Why are Macs "better" for recording/mixing?

Q
“Why are macs better for recording and mixing? “

A

They’re not . 😂

I have both pc and mac. Mac stays in the house and I have two PCs for the studio

PCs are still running ancient windows 7 and NEVER go on line.

Everything works just great 👍🏼
 
RFR said:
PCs are still running ancient windows 7 and NEVER go on line.
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It may be a pain to make those last minute downloads! And how do you make .NET updates for apps and VSTs which demand it? Certainly you have a PC anywhere with W10 for these cases...
 
YanKleber said:
It may be a pain to make those last minute downloads! And how do you make .NET updates for apps and VSTs which demand it? Certainly you have a PC anywhere with W10 for these cases...
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I have Protools 10, I don’t run any 3D party plug ins. The stock plugs do more than what I need.

If I need to upload or download anything. I’ll just use my phone.
 
I think you have to face the fact that the days of not connecting a computer to the internet is like keeping one hand behind your back. Tonight I downloaded 1.5Gb of new samples from Spitfire. To do it involved firing up the Spitfire app, taking the not installed files from one folder when the on-line system, authenticated me, and installing them took a short time (with my new 500+ fibre connection) then I had to fire up the Kontact Native instrument app to add a serial and get the thing working. I have a very large sample library that would be totally impossible without the internet. I also have an Adobe subscription and the update system would be impossible without the internet. Using an old OS for fear of nasties (which is what I assume RFR is trying to avoid) is frankly preventing you doing really common things. All my music requires uploading and I'm happy with the protection I have.

The Mac v PC thing is simply not an issue any more. They are NOT for suckers. If you look at the crew of most shows now - those that do things with computers are far, far more likely to have macbook pros than any windows machine - even those who are historically mean. Using my last show as an example - this is what I saw in the theatre.

Company Manager - Mac + Windows
DSM - Mac
ASM1 - Mac
ASM2 - Windows
Sound A1 - Mac
Sound A2 - Mac
Sound Designer - Mac
LX Designer - Mac
Programmer - Mac
Production Manager - Windows
Sound FOH - 2 x Mac
Radio rack - Mac
Director - Mac
MD - Mac

I think this sums the dominance of Apple Computers in the entertainment industry. These are not stupid people, and the majority are not very well off, but Macs do what they need better than PCs.
 
At my main studio gig, we don't use samples, we record actual humans playing music together. The Win7 machine that has not been connected to the internet in over five years works just fine for that. I understand that wouldn't work for people who use samples or are on a constant search for some new plugin, but that's not us.

At my university day job, we have a mix of Mac and Windows. The desktop at tech in the performing arts center is Windows. It's used for general tasks, like hosting Zoom meetings, projecting videos, casual audio playback etc. We have a MacBook for running QLab when needed for more involved productions, but if QLab worked on Windows we might not be using a Mac. There's a beefy Windows machine for video editing. All the school's classroom and staff computers are Windows. The music room has an iMac, which mostly just plays audio files. The recording studio probably has a Mac.
 
rob aylestone said:
I think you have to face the fact that the days of not connecting a computer to the internet is like keeping one hand behind your back.
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Sometimes Rob, you display a tendency to speak in pretty absolutist terms, with absolutely {😄} no regard for either nuance, or the fact that there are so many people on this planet and ∴ just from a point of view of sheer logic, a number of different ways of reaching the same goal. There are a number of different ways of doing what we do. Some of those might involve being net connected on a computer ~ some of them may not. The computer I use to house my VSTis hasn't been connected to the internet since probably 2010. I don't feel a need to constantly change what I have or add to it. If a person feels limited in any area, they should do something about it. But if one is happy how one operates, then why should they change ?
The fact that almost everyone at your last show was using Macs proves nothing really. There was a time when "almost everyone" in the industry was using ProTools, but of course, we know that Pro Tools doesn't get one's music recorded or mixed any better than Logic or Reaper or whatever DAW one cares to name.
 
rob aylestone said:
I think this sums the dominance of Apple Computers in the entertainment industry. These are not stupid people, and the majority are not very well off, but Macs do what they need better than PCs.
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If I have learned one thing by listening and observation in my 59 years on earth, it's that many professionals are just as prone to following the herd as amateurs, don't knows and wannabes.
I wonder how many of those people that use Macs in the entertainment industry actively gave PCs a whirl, really put them through their paces and found them to be wanting.
Some flavours of the month are evidently longer lasting and tastier than others ! 😹
 
rob aylestone said:
I think you have to face the fact that the days of not connecting a computer to the internet is like keeping one hand behind your back.
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In the spirit of ‘the Dude’ ........ Hey man that’s just your opinion.

