New Computer. Mac or PC?

I have a 2010 27 in iMac that will need replacing soon as I run Logic Pro X with apogee duet ( first version ). Then new updates for logic X won’t work on my existing OS. I have maverick and I can’t update anymore or my apogee duet won’t work. Not supported past maverick. So I’ve decided to buy a new computer and a new interface as I’ve gotten close to 10 years out of my current setup. I was going to buy another iMac as that’s all I’ve ever used but my question is is there a PC other than a Mac that is just as good? I don’t know anything about windows based PCs but I know lots of people use them or should I just buy a Mac and not worry about it. Cheers
 
I'm updating my project studio with a new PC (i7 9800 8 cores) with Thunderbolt connection and I've just receeived a brand new Universal audio Apollo X6. I think you will have different opinion since there are many people happy with their Mac and many people happy with their PC. I simply love to "update" my machine in the years (my previous PC was from 2010 too) and IMHO you can have a powerful PC without spending a fortune
 
Though Apple has got me questioning their product decisions the past few years....I think sticking with what you are most familiar with when issues arise may save unnecessary frustrations.
 
Though Apple has got me questioning their product decisions the past few years....I think sticking with what you are most familiar with when issues arise may save unnecessary frustrations.
Though Apple has got me questioning their product decisions the past few years....I think sticking with what you are most familiar with when issues arise may save unnecessary frustrations.
Thanks for the reply! You know I never even thought of that! I pretty much know my Mac inside out and not sure if I want a big learning curve with a PC! Thanks for that. Guess I’ll be spending the 3 grand after all!!
 
You will get a lot of opinions in the Mac vs pc issue. Personally, I used to run my studio on pc. Endless headaches. I finally switched to Mac. A far more stable platform. I have been using Mac ever since. Yes they are costly. Yes their business model is to obsolete their products. Yes that is a horrible way to treat their customers. That said, when it is time to replace my computer I will buy another Mac.
 
IMO, it’s not easy to just switch from one to the other. ...especially when dealing with audio and DAWS, particularly if you are used to Logic. ...think you are making the right choice.
Thanks for the reply! You know I never even thought of that! I pretty much know my Mac inside out and not sure if I want a big learning curve with a PC! Thanks for that. Guess I’ll be spending the 3 grand after all!!
 
Honestly you could squeeze a bit more life if you updated your audio interface. That iMac will update to High Sierra and you will have no issues updating Logic. I'm still running High Sierra and current Logic X on a 2009 iMac, 32GB RAM about to install 8TB drive piped into a UAD Apollo Quad via Firewire. New is good but until you start doing a ridiculous track count or 4K vid they still rock.
 
Honestly you could squeeze a bit more life if you updated your audio interface. That iMac will update to High Sierra and you will have no issues updating Logic. I'm still running High Sierra and current Logic X on a 2009 iMac, 32GB RAM about to install 8TB drive piped into a UAD Apollo Quad via Firewire. New is good but until you start doing a ridiculous track count or 4K vid they still rock.
I was wondering about that. If I bought the newest apogee duet could I then update to Sierra and the newest update on logic without any latency issues? My setup runs great now I just wanted the updated version of logic plus I just thought after 10 years maybe it’s time to buy all new again.
 
I was wondering about that. If I bought the newest apogee duet could I then update to Sierra and the newest update on logic without any latency issues? My setup runs great now I just wanted the updated version of logic plus I just thought after 10 years maybe it’s time to buy all new again.
I have 8 gigs of ram and never had any issues at all. Would that be enough or would I need some more ram?
 
IMO stick with the Mac. My experience has always been that the platform had MUCH fewer issues that required manual intervention.

Windows has made great improvements since my time with them, so I doubt you can go wrong either way...but if I had to choose...
 
I have 8 gigs of ram and never had any issues at all. Would that be enough or would I need some more ram?
RAM is cheap anymore for these models. Just bought my son 32GB for 105 bucks. Takes 2 minutes to change and you can probably sell your old RAM for 30.00 bucks. It will definitely add some life. Don't get me wrong I love new stuff and you 'are' on borrowed time. Nothing wrong with getting new but it's not totally necessary at this point.

As to latency make sure you are using your interfaces monitoring software to record with. Between that and the latency compensation that Logic has you should not have any troubles. Now regarding the old units processing power. If you are a plug-in nut and have a super high track count you may encounter problems with using an older computer. I use a UAD Quad with UAD Quad Satellite so that's 8 cores of 'off computer' processing for my plugs which leaves more power for my track count. Experimenting with an older iMac is very safe. You can salvage that old computer literally 'by the piece' and actually rack up a pocket of cash.
 
RAM is cheap anymore for these models. Just bought my son 32GB for 105 bucks. Takes 2 minutes to change and you can probably sell your old RAM for 30.00 bucks. It will definitely add some life. Don't get me wrong I love new stuff and you 'are' on borrowed time. Nothing wrong with getting new but it's not totally necessary at this point.

As to latency make sure you are using your interfaces monitoring software to record with. Between that and the latency compensation that Logic has you should not have any troubles. Now regarding the old units processing power. If you are a plug-in nut and have a super high track count you may encounter problems with using an older computer. I use a UAD Quad with UAD Quad Satellite so that's 8 cores of 'off computer' processing for my plugs which leaves more power for my track count. Experimenting with an older iMac is very safe. You can salvage that old computer literally 'by the piece' and actually rack up a pocket of cash.
Thanks for this info. I think I might buy more ram then and just hold off a bit longer. I use the axe fx to record most of my guitar parts and some logic plug ins as well as guitar rig sometimes but mostly just the axe. As far as the interface goes I pretty much use only for recording acoustic guitars and vocals and my setup works great with just 8 gigs of ram. Updating to the newest logic had me a bit concerned as far a cpu latency issues etc. So in a nut shell if I buy a newer apogee duet 2 and some more ram I should be good to go!
 
My .02 was going to be buy the new interface now and update your current computer, see if everything still works great for you. If it does, then you're golden, if not then its time to upgrade. You need the new interface regardless of whether you get a new computer or not, so it makes sense to do that first. At that point you would just have to decide if its worth spending any money on the old computer to try and scrape by for a while longer, or just go ahead and invest in a new machine. My Mac at the rehearsal space isn't quite as old as yours, but its a 2012 Mac mini and its still doing a bang-up job no matter what I throw at it.

My big thing on Mac vs PC, I've had multiple Macs last me 5+ years and in every case I've only stopped using because I either broke them (beer + keyboard doesn't mix) or just upgraded because I had the cash and wanted newer nicer things. I don't really know of anyone with a PC machine that gets a similar life-span--anecdotal, and I know someone will chime in with a counterpoint, but that's my experience. That does NOT count the desktop tower crowd that can remove/repair/replace each and every component in the system and might go through multiple hardware upgrade cycles over the life of their machine. I'm talking about laptops or all-in-one desktops that are basically sealed units like an apple system is these days. Sure, I can't upgrade my MBP beyond what it was when I purchased it, but I also know that without having to put another dime into it, this computer will easily last me a decade or more. Seems expensive at first, but it seems like when people buy the alternatives they're spending 2-300$ on a PC notebook every 1-2 years. If my Mac cost 2500$ and lasts me 10 years, that's an equal per-year cost, YMMV.
 
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