honestly say that dealing with stuttering, performance issues and freezing tracks takes up about 50% of my production time.

You certainly need a Mac. Specifically an Apple Silicon Mac.

Minimum spec: MacBook Air M1 (never consider an Intel chip).
Go for 16GB or more if you can. M1 Pro will be faster. M3 Max is the fastest.

[Arpangel]

I worked with Windows for years, but you have to be radical. My music machine lasted from 2004-2013 and worked flawlessly, no issues whatsoever.
It never went on-line, all software was loaded from manufacturer CD's or memory sticks, it was never updated, it ran Windows XP.
I bought a Mac in 2013, I'm still using it, it’s running High Sierra, it had a horrific crash about four years ago, and had to go in for a complete wipe and reinstall, it's been fine since then, but I never update it.
I'm running Komplete, Ableton, Reason, Reaper, and all of the Arturia stuff, it’s fine.
I can’t say I prefer Mac or PC, they both work for me, and now I run a high end PC alongside my Mac, only reason is that I have things I can’t run on my Mac, TBH, I cant say I prefer either.
I find Mac's frustrating, illogical and down right annoying for anything else "but" music, and if it was a general purpose computer I was contemplating it would be a PC every time.

[Dave Rowles]

If it was a general purpose computer I was contemplating it would be a PC every time.

heheh. I'm the opposite. I find it slow and annoying to use windows compared to my Mac. I can never find what I need and haven't been happy with windows OS since XP

[Arpangel]

If it was a general purpose computer I was contemplating it would be a PC every time.

heheh. I'm the opposite. I find it slow and annoying to use windows compared to my Mac. I can never find what I need and haven't been happy with windows OS since XP

"One" of the things I hate about Mac's, is not being able to play music files consecutively, automatically, one after the other like I could do with Windows Media Player, just select a few tracks, drag them into Media Player and bingo, none of this iTunes rubbish, create a playlist, import into library palaver.
This was really handy for auditioning samples, or just playing tracks.

[Drew Stephenson]

I work on both Mac and Windows for various projects, and my preference is Mac.

Whereas I am the reverse, but then Windows has been my primary OS since it came out.
But really this is about your workflow and process rather than the hardware, how much time do you want to put into learning a new OS?

[James Perrett]

This was really handy for auditioning samples, or just playing tracks.

You might find Reaper's Media Explorer comes in handy for auditioning samples. If you tried it a while ago and rejected it then it might be worth trying it again because it received some improvements towards the end of version 6.

[Dave Rowles]

But really this is about your workflow and process rather than the hardware, how much time do you want to put into learning a new OS?

Yes, it's how my brain works and how Mac OS currently fits that way. I moved from exclusively windows to Mac OS quite a while ago, and I found myself much preferring the way Mac OS works. Learning the OS back then didn't take me that long. The latest version I'm on has actually simplified things even more as I use hot corners to pull up apps and screens that I use all the time. I don't even use the dock anymore.

But the hardware is fantastic as well, my M3 Max is so fast it's mad, and I get frustrated when I have to use my wife's windows machine for office work occasionally as it's soooo slow in comparison.

[Drew Stephenson]

Indeed, Mac have really raised the bar with the M series of chips. Which is good for all of us.

[Gone To Lunch]

I have had a Mac M1 studio, 64gb ram, for about a year now, and I must say it is the mutt's nuts...

Strongly recommended.

[RichardT]

But really this is about your workflow and process rather than the hardware, how much time do you want to put into learning a new OS?

Yes, it's how my brain works and how Mac OS currently fits that way. I moved from exclusively windows to Mac OS quite a while ago, and I found myself much preferring the way Mac OS works. Learning the OS back then didn't take me that long. The latest version I'm on has actually simplified things even more as I use hot corners to pull up apps and screens that I use all the time. I don't even use the dock anymore.

But the hardware is fantastic as well, my M3 Max is so fast it's mad, and I get frustrated when I have to use my wife's windows machine for office work occasionally as it's soooo slow in comparison.

I have one of those to, and for the first time it’s as if the computer doesn’t exist. Amazing speed, total silence whatever I throw at it. I bought it to run large orchestral / choral pieces in Dorico and it’s been flawless for that.

Personally I do prefer Mac, but I still think that these days there’s no real reason to transition from one side to the other - unless you need the extra speed of the latest M3 machines.

[ConcertinaChap]

"One" of the things I hate about Mac's, is not being able to play music files consecutively, automatically, one after the other like I could do with Windows Media Player,

Fair comment, but the fix for that is trivial. Install VLC. Will play anything, will do what you're asking for and costs nowt.

CC

[Arpangel]

"One" of the things I hate about Mac's, is not being able to play music files consecutively, automatically, one after the other like I could do with Windows Media Player,

Fair comment, but the fix for that is trivial. Install VLC. Will play anything, will do what you're asking for and costs nowt.

CC

Thanks, I’ll give it a go.

[Hugh Robjohns]

This really isnt a mac/pc question at all.

You have an old machine with an old processor and relatively little memory/storage, on which you're trying to run huge projects. Almost anything more current will do much, much better!

The M1/2/3 macs are certainly immensely powerful... but at a premium price. And you'll need to be prepared for a substantial learning curve to fully embed with the Apple way of working. Perfectly do-able, but don't underestimate the effort and potential frustration involved. It may be such a complete revelation to join the Apple fan club that you wish you did years ago. Or you may find yourself wondering why you cant find and do all the things you took for granted in Windoze.

So, on the other hand, a modern, well spec'd PC can be hugely powerful too.. and for a similar level of performance wont be much difference in price to the Mac options anyway. You just need to take good care over getting the spec right. And then there's no learning curve, and you carry on exactly as before but without the problems.

Take a look at the specs SCAN come up with to point you in the right spec-ing direction, for example (other specialist builders are available).

For me, while the new Mac silicon is impressive, the real decider here is the workflow aspects and the mindset needed to work the Apple way as opposed to the MS way. Both platforms are capable of good results with suitable hardware running them, but some people prefer one approach more than the other.

[Dave Rowles]

For me, while the new Mac silicon is impressive, the real decider here is the workflow aspects and the mindset needed to work the Apple way as opposed to the MS way. Both platforms are capable of good results with suitable hardware running them, but some people prefer one approach more than the other.

As usual, Hugh states what I was trying to say in a far more succinct and clear way!