PC or Mac for recording?

Do you use PC or Mac for recording

  • PC

    Votes: 343 51.9%
  • Mac

    Votes: 217 32.8%
  • Both

    Votes: 80 12.1%
  • Other

    Votes: 21 3.2%

  • Total voters
    661
Pc all the way!

Personally, I'd take my pc any day over a mac, and well, i built this baby personally.
Originally, it was for gaming, but im gearing it towards doing a ton of recording.
By the by, the little rumor that "macs don't get virus's"...its bull, they are rare, but once you get a virus....might as well toss it out the window.
If you can afford to but a decent comp rig together, do it, i mean its worth it, mine hasn't crashed once in 7 months of operation.

My rig:
intel wolfendale dual core 2.5 proccessor
4 gigs of ram
1000 gig hard drive
dfi lan party dark board
nvidia 9800 gtx +/512 of ddr3
24 inch monitor :)
*hangs head in shame* an onboard hd audio card (soon to be replaced)

:D
 
There has not been a single reported Macintosh virus since... I'm going to ballpark this and say roughly the days of System 7, circa 1991. There have been a couple of trojan horses, but no viruses.
 
There has not been a single reported Macintosh virus since... I'm going to ballpark this and say roughly the days of System 7, circa 1991. There have been a couple of trojan horses, but no viruses.

right on - I picked up a NON DESTRUCTIVE virus (Zig-Zag Man) back in the late 80's or early 90's from a floppy disk from school but since then NOTHING and I hang out in Mac torrent sites too. Haven't used any Anti-Virus on my Macs ever - on my PC's it's a different story :cool:

I record on my Mac G5 system and also on my Windows 7 laptop - actually love em both. Logic Studio 9 and Sonar Producer 8.5 are both a joy to fire up but THE MAC does it "Easier"...
 
Just to clarify, I'm deliberately ignoring Microsoft Word/Excel/* macro viruses when I say that. :)
 
Paul Cartney or Mac ??

Absolutely!

For the record, songs mastered on Macs are slightly louder than those done on PC's. You can't really hear it, but it's there.

We used to go into the local music store and ask the guy if Cubase or Cakewalk was louder, and he'd go on a dissertation about it.
 
i've never been in a professional recording studio that DIDN'T run on mac. I personally have a mostly mac related products and am completely thrilled with it.

i just think they preform better
 
I started with a PC, then went to a Mac, now I'm back to PC. I found the Mac to be a little more hassle-free, but my PC is way more powerful than my Mac. I think Macs tend to cooperate a little better, but the PC works without too much fuss. The only time I really have any issues is when Windows gets confused about sample rates and the interface goes a little haywire. Haven't had that happen while doing actual audio work, though, usually just when I'm browsing the web or something.
 
I still say the Atari ST.

If you gotta ask.

I agree in many ways. At the time, for what it was supposed to do, the Atari 1040ST I had gave more satisfaction, worked more predictably and didn't need constant upgrades (I could give a rat's ass about) like my Macs. I used one with an Otari MX5050 8 track and DMP11 mixers so all the mixes were automated. Worked great. Fast start up and shut down.

With my Mac laptops, I still have trouble knowing if I've indeed started the thing up each time I boot up.

I have nine or so Macs. I've become a do-it-yourself Mac repair guy by default, and have spent less than 5 minutes total on a Windows computer.

I hate OS X with a passion, and actually think that all computers suck the raw one in 2010. What they need to do is:

Burn a basic OS (like XP) to the motherboard and do the software upgrades to the plug ins. Stuff like basic screen displays, the ability to display a .jpg, disc drive door opening... all that should not be software based. If they did that the computer would be like a pocket calculator - instant on and off and could never crash. Crashing would not exist.

Plus, in the next few years we hopefully will see solid state drives replace the dinosaurs we are using now.
 
wow a thread that has been going for 7 years lol

anyway, i use a Macbook for "outdoor" recordings, i.e. if I wanna record my band at a gig,

and have just bought a brandnew Imac (the 27" version) for the "home recordings"

Used to have a pc, but found that it just was not up to the job, but have to say that it was only an "off the peg" high street pc
 
I've talked to many computer builders and 100% of the time they say...

