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mac or pc

  • 7 replies
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Topic mac or pc
I am in the planning stages of building a home studio. I should emphisize that I am a beginner. I think that I have decided on pro tools, but will be purchasing a computer soon. I have not yet heard from people who do serious audio production from home. So could someone help? I have heard that Mac is the industry standard. I have also read stories of people who had lots of problems with there mac. Plus some who had nothing bad to say. Some of those people are in video, however. What are the key reasons why I should choose a Mac over a PC. Both will work and most PC's cost less. Any sound advice will be much appreciated.

Jason
2
With Protools there really isnt much difference between Mac and PC, a well built PC can be as stable as a mac easily.

However i will say that if you go down the PC road you will not be able to use Logic Audio 6, which is also another industry 'standard' and an amazing program for writing and producing midi based music. Protools can be a little restrictive on the midi front, as it will not natively run VST instrument plugins etc.

Really does depend what you intend to produce.
3
Hello there, Jason

My name is Martin Nielsen. I own a professional home based recording studio called Airborne Productions. We use a dedicated PC 2.5 Intel with 1 Gb ram on which I run Logic Audio Platinum 5.5 on windows XP. We can run 75 to 85 tracks simultaneously depending on the amount of plugins we need.

I must agree with iMx! What do you plan to work with; do you mainly work with midi or audio?

If you are a midi freak you do not need much in terms of computer. If you are an audio freak like me you need to go shopping. PC or Mac is equally reliable for the purpose. Mac used to have the status of industry standard, however that has been a while. Now the main parameter for staying on Mac or PC is mainly to avoid the hassle of changing platform. What kind of computer do you have in front of you when you read this. My suggestion is “stick to that” since you are use to it. There will be a lot of stuff to tend to once you get started. Be also aware if you plan to do audio, your microphones are your most important equipment.

Martin Nielsen

Airborne Productions
4

Quote: Hello there, Jason

My name is Martin Nielsen. I own a professional home based recording studio called Airborne Productions. We use a dedicated PC 2.5 Intel with 1 Gb ram on which I run Logic Audio Platinum 5.5 on windows XP. We can run 75 to 85 tracks simultaneously depending on the amount of plugins we need.

I must agree with iMx! What do you plan to work with; do you mainly work with midi or audio?

If you are a midi freak you do not need much in terms of computer. If you are an audio freak like me you need to go shopping. PC or Mac is equally reliable for the purpose. Mac used to have the status of industry standard, however that has been a while. Now the main parameter for staying on Mac or PC is mainly to avoid the hassle of changing platform. What kind of computer do you have in front of you when you read this. My suggestion is “stick to that” since you are use to it. There will be a lot of stuff to tend to once you get started. Be also aware if you plan to do audio, your microphones are your most important equipment.

Martin Nielsen

Airborne Productions




Martin,

Thanks for the info. That's what I need to hear. To answer your question, I would guess that I will be more audio than midi proned. Again, I'm in the planning stages and will be a beginner. I am actually emailing you on a compaq with pentium four from work right now. Apart from my computer and whatever program I go with (probably pro tools) I understand that I will need an interface to assist with other live instrument and vocal recordings aside from my keyboard which can be directly connected via usb port.

A pc would be more ideal for my family as well since my wife is only fimiliar with pc's and prefers one for herself if I ever got a mac. How much mb's and gb's would I need? I know that audio files do take up a lot of space on the hardrive.

Once again, thanks for your insight.

Jason
5
Hi Jason

The compaq you are sitting in front of can run an entire bank!! That would be sufficient for you. You now need a good audio interface unless your keyboard has that. if not or even if, I would suggest that you take a look at the digi oo1 (I think its called) It has everything you need and sounds killer! Also check out Tascam US224 which sounds great (app 200$ on ebay) With cards like those, all your computer does is read and write to disk and update your screen.
In terms of memory. Fill up your computer with ram. everything the computer works with resides in your ram so do not save money there. Concerning hard drive; A normal length stereo song takes up app 40. Mb. A mono track for that same song app 20 Mb. You can do the math your self. Get a fast CD burner an put the files you don’t use regularly on CD. That will save you a lot of space.
And last but not least!!! Have fun!! Have great fun!!!

Martin
6
sorry to hi-jack your thread but instead of staring another one i figured i would ask, I have an old beige g3, a powerbook, and i also have a PC. which one would you choose, my band just purchased a PA system we got mackie self powered speakers and a mackie 16 channel mixer.

I also have pro-tools, and sonar 3(producer edition). knowing this would you recommend going with a certain platform? also what other hardware might i need? as for mics, i'm looking into those know.
7
Go with whatever platform you are more familiar with as Martin has said. Mac "used" to be the industry standard and are still very good. But for a while now PC's have come up in the world in the digital audio usuability. As far as I know, there is more software (of any sort) available for PC's than for Macs, giving you a larger selection to choose from. I use Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.0 on my PIII 850MHz laptop with 512MB PC100 and a 40GB Hard disk. Been using this for years now and have no reason to change it. If you are more familiar with Macs, go for it. If you dont have any familiarity with Macs, it could prove to be a nightmare for you.
8
With my completely biased opinion I would go with a Mac. Now I'm not just being some fanatic and saying that, i've just not had any good experiences recording with the PC's i've owned and used over the years. I used protools on my buddy's custom built PC to help him record his bands cd, and while the cd actually turned out really good, we both had a nightmare time getting protools to run stabily. Really its up to you though.