Does a Mac offer anything over a PC?

instinct252

New member
Hey,

I don't mean to regurgitate the age old Mac vs PC debate, but I'm buying a whole new set up, including the computer. I know little about the Mac, but everyone in the industry seems to use one - So is there a reason? Is the sound quality better in any way?

I want an i5, 8gb computer to run the latest version of Reason. A Mac for this I can get for £800... whereas the same spec for a PC is just £350.. Surely its the spec that matters for music production - What benefit is ther in getting a Mac that I won't get with a PC

Better sound quality in any way?

Any advice regards this would be great.

Cheers
 
Pretty much anything you say supporting one side over the other is going to start an argument... I guess here goes haha.

I would say that it's generally understood that Mac's are more reliable, less prone to bugs, and will last longer. I've been using the same Mac for a decade now. I'm running Ableton with a ton of plugins and other programs. While it does slow down once I start adding a large number of individual tracks and/or effects, the fact that it keeps up as well as it does is pretty incredible given the high level of processing power that music creation requires. I have tough time imagining that a 2007 Windows PC would still be adequate for what I'm doing. Of course, that's not to say that I wouldn't still like to upgrade sometime soon.

Shouldn't affect sound quality at all. If you really think the specs on the computers are similar, maybe you should consider purchasing a PC and then just planning on having to replace it more often down the road, potential still saving you money since the price difference is so extreme.
 
macs are pcs. but have a closed Os that is about 1/3rd as secure as linux with no malware protection software installed.
Even then, keeping a computer out of that territory is simple.

Spec wise you'd be better off with a custombuilt or going the hp/cyberpower/avatar/lenovo/asus route over a mac if you are interested in that stuff.
If not and you barely give a crap about computers you'll love macs.
 
Hey,

I don't mean to regurgitate the age old Mac vs PC debate, but I'm buying a whole new set up, including the computer. I know little about the Mac, but everyone in the industry seems to use one - So is there a reason? Is the sound quality better in any way?

I want an i5, 8gb computer to run the latest version of Reason. A Mac for this I can get for £800... whereas the same spec for a PC is just £350.. Surely its the spec that matters for music production - What benefit is there in getting a Mac that I won't get with a PC

Better sound quality in any way?

Any advice regards this would be great.

Cheers


After reading this post fully I would like to inform you that even amd's lineup passed up most i7s years ago.
Also, after trying a few dozen daws over the years I'd like to point out that most daws to not actually use that much cpu to begin with.

In collabs I've recently decided to run studio one/ableton & fl studio in rewire mode simultaneously and keep that setup out of my main productions for consistency and file organization.
I have also come across statements from many other users that state mac had the upper hand in audio production because windows didn't have it's own low latency solution until asio came into the picture and that they normally use coreaudio drivers.
 
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I have a lot of 3rd party plugins that are CPU heavy; Omnisphere, Waves and the Output plugins are some that require the most CPU. On a Desktop PC it would take minutes to open the Output Substance in Kontakt for example. Or Omnisphere would crack and clip, just as Waves Codex. I could only use a limited amount of 3rd party mixing plugins before it started to bog down and even crash SO3.

I had a Mac for a while and I avoided switching all my music over because I'm wasn't a fan of the OS. But after an accident with my Desktop I was forced to switch to the Mac and all of the issues stopped. Well I'll at least say that I can use A LOT more resources. It will still bog down but it can handle a lot more than the Desktop PC
 
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Well, I do not own a mac so I can not attest this statement on your end.


Even If I unplug an interface and use asio4all I still get very good results cpu wise on my end but this is probably becuase I am more in tune with windows and linux as a platform for my plugins, since this is what I've been on for years and years and years.


Results may vary for many individuals who do not share the same setup and will be researched further for accuracy.
 
A pc can be customized more then a mac. PC parts with same quality are way cheaper. I don't like apple and it's OS. Not since the start of it. I live in europe and things for apple only blew up somewhere half way through 2000. I used to build computers and troubleshoot for the fun of it. Couldn't really do that in the same extent as apple computers.
If you like apple and it's os and don't mind paying, you can go with apple.
If payment is an issue, you're not set on OSX, you might as well go for a pc. If you're not really into building it and all, get some good store guarantees. Research which shops offer the best services. Basically, you can get them to build a kick ass machine, guarantee a working pc, have them do the support for a few years.
There's no difference in terms of stability and reliability between macs and pcs anymore. It's just that there's millions and millions of different configs possible with pcs and not with apple. Some ppl fuck up the configs, choose some crappy piece of hardware that doesn't work well with component X, etc.
 
Anything you can do on a MAC, you can do on PC as well. Not to mention that you can run Windows on a MAC and you can run OSX on a PC.
 
