PC VS. MAC?

[GZsound]

I just want to say this was an informative and flameless discussion and I appreciate it. As one who started using Cakewalk on an 8088 with no internal hard drive (two 5 1/4 floppies) and an amber monitor I think the comments about staying with what you know are very true.

 

I never went with Mac simply because of price and the fact you had to buy a Mac printer, etc. if you needed to add any peripherals. I now own four PC's including one dedicated to music (that has never crashed, by the way) and just don't know how good a Mac can be because I've never used one.

 

There is some fine music software designed just for the P.C. that seems to work fine (Sonic Foundry stuff, for example) and I don't feel a need to purchase software that was ported over from a Mac only program with features left out. I really believe it's how you use the tools you have available and not the tool itself that determines the final product.

 

Being a sax player, I go to my favorite analogy...Kenny G. can play circles around me on a Casio toy sax while I'm still doodling with my '48 Selmer. Use what works for you.

 

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Mark G.

[Anderton]

>>Wer'e finally at the point it doesn't matter what you create on,the final results are what count. <<

 

Amen. This really has been a mature discussion...bottom line is, Strat and Les Paul. It all comes down to personal preference.

[Sergievsky]

Ok, I'll try to contribute this time. As my graphic artist PC using friend of mine said a while ago, it's not the hardware, it's the software. PC or MAC, doesn't matter. What does is what you prefer with your main program, and does it cater to your working ways. I learned on a Mac plus and Mastertracks, then bought an Amiga that had buggy midi software (but got a lot of unexpected but nice ideas from those bugs), and atari, and finally settled on a Mac Quadra with StudioVision. And there I found my Software of choice. In the process I fell in love with the Mac because of the way it made working with StudioVision so much smoother. I had a Soundtools II for the audio and a Samplecell for sounds, and the integration was WAY ahead of its time. There was just NO competing products from Mac and PC was way far behind.

 

Then came the BIG ad. GIGASAMPLER, stream samples using your hard disk for memory. There was NO competing product from anyone else. And it was revolutionary IMO. So again, it was the SOFTWARE that led me to go with a PC. Unfortunately, the positives that made going with a PC, inexpensive parts and thousands of compatibles, also was its negatives. Matching hardware with software was just a nightmare. One wrong video card, sound card, or motherboard paired with one wrong software driver or other hardware, then your system goes to shit. Unless you're like Craig and can edit your Windows Registry blindfolded you're constantly battling blue screens and crashes. Of course the fact that the Mac was strictly Apple and its components were from ONE company made these problems almost nonexistent. And this positive is also its negative, because it drove these components' prices up.

 

So I suppose it was a brilliant move for Apple to switch to PC compatible peripherals by introducing USB and IDE to their new lines. Driver support for both computers have gotten better so there aren't as much conflicts. When it came time to upgrade, I decided to go back to the Apple fold. Why? Because of my SOFTWARE of choice, Digital Performer 2.61 with the imminent release of 2.7 at the time. I tried Logic, Cubase, and Cakewalk, and the only program I came close to liking was Cakewalk. Why? STABILITY. Same reason for DP. STABLE, and a simple serial number input for copy protection. And after clearing all the crap out of the PC and just keeping a couple of programs like Giga, it suddenly became very stable.

 

The programs now for both platforms are really awesome. You really almost have to get both. Just don't forget the more stable your system is the more productive you'll be. I constantly work at unbelievable deadlines that have absolutely no room for computer downtime, and so far have not let me down. (just RESIST downloading the latest drivers if yours ain't broke).

 

Since you already have a PC, and if you would like to EXPAND and not REPLACE, get a Mac. Try to work with a friend who has a Mac and see which softwares will work for you, or download some demos to try. If you're just ok with what you're working with on the PC try out some Mac audio/sequencers and see if they float your boat. If not, programs like Unity, Retro, BIAS PEAK might complement what you have, or at the least lessen the load on your PC so you can get the rock solid stability I'm enjoying now on both platforms. If you're not in a hurry, wait for DP3 which will work with Mac OSX and the dual processors.

 

Get the best of both worlds man. Now if can just figure out how I can get this damn ethernet network to work with these two machines...

 

Raul

[Alndln]

Right to a degree,I don't have to touch my registry at all but can if I have to.A sucsessful PC for DAW is put together with the right parts,just as any machine would be for this purpouse.The Mac like Raul said basically comes with everything compatible,but as he also points out as Apple becomes more and more open to third party hardware,so comes more possible incompatibilities forcing the musician to do his homework.The PC has always had a bunch of crap out there catering to home/buisness setups that are cheap, temting a lot of users to take shortcuts on hardware.Another mistake is trying to make the PC be more than a DAW,loading it with things like MS Office and other things that will just get in the way.I got my first PC about 3 years ago,built by a local shop.They delivered this machine with the sci card and sound card on the same IRQ and of course nothing worked,in fact all it did was freeze up.At the time I knew nothing of computers except my old Commodore C64 and even less about Windows.Well,I rolled up my sleeves and learned the hard way (no help)and am definitly glad I did.Three years later and Iv'e built 4 rock solid DAW machines(Athlon based)and now love every minute of it,of course this side of things are not every musicians cup od tea and I don't necessarily blame them,but the way things are going you may not have much choice on either platform(MAC/PC),then again you don't really have to use a "Computer" for music,there are other choices.Oh by the way,I have Gigasampler/Acid/Fruity Loops on my task bar while doing most of my work in Sonar(recent)and definitly get no blue screens or crashes or anything of that nature,not because I'm lucky but because I know how to set things up right the first time and what to avoid.