To Mac or not

[sid arthur]

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read this. I am about to but a laptop computer. I would like to be able to record basic songs with me singing while playing acoustic guitar. Are apple macs better for this than other brands? Also how do i record on a standard laptop. what are the programs/software i'll need and what are the advantages/disadvantages of the different ones (costings would also help).

Thanks in advance

 

[fuzzrhythm]

Mac

All new Macs come with GarageBand recording software. The laptops have a built-in mic, a line-in, or you could hook up a USB or Firewire interface ($100+) with preamps for better sound quality. An interface using Firewire is preferable. Mac laptops start at $1100. Any of them would be more than adequate for what you want to do. I prefer to use Macs. You can be up and running in 20 minutes after you open the box.

Windows

There's a slew of choices and you can do what you want on the $500 weekly special at Best Buy, but you will have to work through issues such as:

Q. What software will I use?
A. Most people here will suggest Reaper. It's good and cheap. You have many other options as well. (Cubase, Pro Tools, Sonar, Adobe Audition, etc)

Q. Will that software run on Windows Vista?
A. Depends. Try and get Windows XP for audio work. You can configure Dell computers with Windows XP still.

Q. Is my Firewire chipset good for using a Firewire interface?
A. This will probably be the hardest thing to figure out...but the answer tends to be no

etc etc etc....do tons of research. Using a Windows-based system can save you money if you find the right solution for you.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Welcome aboard, sid!

The choice of audio professionals is predominantly mac. This isn't because macs are better at audio, but for several other reasons:

1) In the days of yore the best software was mac only.

2) Macs tend to need less care and feeding- they just work without stuff like antivirus programs, anti-spyware programs, system recovery software and whatnot. Less time spent on maintainence = more time spent on music.

Both of these are less true than they have ever been but #2 is still a reason to get a mac- if you want as little hassle with the machine as possible then a mac is *probably* a better bet. Not always, just probably. This is at the cost of higher price and less flexibility if you are the hacker type.

3) Its a huge plus that macs come with garageband. That saves you some cash if you end up liking it. Here is apple's tutorial for it so you can get a sense of what its like.

Other than that... PC's generally offer more band for buck- provided you can keep it running smoothly. Some software only runs on PC- notably most of the low cost / high value ones (Reaper, N-track.) If garageband doesn't suit you, then a PC is probably going to be your lowest cost option as far as other software goes.

-C

 

[sid arthur]

Thank you

Wow, thanks to both Fuzzrhthym and Chris Shaeffer for taking the time to give me detailed answers. I really appreciate it. My friend has a Mac so I'm going to try Garage band out and see if i like it.

Thanks again
your truly, an indebted amateur

 

[rayc]

In the end it's what you are comfortable with because macheads are macheads & will not change as a matter of principle.
Having had to work with macs for 8 years or so I would say PC is the go but that's purely a matter of bias.