The Mac vs PC Thread #483468

Post by **lynt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:09 pm

Right, coming up to new computer time. Was set on a phat as PC, but people have whispered Mac in my ear and I thought I'd like to hear from you cats what you think.

Primarily for audio production, though my PC has been blazing Cubase forever and a solid CPU/FSB/RAM setup would rock it for another 3 years. Specially if I drop some solid gold on it.

No 64bit PC recommendations please.. nothing is really supported.

Who's making beats? On what Platform?

Legitimate reasons too please, no "oh macs rule coz BILL GATE$ IS A MICRO$HIT HEAD HAHA LOLZ!!!!!!"

Let's say I've got $6000 to throw around. (Just for a laugh)

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 · Post by **Ag3nT[]0raNg3** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:20 pm

Macs are good. for the elderly. and graphics cats.

they wont break down anywhere near as often and require less overall maintenance. they are also becoming quite competitive with PC's price wise lately too.

But you ruled out 64bit so no G5 for you.

If i were you id build my own PC. less money and more than likely a better all round music making machine.

SX 2 runs fine on a PC. its also easier to aquire software/VSTs and shit for PC's too. unless you got a source. (and you cant have mine

)

i use both a MAC and a PC everyday. i prefer PC for production.

id go into specs but have no idea what price range your looking at.

Post by **lynt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:24 pm

Sorry, I'm ruling out 64bit on the PC since nothing is really supported yet, no point.

I was looking at Dual G5's today..

As for money.... lets say under $6000, but a loan can always come in handy if I can totally justify it.

Bring it on.

Realm Korrupt · Post by **Realm Korrupt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:36 pm

Ah Lynty! Looking to change teams eh? U been a PC boy for a while so ya gotta take into account the joys of learning new OS - although Panther is a fairly user friendly, not to mention rather sexual OS!

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 · Post by **Ag3nT[]0raNg3** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:37 pm

6 grand eh.. by crikey your gunna have one fuck off machine man!

hmm. maybe the dual g5 is the way to go.. and blow 2 grand on a damn sexy cinema display. mmmmm...

no really. it all depends on how PC savvy you are IMHO.

the G5's are very very nice. but for 6 grand you could get yourself a mad PC. are you going to upgrade your existing soundcard? assuming you already have a pro card of some sort? is graphics processing up there on the list of must do's?

B0mBjAcK · Post by **B0mBjAcK** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:45 pm

this has been foght out soooo many times its old. PC for games, MAC for graphic/video/audio/etc. shiz.

Look at the progs u want to use, if they only run on a mac then spend the extra $$$ and get a mac, if they run on a PC the build yourself a PC you can build them cheaper than MACs waaayyyy cheaper.

As for the 64 bit comment thats a loda shite, ofcourse there arnt a lot of programs that support 64 bit technology yet... but there will be look at Intels hyper threading how many programs took advantage of it when it was first relesed? and how many take advantage of it now? It's the same story with 64 bit CPUs, manufacturers are just future profing their shiz...

I'm B0mBjAcK and thas my 2c worth

B0mBjAcK · Post by **B0mBjAcK** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:48 pm

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 wrote:6 grand eh.. by crikey your gunna have one fuck off machine man!

You should have seen the price list for my dream machine, nearly 12K and thats without the projector and screen for my games

OS X isss soooo sexy! Bout learning a new OS... if you know Unix then learning OS X shouldn't be a biggie.

DIDI · Post by **DIDI** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:04 pm

I'm not particularly computer literate. I just like what they can do for me, but it seems to me, Bookwork /accounting etc. =PC, Creative = Mac.

I bought my old mac from an audio guy and he was upgrading to a G4 at the time. There are other issues like lack of viruses etc. If you look at what the big DJ's seem to be using I think Mac's would come out in front.

btw, you don't have to know unix, in fact you don't have to know much at all, to use OSX. It's a breeze for anyone, even me!! [Mac stuff looks better too!]

Edit; PC shops have salesmen, Apple stores seem to have more helpful and creative attitudes.

L-J · Post by **L-J** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:36 pm

pc just for the fact im to crap to use a mac!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:37 pm

buy mac and never look back mate.

pc's are good for internet

mac's are made to create shit

Little Evil · Post by **Little Evil** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:33 pm

I use macs and PC's every day for audio production, and contrary to what anyone says, one is not better than the other, they both have their pro's and cons tho.

I prefer PC, and if you want to continue running cubase, with heaps of pirate vST plugs, that are easily found, then PC is definately the way to go.