Nothing wrong with that. Just not for me.

I’m even more hands tied in the fact that I also use tape. OMG! The horror.

I’m not doing soundtracks, commercials, etc.

Just capturing music.

My setup is more than adequate for that.

Some of the finest music recorded has been done with less than I have.
 
One more point. Why the fuck does everything constantly have to be upgraded?

If it works, it works.

People have become insane on this concept of ‘just a little better’, that they forget what it’s all about.

(Just my opinion)
 
No problem with other peoples opinions, but connectivity is how it’s going. My computers in different places are linked by the net, my fridge freezer (not that even I use it) had an IP address, and my doorbells and alarms are too. The UK telephone system is being switched off soon and everyone will need broadband.

vsti wise, every single day I get emails about new stuff, and go to the YouTube walkthrough, and say yuk, or nice, or wow and I often, like yesterday, download. I get the idea many people just don’t add new stuff, and stay static, but suspect that’s pretty uncommon now.

I just don’t understand this internet resistance.

on the audio and computer front. Has anyone plugged a MacBook into an audio system and had nasty hums and buzzes, I’ve not, yet PCs really struggle to be noise free. Sure, you can make a PC noise free with either care or knowledge, and an avoidance of certain makes, but how many times do we tell people to pull out the power cable and see if the noise goes away, and it does.

my studio computers are PCs, but for portables it’s macs for me. It’s been a solid choice for me, but obviously more expensive. When somebody has their tracks on a computer with QLab on tour, or is using one with mainstage as the MD for their extra sounds, they wont consider a swap to PCs. I’m happy to use both, but macs are so much more popular in the theatre, music and live events industry.

If you disagree it’s OK with me. Some folk don’t like vaccinations and that’s OK too. Cue Mr Spock’s eyebrow.
 
Qlab is almost the only thing that would push me toward owning a Mac personally. I don't mind using them for specific tasks when I have to.

A couple of years ago at the university, a faculty member wanted to record multitrack on their MacBook. We had an interface (of a type I don't remember), and they tried everything they could to get it to connect more than the first two channels. We had a Windows laptop just sitting there and I'm reasonably sure we could have installed Reaper and an ASIO driver and been up and running in half an hour. But they insisted on using the Mac and ended up having to record 2-track at the last minute with little preparation. I'm sure this is a somewhat unusual situation, but it shows that Mac audio isn't as foolproof as it's often made out to be, and that its users can be overly sectarian. It was turning their noses up at a Windows PC that screwed them on that one.

I'm not sure, but it seems like it's been a few years since we've had posts about Windows (usually Dell) laptops with hum problems. My Dell laptop is fine.
 
RFR said:
One more point. Why the fuck does everything constantly have to be upgraded?

If it works, it works.
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more.
The very first VSTi I bought was Garritan Personal Orchestra in 2004. The second one I bought was SampleTank II a week or so later. I still have it. I sold Garritan in 2005 or 6 when I discovered Miroslav Philharmonik.
Now, maybe I'm a weird anomaly, but I'm very clear about what I want and what I use. It has been a truly rare thing for me to "upgrade" and when I have done, it's been because I recognized the limitations in what I had at that time. For example, I went from 8 track cassette portastudio to 12 track standalone DAW {with 238virtual tracks} after about 16 years because the 8 track had become too limiting, much as I loved it. The majority of VSTis that I use were bought between 2004 and 2006. The acoustic guitars I have, my mandolin and my 6 string electric and my congas are all from the 1990s. Most of my instruments and equipment are old. But they work.
When I sold my 4 string bass in 2005 and bought a 5 string, I didn't think of it as an upgrade. When I found a tenor sax sample some guy had put up on the net, I acquired it because it was better than the ones on Sampletank and First Call Horns. But I never really thought of it as an upgrade. Like I said earlier, upgrading for me has been such a rare event.
rob aylestone said:
I just don’t understand this internet resistance.
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It's not internet resistance.
Sometimes however, people have found that having all their music stuff on a computer that is internet connected has brought about all kinds of running issues and they no longer want to keep the two together. So they don't.
Updates have skewed many a person's smooth running equipment.
 
