PC vs Mac, just my take on it

E

Evz

Inspired
Hey Guys, I usually don't post rants, but this time good ol' Windows finally got to me. I'm not trying to advertise for either company's software, but I will recant my experience and you guys can take away what you like.

I have both a custom built pc with an asus MOBO (mid to high range) and a MBP from 1.5 years ago. Both have SSD and >8 gb ram so installing anything is super fast, and the OS is really fast.

Since I've started doing musical things and recording or at best trying to lay down a beat in adobe audition (when I was in high school) or fruity loops, XP has never cooperated with me and I have always had latency issues and issues with audio drivers, especially that ASIO driver. This drove me crazy! I had a simple 4 bar 4 sample beat running on XP through fruity and after one loop, I got pops and cracks on regular drivers! When I switched to ASIO, it got better, but then windows was highly uncooperative with the driver when playing windows sounds! I felt like no matter what driver I used or what assignment of driver router (through the 3-4 different locations for NATIVE windows audio card routing) that the system could not play anything audio processing related properly. I even had an instance in W7 with the ASIO driver that anything in Reason worked fine through optical output to my sound system, UNTIL a windows sound popped up and crashed the computer because Windows decided to re-route the driver from ASIO to native and downsample to native sample rate, causing both Reason and Windows to crash (I used a special sound card to get optical output).

This lead me to finally buy a MBP after all those annoyances, hoping I would never have to worry about driver assignments. Of course there was a learning curve to the mac, as I had never used on before and took a plunge, but after 1.5 years, I've never had an audio issue! The worst thing that has happened to me was no sound output because I did not chose the correct output in the system preferences (I was running output to laptop speakers, not my interface, a MOTU 6x6). I had also used the MBP without issue with apogee equipment, but that was meant for Mac stuff.

this brings me to today, I decided to hook up my PC to the MOTU with usb, and MOTU (as always) outputs to my Tannoy monitors. After installing the motu drivers and spending 5 minutes assigning the correct output to the MOTU from the pc, I tried the sound test, and everything seemed to work, success no? NO! why? NO CLUE! and I will not even bother checking! Why am I so angry with Windows (7) ? because even though sound test worked fine, I popped open youtube, and what did I get? loud pops and clicks through the speakers, and random ones too! I thought that after about 2 years of ditching the platform for any sound system (outside of headphones) there may be improved driver cohesion, but no! And it amazes me the complexity I have with the issue!

Of course, I understand there are many those who have systems running perfectly on their PC's with audio interfaces, but I feel like for me, anytime I try, I'm beating a dead horse. So I will remain using a Mac for all my audio requirements because I believe their method of integrating audio into the system is done properly with seamless interface integration in mind.

To conclude, I like Mac for audio because it works, and I like PC for productivity because its easier to use. I use my PC and mac extensively and cannot say I will ditch either platform as I find some PC specific apps (cough word cough) are just a poop on the mac, and some programs like Solidworks and MAtlab just work better on PC. But as Audio is my hobby, and looking like a hipster is a side-effect I can live with, I will continue using my Mac for all music related activities.

The End.

PS: sorry If I wasted your time while you read this.
 
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I started on a PC and Digidesigns 001 back in the day. So far back, that Waves plugins were Mac only so I switched to Mac. They (Macs) really are so simple. I mean my bud bought a printer the same time I did a few years back. He was on PC. And he had a time getting drivers and this and that to work. I just plugged the printer in and started printing.
But they each have their pros and cons. I'm in the process now of getting a PC strictly for gaming. I say whatever works for you because some guys are crazy good on PC and some are on Mac :)
 
I think there are a lot of frustrated Windows users out there, like me, who would switch to Macs but are concerned about the learning curve. Someone should write a book specifically geared toward musicians wanting to make the switch. I know that Macs are way more stable, but when something DOES go wrong, I wouldn't know where to start.
 
Just before I went to college I bought a MBP as I needed a portable device for note taking and such. The main reason I choose an Apple product over windows was also for the better audio-support. Now 4,5 years later the Macbook still works like a charm and it even outlasts new Windows Laptops battery wise. It's always funny when I see people with long extension chords during lectures to power their laptop, whilst I can take notes on multiple classes with one charge.