On the other hand, it's pretty much compulsory these days for people running macs to use Logic. Logic is apparently never being upgraded for PC - ever. That's a bummer.

My two bobs worth, if I had $6000 to buy new gear, would be to spend half that on a wicked PC, another $1000 on a kickass soundcard, and the rest on studio gear. Preferably monitors, or a compressor (focusrite are the cheapest quality ones, and have great sound)

I'm running a 3.6 mhz Dell lappy, (Tho now I would go Toshiba if I had a choice, as the don't overheat as much) with Pro tools (Mbox) and I use reason as a slave. There's nothing I cant do, with the amount of kickass plugs, a Vst to RTAS adaptor, and Reason just being upgraded to 3.0, it's pretty much out of control.
Couldn't be farked typing out all the gear in my studio, there's heaps, and the PC runs it like a dream.

Get the basics, make sure they will serve you well, and indefinately, then buy up on the studio gear. An ultra fast PC, and good soundcard, is the most important thing in your arsenal.
Check out the digi02 as well, sound card and control surface in one.

I'm a protools fanatic, so I am biased as shit for digidesign stuff.
All the same, I like PC better, but that's just my opinion.
You can run most things worthy of running on both.

I'm not really any help at all am I?

Post by **system** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:48 pm

some good points made above. some bad as well.

I use Windows/Mac OS X machines on a daily basis - both at home and work.. anyway, this is a quick 2 minutes summation of my feelings on the topic.

IMO generally, Apple provide top class components in their machines. this will always make their machines highly recommended, unless you like continually tweaking your machine. ditto on the software side, especially with the latest version of DP/Logic etc taking advantage of the CoreAudio etc libraries.

that said, you will get more for your money on the PC hardware side and there are literally shitloads of audio warez doing the rounds. hard to argue with that.

lynt wrote:Primarily for audio production, though my PC has been blazing Cubase forever and a solid CPU/FSB/RAM setup would rock it for another 3 years. Specially if I drop some solid gold on it.

might be worth getting a maxed out PC box then. throw some SATA drives in and max out the RAM. if you're comfortable with it, that's a good reason to stay.

more money for spanky monitors really.

Little Evil wrote:it's pretty much compulsory these days for people running macs to use Logic. Logic is apparently never being upgraded for PC - ever. That's a bummer.

might have something to do with Apple buying Emagic maybe?

lynt wrote:No 64bit PC recommendations please.. nothing is really supported.

and won't be for a long time IMO. 64 bit is for the CSIRO types.

buy, buy, buy!

Post by **lynt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:42 pm

Good to hear your comments people.

But thats what I'm thinking, system.....

While AMD / Intel are doing the 64bit thing, MS still havent landed a 64bit version of Windows yet have they?

Plus Cubase and all my apps are definately still 32bit, and will be that way for ages.

I'm a tweaker, have been PC for years and my last box has lasted me almost 4 years courtesy of the odd upgrade and performance tweaks over the years.... im looking to invest in another 4 or so... will Macs give me this strength?

Already got monitors, pro card and a widescreen LCD... I'm just going to hammer the box. Dont need any peripherals, though Bluetooth & WiFi would be nice to show off to my mates with.

Managed to put together a dope PC for less then $3000 in a shopping cart.. but still want to hear some comments on the Mac.. bring it on.

quick · Post by **quick** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:49 pm

If your gonna order a PC to be made to your specs, check http://www.cpl.net.au/images/908982401.pdf haven't found a better all round price for a new box.

Post by **lynt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:50 pm

Actually,

who can recommend me a dope CPU/MOBO/RAM (DDR2 plz) combination

I know this isnt really a tech board.. but hey.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:50 pm

something that dudes haven't mentioned yet.....

i have had a MAC for 5 years or so now and have NEVER had to worry about a virus

Post by **lynt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:53 pm

me neither

good point though, but those who know their pc stuff usually are on top of that stuff.

apart from the time i did a format and clean install. the first thing i did was set up my internet, and within minutes i was getting "net" messages and popup ads.. my ip must have been in some rare database and i was getting hammered.... wtf!

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:06 pm

lynt wrote:m looking to invest in another 4 or so... will Macs give me this strength?

I've had my Dual 450 G4 since about mid-2000 and all I've done is get a new HDD and add some RAM. Still does the job reasonably well.

Motive · Post by **Motive** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:31 am

I'm a mac fan myself, but have had loads of PC experience. I prefer Mac, that's all it is really - a preference - the software is generally the same on both, but it's the feel of the mac's engine that I like. OS X is off-the-hook. so stable, you never really have to do much set-up. Apple displays are also outstanding - there aren't many better screens on the market, maybe Formac displays would top them....

i'm also looking for a new computer, just sussing the market at the moment...