I know nothing of macs save what I read. The ability to run several interfaces at low latency which ASIO cannot do is one advantage to some people I guess?

Thunderbolt is very nice it seems but for SUPER low latency and massive channel counts it seems Ethernet is the future?

I seem to read of more 'orphaned' hardware with mac OS changes than Windows? Apple always seem a company that goes its own way and does not care how many people it pisses off? I cite the dropping of headphone sockets and their resistance to USB C ports for a universal charging system.

Dave.
 
rob aylestone said:
No problem with other peoples opinions, but connectivity is how it’s going. My computers in different places are linked by the net, my fridge freezer (not that even I use it) had an IP address, and my doorbells and alarms are too. The UK telephone system is being switched off soon and everyone will need broadband.

vsti wise, every single day I get emails about new stuff, and go to the YouTube walkthrough, and say yuk, or nice, or wow and I often, like yesterday, download. I get the idea many people just don’t add new stuff, and stay static, but suspect that’s pretty uncommon now.

I just don’t understand this internet resistance.

on the audio and computer front. Has anyone plugged a MacBook into an audio system and had nasty hums and buzzes, I’ve not, yet PCs really struggle to be noise free. Sure, you can make a PC noise free with either care or knowledge, and an avoidance of certain makes, but how many times do we tell people to pull out the power cable and see if the noise goes away, and it does.

my studio computers are PCs, but for portables it’s macs for me. It’s been a solid choice for me, but obviously more expensive. When somebody has their tracks on a computer with QLab on tour, or is using one with mainstage as the MD for their extra sounds, they wont consider a swap to PCs. I’m happy to use both, but macs are so much more popular in the theatre, music and live events industry.

If you disagree it’s OK with me. Some folk don’t like vaccinations and that’s OK too. Cue Mr Spock’s eyebrow.
Click to expand...
That fact that you’re ok with disagreement is a good thing.

We’re all different


There are two things that jump out at me from your post.

Internet hesitancy and vaccine hesitancy.
Kind of like one and the same?? 😂

It’s all fine and dandy this move towards technology, but where do you draw the line?
Once no one can function without the internet?

Once you yourself are hooked up to the internet??

That’s where we’re headed.

Meanwhile back on earth.... Mac vs PC

A PC is highly customizable, you can open them up, add hard drives, optical drives, more ram. Etc etc.
With a Mac you’re stuck with what you have.
Just my personal opinion, but I think you can do as much, if not more with a pc as you can with a Mac for a fraction of the cost. Besides, you can repair it yourself.
 
Yep, I like macs but they treat you like an idiot and always know better. I have an old dead one. All it needs is a small repair of a motherboard header. I tried and failed. Apple refused to do it because it was too old. Four years! I don’t like how two iMacs in the video studio cannot run two bits of software because they cannot run the right OS, but they’re still perfect. My PCs have video cards with onboard processing which for some video work makes them faster than the MacBooks. I’ll never buy a mega Mac because they’re bad value for money. I bought my MacBook m1 weeks before the new machine was given more ins and outs. That really annoys me.
 
Obviously Linux is so much better than Win and Mac that it was not yet mentioned in this thread. What a shame. ;)

I am personally working on Linux. Especially on older hardware it is much faster than Windows. There is not so much choice regarding DAWs. I think Ardour is the only powerful one.
But I have to admit it is not very user friendly. I think that is the reason why so many people go for a Mac.
 
I have an iPad, a Mac mini and an iPhone.

Compared to my PCs, I hate them.
The only Apple product I’ve truly enjoyed was my iPod.
But once the battery was gone and the Apple store wasn’t interested in replacing the battery (because it was ‘too old’) in the trash it went.

So, if I’m so ‘Anti-Mac’, why do I own them?

iPad was a hand me down from a family member, the Mac mini a Christmas gift, and my daughter talked me into the iPhone so we could FaceTime. 😂

I find them to be very complicated and not easy to use, whereas a PC is much more intuitive.

Each to their own I guess, but Apple seems to have more of a ‘cultish’ following.

When I first got my iPhone I had people in my contacts congratulating me for finally making the switch. Like I achieved a long awaited milestone 😂

I thought these people are nuts. It’s just a fucking phone😂
 
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