Mac or PC

Nauru

Member
Nov 1, 2009
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Looking at the specs, pcs are clearly better for the price. And in this kind of work, you want the best computer you can get.
So I really want to know, what's the advantage of a mac that everyone has them for audio production. I mean at this point pcs are pretty stable and definitely have a lot more going for them in terms of price. My friend is getting a new computer and is going to be doing his music stuff on it, so is the price tag of a mac really justifiable for him?
 
Mac OS X is an amazing OS. But Windows 7 is also very good, and it's hard to beat the price/performance of building your own PC. If you're looking for a great laptop though, it's hard to beat the price/performance of the MacBook Pro.

I don't think the choice of OS matters much anymore these days, really a personal preference more than anything.
 
Mac OS X is an amazing OS. But Windows 7 is also very good, and it's hard to beat the price/performance of building your own PC. If you're looking for a great laptop though, it's hard to beat the price/performance of the MacBook Pro.

I don't think the choice of OS matters much anymore these days, really a personal preference more than anything.


I just priced out a sony laptop, and then priced out a macbook pro to match.
The Sony was 1364.99, and the Macbook Pro with the same specs except not quite as nice a graphics card was 2499.99.
So in terms of price/performance, the pc is seeming to be a way better deal.
 
Yeah I get that everyone loves macs. But my question is: Why is it worth the extra money when you are technically getting an inferior machine? What makes Macs worth their money to you guys who love them?
 
Yeah I get that everyone loves macs. But my question is: Why is it worth the extra money when you are technically getting an inferior machine? What makes Macs worth their money to you guys who love them?

For me, the main reason was OS X. It fits my personal preference like a glove, it's effective, it looks good etc. And yes yes yes, you can install OS X on a PC, but that shouldn't be an option for anybody who wants to stay legit.

In addition, when I buy a Mac, I get a computer that has parts in it that work 100% together. It hasn't been once or twice when I have realized a new part I've got for a PC isn't compatible with another part only after I have already bought it.
 
Yeah I get that everyone loves macs. But my question is: Why is it worth the extra money when you are technically getting an inferior machine? What makes Macs worth their money to you guys who love them?

A stable, trusty machine is very important if you do this for a living and Macs had always the advantage that the hardware and the OS is designed to complement each other well. You wouldn't need to worry about viruses with Mac OS and it has been generally heralded as being more stable than Windows. A lot of that only stems from decreased user freedom though, if you ask me.

Personally, I haven't owned a Mac since the G4 (used many of the more modern machines though) and I can't see myself going back to a Mac in the foreseeable future.

Many people just love Mac OS and the designs of these shiny things so they're willing to pay more just for that. I don't.

Ever since Win XP had been refined with the various service packs etc, I never felt the need to go back to Mac OS. And with the quite excellent Windows 7 penetrating the market now, the future looks quite promising for PCs and audio engineering.
 
Windows is trying to cover every possible hardware configuration under the sun with one giant brush stroke.
OSX is made to work on a specific hardware structure only.
Which one do you think would be more streamlined, clean, efficient and stable?

I'm only a total noob and I read and contribute to this forum only for my own education so I'm no music production authority but I build windows PC's for years and finally started working on a Mac about two years ago.
I will never go back to windows.

I'm not one of those Mac fanboi "MAC IS BEST, YOU'RE A MORON FOR USING WINDOWS" idiots. I think it's totally up to the individual. Many many people prefer windows for it's familiar interface and versatility with various hardware etc.. but I don't.
It's up to your mate, has he been into an Apple store and used a Mac? Or is he only considering it because he has heard they are cool?
 
Yeah I get that everyone loves macs. But my question is: Why is it worth the extra money when you are technically getting an inferior machine? What makes Macs worth their money to you guys who love them?

You are definitely not getting an inferior machine.

First of all, just looking at technical specs does not give an accurate representation of the actual performance of the machine. That's like saying a Rode NT1 mic will sound better than an old Neumann because its specs show less noise, or that some $500 Peavey bass amp will sound better than an Ampeg SVT because it has a bigger power amp.

Just ask around, and I'll guarantee you'll find more people who have switched to Mac from a PC (and who will never go back) than the other way around. At the risk of sounding like a total fanboy, I'll relay my experiences. I have been using 2 different PCs and 4 different Macs in various setups over the last 6 or 7 years, and right now I personally own 2 Macs (an older Powermac G4 and a 3 month-old Macbook Pro - which hasn't crashed ONCE yet) and a PC (Dell XPS Tower with separate hardware profile/settings for music production). My band also has a Pro Tools rig built around a Macbook Pro and I teach a college course on a Mac G5. I will never buy another PC again.

Macs, in my personal experience, are generally much easier to maintain and much more reliable out of the box than comparable PCs. The software and hardware are integrated better, there are a lot less problems with malware and viruses, peripherals work better, build quality is better, customer service is LIGHTYEARS better, and since only one company is building the machines there are a lot less bugs and issues with compatibility. They last longer too - my studio is built around a 7 year-old Powermac G4 and it's still getting the job done every day.

You can definitely put together a great PC for less money than a Mac and I'm sure it'll do its job admirably. But I think if you went the Mac route you'd understand why Mac guys tend to love them so much.

My two cents!
 
something else to considere, you've got the money to afford an apple computer? because the same i7 mac pro with PC specs will cost about $7000 less... so it's something to considere. And all of this thinkinf first if you need OSX or Win7

think about software, hardware you'll use and make your choice.
 
I'd say it depends on whether you want to run lots of free plugins and amp sims etc. There is the important difference, and if you can afford to buy a mac I doubt you'd be screwing around with freebies much. The Mac is the profesional machine, in build quality, service and reliability, as well as hardware choice and configuration and OS. If you want to rely on it day in day out, I'd buy one.

If you don't mind win7/xp, want to use free plugins and the like, and you don't mind fidling around a bit to get the best performance or reliablility a PC is a good option. It's much cheaper, but if you want to be profesional you probably don't want to spend your time fixing bugs and things like that.

Joe
 
Bugs aren't the exclusive province of Windows. For example, budget interfaces from M-Audio perform just as horribly on Mac OS X as they do on Windows, thanks to the badly written drivers from M-Audio. But if you're doing professional work, you won't be considering those interfaces...

In putting together a production box, especially if you're a power user looking to maximize price/performance, I don't think stability is a relevant argument anymore. I've been using Windows 7 since the beta, and it's every bit as stable as Mac OS X Snow Leopard on the same hardware. It's also a really nice OS, fast, clean and unobtrusive, intuitively layed out, etc. Apple is going to have to strive harder to differentiate themselves again - Windows 7 has really leveled the playing field.

Both operating systems are dealing with the 32 bit to 64 bit transition, somewhat awkwardly (though in totally different ways) - the main difference being that Windows forces you to decide at the point of purchase (not elegant), whereas Mac OS X handles 32/64 bits "automagically" and obscures choices from you (great for most users but also potentially frustrating for power users.)

The main thing I prefer about Mac OS X is the built in unix terminal. I like a unix-based OS. Going to the *lawl* "command line" in Windows 7 is a reminder of how pathetic MS-DOS always was, even in its heyday, and how Microsoft has completely ignored the need for a proper text interface in their OS. That's actually the thing that bugs me the most about Windows these days, which is why Mac OS X is still my production environment - I trust an OS more if it has a unix terminal at its core - and I use the terminal every day.
 
Hackintosh forever,

also...

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