Post by **system** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:44 am

lynt wrote:While AMD / Intel are doing the 64bit thing, MS still havent landed a 64bit version of Windows yet have they?

no, that's Longhorn. won't be with us for at least 2 years at this rate.

lynt wrote:Plus Cubase and all my apps are definately still 32bit, and will be that way for ages.

yep, fo shizzle.

lynt wrote:I'm a tweaker, have been PC for years and my last box has lasted me almost 4 years courtesy of the odd upgrade and performance tweaks over the years.... im looking to invest in another 4 or so... will Macs give me this strength?

yes. plus you could have another account on the box for all your internet stuff.

lynt wrote:Already got monitors, pro card and a widescreen LCD... I'm just going to hammer the box. Dont need any peripherals, though Bluetooth & WiFi would be nice to show off to my mates with.

well that's another reason to go for the Mac OS box right there.

play it how you feel it man.

fickuss wrote: have had a MAC for 5 years or so now and have NEVER had to worry about a virus

very true. golden rule with PC audio is not to have any internet apps running on the account you have for running audio apps on.

I mean, it's gotta be a concern when an OS manufacturer/publisher releases an "Anti Spyware" app for its own OS surely!?

Motive wrote:I'm a mac fan myself, but have had loads of PC experience. I prefer Mac, that's all it is really - a preference - the software is generally the same on both, but it's the feel of the mac's engine that I like. OS X is off-the-hook. so stable, you never really have to do much set-up.

totally agree with you there man! its been over 20 years of my computing life now, but the Mac OS has really found its legs now with Mac OS X. can't recommend it highly nough. it'll be the H/W cost that'll bring you down though on the purchasing front.

Motive wrote:Apple displays are also outstanding - there aren't many better screens on the market, maybe Formac displays would top them....

can't argue with that at all, but that's more of a colour thing. as in design/video.

buy one if you've got the bucks though, I just got a 23" Cinema Display HD at work and the drool stains on my desk may need to be sandblasted oof.

Post by **system** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:05 am

and btw, if you're after affordable Macs..:

check the specs out here.

looks pretty tasty (on first glance(s)) really, I was looking for an internet/word processing box on the cheap and was going to go for an iMac G5.. no longer.

Post by **breaksRbest** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:17 am

fuck the specs, it's all about what it 'looks like'

:drools:

Rob M · Post by **Rob M** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:31 am

If I had the money, I wouldn't worry about maxing out your RAM slots...it's not worthwhile.

most important would be to have a PC-Bus that is 1Ghz+ range. I dont know if they make em' yet on any motherboards...but they would basically dramatically increase the throughput of all your VST plugins, software, hyperthreading and all that jazz.

It's not always about the RAM baby, but if you do like your RAM, get nothing more than types that are CAS1.5 (or less) - the reason being throughput again

so don't worry about all those gimmicky DDR5-3million marketing hype. Just get something that matches your new motherboard and will put it's throughput to best use.

Don't need to worry about the CPU too much either, maybe 3Ghz+ is enough, spend your money on devices that will allow the maximum throughput now I guess. 32-bit will still be around a while yet. 64-bit address range won't be anywhere near fully utilized even when the new longhorn and MS crap comes out. Some people on this thread are right, basically the OS will need to be future-proofed in order for people to go out and spend wasted money on these so-called new 64-bit machines which really won't be a lot of use to majority of the buying public.

If you were gonna be a real gun, go for one of those silent PC's -- I'm holding off big bucks until I can get a decent machine that is as silent as my breathing. So frustrating having loudassed machines.

Anyway on the Mac front, i'd be waiting to see what the Tiger OS will be like. But as far as things go i'm still a PC fiend. Don't get me wrong i like Mac's too -- but PC's to me are more flexible and have a wide range of available tools and dev environments...but this is my technical side talking. On the other hand Mac's are sexier and you'd just wish you were made of aluminium skin

Post by **lucas** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:34 am

Little Evil wrote:and Reason just being upgraded to 3.0

WTF? I have to check this shit out.

Post by **lucas** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:39 am

Little Evil wrote:and Reason just being upgraded to 3.0

I can't believe they're still not bundling any decent eq tools.

Oh well. I leave that shit up to Logic anyway.

Getting back on topic. I switched to a Mac because I wanted to run a Logic based system. It rawks.

