Would you choose Apple over PC?

[Josh Ryan]

I use Cubase, have my PC connected to net etc. Xp is very stable, but there is a lot of room to screw it up if your not careful. No crashes, no problems for me. I use a Mac (we had a few, but due to cost are down to one), many PC's, a SCO unix server, a Windows server and a bunch of dumb terminals every day at work, (though they are downsizing our office, so not for much longer!). -I have for the last seven years.


Re: the slow change thing, I think your right, that is how PC recording will advance, though paging through the Steinberg and Cakewalk sites will show you that some big names are using these products as well.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The proof is in my experience in professional situations. If you can convince some of the top engineers in the biz to switch, then I'd be impressed.

Macs also do not need the constant babysitting that PCs do. Sorry, my bad, approx 40 Mac viruses as opposed to how many thousands of PC ones?

95% of the market, blah blah blah...see above link, you know how to use google too blah blah blah...not saying my experience equals proof, but neither does yours...blah blah blah... OSX is new, less than 5% of the worlds computers use it....based on Unix...just a matter of time.... no one claimed a pc doesn't get viruses...in fact we suggested keeping it off the web...ad nauseum.



Seriously. Here it is, in black and white. <O</O



-With minimal effort, one can keep a PC virus free. I'm assuming your experience is similar to mine in that studios do not have DAW's online? ...I would hope. <O</O

-My PC and your MAC are both capable of recording at the same exact resolution. You can easily make a record on either one, as many people do. <O</O

-You guys sound like those nut jobs in the airport sometimes with your Mac fetish. <O</O

-Whether you like it or not, it's nothing more than personal preference at this stage of the game. <O</O

-When Linux DAWS get popular, your Mac apologism will be even sillier.<O</O




Here a just a few from Cakewalks site. I'll save you the click. Producers, Sound Engineers and Post Facilities

Bobby Cochran – Guitarist/Producer
Veteran guitarist known for his work with Steppenwolf, Leon Russell, Bob Weir, Billy Cobham; and producer of Adrian Legg's last four solo albums.

Wyn Davis – Producer/Engineer
Grammy-winning producer and engineer; Credits include: No Doubt and Sublime.

Doug DeAngelis - Producer, Film/Game Composer, Remixer and Engineer
Doug’s work has gone to #1 on the Billboard charts more than twenty times, been nominated for Grammy awards, and has been certified Gold and Platinum in sales. Credits include: Nine Inch Nails, Madonna, Chaka Khan, The Pet Shop Boys, Roger S., Deep Dish, Danny Teneglia, Mood II Swing, and Junior Sanchez. Film & Game credits include music for: The Crow III, What Lies Beneath, 2Gether, NBC’s Third Watch, PlayStation 2, The Unreal Tournament sequel, Myst III’s “Exile” single, HBO, Disney, others.

Frank Farrell – Audio Engineer
Frank is an Audio Engineer for Kenny Rogers, and uses SONAR in pre-production. Frank has also toured with U2, The Who and Kitaro.

Bon Harris - Producer/Engineer/Programmer
Recently worked with Billy Corgan on Marilyn Manson's Holy Wood album; and the Smashing Pumpkin’s Adore.

Terry Howard – Producer and Engineer
Has worked with some of the greatest talent in the recording industry, including Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac and Tom Jones. His work as a recording engineer and producer for Ray Charles has earned Terry two Grammy nominations. Currently using SONAR with Ray Charles to record his next album.

Magic Mendez – Producer
R & B producer who’s credits include: George Duke, Russ Freeman, the Rippingtons, The Whispers and others. Magic’s new band, Unified Tribe is currently in negotiation with many major labels.

Vernon Neilly – Producer
Used SONAR to produce a Seymour Duncan compilation featuring: Blink 182, Alien Ant Farm, 311, Papa Roach, and Slash's Snake Pit, amongst many others.

Jimmy Nichols – Producer
Has worked with Reba McEntire, Elton John, David Malloy, Darrel Singletary, and Mindy McReady. Currently producing demos for N'SYNC.

