Pick the software you want to run.

Pick the machine that will run that software well.

Actually, it's not about the computers OR the software, it's about you, your desires and your capabilities, the machine must remain simply a tool. The computer(And all other "gear') need be only the right screwdriver for the screw you want to use.

"Fast" is almost irrelevent in computer audio, itself. "Fast", like everything else, can also be "interpretted" in many ways. Some "super" software can suck-up alot of power, complex displays of information(Pictures with sound), the same, but, audio, itself, is rather computer-non-intensive - it's just data and not much of that. With any machine, just make sure to follow your software makers "requirements". Doesn't matter what computer you buy, the new ones'll be twice as "fast" next year...

Mac or PC? It's what you are or want to get used to. In your case, stick with the PC and build on your experience or switch to Mac and spend a whole lot of time learning about IT, and a whole lot less time putting out better product - for some time to come. Even if the Mac, IS better(It is in some ways, not in others - mostly irrelevent.), can you afford to switch now? Only you can decide...

Teddy G.

BTW: The last time I looked at the "best available" Mac(Years ago) it was about 5 thousand dollars! Now you can get their best for 1500 or less? Man, I'm old...

Still, when I update my soundcard from a LynxOne to a LynxTwo, it alone will be more than a grand..? My new mic pre a grand+, my new mic 2000+, my new speakers 2000+(And, as a single voiceover person, I only need ONE OF EACH!). Even so, to think that I may have to plug everything into an $899 computer(If that's all that's left?) sort've makes me shiver.

TeddyG,
thanks for your imput. I agree with your first statement. I want to use Cakewalk Sonar 4.0...because I have tons of recorded files with that program, and I want to be able to continue to be able to access them on my new computer. I guess what I asking is (and I will go directly to Cakewalk and ask this), do you know if there's a way to run PC programs on MAC? I heard about a Windows converter you can get.

about the speed of the computer. I know there are a lot of factors that go into it. I was just curious why MAC G5 is only a 2.5 GHz...??

thanks again

For a long time now top PCs have been beating top Macs in benchmarks, check out Google. For half the price too. :) All the top IT guys use PCs for audio editing. Leading PC/Mac expert Leo LaPorte, host of the most popular podcast on earth "Twit", who uses a Mac for lots of stuff, does all his audio editing exclusively on a PC. There's a reason for that. I recommend PC very strongly for about a thousand reasons. Macs are nothing but grief. Grief, expense, and more grief. 8-)

TeddyG wrote: Pick the software you want to run.
Pick the machine that will run that software well.

CORRECT !!!

as said above ...
Choose the Application
the Application will choose the Operating System
the OS will choose the platform

AND it has been this way since the late 70's

yes some Applications can run on both platforms BUT look deep as there can still be a difference

example
PT HD can run on both OSX and XP but Virus plug is only on one platform.
Virus plug is an Application ... so you end up on Mac.

Go PC for now but when the second generation of Intel based Macs come out, I think that will definitely be the way to go. The first generation won't be so great as most of the software is still ported to the motorola chip so they will be in essence running in emulation mode. Once the software companies catch up to the change, Mac will start kickin some serious butt. The playing field will be closer to level than it ever has been and the benefits of a Next based operating system will become apparent for us Windows users.

Bewaillin,

I am not a computer expert(I keep telling myself that I don't have to be, full-well knowing that I do, just to keep the stupid things going - at all!).

Anyway, and again. One persons 2.5 mhz is another persons 4.5 mhz, is another persons 1.2 mhz... There's just a whole lot more to it than some "benchmark" based on processor speed, alone. I am enough of an "expert" to know this at least.