Speed. :) the basic mac has the dual core processor so it's can run more applications and run faster.
And you can cut the haters with it, cause it's thin as hell. The new one is hellaaaa thin, ...but the keyboard looks stupid being a touch screen....and the USB is going away so get used to a new cable or somehow connecting your midi controllers a different way if you get the new macbook.
 
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In my experience, only thing I can say between Mac & PC is that my Mac had a lot less need for drivers, just plug & play for the most part.
 
The popularity of Macs for music production is actually based upon the fact that they were used to control external DSP hardware which did all the heavy lifting for the computer, consequently many uninformed people opted for under powered Macs to run software that relied upon native processing because they didn't understand that in big studios the processing was being done by powerful Pro Tools DSP hardware and not the wimpy Mac used to control it.....that's where the whole "Macs are better for music" halo effect comes from......the other cognitive error people make is assuming that when they replace an old PC with a new Mac that it's the brand that makes it better rather than the fact that they are merely replacing older technology with newer technology.....same goes for replacing outdated tower systems with laptops and inside-out all-in-one computers which are actually crappy in comparison to a new tower system, in other words they only see the improvement in comparison to the old shit they are replacing.
 
The popularity of Macs for music production is actually based upon the fact that they were used to control external DSP hardware which did all the heavy lifting for the computer, consequently many uninformed people opted for under powered Macs to run software that relied upon native processing because they didn't understand that in big studios the processing was being done by powerful Pro Tools DSP hardware and not the wimpy Mac used to control it.....that's where the whole "Macs are better for music" halo effect comes from......the other cognitive error people make is assuming that when they replace an old PC with a new Mac that it's the brand that makes it better rather than the fact that they are merely replacing older technology with newer technology.....same goes for replacing outdated tower systems with laptops and inside-out all-in-one computers which are actually crappy in comparison to a new tower system, in other words they only see the improvement in comparison to the old shit they are replacing.

I freaking love this explanation! :D
 
Thats a nice theory but the age difference between my PC was maybe a year old and thats being generous. I didn't have a gaming rig or anything but my PC was pretty powerful. My DAW itself would take minutes to load. My plugins would take minutes to load and multiple seconds to toggle between the presets. I was limited to the amount of plugins I could use before the CPU starting crashing my DAW. I had this Mac that was given to me but I didn't want to use it because I was a life long PC user. I was too lazy to learn the OS and said screw that and only used it when I absolutely had to for school and whatever.
Until one day, my PC took some damage that couldn't be saved so I was forced to switch to the Mac. And DAMN!

It can definitely handle the multiple-processing a lot better. I don't have the same issues that I did and I can actually complete a project now the way that I want instead of handicapping myself due to CPU usage. It even renders projects quicker in After Effects - instead of 8-12 hours it only takes 4 hours.

I don't claim to be a subject matter expert with computers but based on my own experiences - I am permanently switching to Mac.
 
started with, and sticking to windows/linux.
I heard real studios used macs hooked up to external dsp processing equipment.
 
Thats a nice theory but the age difference between my PC was maybe a year old and thats being generous. I didn't have a gaming rig or anything but my PC was pretty powerful. My DAW itself would take minutes to load. My plugins would take minutes to load and multiple seconds to toggle between the presets. I was limited to the amount of plugins I could use before the CPU starting crashing my DAW. I had this Mac that was given to me but I didn't want to use it because I was a life long PC user. I was too lazy to learn the OS and said screw that and only used it when I absolutely had to for school and whatever.
Until one day, my PC took some damage that couldn't be saved so I was forced to switch to the Mac. And DAMN!

It can definitely handle the multiple-processing a lot better. I don't have the same issues that I did and I can actually complete a project now the way that I want instead of handicapping myself due to CPU usage. It even renders projects quicker in After Effects - instead of 8-12 hours it only takes 4 hours.

I don't claim to be a subject matter expert with computers but based on my own experiences - I am permanently switching to Mac.

Yeah the whole brand bias thing isn't just limited to replacing outdated technology with new technology it also applies to replacing low end technology with higher end technology, for example I can buy a new PC that will not perform as well as a new Mac or I can buy a new PC which will perform better than the same new Mac but what I don't do is assume that it's the brand that makes all the difference and I certainly wouldn't say I am permanently switching to the brand of my latest computer just because it was an improvement over the previous one, I prefer to buy what's best at the time.
 
Yeah the whole brand bias thing isn't just limited to replacing outdated technology with new technology it also applies to replacing low end technology with higher end technology, for example I can buy a new PC that will not perform as well as a new Mac or I can buy a new PC which will perform better than the same new Mac but what I don't do is assume that it's the brand that makes all the difference and I certainly wouldn't say I am permanently switching to the brand of my latest computer just because it was an improvement over the previous one, I prefer to buy what's best at the time.
You're definitely my new hero :cool:
Can i redirect all those apple schmucks to you, that want to convince me that Apple really is better, I just don't realise it yet?
:D I've just given up on answering. I just refuse to talk to those people about any computer technology :D
 
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