Terry Shelton – Producer & TV Composer
Terry is a Grammy Award-winning producer for The Recording Compound. He has produce artists such as Billy Ray Cyrus, Don Von Tress, Mark Collie and Charlie Daniel s. Terry has also recently produced music for Nature using SONAR.

Douglas Spotted Eagle – Musician, Producer, New Media Visionary
2001 Grammy winner for production work on The Gathering of Nations project, 2002 Grammy nominee, multiple Emmy nominee; new media visionary; Virgin/Higher octave recording artist; frequent speaker at digital media events.

Aaron Stipkovich – Remix Producer & Audio Engineer
This producer has remixed singles for Korn, No Doubt, 311, Smashmouth, Chumbawumba, The Meat Puppets, Sublime, and many others. He has also produced sound for TV shows such as Mad About You, Party of Five, and Just Shoot Me.

Pablo Wheeler – Audio Engineer
Pablo, live sound engineer for Bob Dylan, David Bowie, David Byrne and others uses SONAR in his own audio productions.

Mike "Hitman" Wilson - Producer and Remixer
#1-charting Billboard Producer with credits including: Shawn Christopher, Ghost Town DJs, Inner City, Michael Jackson, New Order, OMD, and White Zombie.

 

[Josh Ryan]

OS X has 0 Viruses.*

OS 9 had about 40, compared to roughly 30-40 Thousand (including variants) on windows, which is more manageable? which do you have to worry about more? My brother uses windows masterfully(as well as being very competent on OS X), he runs a tight ship so to speak, yet, whenever my little brother uses his computer, it gets a virus, I'm not even kidding. Right now it has 2 or 3 critical viruses that can't be removed.

There are Windows Viruses that can rest on macs and then subsequently be seeded from the mac to windows based PCs, which is why it's still a good idea to keep anti-virus software around, to be a good neighbor.





* There have been 2 non malicious 'proof-of-concept' trojans, but they never really went anywhere other than talk in a lab

If your brother used it masterfully, that would not happen. Not to be a snob, but if your brother used it competently, it would not happen.

 

[msquared]

Leaving your Windows box disconnected from the Internet makes it pretty hard to get viruses onto your computer.

I can appreciate the anecdotal "I've had this problem with Windows" discussion because like I said, I've probably dealt with it too. But unless you've actually run a DAW like it's supposed to be run, which is on good hardware and not connected to the internet, you can't really make the claim that your experience tells you that Windows sucks for recording and expect to be taken seriously.

That goes for Apples too, by the way. They are far from unmesswithable when directly connected to the Internet.

 

[Wrong Robot]

If your brother used it masterfully, that would not happen. Not to be a snob, but if your brother used it competently, it would not happen.

Yea, windows is a pain in the ass isn't it?

 

[Josh Ryan]

Leaving your Windows box disconnected from the Internet makes it pretty hard to get viruses onto your computer.

I can appreciate the anecdotal "I've had this problem with Windows" discussion because like I said, I've probably dealt with it too. But unless you've actually run a DAW like it's supposed to be run, which is on good hardware and not connected to the internet, you can't really make the claim that your experience tells you that Windows sucks for recording and expect to be taken seriously.

That goes for Apples too, by the way. They are far from unmesswithable when directly connected to the Internet.

...And I keep replying to those goofy posts for some reason. I really need to just let it go.

Yea, windows is a pain in the ass isn't it?

Are you that little brother Robot? Do you need to talk about it? How about a hug!

 

[Big Benner]

I went through and read alot of the threads talking about garage band and cakewalk etc.

Heres were I'm at:

I consider myself to be an amatuer musician, who does not (nor will likely ever) make a living as a musician. But I love music. I love playing music. I love everything musical.

I want to start "playing around with" MIDI and recording music onto computer. I wish to set up a little home studio.

I will be buying a new computer in the near future. I have never owned an Apple but I here great things.

Is the Apple (and programs available for apple) better than for pc? Musicaly speaking

Is Apple easier and more intuive Than PC?