After buying the laptop I started to realize that OSX worked just that much smoother than Windows for me. My workflow changed and about two years ago I sold my gaming PC and bought an iMac. Before the Axe-FX I used a POD X3 for recording and with my Windows PC I often got bluescreens while using it, which was very frustrating when I was tracking some stuff. Apple proofed to be far more stable than my previous setup.

Past summer I finally gave in to the urge to buy an iPad, which again turned out to be a very good investment. I use it a lot for note taking in classes, reading research papers, reading book and comics, surfing, ... The last missing piece was an Apple phone and last month I got rid of my Android phone and iPod. Now it's just amazing how the whole Apple ecosytem comes together and everything syncs.

If I'd still be into gaming and could still see the reason to own a Windows Dekstop. But to be honest bootcamp has proven to be really good and if I want to game, I just reboot!
 
I use both Windows and OSX. In fact it is getting close to the time for me to upgrade computers - I do it every 5 or 6 years. Still using an old 13" Macbook and a Core2Duo PC. Thinking of upgrading the PC with a new motherboard, i5 or i7 CPU and new/fast RAM. And once the new Macbook Pros are released I will retire my trusty old 13" Macbook.

No computer wars for me. They are tools, and sometimes the right tool is a PC, and other times it is a Mac, but more often it simply does not matter which one is used.
 
I came from a PC/Windows based background. For music and everything related, I have been using Mac desktop and MacbookPro for the last 4+ years. Sure, there are still some quirky things I run into now and then, but for the most part, everything runs smoother with less complication than it did in the Windows realm. That said, I also do my due diligence before purchasing anything as a new peripheral or the like - I just make sure (Google is my friend) that there've been no serious issues with the coupling of whatever it is I buy and my current set-up, and once verified, I dive in.

I like Mac better. For everything. It's way more intuitive, smoother, easier, and smarter. IMHO, YMMV.
 
My pc, quick books and gaming,My mac, music .Also after buying my pro book 2 years ago, 6 months later,it wasn't obsolete,I've had no problem with drivers,programs ,nothing.It just does what I want and the track pad is way better than a mouse.
 
guitarjim said:
I think there are a lot of frustrated Windows users out there, like me, who would switch to Macs but are concerned about the learning curve. Someone should write a book specifically geared toward musicians wanting to make the switch. I know that Macs are way more stable, but when something DOES go wrong, I wouldn't know where to start.
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There's no more to learn on a Mac than there is on a PC really .... in fact I'd say the Mac is easier, but then I've been a Mac user since way back when they were white and adding 8 meg of ram was a serious financial decision. :)

Once your DAW is open, it's GUI takes over just like it does on a PC.

I wouldn't say you've anything to fear if you get a Mac ..... well actually, they are a tad overpriced so maybe your bank balance would have more to fear.

The only thing I have resevations about are the way they strive to make everything wafer thin .... it means the I/Os, graphics and sound are all being built into the motherboard .... which is not fun when one of these fail and the beardy Apple bloke behind the 'Genius' counter tells you that you need to replace the whole board .....
 
well, now I can shamelessly admit that the PC I have was built for gaming :)

I don't think the learning curve for Musicians going from PC to mac is too bad, but that said its not like I havent run into various quirks as well when I probably ran something stupidly and froze the program... still don't know the mac key shortcut to kill an app, have to google it every time :p but for me learning how the OSx operates is more on as-a-problem-arises basis. With PC due to the length of time I've been on PC, I have no issue troubleshooting when something goes wrong, on a mac I definitely still need to google any major issue, but thankfully, there have never been major issues. Probably a good time to say that I am backup crazy, and my mac run time-machine every time it's plugged in at home, and my PC does full backup once every week... all done on a Raid 5 Nas system at home ;)

For me personally, I like the OSX/iOS platforms for their completeness, I wouldn't want to use em for MSFT based stuff like Office, because it's been horribly ported over, but I have no choice due to the need to collaborate with windows users. Like the rest of you guys I see we share the same opinions and views, and yes they are both tools to get something done, but they are tools that may be gear towards different end users.

out of curiosity, did anyone else experience the pains of the audio drivers on PC, or is my soul cursed with non cooperative PC audio drivers?
 
