laptop just died :( now the question is mac or pc? to use w/axe and for recordings

A

adildo

Inspired
laptop died and i need a new one urgently :(. would like opinions about mac vs. pc and i know its a never ending debate but need to make a decision quickly. need a computer that can be used for recordings/productions as home and possibly live as well with the Axe fx? (seen people using AE live for adjustments on the fly). Would also be interested to start using software such as ableton during concerts as well.

I've been using cubase with the same old windows laptop for the last 5 years! everyone has been recommending Mac to me for so long and i never got around to getting one due to price. is it really worth it ? thanks guys
 
If you're planning to use if for concerts OSX is surely the way to go in terms of stability. For everything else though, I'd always go for a pc.
 
You are right, it's a never ending debate and the various feedback you get, you can expect to be biased depending on what the author has settled on. Reviews are good but in many cases, they don't give you both sides of the story. As far as the Axe goes, it doesn't matter. AE is available for both platforms and works the same either way. I would say your choice should be made weighing most of the consideration on two things; 1.) MONEY...for one thing, a Mac is more expensive. 2.) Your DAW. How much muscle do you need? (again, money and learning curves)
>Do you already know the Mac operating system? Will you need to use this computer for anything else?...(word processing, games?)
>Would you ever need to run your DAW software on your "other" computer?
>What capabilities do you need in a DAW? There are many resources on the internet to help you make this choice. Wikipedia lists basic information about all of the popular DAW's on the market.
Digital audio workstation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It almost seems like your quest for advice should be directed at what ever DAW you go with. Some don't run on Windows, some don't run on a Mac. [personally, I use ProTools 10 on a Mac]
I haven't addressed everything, the other guys will fill in the blanks.
 
Once you go Mac, you'll never....

....want to use a PC again.

You can actually use Windows, if you create a separate partition using OS X's Bootcamp software, which comes with the operating system. Or there's Parallels, which allows you to have both Windows and OSX open on the same screen.

Say goodbye to viruses and slow unreliable workflows whilst you're at it.
 
Besides the never ending debate which is better (my guess is that after a few weeks you love it and as Cover'd said, you'll wonder what took you so long), there'a another point to keep in mind.

In the beginning Mac costs more money than an PC.
But remember that after having mine for 2,5 years it's still as fast and stable as in the beginning (no performance problems after time)
I didn't have any problems with viruses
It comes with a lot of software pre-installed.
Software like MAC versions of Word or Excel cost only about 16 euro's
When you ever want to sell it to buy a bigger/newer one, you can sell it for a good price.

So Mac more money than a PC? Yes
More expensive? You do the math ;)
 
I like options and having full control, it's the reason I bought an Axe FX II and the reason I'll never buy a Mac, and not trying to cause a fight but most people with compatability problems seem to be using Mac. A PC with same specs costs only 2/3rd the price of a Mac. Saying a Mac lasts longer is just nonsense, if you don't manage the health of your computer it's not the fault of the hardware/software, and given the same specs one is not going to last longer.

These are just my opinions
 
adildo said:
I've been using cubase with the same old windows laptop for the last 5 years! everyone has been recommending Mac to me for so long and i never got around to getting one due to price. is it really worth it ?
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Many will tell you Macs aren't worth the price. Those who've used/abused Macs will say otherwise.

I built a lot of my solo act business on a bought-new 2001 iBook. It was my main business computer for 3 years, and my full-time gig laptop from 2007-2010. It still works flawlessly. I think I got my $1000 out of that one!

By 2010 I was so dependent on a gig computer, I set up a cloned system with two used and beat up 2005 12inch powerbooks I bought on eBay, $600 total. The IBM processor ran warm, but neither went down over a three year period, even at the hottest gigs.

8 & 12 year old laptops that have done (and can still do) mission critical tasks without issues and without any maintenance whatsoever despite extensive internet time on them...this is why I use Macs.

