Mac vs pc for music production

[idssdi]

I just watched this Andrew Hung video on Mac vs pc and android vs ios for music production applications and I figured I could open this can of worms here as well. Especially because he says some very interesting things I didn't think or know about


Note: I've only ever owned a mac so can't exactly say I can make a comparison myself

 

[Kate Swan]

I don't know...I use Windows and can't complain, too maybe if I will ever have enough money to buy Apple, I will be able to give better review

 

[Rad Synner]

I will actually slightly be talking about this in my workshop but he is 100% right.

However, there is a matter of perspective. Because the argument of Mac vs PC has to be taken to multiple level.

Professional wise, yes Macs are an industry standard and have been for a long time. They are incredibly stable because Apple designed it to be so. And quite reliable. But that accounts for such a minimum amount of people.

In my experience, the landscape has changed and will probably change even more down the road. For anyone who just wants to get started or even if they want to build a home studio, the argument of Mac vs PC is completely irrelevant because as long as your computer has the specs to make the DAWs and Plug-ins work, then you will be fine. It will be a matter of preference. Yes there are discussion about sample rate, processing power, latency, etc.... and while those conversations are true and are relevant to the professional world, the average music producer will probably not see the differences except that one has bigger numbers than the other which doesn't serve them much if they dont understand what it means.

In conclusion, go with what you can afford. The most important is to get you started on producing music. You will adjust yourself as time goes by and you gain experience. Waiting months to save up to buy that one piece of gear that that one youtuber recommended you to buy just because it has x amounts of whatnot and giggles wont serve you.

The computers are only tools. You have to be the brain and use them to serve you.

 

[idssdi]

I will actually slightly be talking about this in my workshop but he is 100% right.

However, there is a matter of perspective. Because the argument of Mac vs PC has to be taken to multiple level.

Professional wise, yes Macs are an industry standard and have been for a long time. They are incredibly stable because Apple designed it to be so. And quite reliable. But that accounts for such a minimum amount of people.

In my experience, the landscape has changed and will probably change even more down the road. For anyone who just wants to get started or even if they want to build a home studio, the argument of Mac vs PC is completely irrelevant because as long as your computer has the specs to make the DAWs and Plug-ins work, then you will be fine. It will be a matter of preference. Yes there are discussion about sample rate, processing power, latency, etc.... and while those conversations are true and are relevant to the professional world, the average music producer will probably not see the differences except that one has bigger numbers than the other which doesn't serve them much if they dont understand what it means.

In conclusion, go with what you can afford. The most important is to get you started on producing music. You will adjust yourself as time goes by and you gain experience. Waiting months to save up to buy that one piece of gear that that one youtuber recommended you to buy just because it has x amounts of whatnot and giggles wont serve you.

The computers are only tools. You have to be the brain and use them to serve you.

Well, in spirit I'm an apple whole and barely know how to operate windows pcs so I did actually find some of the stuff very interesting. Especially on the phone department and how it works for apps and such.

But you make a good point, it's probably best to get a computer that you are comfortable using when you want the best results

 

[Calvin Phillips]

It's no shock if Mac builds a better audio system. That's been their thing for years.. media play.

 

[Manvir B]

*Rick Beato has entered the chat* Throws mac across the room

 

[Ed Seith]

He's not entirely wrong about the Mac/PC discussion, but he doesn't necessarily get all the "why" correct. As far as performance, whether it be in audio production or anything else, I'll take a PC every time. Every time.

The stability thing. I can explain the reasons. He touches on part of it - Apple is a closed system. They make the hardware, they make the OS - where with Windows, a lot of companies make the hardware. That is not a reason, in and of itself.

See, Apple only has to design and test it's operating systems, software and patches to run on MAYBE 100-200 hardware variants - different components in different machines. Since they're only made by Apple and they only release a handful of different products a year, that's all they need to test it on.

Windows can run on literally BILLIONS of different hardware configurations, from the closely developed and tested major-brand premium laptops, down to the bare-metal case a mad scientist cobbles together at home from parts lying around. Seriously. I can't tell you how many times I have personally done that. That's the real marvel of Windows - it's flexibility. You can run Windows on fucking ANYTHING. But you do give up some stability for that.

The other flexibility you give up for stability is in the OS itself - on an Apple product, if you try to do something it wasn't explicitly designed to do, just to see if it would work, it won't. The OS won't let you try it. Windows, on the other hand,

PC: "Yo, dawg, that shit's crazy. You sure you want to do that?"
ME: "Yup"
PC: "Aww, fuck yeah, bro, we gonna see some shit here. Hold TIGHT!"

It is no surprise to me that in by-the-hour production studios or live settings, the Macbooks are almost exclusive. But at home, where people use their computer for EVERYTHING (including gaming, which Macs don't do), I think Windows wins out. The bits he talked about with updates have become history in the last five years, and viruses have spread to being more browser-based than PC based in a lot of ways.