I use my PC for audio, (Win7/8 ) and have contemplated many times to buy a Mac. The one thing that always seems to hold me up are the cost of the upgrades if you want them... on top of the overpricing of the Mac. I build my own PC's and love the fact that if I want to upgrade I have much more selection/quality of what I want to upgrade to... and in the end, it don't cost near as much, (IMO). I haven't had any issues with latency/crashing but a few quirks with loading some drivers which I don't think is worth getting all knotted up about. The only challenge ahead of me to this point is streamlining Win8 for audio since Windows as a whole was never set up optimally for audio and the app side to this OS is a pig on the CPU.:D

(edit: footnote)- Thanks guys!... now I'm feeling the Mac allure once again and now I'm, "jonezing"... again. :D ... which now begs some advice... IMac, Pro or Macbook Pro ... augh!... (sigh)
 
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I was a long time Windows user but was never really happy with how Pro Tools ran on a PC (among other annoyances). I decided to take the plunge and get a Mac (a pretty powerful Mac Pro which I got in 2008 and still use). For me, it was a great decision and I don't see myself ever using Windows as a primary machine again.

There's really not too much of a learning curve - any computer savvy person should feel very comfortable within a week. Strangely, I struggled a little at first with how much easier things were. Want to burn a CD? Put a blank one in the drive, and drag your files onto the icon. Want to remove a program? Drag it into the trash can. New printer? Just plug it in, it will work. Wait a minute, it can't be that easy... shouldn't it take 7 steps like on Windows?

I'm not advocating that everyone should get a Mac, but for me there's no comparison. Sure they're more expensive, but when you factor in how much time you'll save, how long you'll keep the machine, and how cheap upgrading the OS is and so on, for me it's a non-issue. Yeah, a Pod Pro is cheaper than an Axe-Fx, and a lot of people use them - but don't try to convince me it's as good.
 
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I have so many problems with Windows. It's nothing personal, just that with every Windows PC I've owned, I usually have to re-install Windows fresh once or twice a year. The one I'm using right now is giving me a bunch of problems, but I haven't gotten around to wiping it yet.

On the other hand, my Macbook has been going strong for 6 years without a single issue. No antivirus software. No viruses. I have a little clean-up software I run if it gets slow. That's it. It works great.

maxdown said:
The only thing I have resevations about are the way they strive to make everything wafer thin .... it means the I/Os, graphics and sound are all being built into the motherboard .... which is not fun when one of these fail and the beardy Apple bloke behind the 'Genius' counter tells you that you need to replace the whole board .....
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Best of both worlds: Hackintosh. They've got so many tutorials now, and the list of tested compatible parts is pretty long.
 
I'm a long time PC user and bought a imac last year for the sole purpose of running Logic, with a view to maybe moving over to Apple computers if the hype turned out to be true...

I can honestly say it was one of the worst purchases I have ever made - I absolutely loathe the thing! (and god knows it was expensive enough I have tried very hard to like it)

I love my ipad & iphone so I'm certainly not anti-apple, just can't get on with the imac..
 
zack said:
I'm a long time PC user and bought a imac last year for the sole purpose of running Logic, with a view to maybe moving over to Apple computers if the hype turned out to be true...

I can honestly say it was one of the worst purchases I have ever made - I absolutely loathe the thing! (and god knows it was expensive enough I have tried very hard to like it)

I love my ipad & iphone so I'm certainly not anti-apple, just can't get on with the imac..
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You're just trying to use it like it's Windows. It isn't Windows. It has its own way of doing things. Stop trying to turn it into Windows and embrace it for what it is.
 
for music the Mac is just the better platform. Not because its more powerful(it's not) but because its been the platform for music from the early days and most music software is written for it. Some music software for the pc seems rushed if not just a mac port and never seems to work right. Anyway, save your pc for gaming and other things where it shines.
 
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