Does the Price of Apple justify the benefits?

To do it over would you choose an Apple?

Again I'm bassing this soley on midi programs, recording, composing, etc.

Thanks for any insight. If this does not belong in this forum I humbly appologize in advance.

Just to get back to the original question and the start of this post.

I think that it is safe to say that all of us MAC and PC people would recommend that no matter what machine you plan to record on, keep it off the net for trouble free computing/recording.

Now for me, to answer your questions.

Is the Apple (and programs available for apple) better than for PC? - In my opinion no. I think there are more user friendly programs for PC and I think there are more PC people doing amateur music which allows more swapping ideas, programs and music. In saying this, I have not used Garage Band (or something like 50%-75% of other PC or MAC music programs), and from what I can tell (and if I'm correct on this) that if the MAC OS comes with this software and the PC OS does not,... will that change things? Will a lot of MAC users start swapping files if they all have the same program - Garage Band?

Is Apple easier and more intuitive than PC? - In my opinion yes, but not by a whole lot and I believe they are both getting closer to each other and easier.

Does the price of Apple justify it's benefits? - In my opinion no.

That's my opinion, someone who works on a MAC all day and loves to go home and record on the PC. Hope that helps.

 

[Davehenning]

95% of the market, blah blah blah...see above link, you know how to use google too blah blah blah...not saying my experience equals proof, but neither does yours...blah blah blah... OSX is new, less than 5% of the worlds computers use it....based on Unix...just a matter of time.... no one claimed a pc doesn't get viruses...in fact we suggested keeping it off the web...ad nauseum.



Seriously. Here it is, in black and white. <O</O



-With minimal effort, one can keep a PC virus free. I'm assuming your experience is similar to mine in that studios do not have DAW's online? ...I would hope. <O</O

-My PC and your MAC are both capable of recording at the same exact resolution. You can easily make a record on either one, as many people do. <O</O

-You guys sound like those nut jobs in the airport sometimes with your Mac fetish. <O</O

-Whether you like it or not, it's nothing more than personal preference at this stage of the game. <O</O

-When Linux DAWS get popular, your Mac apologism will be even sillier.<O</O

I am not sold on a "fetish" or "Jim Jones Kool-Aid" way of thinking. I was sold on reliability and a lack of viruses. I did say that PCs were not as good as Macs for music applications and also said that the situation might be changing.

I never said PCs were garbage or ineffective. I have owned and do currently own a few. (granted they collect more dust than data)

Macs are not perfect. The high prices and inability to customize are frustrating, but I will swallow those bitter pills for a great machine that needs little babysitting.

I have yet to see a major studio in North America that does not rely almost exclusively on Apple. Oceanway here in LA comes to mind. Some guys I know have both to versatile to the needs of the client. Hence your list. I would be very surprised if the majority of those people listed are Cakewalk exclusive. I have yet to see a PC run as smoothly as a Mac in a music application.

Nothing against PCs, but I and a great deal of others in the biz find Macs suiting our needs very well. Again, personal preference, but if PCs were as good in the world of "money is no object" then I think we would see more PCs in the studios.

We don't.

My experience does have some proof as I am a working musician who encounters these situations regularly.

But in the end, all that matters is that the friggin' music sounds good. We almost forgot that part!

 

[Jean Baudin]

here's a vote for mac. I've got experience on both platforms, but I'm been using macs since I was a wee lad.

my dual 2.5ghz G5 is on the way...

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

-these are the posts that get to me, -the my experience + my opinion = fact posts.

True story: Yesterday at about 4:45 PM, just before leaving work for home, I was trying to reply to this very thread when explorer froze and I had to reboot the whole machine just to get any program to respond. Surely this is proof that pc's suck and Macs rule all hell with an iron fist?

 

[elros]

Would I choose Apple over PC?

I did. And would probably do it again.

Short story: 2.5 years ago I new that I needed a laptop computer, because I traveled a lot and needed a place to keep my letters, music, banking info, e-mails, web pages (my own pages, yes), photos, movies. Basically a workbench / office desk.