Just a for-instance. A person designing software for a Mac, has an advantage, They only have to deal with systems that are almost completely "known". Windows "systems' are almost completely "unknown". Inotherwords, my custom-built machine, running Windows 2000 Pro, on this mother board, using that video card and this processor and that ram and this that and that this, is difficult to design for. With a Mac it's THIS MB, THIS processor, THIS ram, pretty much right on down the line - you don't "piecemeal" a Mac. To say nothing of the Mac OS, itself. Windows is HUGE and PONDEROUS, for a very good reason! It has to accomodate EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING! If nothing else, the Mac, which needs to accomodate only very strictly regimented(Actually - DICTATED) software and devices "should be" simpler, thus, more efficient, thus, a "slower" processor should do as well as a faster processor on a PC..?

Sorry, I have no time(Well... no money... TIME, I got plenty of...) to take an IT course to know more about this(If YOU have time, you should!).

Bottomline. Mac SHOULD be just plain easier to use, less problematic, though with(Maybe severely, depending on application) limited software and devices. While a PC should be "wide open" and forgiving, with more choices than you can shake a stick at - yet... can be a real chore to just get going and keep going - at all. A PC, running windows will DO it! How well? Ay, there's the rub. Instead of Apple tech support, much of how well a PC operates depends on you....

Fact: Computers are powerful

Fact: Computers are going to get more powerful

Forget the numbers and all that other shit, get what works for you. You can get the job done on either platform.

Get the best that you can afford.

i thank eveyone for their imput. i'm taking them all to heart, but no one has answered one of my 2 issues, which is that i am wondering if i can use a program like Cakewalk, or other PC programs that have all of my projects (with effects, and panning, and faders, etc), and imput it into MAC without losing anything that i've worked on....i heard about some kind of converter...i guess i'll ask MAC, but they will try to sell it to me and say that it works fine...has anyone out there converted files from PC to MAC?? If so, any problems? Anyway, for the first time in my life, money isn't an issue, so i want to get the best I can get to handle live multi-track, and I think that if I spend $2000 on a PC, i'll get much more than $2000 G5...

thanks again

I think that if I spend $2000 on a PC, i'll get much more than $2000 G5...

That's *for* sure. Another advantage is that there's tons of excellent free software/resources online for PCs, but much, much less free stuff for Mac... 8-)

bewailin wrote: i thank eveyone for their imput. i'm taking them all to heart, but no one has answered one of my 2 issues, which is that i am wondering if i can use a program like Cakewalk, or other PC programs that have all of my projects (with effects, and panning, and faders, etc), and imput it into MAC without losing anything that i've worked on....i heard about some kind of converter...i guess i'll ask MAC, but they will try to sell it to me and say that it works fine...has anyone out there converted files from PC to MAC?? If so, any problems? Anyway, for the first time in my life, money isn't an issue, so i want to get the best I can get to handle live multi-track, and I think that if I spend $2000 on a PC, i'll get much more than $2000 G5...

thanks again

Cross-platform issues depend more on the software than the hardware. Most programs work in .wav files, which should cross over fine. ProTools uses SDII files which need to have certain options enabled to make them work cross-platform. Most audio programs on either platform have the ability to import various other audio types into their working type. It's time-consuming that way, but it's better than nothing.

For the record, steer clear of cakewalk. Look at options like Nuendo and Cubase for PC, Logic or DP for Mac.

And for my $.02 on the platform war. I have both, both work well. I like both. However, if you walk in to any high end studio, you're going to see a Mac. End of story.

For the record, steer clear of cakewalk. Look at options like Nuendo and Cubase for PC, Logic or DP for Mac.

True.

if you walk in to any high end studio, you're going to see a Mac.

If you walk into any high end studio you will also see a PC.

Calgary wrote: If you walk into any high end studio you will also see a PC.

Yeah, they don't make much in the way of accounting software for Macs :P

Nor is it stylish to prop your door open using a PC. :D

They put those handles on there for a reason!

buy a comp???

screw that noise, build it yo self and you are forever upgradable as long as you pick an upgradeable motherboard.

Comps are getting more powerfull, true. Why go through all the hassle of trashing another grand because your processer is being sluggish. For less than 200 american you can get a blazing fast cpu. and for 1500 you can get a system that will beat the pants off any prefab pc or mac at that price.

