Here we go - home recording buffs, pc or Mac?

Clarky

a Mac with at least 8Gb of RAM so you can run in 64bit mode

digitalscream

mellowsun said:

Mac for me. I just like to be able to plug in and record without the operating system getting in the way. You know, the way Windows often interrupts what you are doing by saying that it is about to restart because it has downloaded important updates, etc.

So just set it to not automatically install updates. Then it'll just give a notification that there are updates to install which you can ignore if you fancy.

Heartfeltdawn

mellowsun said:

Mac for me. I just like to be able to plug in and record without the operating system getting in the way. You know, the way Windows often interrupts what you are doing by saying that it is about to restart because it has downloaded important updates, etc.

Point out where that happens on my two systems and I'll give you a prize

wave100

I think you have to look at it logically (if you'll pardon the pun)

If you need to use Logic, get a Mac.
If you are more comfortable with one of the operating systems, get the one you are most comfortable with!
If you need compatibility with other machines (eg at uni) get whichever is most compatible - I would guess that for music or art/design the uni will use Macs. Anything else, probably PC.
Macs are nice machines, but as others have pointed out, considerably more expensive than the equivalent PC.

I use a PC with Cubase (which I have been using since it was on the Atari) but if I was starting out today I'd probably go with a PC  and Reaper.
Good luck whatever you choose!

musicegbdf

Bit of a curved ball . If you intend to record live rather than lots of samples /loops etc. what about something like this http://www.reddogmusic.co.uk/catalog/product/341337/boss-br1200cd-b-stock?gclid=COj9haSe5b4CFcvItAodyRQA9Q

You don't get any of the "computer " issues of bad drivers , dodgy plug ins , etc. I use a Yamaha AW1600 (discontinued sadly) and love the fact it is hardware based. It also means all of the processing is concentrated on recording. I also have mine linked to my old PC and can import and export stuff to and from it .

Of course if you are looking to use lots of synth intruments , etc then won't be for you .

Just a thought

mudslide73

I'm so far down the PC road I can't even use Garage Band! I think if you're already MS savvy you can make a great PC based home setup. I'm using Reaper with a Tascam US1641 on a pretty modest i5 laptop with no issues. I've recorded 10+ channels simultaneously and mapped a Roland TD9 drumkit into Easydrummer/Addictive.

Apple's solution to most things is "buy a new one" which does tend to stop you running new s/w on old machines. This means you don't often get stuff running so slowly it crashes - not necessarily a bad thing.

Ché

I suggest...

Mac (Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook) > Apogee Duet > any DAW > Akai MPK.

Akai for drum pads makes programming drums way more fun and the keyboards for playing in bass/keyboard parts

Duet gives you not only high quality conversion but great mic preamps and good DI for clean guitar recording. You can also switch the outputs to feed an amplifier (essentially re-amping a DI'd guitar into your amp to re record it).

On top of that it runs off USB power and doesn't take up tons of room, the touch screen panel is pretty sweet as well.

Guitar Rig 5 is pretty sweet for amp and fx emulation and Kontakt sample packs will get you far. Most DAW's come with pretty decent virtual instruments also and I know Logic has it's own guitar amp software bundled with it.

At this stage its most important to get a simple set up that you will enjoy recording and making music with. Granted this set up may not be the cheapest but it will mean you won't need to upgrade for a very long time unless you need more ins and outs.

Just my 2 pence. 

Regards,

Shaun

On the Mac vs PC debate, Macs for artists, PC's for desk jobs.

Jez6345789

Hi Mac all the way. Even if your on a budget a Mac will save you loads of silly Windows related issues. Like hard drives being tied to the system if you try to upgrade them or add additional stuff. My friend had been through windows he'll of late on his recording machine after deciding to upgrade to windows 8 cubase and new hard drives the whole thing will lose you days of time screwing around and all ms want to do is sell you premium support before they will even help you. Also you need to isolate a windows machine off network do not have a virus check as that usually screws Daw software also all the background stuff windows tries to do. So get a mac if you can afford it if not keep on living in windows hell till the amount of time you have wasted makes you want a mac so much you just pay the extra and regret the time you have worked for free sorting out MS Windows

digitalscream

Jez6345789 said:

Hi Mac all the way. Even if your on a budget a Mac will save you loads of silly Windows related issues. Like hard drives being tied to the system if you try to upgrade them or add additional stuff. My friend had been through windows he'll of late on his recording machine after deciding to upgrade to windows 8 cubase and new hard drives the whole thing will lose you days of time screwing around and all ms want to do is sell you premium support before they will even help you. Also you need to isolate a windows machine off network do not have a virus check as that usually screws Daw software also all the background stuff windows tries to do. So get a mac if you can afford it if not keep on living in windows hell till the amount of time you have wasted makes you want a mac so much you just pay the extra and regret the time you have worked for free sorting out MS Windows

What an absolute load of rubbish. Hard drive upgrades are trivial (sorry, but your friend must've really done something stupid), and Microsoft have never once tried to sell me - or anybody I know - premium support because there's no need to get in touch with them (for context, I've been in the PC business for about 20 years). Plenty of people around who know what to do if you get stuck, and there's far more help a web search away for Windows.

