If I defect from Mac to PC I'll need help.

To OP: just buy PC, build your own setup, get some i7 quad core, 8gb or 16gb, hybrid ssd/HHD, decent graphic card so your processor gets easier life :) I build strong PC six months ago with i5 CPU and its just flawless, it didn't hiccup for a split second yet. Another positive thing is you can expand its capabilities any time. To answer your questions about licences, they'll work on both PC and Mac as long as you not using them at the same time. If you building your PC just make sure you visit benchmarking websites so you can clearly see how much horse power you get. My CPU on cpubenchmarks got about 5500 points, it may not be the fastest CPU available but as I wrote before it didn't cause any problems, and I'm using pro tools, ableton and east west plugings and waves plugs in multiple instances no problem, when my Mac is dying after I use like 5 instances of tape emulation, and I bought this Mac brand new Jan 2012. Mac is just overpriced overrated piece of fashion not pro gear, and people that swear by it just can't admit to themselves that they spent money on crap.
 
ju2ef said:
Mac is just overpriced overrated piece of fashion not pro gear, and people that swear by it just can't admit to themselves that they spent money on crap.
Click to expand...

That is just your opinion. Personally, I find it too isolated and general to be useful. Would you care to expand...?
 
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I don't see any reason for 32 GB of RAM. My cupport for animation suggests that that is overkill even for animation rendering. As for licensing, you need to contact your suppliers of the plugins. Adobe allows use on two computers; I'm sure the others will too. You can still owrk on the quad core and edit on the PC. I would ask for help on custom building the PC from others but here are my computer specs. I spent about $2000 USD.

(Case) 11-129-086 CASE ANTEC| SONATA PROTO RT 1 $64.99

You’ll need an Antec Matching power supply, get a green one, a power saver

(Motherboard) 13-157-264 MB ASROCK Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 R 1 $189.99

(Video card and GPU chip) 14-121-446 VGA ASUS|ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 1 $199.99

(Processor) 19-115-070 CPU INTEL|CORE I7 2600K 3.4G 8M R 1 $314.99

(RAM) 20-233-143 MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 1 $104.99

(New hard drive) 22-148-681 HDD 2T|SEAGATE ST2000DL003 64M % 1 $79.99

(CD/DVD burner/player) 27-106-334 DVD BURNER LITE-ON | IHAS-324-98B R 1 $19.99

(Operating system) 32-116-992 MS WIN 7 PRO SP1 64-BIT 1PK - OEM 1 $139.99

*See if they’ll install it for you, and just give you the disk for backup

(Special cooling system for chip) 35-103-065 CPU COOLER CM| RR-B10-212P-G1 RT 1 $27.99

4 gb flash drive for power boosting-ask about this; you can’t just use a $10 off the shelf from KMart

Hard disks? Three would be great, settle for two get sata 6 standard, not 3

2 good surge protectors. From a computer store, not a hardware store. Belkin is a trusted name. A friend had a thunderstorm, stupidly didn’t unplug her PC, in the morning a completely new motherboard and processor were needed. In contrast, we had a thunderstorm here 14 years ago, I wasn't home, the storm hit the suppressor, ruined it, replaced it for $15, PC was just fine.

2 monitors. Instead of one large one. Windows 7 lets you configure the set so your workspace is on one, and all your palettes are on the other. I use a Samsung 19” and am happy with the color fidelity and calibration, and I’m quite picky. Color gurus and fanboys crap on Samsung occasionally. Seems it’s easy to find someone who will crap on just about anything: Samsung, IBM, Catholicism…

Powered speakers. Altec Lansing VS2621 2.1-CH PC multimedia speaker sys

About $35 voted 3rd best modest computer speaker system for any price, and I own a pair and they’re just fine for computer sound.

I hope that helps a bit. Good Luck,
Rod Norman

Bip Bop said:
I am seriously considering migrating my studio from Logic on an old quad core Xeon 2.0 GHz MacPro to a PC with Cubase.

My reasons? I am using more and more plug-ins such as orchestral libraries, soft synths, processors and my current cpu is not coping.
I would get a new Mac Pro and lots of Ram except Apple may or may not continue to the line ( especially in Europe) and they don't seem that interested in a new Logic version. I'm fed up with this situation and need to get on. So.....

I'd be willing to spend up to £2500.00 on a very quiet PC (macpro is virtually silent) but does anyone know if I'd have to get new licences for PC versions of all my third party plug-ins? Melodyne, Predator, Cinematic Strings, Waves CLA sig, Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 etc etc. And what about my PCIe Motu audio interface? Would that have to be replaced.

Has anyone here done this? It's a bit scary. I need stability and processing power. 64bit, 32GB ram a few large drives ( I can always get extra external ones.

Any advice would be gratefully received although if Apple get their act together I may stay with what I know.
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
I'd just like to add that there is some news on the future installment of Logic (see macrumors). And it's highly doubtful that they'll pull anything with Logic like they did with FCPX.