Another plus is the only software on the machine is what you want on it. some folks like a bloated hard drive, with all sorts of crappy photo editing software, but me, I like music. If you are going to have a dedicated machine it makes sense to have dedicated software.

I dont even have microsoft word, when I needed a word processor I downloaded one that was freeware.

Options people!

anywho thats all I have

I'm onboard with that option. That's what I did, and for $1400 CAD, I have a computer that is still kicking so much ass, 3 years later.

If only there were a better OS for PC that companies built sequencers for. I am so sick of windows. I found a brilliant tool to help with a clean installation though, it's called nLite. Check it out when you're ready to install XP, you can get rid of at LEAST 1/2 of the processes that backlog your system, freeing up more CPU/RAM for your audio processing. Still, with all that, I wish there were a better way. Day by day, I'm thinking about going Mac. If only it were as malleable as the PC platform, I guess that's the trade off.

It seems silly, but a big disadvantage to Mac for me (among other things) is that stupid mouse. Why in the hell would anyone want to 'ctrl' click anything? Just put a second button on there for god's sake! What, they think we're going to get confused? That our middle finger won't know what our index finger is doing? Oh, ha.... I see that they have, hmm looks interesting.

With a computer, I like to be able to rip apart every detail and 'f' with it. Mac just doesn't let me do that. Plus everything for Mac is muchos expensive. I guess I should have a PC for personal use, and a Mac for audio. I'm turing into a raving lunatic having a conversation with myself. See what this topic does to me?

id say if that for 1500 your best bet would be to BUILD a pc and customize it to your exact needs. I like mac better then pcs but if i got a new mac right now i would spend the money to get quad processors. macs are definetly faster then pcs if you get a dual proceesor mac. but again if you only have $1500 to spend on one then ypu would be better to build one. i built one and i didn't know anything about how to build one and i figured it out and it wasn't that hard to do. another benefit of getting a mac though is if you get a cinama display (at least 20 inch) then it wil be a better monitor then you could ever get on a pc. another thing to conisider is the software. you said youve been using software for pc. if you have alot of experience with the software then just stick with pc for now.

No, Macs are not faster than PCs for audio. Dual processor to dual processor, with a proper setup PCs are faster than Mac for less money, with tons more software and support available, and with replacement/expansion parts readily available anywhere for cheap. There are benchmarks on Google to back that up. Mac people like to make that claim but it stopped being true years and years ago. Fact is that for audio editing you can build a faster PC for less money, period. Make some calls to your local Mac and PC dealers, you'll see. Never mind trying to expand a Mac or get one fixed which can be an utter nightmare.

I agree about building a PC, that's what I did and it's been a 100% positive experience. Always get the board mounted in the box by a pro though, it's only $25 to do that. From there it's a breeze to do everything on your own. 8-)

Out of curiosity, why do you say get the board mounted professionally? That never occured to me; it wasn't any harder than, say, intalling ram or hooking up IDE cables.

I think he was referring to having it installed by a pro due to, many folks don't properly handle sensitive components correctly. Try mis-handling a mobo and see if it still functions, because electro static zapped a couple of the little chips or corrupted the main chipset processor & etc. Fortunetly, I had the pleasures of practicing good grounding techniqes because when I showed up to work everyday, the first thing I had to do (other than logging in to retrieve emails & etc.) was strap that wrist band on and go for it. I had a table mat as well as a floor mat which both were grounded together. My job consisted of handling numerous mainboards for the iDEN (motorola/nextel) phones (& yes, I'm a repair tech). I've been practicing this for some 20+ years and still managed to zap a mobo (because of carelessness). But a professional will know the ends and outs of his profession and in some cases, will go out of his/her way and follow through, to insure you end up with a top notch working product.

I did know what he was getting at and I realize the dangers of electostatic shock, but I think it's overkill. If you make sure you grap a metal chair or desk or something first, you should be fine, I would never touch any of the chips on the mobo anyway, just grab it by the edges and place it in the case and screw it down, simple. Just be careful and everything will be fine. I always hike my shirt sleeve and make sure my forearm is in contact with the metal case chassis when I am touching the mobo. I did mine on my bedroom floor, which is wood.

