PC vs. Mac (hahaha)

[Armistice]

I would use which ever one is running the Large Hadron Collider.... I'm sure they have multiple back up systems to avoid accidentally creating a black hole and ending the universe....

[Bobbsy]

You know, the Large Hadron Collider might make an excellent reverb chamber.

[DrumRookie]

You know, the Large Hadron Collider might make an excellent reverb chamber.

+1 on that! Once they find out it's a big piece of junk, they can give us complete access to play around in there

[jonny deep]

...Mispost...

[Doctor Varney]

+1 on that! Once they find out it's a big piece of junk, they can give us complete access to play around in there

It serves a useful function. #1: Giving Professor Brian Cox something else to do. Proving things can only get better...

[FreeMe]

It basically comes down to whether you can spare your time more than your money. I had a Cubase PC DAW that I built from scratch back 2002, it ran great, the only problem I ever had was that the power supply blew (it was a little underrated for all the hardware I put in it). I switched over to Mac because in the end, it took a lot of time (research included) to get that PC DAW build correctly (key word there, most off-the-shelf PC will suck for music or video production) and I just wanted to have software/hardware that worked. If tweaking a PC is your thing, you'll probably get a lot out of building your own. Personally, after years of building and fixing computers, it's a treat for me to just focus on the music aspect of it and not have to hunt down drivers, or worse, get audio artifacts that you only hear after your session is over.

As for price, a properly built PC DAW is not that much cheaper and you also need to same external gear, so you're basically only saving a few hundred dollars when all is said and done.

If you really want to challenge your technical abilities and have a truly cheaper solution, check out Ubuntu Studio (search the term, it won't let me link...). It is all free and will run on older hardware. You have to check your I/O devices for compatibility, but hey, if you are coming from Windows you're used to that anyway!

[wheelema]

I may go with a Mac Pro (for 4K video manipulation) eventually, but right now the $1,300 that B&H wants for the cheapest four-core 2.7GHz/8GB/1TB iMac buys a careful shopper...

• A two-core 3.4GHz/4GB/1TB PC compat w/Win 8 ($350 in this example, but I got it for $275 on sale) that my fifteen y.o. daughter can (and did) set up (link)
• A 20" HP display (link)
• A Rode NT2-A large condenser w/stand and cables (link)
• A Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface *
• A copy of Ableton Live Lite 8 *
• A copy of Ableton Live Lite 8 DigiPack **
• A Akai APC40 Ableton control surface (link)
• A pair of M-Audio BX5 D2 Active 70W 5" 2-Way Studio Monitors w/Isolation Pads, and cables *

Or... in so many words... a complete friggin' studio. I can put up with a little bit of hassle for that kind of trade-off.

* Bundled with the Rode NT2-A
** Available from Ableton

[Doctor Varney]

If you really want to challenge your technical abilities and have a truly cheaper solution, check out Ubuntu Studio (search the term, it won't let me link...). It is all free and will run on older hardware. You have to check your I/O devices for compatibility, but hey, if you are coming from Windows you're used to that anyway!

I wouldn't be too quick to compare Ubuntu to Windows in terms of hassle. In direct comparison, it's usually a lot less hassle to set up a Windows computer than any Linux distro for the smooth running of multimedia. Linux, it should be said, never purported to be easy to configure for the average user. Whatever you think you suffer with Windows, just times it by X10 and that's Linux. Really, if you're serious about being creative, I just wouldn't touch it. The best advice I was given was "Leave it to the geeks".

[Al618]

It began early on. I used my father's PC, mostly getting him out of jams, and suffering nursery school dialog boxes, my Vic -20 was a better machine. Then a friend got me a Mac 6100. It was a bit more daunting, it did not tell you where to put stuff, that was up to you. The Mac froze, did illogical things.
My friend said, "maybe Macs aren't for you," and "you have to use Mac logic." A problem is always illogical, therefore the solution is, too. You can do the same thing twice and get different results, in defiance of Einstein's definition of insanity, because the Mac is getting things more in order each time.
What you do not have to do is call a tech or bring it to a place which will quickly erase the savings you thought you had when you bought a PC and not a Mac.
Bill Gates was smart, and sold the 'speed' concept which Americans fall for, when buying a car. But the actual speeds of the Mac were faster based on useability. Gates' machines had to have a faster clock because his OS didn't run on time.
Both brands have had their problems, the real question is, would you buy a car made like a PC or a Mac? If that were the choice I would get a horse, have that extra drink, and sleep on the horse while it takes me home.

[Fred22]

When serious music (recording) software first hit the market back in the day, there was very little written for Windows. Most everybody who was serious about recording used a Mac. Today that's all changed..So either is good. I use a PC at home, but when I was teaching music in the public schools I used an Apple laptop. To me their wasn't that much difference.