I'm also in the market for a new compy, specifically the Mac Pro (primarily for motion graphics and 3D stuff) but I'm holding out until they release the new one this year. Also gunna wait till Logic is upgraded too ;)

If I was in your situation (and I kind of am- but in a slightly different way), I'd calculate how long you can/want to hold out for until Apple releases da goods. But if you find owning and maintaining a PC is more appealing to you, go for it (if your up for that kind of thing).

But I'm excited to see what is in store from Apple this year, and I don't think it will be disappointing!
Either way, good luck with your choice! :D
 
ju2ef said:
To OP: just buy PC, build your own setup, get some i7 quad core, 8gb or 16gb, hybrid ssd/HHD, decent graphic card so your processor gets easier life :) I build strong PC six months ago with i5 CPU and its just flawless, it didn't hiccup for a split second yet. Another positive thing is you can expand its capabilities any time. To answer your questions about licences, they'll work on both PC and Mac as long as you not using them at the same time. If you building your PC just make sure you visit benchmarking websites so you can clearly see how much horse power you get. My CPU on cpubenchmarks got about 5500 points, it may not be the fastest CPU available but as I wrote before it didn't cause any problems, and I'm using pro tools, ableton and east west plugings and waves plugs in multiple instances no problem, when my Mac is dying after I use like 5 instances of tape emulation, and I bought this Mac brand new Jan 2012. Mac is just overpriced overrated piece of fashion not pro gear, and people that swear by it just can't admit to themselves that they spent money on crap.
Click to expand...
I can't agree with your assertion " Mac is just overpriced overrated piece of fashion not pro gear, and people that swear by it just can't admit to themselves that they spent money on crap"

Macs are very definitely pro gear and that is why all the pros I know use them. I bought my MacPro 6-7 years ago and have been using nearly every day since. When I bought it, I took out a 3 year Apple care policy and never had to use it or get any type of technical support.
My gripe with Mac is not quality or OS which is infinitely more elegant and well designed than windows, but the way they are too secretive and won't let their customer's know what's coming and when.

I am at a stage where I need more power for the projects I am embarking on and have know idea how long before or even if Mac will update the MacPro line.

My thinking at the moment is to hang on through the summer and see where we are at and then make a decision.

Thanks for the PC spec though. Even if I stick with Mac, I am seriously considering a PC slave machine along the lines of yours. Perhaps i7 with 32gb.
 
Rod Norman said:
I don't see any reason for 32 GB of RAM. My cupport for animation suggests that that is overkill even for animation rendering. As for licensing, you need to contact your suppliers of the plugins. Adobe allows use on two computers; I'm sure the others will too. You can still owrk on the quad core and edit on the PC. I would ask for help on custom building the PC from others but here are my computer specs. I spent about $2000 USD.....................
I hope that helps a bit. Good Luck,
Rod Norman
Click to expand...

Thanks for all that detail Rod. Food for thought which I'll digest slowly. I think some of the virtual instruments that I hope to own in the future plus those I have now would definitely bebefit from as much Ram as I can get and which is which is after all pretty cheap these days.
 
The thing to do is pick the application(s) that you want to use, and then get the platform that they will run best on (Mac or PC). Some run better on instead the other....based how they were designed and for which platform primarily. Yes, there are those that run on both, but it's not always identical.
Then you have some apps that only run on one or the other.

Why people get so caught up on just hardware debates is like worrying about which horse to get to pull the cart...and you still haven't picked the cart yet. :)
 
DrumRookie said:
I'd just like to add that there is some news on the future installment of Logic (see macrumors). And it's highly doubtful that they'll pull anything with Logic like they did with FCPX.

I'm also in the market for a new compy, specifically the Mac Pro (primarily for motion graphics and 3D stuff) but I'm holding out until they release the new one this year. Also gunna wait till Logic is upgraded too ;)

If I was in your situation (and I kind of am- but in a slightly different way), I'd calculate how long you can/want to hold out for until Apple releases da goods. But if you find owning and maintaining a PC is more appealing to you, go for it (if your up for that kind of thing).

But I'm excited to see what is in store from Apple this year, and I don't think it will be disappointing!
Either way, good luck with your choice! :D
Click to expand...

Well that's encouraging. Decisions decisions.............. aarrgh!
 
miroslav said:
The thing to do is pick the application(s) that you want to use, and then get the platform that they will run best on (Mac or PC). Some run better on instead the other....based how they were designed and for which platform primarily. Yes, there are those that run on both, but it's not always identical.
Then you have some apps that only run on one or the other.

Why people get so caught up on just hardware debates is like worrying about which horse to get to pull the cart...and you still haven't picked the cart yet. :)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I want to use Logic (Mac) Vienna ( better on PC ) and Melodyne (not sure- I suspect PC) but my interface is Motu (probably better for Mac) plus
many plug-ins which I'm not sure about.


Everyone's suggested PC specs have been very helpful and I am learning a lot.
 
Well....I would think that your main bread-n-butter recording/editing app should dictate what hardware/OS to use.