I understand the concern though, especially for someone who doesn't realize that static can ruin a mobo, and then you just wasted your $$$.

True, but... I'm confident I can install a M/B but I still get the guys at (Sector on 17th ave) the shop to do the board for me because it's just soooo easy for only $20. For me it's just worth it to have that done there. If you are confident you can install the M/B and also feel ike doing it, then sure it's definitely something you can do on your own. I just always recommend getting that part done professionally for the majority of folks because of a few minor screws ups I've seen people do in the past. I even know one guy who somehow cracked his motherboard during installation, don't ask. :D

Anyhow I think we're all in agreement about one thing, building your PC is often the best way to go.

If you buy a Mac, you might want to wait until the Intel processors roll around. Intel-based iBooks are expected this January, and the powerbooks, imacs, and powermacs will follow suit. The x86 architecture isn't necessarily better than the PowerPC architecture, but Intel makes cheaper chips that run cooler (which is important with laptops - as it stands, there's no G5 laptop).

As people have said, don't worry about the Ghz of a chip - processor manufacturers have been upping the hz of chips for a while now mostly because its a selling point. Countless other factors go into the speed of your processor and computer. My 1.42 Ghz G4 iBook with 512 RAM boots faster and loads programs more quickly than my 2.4 Ghz Pentium 4 with 1 Gig of RAM running windows XP. OS X is a strong operating system and is, IMO, worth the higher price of Macs (which, again, will drop with the Intel processors).

Try to find someone who uses a Mac for audio recording or go to an Apple Store and check out some setups. How you feel towards the programs and OS X interface is what's most important.[/img]

McCheese wrote: [quote=Calgary]If you walk into any high end studio you will also see a PC.

Yeah, they don't make much in the way of accounting software for Macs :P

why should i stay away from Cakewalk? That program has been good to me for years..

but thanks everyone on there imput...i'm waiting for that special X-mas deal, and I'll post what I decided upon. I'm sure I'll get haters out there, once I say what I got, but as we all know...it's only just a machine...and if it works to capture the songs in your head...that's all that matters.

peace

>:( on using PC emulator for Mac...

hey bewailin....

I use a PowerMac G4 with Protools and its good for me. Where I work, we have two older G4s with protools TDM systems and a third studio with a PC and 002 rack. It's all about what you are used to, like everyone is saying....

I do want to warn you not to even think about using the Virtual PC with Windows on a Mac for any kind of serious work.... its an evil, evil plot to make you think that you can get away with using PC software on a Mac. I had to convert some video files for a project last month and the only converter I could find that wouldn't leave a watermark was for PC. So i did it in the virtual PC.... sooooooo sloooooow..... just trying to run stuff it brings me back to the days of windows 3.1..... I suppose that I could configure it to run faster, but whats the point? Anyways, if you do go with a Mac, don't expect to be using any of your PC based programs on it.

Incidentially, I also have a PC laptop since the Hebrew support for Macs is abysmal and I need something to write with. So there are some downsides to having a Mac.

Hope I helped some.
Tony

If you work at Microsoft Studios, you have a PC at your desk, but you're going to be working on Mac based Avid/PT systems.
I own both platforms, the PC platform requires more knowledge/research/time than Macs, to set up and maintain.

Time is the big issue for me, I'm willing to pay a few hundred bucks up front, to avoid issues later. Owning macs hasn't stopped me from running my business and making a profit.

Also if you can't afford a $2000 investment, are you really involved in the Audio/video industry?
All new desktop Macs now come with multi-button mouses.

In the end it's all about software, the apps I prefer are mac only. ( Logic, DP, Final Cut Pro, soundtrack Pro and DVD Studio Pro.

So pick your app, then your platform.

8)

gdoubleyou wrote: So pick your app, then your platform.

:D
that seems to sound familiar
I wonder who else said that ?
8)

... yeah I know
shut up Kev