This year I picked up a 2012 Mac Mini for $500 so I could run Ableton and waves plugins live.

It's bolted in a rack and I run it and a digital mixing board from my iPad, much safer than a laptop on top of a rack. The Mac Mini is fast & cool, but I keep a 2005 powerbook in the rack just in case. iPad is the bomb of for mixing board and editing the axe-fx.

I still have every Mac I've ever owned, back to a 1993 Color Classic.
I'm still waiting for one to die.

If that isn't enough, this past spring a musician friend found an ancient Mac in the basement of a house he was renting. He didn't know what it was. I looked it up, and it was a Mac SE with an 8MHz...yes 8MHz...processor. It was filthy and stunk like an old wet dog. I plugged it in, flipped the power switch in the back and hit the startup button (on the keyboard) -- it fired right up!
 
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either is fine with high specs. but i would say if u choose pc then dont connect it to internet. ever.

Regards,
 
Mac will give you a true better experience connecting things and stuff, extremely easier recording softwares too.. But going from PC to Mac will always have a learning curve.
 
iMac 24 user sense 07 and I will never use windows based machine again. If and when this machine goes down it will get replaced with another Mac, I'm not a computer freak by any means but every thing about their machines just make more sense.
 
Another vote for the Mac. I switched in 2005 and have not regretted it one bit. While the initial purchase price for the hardwaer is higher, I've found that when you factor in software costs, that it pretty much balances out. Overall, for making music, I would always recommend a Mac. There's good reason that a Mac is generally what you see in studios.
 
Mac/PC debates often end up much like Fractal/Kemper debates, but I'll throw my 2 cents in anyway. I made the switch to Apple about 5 years ago and haven't looked back since. Everything pretty much just works right out of the box. But the support is great if you need it. The one time I had a problem was when I got a disc stuck in the cd drive. One trip to the Apple store and they fixed it right on the spot. Plus, I love the convenience of tying everything in my house together (iPhone, iPad, Mac Mini, Macbook Pro, Apple TV).

Ironically enough, the one thing that doesn't work as well I would like with my Mac is the Axe II. So if you plan on using the Axe as your main audio interface, I would do a little research here on compatibility issues first. I had to buy a separate interface because the Axe was extremely glitchy and unreliable.
 
solo-act said:
I've had zero issues with 10.8 on Mac Pro and Mac mini. I think issues were Mac users with OS older than 10.7, but that isn't issue if you're buying a newer mac.
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I'm using 10.8.4 on a 2012 Mac Mini and never had good results recording. Always got the bit-crushed sound after a short time. In fairness though, I gave up trying a couple firmwares ago. However, even now I still have some connection issues with Fractal Bot and AE.
 
I use to be a Mac only user, but went to PC cuz of work and I never went back. On this site, the majority of users who have issues are Mac users so go figure:)

I didn't list why I prefer Pc because I tend to find Mac users have mental instability when you talk about why a Pc is far superior:)
 
laughyouraxeoff said:
On this site, the majority of users who have issues are Mac users so go figure:)
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PC Native doesn't always work flawless on Mac and vice versa. It's not a reflection of the "receiving" machine as you imply.

I ran a 2005 XP IBM Thinkpad through the hell of post-hurricane Katrina. It was mounted in my car as part of a mobile insurance adjusting office there and in storms across a dozen states.

All the software was PC native, solid as a rock, and I wailed on that machine for insurance work. I quit in 2010. Like my old Macs, it still runs. But OS startup time sucks compared to 2001 iBook and 2005 Powerbook, the DVD tray broke, power supply was huge, it was heavy, clunky OS, etc.

That was OK though. The defining issue for me was required maintenance of a PC living on the internet vs. zero for my Macs, and how the longevity of hard drive, the boot time, performance, etc. were all maintenance dependent. I kept the PC lean and mean and well maintained. But honestly, after living on macs, the maintenance sucked.
 
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