Heartfeltdawn

Ché said:

On the Mac vs PC debate, Macs for artists, PC's for desk jobs.

Giggles. Lots of them. 

Heartfeltdawn

Jez6345789 said:

Hi Mac all the way. Even if your on a budget a Mac will save you loads of silly Windows related issues. Like hard drives being tied to the system if you try to upgrade them or add additional stuff. My friend had been through windows he'll of late on his recording machine after deciding to upgrade to windows 8 cubase and new hard drives the whole thing will lose you days of time screwing around and all ms want to do is sell you premium support before they will even help you. Also you need to isolate a windows machine off network do not have a virus check as that usually screws Daw software also all the background stuff windows tries to do. So get a mac if you can afford it if not keep on living in windows hell till the amount of time you have wasted makes you want a mac so much you just pay the extra and regret the time you have worked for free sorting out MS Windows

And another! Chuckle guffaw etc. 

Fretwired

For a home studio I'd go PC - lower cost, flexibility and ease of use. I can see why pro studios use Mac's and that's fine. My current music PC [tower configuration] has 24 gigs of RAM, 6 TBs of storage including a bootable solid state drive for the OS, i7 processor and reverted to Windows 7 rather than Windows 8. Removed all the OS junk and I use a tool called System Mechanic to keep everything working as it should. The whole lot was cheaper than a comparable Mac.

I'm just a guy in my bedroom having some fun not a pro at Abbey Road studios.

Jalapeno

Jez6345789 said:

Hi Mac all the way. Even if your on a budget a Mac will save you loads of silly Windows related issues. Like hard drives being tied to the system if you try to upgrade them or add additional stuff

Utter cobblers - it's Apple who dictate disk drive models !

Karlos

If Apple had a 'Bible' there would only be one page in it and it would have one 'Commandment' in it - 'Make it Proprietory'

Danny1969

You can put a new blank drive in a Mac and load the OSX from the net if you want, you don't even need the DVD

Windows 8 has problems on some machines where the boot order is locked in the BIOS and the COA is intergrated into the BIOS. None of this is insurmountable but it can be a pain. Also if your drive fails and you didin't get a Win 8 DVD with your machine you might be fecked as the restore partition is on the harddrive but you can download a Win 8  image to a penkey and boot from that 

Mac or PC is down to what software .... in all honesty your always better off with Mac as it can run Logic and PT and Logic are the main players in music production. Much as I like Reaper I've never had any sessions come in from anything other than Protools or Logic

Karlos

Danny1969 said:

You can put a new blank drive in a Mac and load the OSX from the net if you want, you don't even need the DVD

Not with the retinas. They employ blade flash storage modules and the only company that make aftermarket blades is OWC and they are stupidly expensive.

Also and crucially, changing the proprietary storage is no longer a 'User replaceable part' and is no longer covered by AppleCare. 

Changing the HDD on non-retina Macs is a piece of piss and as you say 'Internet Recovery' makes it even easier (they stopped including installation DVD's during the days of Leopard around 6 years ago IIRC)

stonevibe

guitarmangler said:

A mac mini? Not too expensive , and logic is reasonably priced, too ( cheaper if you can buy it when your a student)
Also, budget for a good sound card/interface.
Have you thought about both in one handy device?
Cough, hackingtosh, cough..

Lets just say I work for a 'fruity computer company'.

One of the biggest record producers I know (produced Foo Fighters, Pixies etc) uses a Mac Mini to mix with and loves it. Me I've been Mac for over 25 years now, so I'm biased.

Plus if you are going to Uni Apple will give you a nice big discount with your NUS card.

Karlos

+1 for the Mac Mini.

Mine served me well with Logic, Ableton, Maschine, Kontakt instruments, Guitar Rig - list goes on. You don't need a fancy Apple screen, I bought 2 cheapish 24" screens from Scan.co.uk - bang on.

Get an NUS Extra account if your are a student and you don't need to be on a Uni machine to purchase.

You even get NUS discount if you are university staff. 

MattG

I run Logic pro 9 and use it for mixing my uni projects and for coding and i have had no issues with my Mac Book pro plus its easy to move about and is fast for everything else!

xmrchi

If this was 10 years ago it would be Mac, but these days both are just as good as each other, for my day to day stuff I use a new mac book air, which is amazing but for music and gaming I use my i5 pc, I have used Cubase on pc's it since Cubase 3.1 and have never seen the need to go to a mac for music, the real question should really be what sound card should you go for as any pc with 4gig plus and a decent quad core will run all virtual instruments, daws, numerous audio ins and midi faultlessly... My music is proof of that, but with pc's configuring any daw to your hardware will always help, and ensure you get the most potential out of it.