The other stuff...sample libraries and auto-tune/harmonizers....get the ones that fit the above ^^^^.
 
PC/Mac

I still use the G5 with older software and it kicks ass!

That's encouraging - I just picked up an old G5 as it came with out of a studio with logic pro and a load of other software installed. I use a PC in my home studio, an i7 cpu 16gb ram, and 2011 macbook pro when I'm "out and about" and at college. I've just started using Logic and was kinda wondering how the G5 would cope.

Back on topic - I gotta say between the macbook pro and the PC in the studio ... I'm sorta preferring working on the PC these days. It powers through anything I need to do.

As far as licenses I am in a similar position as I use both PC and MAC. It's such a boost when a developer allows you to use software you've purchased on both systems.

Good luck :guitar:
 
vaultdwella said:
I still use the G5 with older software and it kicks ass!
Click to expand...

54546-Cheers-Toast-gif-OLQT.gif
 
I have always used a PC as my primary music machine. I tried the whole mac thing and returned it a week later.
I run:
AMD 8 Core 64 bit processor on a Gigabyte motherboard.
32 Gigs of Ram.
1tb drive as my windows 7 x64 pro OS disk (c:)
3tb drive as my program disk and plugins(d:)
3tb drive for loops and samples (e:)
3TB drive for masters (f:)
Blue Ray burner (g:)
and a 21-1 card reader

Now most of my equipment is current, therefore it supports USB, HOWEVER if your gear does not support USB, then there are sound cards and I/o devices out there that will support a decent studio m-audio PCI Audio Interfaces section is a good place to start. Hope this helps.
 
slider2015 said:
I have always used a PC as my primary music machine. I tried the whole mac thing and returned it a week later.
I run:
AMD 8 Core 64 bit processor on a Gigabyte motherboard.
32 Gigs of Ram.
1tb drive as my windows 7 x64 pro OS disk (c:)
3tb drive as my program disk and plugins(d:)
3tb drive for loops and samples (e:)
3TB drive for masters (f:)
Blue Ray burner (g:)
and a 21-1 card reader

Now most of my equipment is current, therefore it supports USB, HOWEVER if your gear does not support USB, then there are sound cards and I/o devices out there that will support a decent studio m-audio PCI Audio Interfaces section is a good place to start. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Very interesting. What DAW do you use and how much would that all cost? Is your rig quiet? I have my Macbookpro connected via ethernet to my Macpro and the only sound I hear is a couple of external LaCie HDs whirring. I've heard PCs can be noisy unless you get expensive PSUs, fans and cases etc. I have been playing around with sites configuring a PC and there is a bewildering number of choices for each such component.

Is AMD as good as Intel i7/i5 etc?
 
Bip Bop said:
Very interesting. What DAW do you use and how much would that all cost? Is your rig quiet? I have my Macbookpro connected via ethernet to my Macpro and the only sound I hear is a couple of external LaCie HDs whirring. I've heard PCs can be noisy unless you get expensive PSUs, fans and cases etc. I have been playing around with sites configuring a PC and there is a bewildering number of choices for each such component.

Is AMD as good as Intel i7/i5 etc?
Click to expand...

Technically, AMD isn't as good as Intel. I could get into the technological babble about it, but honestly, for stuff like audio editing, AMD isn't going to be any sort of problem at all.
If you ask someone who's a computer fanatic like me, I'd suggest Intel, but they are more expensive. With a budget like €2,500 though, I'd suggest going Intel. You'd honestly only need to spend about half of that to get a fantastic PC machine (mine cost $1,000 and is running an SSD, HDD, i7-2600K processor, and 8GB of RAM with a GTX 550SE graphics card and it works perfectly fine for everything, including high graphics setting for newer games).

If it were I, I'd go for half into the comp, half to new audio gear. =]
 
I think it used to be that AMD ran faster and returned better benchmark tests than Intel. But things move on so quickly and it seems Intel have taken the lead with their new processors. I use AMD and am happy with it but would recommend using Intel right now if you are aiming to build the best of what's available. The one I'm using right now outperforms the Intel equivalent at the time for a significant saving in cost. Remembering that processors give sequencially better performance until you reach the topmost bracket - then there are large price increases for only small amounts of extra performance. I have no idea what I'm talking about, LOL, it's just what I've been told. But I bet if you can define a question based on this, you should be able to find out what processor gives you bang for the buck before you start paying extra for things you don't really need. Remembering that gamers and enthusiasts will push for ridiculous heights and then overclock the things, because, apparently, nothing's ever good enough for them. AMD also used to run hotter than Intel but I don't think that's the case now.
 
I'm running an i7 3930, 32Gb RAM, passive graphics, 3 x 1TB internal HDD and this thing absolutely FLIES

I'm running sonar X2a + BFD2 + a few other 3rd part plugs. I ditched all of my 32bit only plugs when I went 64 bit, and with the quality of the plugs in Sonar, you don't really need anything else.

£2k, from Carillon
 
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