Music Producing: Mac Or Pc? Logic Or Cubase?, dilemma between bying a mac or pc Options

[suite156]

hi,

I bougt my first mac (Ibook G4) 2 weeks ago. I really love the OS. Now I am thinking about bying a desktop computer (powermac) for proffesional purpose. I'm a musician and I'd like to make pre-productions on a computer. I have been working with cubase sx on a pc so far, but my pc is no longer powerfull to serve my purposes.
If I would switch to mac, I would have to use logic (as cubase isn't really working well on mac) and buy all the software I already have on my pc. I went to the music shop who has 15 years experience in studio en audio software. He deals bought mac & pc. His answer was clear: if you buy a powermac, you pay double the price than for a pc, which will do the same job perfectly. the only difference is the OS. AND, you pay 3000 Euro, for a machine who has only 512Mb!
I respect his opinion, but I keep looking for different opinions. I want to do a serious invesment and I wonder If I should buy a mac or pc.
I use it for recording audio (not more than 8 tracks) and combinen it with midi

Can anyone help me out?
thx

fanatics & radicals, please spare me your comment. only inteliggent computer users.
fanaticism leads to aggresion.
Respecting each other choices is the better way, that's my opinion.

[drewott]

Ah, the age old (since the 80's) debate.

A quick analogy: Beta lost the VHS vs. Beta battle not because it was a worse product (Beta techonology is actually better than VHS in quality), it lost because it was more expensive. People were willing to sacrifice the quality for the convenience of price. Mac suffered a similar fate. It has a better quality OS (less bugs and easier to use) and is built to be used professionally, however, these features do come at a premium. Beta and Mac lost their market share because for most cases a VHS or a PC will do the job that one needs it to and is flat out cheaper. Unlike Beta, Mac was able to find a niche market and is still thriving

My advise to you is this: If you will be comfortable using a PC and think that you can be just as proficient then by all means get yourself a PC and enjoy. Most of person's computing tasks can be handled just as well on PC or Mac. However, if you want to pay the premium you will get a machine that has a better OS, is not as susceptible to internet viruses, and has better performance, then get a Mac.

You say you want to make a serious investment. Then seriously think about what you want to do and whether or not you want to pay the premium. Good luck!

[suite156]

thank you for answering my question drewott.

I agree on OS X being far more stabel than XP.
honestly, I'm in love with the OS ;-)
no really, when you come from XP, OS gives you the feeling that working with a computer càn be nice.

that's way I decided to buy mac.
I was hesitating between powermac G5 an iMac G5 or iMac Intel
I bought iMac Intel 20" becasue I want to use it for music purpose and it has a dual core processor, that wil do the job.
Also, the computer is really nice design.

thx again.
a new enthousiastic mac user

[S.F.Selecta]

This is taken direcly from David Cottles "Computer Music" text so i hope that its ok that i post it.

Why Mac?

The differences between operating systems are not as pronounced as they used to be. There are valid arguments for using Linux, Windows, Unix, or OS X. Our labs, as well as every university lab and professional studio I've worked in, has been Mac based. That doesn't mean you should own one, but you should know why we use them.

One reason is simply convention and loyalty. In the early days of personal computers Apple took the lead with software and hardware targeted for the arts and university programs. There hasn't been a compelling reason to switch, so many haven't.

The next reason is compatibility. Macs tend to support more file formats, including IBM. For me, and from what I've observed with students, Mac portability is better than IBM. You will encounter fewer problems moving back and forth between labs and your personal machine if you use a Mac at home. Another reason is hardware consistency. A Mac is a Mac is a Mac. The hardware is consistently high quality. This makes it easier to configure and code.

Performance (speed, i/o transfer, latency) is, imho, a wash. I've heard fervent argument from both sides. The actual numbers will change and are close enough to not matter for most of what you do.

I'm reluctant to admit it, but I have to say there is an element of erudition and pride. Perhaps unjustified, musicians are insulted if you even imply they use anything else.

0 viruses.

There are arguments against: they are more expensive, there is less software development, less third party support, but in most labs and studios these issues aren't important.

[jimdubpram]

Hi, I've only been into computer based music for less than two years and have only ever used a mac. But all my pc using friends who come round and have a go on my imac are usually pretty gobsmacked at the quality of the screen image and the fact that it is bug free and as one friend put it "like computing for teletubbies", really easy to use.
To my mind it's a bit like the difference between buying a Squire Stratocaster copy,or a real Fender, it'll play ok but in the end it only leads to frustration because the quality isn't there.
Any way good luck with your choice. After all it's only money !!

[Chris C.L]

If I would switch to mac, I would have to use logic (as cubase isn't really working well on mac) and buy all the software I already have on my pc.

There is always metro( http://www.sagantech.biz/ )which is very economical on power and takes both AU and VST plug-ins. A lot of quality PC plugins are mac compatable and crossgrade offers are acceptable, so you should still be able to keep/use some of your software.

[Narayan]

Hi,
I have been using PC based music midi/composing softwares since about 15 years now. I have all versions of cakewalk 2 to the present Sonar. I bought a Mac powerbook G4 (upped it with 1.5 Gig RAM) last June, bought Logic express and tried composing music. To begin with, it was really frustrating, as the architecture, lingo, (in fact everything) in the Mac was so different. But after using it for over 6 months now, I feel for any studio (home of otherwise) work, Mac is much better than PC, because of its stability and other utiilities. But for MIDI work, PC is better. Now I am seriously considering connecting both computers through LAN and getting the best of both. Though I am a prolific user of the computer, these kinds of networking are a little beyond me and I have to really consult some of my friends (preferably)musicians before medling with the machines.
However, both have their merits and demerits and at the end of the day, one has to decided on what type of work he has to do before deciding on a machine.
Good Luck to all.
Narayan

[bcatcho]

I was a windows PC junky for many years and produced music thingsys for about 3 of those years. Two years ago I switched to Mac and am thankful for 3 reasons: stability, stability, stability.

Honestly, i can't explain how wonderful (and time saving) it is when a computer does what you expected it to on the first try.

[tekara]

i have just bought a mac after years of using a PC. Im curious as to whether the 'stability' of apple machines will be justified with the heavy pricetag, but i am willing to give it a shot.

XP frustrates me. Midi drivers not loading properly, audio interface drivers not loading properly, sequencer crashing every few hours, the lsit goes on....

only time will tell

[LaMort]

A quick analogy: Beta lost the VHS vs. Beta battle not because it was a worse product (Beta techonology is actually better than VHS in quality), it lost because it was more expensive.

That analogy is good for another reason, i don't think BETA lost because even to this day BETA is still used more than VHS by the professional video people. If you wanted into most TV stations a few years ago u would have seen many BETA1 decks and camera's and i still bet BETA is still being used by more professional today. Just like the pros use Macs.