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:16 am

i prefer macs basically because of osx. more control. i fucking hate how some windows software gets "integrated" into the taskbar, and will defy all logical commands. like "quit" just minimises shit. fucking so annoying.

plus macs look better and they get reinvented all the time.

and itunes is one of the best pieces of software ever invented.

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 · Post by **Ag3nT[]0raNg3** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:49 am

if you want seksy. check out the Lian Li V-Series cases.. feck off expensive however.

Post by **lynt** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:29 am

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 wrote:if you want seksy. check out the Lian Li V-Series cases.. feck off expensive however.

oath. the lian silent case with built in insulation is in my budget. $330 i think i can get it for ...

shepherd · Post by **shepherd** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:43 am

motivo - "i'm also looking for a new computer, just sussing the market at the moment..."

didn't you buy a G4 less than 12 months ago doggs? I remember driving you there.

i run a Pentium 1.6g with 512 of RAM and a Creative Audigy platinum sound card ... on paper doesn't really look like jizzing over ... but has served me pretty well ... I did the Futurebreaks CD on computer and that was about 112 individual tracks in the end after edits and playing around and live overdubs etc ... have written some basic stuff on it using acid (don't laugh, thayer and elroy use it!) and am looking at cubase and trying to work it all out ...

most producer types I know have pretty limited setups and just work them like fuck ... elroy has loads of snyths and outboard gear but now is writing on a laptop with a Creative Audigy USB card ... and the output is phenomenal.

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 · Post by **Ag3nT[]0raNg3** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:59 am

shepherd wrote:have written some basic stuff on it using acid (don't laugh, thayer and elroy use it!)

what about vegas!?

Motive · Post by **Motive** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:30 am

shepherd wrote:didn't you buy a G4 less than 12 months ago doggs? I remember driving you there..

yep, I got a good deal on that G4 but I overestimated how long it would last, speed wise. now that I'm on X I need more juice

Post by **system** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:34 am

Motive wrote:
shepherd wrote:didn't you buy a G4 less than 12 months ago doggs? I remember driving you there..
yep, I got a good deal on that G4 but I overestimated how long it would last, speed wise. now that I'm on X I need more juice

remember kids, it's all about the RAM in the box you drive. buy up as much as you can, whenever you can.

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 · Post by **Ag3nT[]0raNg3** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:35 am

and RAM is cheap as feck so why the hell not!?

my pc certainly liked it when i juiced it up.

Dark Lord Piddle Bottom · Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:50 am

Got a 1.5 Ghz 15" powerbook 1 GB ram few months back then Logic 7 two weeks ago and I haven't used my desktop PC since! My PC is only good for piracy and games, where as my powerbook so far has performed above my expectations and OSX is far better than windows to work in. Still should try working of my external 7200rpm harddrive for audio since that should make a big difference with my audio tracks.

Rob M · Post by **Rob M** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:25 pm

valuetime wrote:and itunes is one of the best pieces of software ever invented.

don't mean to hijack the thread, but itunes is shite...not to mention the fecking crap it pulls from CDDB when ripping some of my cd's...how the shit can a hip hop cd be marked as "unclassifiable" ...wtf?!?!

either it's pulling some wierd info or idiots are jacking cddb and changing id's around

either way, the only thing I like about itunes is it's search feature. and that's probably all. I'm probably gonna buy anapod explorer for my pod, itunes is just getting ridiculous for my pod now...especially with all the sweet mixes i have on it. Takes ages to find a simple god damn mix.

Not to mention itunes doesn't transcode some ogg's I have on the fly

Post by **system** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:32 pm

Rob M wrote:
valuetime wrote:and itunes is one of the best pieces of software ever invented.
don't mean to hijack the thread, but itunes is shite...not to mention the fecking crap it pulls from CDDB when ripping some of my cd's...how the shit can a hip hop cd be marked as "unclassifiable" ...wtf?!?!

if you're going to threadjack, then blame the right thing. you can't blame Apple's code for the poor performance of a third party data source!

Rob M wrote:either it's pulling some wierd info or idiots are jacking cddb and changing id's around

well, think of who's uploading that data.. EVERYONE!

Rob M wrote:either way, the only thing I like about itunes is it's search feature. and that's probably all. I'm probably gonna buy anapod explorer for my pod, itunes is just getting ridiculous for my pod now...especially with all the sweet mixes i have on it. Takes ages to find a simple god damn mix.

... maybe some more metadata might be the way to go then?

Rob M wrote:Not to mention itunes doesn't transcode some ogg's I have on the fly

there is a OGG extension for QuickTime available from the Vorbis site. grab it and STFU guy.

back on topic - more rice box shells please!