Mac= Good PC with different OS
Good PC= Mac with different OS

You CAN"T compare a G5 wit one off the shelf PC like Compac, HP, Dell etc.
but if you build a PC from scratch it will be just as good as a mac cause that is what Mac does (use good components)

Mac is and was used in the recording industry because twenty years ago there were no programs for PCs and there were no PCs capable to run those programs but time has changed.
 
We use a custom built overclocked i7 PC with Windows 7 64 bit and ProTools HD. I cant even begin to explain how well this setup is working for us. Currently the most powerful MAC doesn't even come close to the performance of our setup. I know because I've tested the new ones recently. That being said, unless you can afford to have a custom built and tuned PC you're probably better off going with the MAC to avoid setup problems.
 
Interesting thread. I personally use a Mac, but that is because that is the computer I run for everything except mobile... for that I use an older Asus EeePc (jumped on the netbook thing early...4Gb SDD lol). I would use any platform for home recording, and have thought about buying a cheap Windows based machine, just because Windows has more virtual stuff for it, like Soft Synths. Lol. I'd have no reservations about using Mac, a laptop, Windows PC, or Linux box for home recording. Platform doesn't so much matter to me. Gear is gear in that sense.
 
i have to say, that most mac users dont even know why they use it.. same with a majority of the kids that get pro tools.. my pc can do evveeerrryyything a mac can do, when it comes to the studio.. there are opensource Midi over Ethernet programs, midiyokeNT, etc etc etc.. i can have all the functionality.. all a mac is, is simply an overpriced Linux computer in a pretty case.. Yes.. they can be stable as hell.. or the can be the buggiest things in the world, and ungodly expensive to fix (if you cannot do it yourself)..

I have been on quite a few mac setups, and nothing has really wow'd me.. in the end, its all personal preference.. if you like to spend extra dough for a mac to do the same as a windows computer, go for it.. lol.. sound quality will not improve or decline..

Whats that old saying about the carpenter that blames his tools? haha
 
Absolutely!

For the record, songs mastered on Macs are slightly louder than those done on PC's. You can't really hear it, but it's there.

We used to go into the local music store and ask the guy if Cubase or Cakewalk was louder, and he'd go on a dissertation about it.

i STRONGLY disagree.. like, very very very much disagree.. It has nothing to do with the hardware.. If you know how to actually master, then you can get it loud no matter what.. thats like saying you cannot make hip hop without an MPC..
 
We use a custom built overclocked i7 PC with Windows 7 64 bit and ProTools HD. I cant even begin to explain how well this setup is working for us. Currently the most powerful MAC doesn't even come close to the performance of our setup. I know because I've tested the new ones recently. That being said, unless you can afford to have a custom built and tuned PC you're probably better off going with the MAC to avoid setup problems.

that is a common misconception.. you dont need it special..

for instance, im running a simple Dual Core Pentium overclocked to 3.0 (it worked fine at 2.2, but i wanted some more headroom), and a couple of gigs of ram.. windows 7 64bit.. i didnt tune anything.. installed the OS.. installed the drivers.. installed my hardware.. installed my software.. made music.. there was nothing special to do to get it configured..

Hey.. how do you like those i7's for recording? I have seriously been thinking about getting one (once i get some dough.. haha)
 
Wow, axe to grind much?
I didn't buy my Mac to record on, I record on my Mac because I bought it for everything else. I have run most major operating systems, and of them all, I tended to favor Linux and MacOS. I bought a Mac mini because it was super tiny for what it is, and space is at a premium where I live. It was smaller than my Linux box, though that was relatively small in comparison to most other machines (because micro-ATX is pretty sweet). This is also why I pack around a Asus EeePC... the smallest that I could get at the time...space is a concern, and I value the machine being both compact, and capable (runs Linux). That being said I was a bit of a gear junkie, so I had to try "the big three" for posterity.
 
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