How do Producers Find the RIGHT computer

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you said this in another thread started by the same user

Rekordhead said:
PC is probably better spec wise for the price but I haven't used windows since XP and I'll most likely never go back, but the days of Mac being the end all for music production is probably over
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and then you say this here

Rekordhead said:
I can't give a PC vs mac comparison since I haven't used PC in ages but to me I would never go back. I think a lot of people can't afford some of the higher priced macs so they make excuses to justify why they don't have one. I'm not saying PC's aren't good and price to spec wise are "faster". But the car with more horsepower doesn't always win the race. It's about handling too.

In my experience macs handle music programs better. Also if you do some research on macs, you can get a Mac mini for under 800 that will be more than powerful enough for most people on this site. You have to do your research fully, not everybody needs a Ferrari if you're just driving to work. And if you really are doing very big projects all the time and need the top of the line, let's face it your computer would only be a fraction of your studio cost, your monitor chain mic chain and what not are gonna run you more than a Mac Pro anyway, so odds are you won't be penny pinching anyway. But for most people making beats and recording their own stuff even the super powerful PC's are overkill.

If you do go the PC route tho I would definitely recommend building one yourself because the ones you get out the store are also packed full of ish you don't need, and you're paying for that stuff too.
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which do you stand by more - get a mac because it is better or get a pc because it has the same specs at a cheaper price
 
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I said the same thing in both posts, SPEC WISE for the price PC is cheaper. Meaning if you match all the hardware I don't think anyone is going to argue that macs are more money. But I don't think many people need the top of the line PC's either. And in that mid range market in my experience, quote MY EXPERIENCE, the Mac will out perform. There are too many things to compare when comparing Mac and PC just looking at ram or processor speed doesn't cut it.

I understand price is an issue for most people but like I said, there are cheaper macs that will handle what most people here are doing. Will macs always be industry standard, probably, just like pro tools is, more likely due to being grandfathered in than anything, but I've only been to 1 studio that used PC (they used sonar) and they weren't gettin much business.

Now I'm not saying macs are more capable, but that's because I honestly can't speak for what PC's can or can't do. But once I bought my first mac it was like a breathe of fresh air. No more crashes no more issues, I outgrew it but it never failed on me. But at the same time the arms race you see with everyone trying to get the most up to date technology is also pointless. Hit records were made years ago with computers only a fraction of the power now. I thing too much emphasis is put on the tools, when in essence a million dollar studio won't make your music any better. Music needs to be the main focus, and workflow. If you're determined to make it work you can get top performance for what you need out of any computer, hardware, software, whatever.

So at the end of the day it's not which one is better, it's what is better for me for what I need and how I work. And most people are going to give a biased view based on what they prefer. And I'm going to be biased because I'm a Mac user, but that's all I'm saying. It comes down to needing to do more research than simply asking people which is better.
 
But to answer your question I stand by get a mac because it's better. 6 years not one issue, nothing but issues with PC (and I had a $2000 PC). But take that with a grain of salt because that's just works for me, doesn't mean it'll work for everybody.
 
as I've said elsewhere - in most cases the issues people experience with pc's comes down to them not using them well - or put another way the problem with a pc is not the machine but the person using it, they believe that they should just be able to step up and do whatever without learning anything about how they should work or how they could make them work better

they need to be tweaked, they need to be managed, they need to be kept of the internet unless you are behind some solid firewalls

I come form the following lineage

PDP11 (at uni) -> AtariST -> mac -> pc and I have had a more stable life with my pc after I learnt how to tweak my systems properly, than I ever had with my mac

AtariSt is astable beast

and the pdp11 was managed by a team of guys in the uni computer center without much down time at all
 
i don't disagree with you, you definitley need to tweak the PC, and if you know what you're doing you'll have a solid system. me personally i didnt know ish about computers until i started using them for music. i learned that thing inside and out and had it running like butter. but i'm no tech and after a while i got sick of maintaining it. for me mac was easy, literally just upgraded the ram on every mac i got and put a faster hard drive. done. never had to worry about any kind of maintenance, installing software and hardware has been a breeze. everything just works. i think thats kind of been the thing with mac vs pc, pc might have more potential but for the computer illiterate, mac just works. at least thats the stereotype. i'm glad your pc system works for you, it just doesn't work for me. i simply just try to explain to people my opinions and my experiences. I'm not trying to convert anyone to anything im using, computer, software, hardware, or whatever. what you eat don't make me... well you know. i'm still of the mindset that theyre all just tools and the biggest difference is workflow, and what works for me wont necessarily work for you. im very minimalistic, i just wanna turn my stuff on and make music.
 
Let's get one thing straight real quick: Modern Mac computers are PCs.
Apple shifted to the PC platform several years ago. Once upon a time, Macs were powered by IBM PowerPC processors, but not any longer.

Because a Mac is a specific brand of PC, it should be compared against other specific brands of PCs.
There are other PC builders besides Apple who make a living my configuring computers which are well-known to work as DAWs. Some of these include:
- MusicXPC,
- Carillon,
- Scan Computers,
- Rain Recording,
- PC Audio Labs,
- StoneWave Productions,
- ADK,
- and others.

Each of these companies designs computers which are intended to work well for music straight out-of-the-box.

Swearing off Windows because you had a poor computer experience with a couple of cheap PCs
is like
deciding never to see women again because a couple of cheap whores cheated on you.

Because SONAR is available on PC only, Cakewalk has gone through the trouble of helping you find PCs which are designed and tested to work well with music straight out-of-the-box (so that they can have you as a customer down the road).
Here's the stuff they certify:

http://www.cakewalk.com/PCResource/buy.aspx

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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Have you used macs for music before? Just curious. I never swore off windows, mac just works for me. I'm sure those computers are great, and one day down the line I might switch who knows. I thought I was gonna use reason forever, but now I haven't touched it in 2 years. I just don't fix what ain't broke, and nothing's broken right now. I'm not big on upgrading until I feel I absolute need to. And even then me switching from reason to maschine was purely a workflow decision. I'm still on pro tools 9 lol, what's it at now 11? Some people need the latest and greatest, I just need something that will record samples and sequence drums. I'm a simple person
 
Rekordhead said:
Have you used macs for music before? Just curious. I never swore off windows, mac just works for me. I'm sure those computers are great, and one day down the line I might switch who knows. I thought I was gonna use reason forever, but now I haven't touched it in 2 years. I just don't fix what ain't broke, and nothing's broken right now. I'm not big on upgrading until I feel I absolute need to. And even then me switching from reason to maschine was purely a workflow decision. I'm still on pro tools 9 lol, what's it at now 11? Some people need the latest and greatest, I just need something that will record samples and sequence drums. I'm a simple person
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Yes. I've used older Macs extensively as a student in school (Apple gave them out for free to get the students hooked) and have used current Macs with other producers who have bought them.

I get called in and asked to be the tech support guy when someone I know is having a computer issue, so I know from experience that the "it just works" mantra is just nice marketing-speak. Apple computers, like other brands of PCs, have issues which need to be resolved from time to time. "Repairing Permissions" comes to mind off the top of my head (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2963). Apple computers suffer from filesystem corruption and problems for the same reasons other PCs do: unexpected power shutdowns, buggy drivers, viruses, malware, etc.

-Ki
Salem Betas
 
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/thread as we have yet again degenerated into a mac vs pc war when the question was much deeeper
 
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