So I looked into the available hardware; my main plan was to get any decent laptop and install Linux on it (I was very sick and tired of Windows after working as a network admin with too many Windows boxes) so my main concern was hardware.
I knew I wanted a machine with big nice screen and possibility for dual-screen, DVD player/CD burner internal drive, FireWire for my DV camera, IRDA for my phone, Ethernet and WiFi adapter for networking - and long battery life.
The only machine I found that met all my demands was the Apple PowerBook. So I thought I'd just get that then, and put YellowDog Linux on it.
But then I started reading about Mac OS X, and found that it was basically Linux (actually BSD) with a pretty face and good personality, so I decided to try it out before flushing it. I ended up keeping it. Why? Because it works, and keeps on working. It does its job, and doesn't get in the way.

Another advantage has shown itself as well: my friends who use Windows have needed to upgrade their Windows version every now and then, which in it self is OK; but every new Windows version demands more of the computer and so they've had to upgrade their hardware as well. My PowerBook (Titanium G4, 2002) seemingly gets faster with each OS upgrade.

But whatever works for you, dude.

 

[Josh Ryan]

True story: Yesterday at about 4:45 PM, just before leaving work for home, I was trying to reply to this very thread when explorer froze and I had to reboot the whole machine just to get any program to respond. Surely this is proof that pc's suck and Macs rule all hell with an iron fist?

OK, I stand corrected then.

But whatever works for you, dude.

-exactly, that's been the point all along.

 

[Big Benner]

True story: Yesterday at about 4:45 PM, just before leaving work for home, I was trying to reply to this very thread when explorer froze and I had to reboot the whole machine just to get any program to respond. Surely this is proof that pc's suck and Macs rule all hell with an iron fist?

Just so I get this straight and that I understand you correctly, when I had a client come in and my boss tried to open 50 different digital camera files on my MAC work station and it froze and I had to reboot,........ then surely this is proof that MACs suck and PCs rule all hell with an iron fist.

OK, ok, ... now I think I got it. Thanks to people like you making such wise statements.

 

[patrickj]

Macs... PCs... they're are all the same and equally capable. Pick one or the other (if you can't decide, pick the one wih the case that your girlfriend/wife thinks looks cuter - that way when you junk up a room with cables and instruments and she's angry you can throw something back at her she picked in the first place and commit to learning it the way the software/hardware works.


That being said, Macs are better for audio/video straight out of the box. A budget PC can be had for less $$ upfront but won't have all the hardware needed to do what you want to do. When you shop a custom PC that has it all, the price is usually comprable to a Mac.


Buy the one w/ the prettiest case.

 

[Josh Ryan]

Buy the one w/ the prettiest case.

Thread Closed!

 

[rickbass]

I have had the same sad-ass experience as Chris Fitz.

Next time around, it's Apple for me.

My neighbor has used it for years and his machine works flawlessly.

 

[FenderBender]

Thank you all for your imput

 

[Scooperman]

Mac vs PC? That's so very last year!

Don't you know that it's no longer hip to be using computers for audio? The latest trend is to go back to using 2" analog tape.

Hurry before it becomes too popular. You can still buy a used MCI JH24 multitrack for about $5,000.00.

You only need to realign the tape heads every other day.

Oh yeah, you might want make sure your floor is reinforced: 2" analog machines usually weigh about 500 pounds!!

Mac or PC? Yes.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

Just so I get this straight and that I understand you correctly, when I had a client come in and my boss tried to open 50 different digital camera files on my MAC work station and it froze and I had to reboot,........ then surely this is proof that MACs suck and PCs rule all hell with an iron fist.

OK, ok, ... now I think I got it. Thanks to people like you making such wise statements.

I would guess you took this statement far more seriously than Chris meant it.

 

[Josh Ryan]

I would guess you took this statement far more seriously than Chris meant it.

No, he got it, you missed his .

 

[Richard Lindsey]