Post by **lucas** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:33 pm

Rob M wrote:or idiots are jacking cddb and changing id's around

This is exactly what's happening.

First problem with CDDB is that they allow anyone to submit a track listing. People always make mistakes and they are never corrected.

2nd problem is that a few knobs keep submitting CDDB entries for CD's they've burned themselves. This means that when iTunes (or any program for that matter) tries to it match against a supposedly unique serial number on the CD it will sometimes get a random track listing.

My (poor) experience with CDDB has been the same in every media player I've tried.

valuetime · Post by **valuetime** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:18 pm

Rob M wrote:don't mean to hijack the thread, but itunes is shite...

gf.

see: play count, smart playlists, individual track audio options, rating system, search feature. plus burning cds is a piece of piss. the interface kicks ass and there's heaps of intuitive short cuts built into it. itunes is great.

in fact that only thing i don't like about it (and this extends to iPods) is the inability to play two tracks (off a mixed cd for example) without a gap.

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 · Post by **Ag3nT[]0raNg3** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:21 pm

buh. its good. but www.foobar2000.org or STFU

mecka · Post by **mecka** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:31 pm

I'm both a PC and a Mac user... i've been using my Mac to do graphic design work for years now. I've never had it crash on me - ever. OS X is hella easy to use compared to some of the crap you have to put up with on PCs.

There's also something comforting about being able to rip parts out of a PC and upgrade at will - instead of having to hunt around for Mac parts.

Hatsudai · Post by **Hatsudai** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:56 pm

Ag3nT[]0raNg3 wrote:
shepherd wrote:have written some basic stuff on it using acid (don't laugh, thayer and elroy use it!)
what about vegas!?

Is that one of your tunes AO?
Nuff classic drum samples in there ( apache, amen, think!!)

Lephrenic · Post by **Lephrenic** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:44 pm

It's all about the operating system.

What I have found with Windows users is that they need to set up their PCs exclusively for audio. The moment they add some new software it starts playing up. If you're the programmer or mechanic type and you like configuring your system, go Windows. But you will likely spend much more time doing this than making music.

Or go OS X and just get down to what you want to do. OSX is amazingly stable and crashes are so rare. You can put audio, graphics, internet, games and anything else on it without them interfering with each other.

The fact that Windows has been around so long and still cannot do this is ridiculous. What the hell is Bill Gates doing with all his money? Pentiums and AMDs are great computers, but the Windows operating system is the weakest link.

Hey Motive, has your G4 got Gigabit ethernet? If you buy a new Mac it should have it as well. Link them up and you can run Logic 7 on one and get extra processing power from the other, without installing Logic on both macs. Firewire will do this as well but it's a smaller bandwidth.

Post by **system** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 5:35 pm

Special Hegg wrote:If you buy a new Mac it should have it as well. Link them up and you can run Logic 7 on one and get extra processing power from the other, without installing Logic on both macs. Firewire will do this as well but it's a smaller bandwidth.

Logic 7 side note: funnily enough, you need the faster computer for the processing "slave" machine.

Post by **lynt** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:53 am

Still considering Mac...

Dumb question, I know they have PCI architechture ... but is it cross platform?

Post by **lynt** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:59 am

Actually I just read my soundcard is PC/Mac.

Yippeee.....

Fents · Post by **Fents** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:01 am

^^ Just get a MAC, u know u want it, and until u've tried it u'll never know....

And then u can PAY Mega $$$$ for all ur software

ukime · Post by **ukime** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:22 am

PC all teh way for me atm. Haven't got anything bad to say about MACs in terms of audio production ... apart from them usually having better stock sound cards, but that isn't an issue if you're doing it professionally (as in, you'd have your own).

I think what it comes down to is how you look after it, whether you pile lots of shitty programs on it to slow it down and hog your system resources or whether you know what you're doing and keep it clean and running smoothly - last thing you want in a live set it a spyware popup =p

Post by **system** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:27 am

lynt wrote:Still considering Mac...

Dumb question, I know they have PCI architechture ... but is it cross platform?

both PCI and PCI/X are supported by almost all current OS platforms.

Post by **lynt** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:31 am

Sweet, just exposing my little knowledge of Mac.

I guess Mac resellers would be cheaper then Mac shops?

ukime · Post by **ukime** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:36 am

probably, but Mac shops can have some okay discounts (like student discounts with iPods etc). One of the main ways they keep their customers.

Melbourne Beats

The Mac vs PC Thread #483468

Mac or PC

The Mac vs PC Thread #483468