The worst virus cleanup I have EVER done in my life (and that's with several decades as a professional IT technician and manager) was the browser hijacker my wife got on her Macbook Air a couple years ago. That fucker made me want to kill people.

In the end, what Radu said is 100% correct - go with what you can afford and get going. I started recording on a 4-track cassette recorder. I was chatting on IG the other day about that with Keith Douglas (guitar player from 80s hair band "Tora Tora" and actually a bigger influence on my playing that I usually mention because no one's ever heard of him) and he started out with two tape recorders and using his hands on a leather chair for drums.

RECORD WITH THE TOOLS YOU HAVE.

 

[idssdi]

*Rick Beato has entered the chat* Throws mac across the room

Im fairly sure he still uses mac, he just doesn't like the newer versions

 

[Rad Synner]

He's not entirely wrong about the Mac/PC discussion, but he doesn't necessarily get all the "why" correct. As far as performance, whether it be in audio production or anything else, I'll take a PC every time. Every time.

The stability thing. I can explain the reasons. He touches on part of it - Apple is a closed system. They make the hardware, they make the OS - where with Windows, a lot of companies make the hardware. That is not a reason, in and of itself.

See, Apple only has to design and test it's operating systems, software and patches to run on MAYBE 100-200 hardware variants - different components in different machines. Since they're only made by Apple and they only release a handful of different products a year, that's all they need to test it on.

Windows can run on literally BILLIONS of different hardware configurations, from the closely developed and tested major-brand premium laptops, down to the bare-metal case a mad scientist cobbles together at home from parts lying around. Seriously. I can't tell you how many times I have personally done that. That's the real marvel of Windows - it's flexibility. You can run Windows on fucking ANYTHING. But you do give up some stability for that.

The other flexibility you give up for stability is in the OS itself - on an Apple product, if you try to do something it wasn't explicitly designed to do, just to see if it would work, it won't. The OS won't let you try it. Windows, on the other hand,

PC: "Yo, dawg, that shit's crazy. You sure you want to do that?"
ME: "Yup"
PC: "Aww, fuck yeah, bro, we gonna see some shit here. Hold TIGHT!"

It is no surprise to me that in by-the-hour production studios or live settings, the Macbooks are almost exclusive. But at home, where people use their computer for EVERYTHING (including gaming, which Macs don't do), I think Windows wins out. The bits he talked about with updates have become history in the last five years, and viruses have spread to being more browser-based than PC based in a lot of ways.

The worst virus cleanup I have EVER done in my life (and that's with several decades as a professional IT technician and manager) was the browser hijacker my wife got on her Macbook Air a couple years ago. That fucker made me want to kill people.

In the end, what Radu said is 100% correct - go with what you can afford and get going. I started recording on a 4-track cassette recorder. I was chatting on IG the other day about that with Keith Douglas (guitar player from 80s hair band "Tora Tora" and actually a bigger influence on my playing that I usually mention because no one's ever heard of him) and he started out with two tape recorders and using his hands on a leather chair for drums.

RECORD WITH THE TOOLS YOU HAVE.

Really spot on explanation about the inner working of Mac and PCs. Loved this!

 

[Rad Synner]

Well, in spirit I'm an apple whole and barely know how to operate windows pcs so I did actually find some of the stuff very interesting. Especially on the phone department and how it works for apps and such.

But you make a good point, it's probably best to get a computer that you are comfortable using when you want the best results

Yeah im with Apple as well but mostly because I work with Logic a lot (its exclusive to them).

The argument about iOS and Android is fine to have but except to lay down ideas or to just have fun, I'm not actually getting out of my way to get the best phone for music production. That's not the best investment. I'd rather buy a solid PC for the price of an iPhone that could allow me to do more music prod than an iphone itself you know?

But oh well.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

He's not entirely wrong about the Mac/PC discussion, but he doesn't necessarily get all the "why" correct. As far as performance, whether it be in audio production or anything else, I'll take a PC every time. Every time.

The stability thing. I can explain the reasons. He touches on part of it - Apple is a closed system. They make the hardware, they make the OS - where with Windows, a lot of companies make the hardware. That is not a reason, in and of itself.

See, Apple only has to design and test it's operating systems, software and patches to run on MAYBE 100-200 hardware variants - different components in different machines. Since they're only made by Apple and they only release a handful of different products a year, that's all they need to test it on.

Windows can run on literally BILLIONS of different hardware configurations, from the closely developed and tested major-brand premium laptops, down to the bare-metal case a mad scientist cobbles together at home from parts lying around. Seriously. I can't tell you how many times I have personally done that. That's the real marvel of Windows - it's flexibility. You can run Windows on fucking ANYTHING. But you do give up some stability for that.

The other flexibility you give up for stability is in the OS itself - on an Apple product, if you try to do something it wasn't explicitly designed to do, just to see if it would work, it won't. The OS won't let you try it. Windows, on the other hand,

PC: "Yo, dawg, that shit's crazy. You sure you want to do that?"
ME: "Yup"
PC: "Aww, fuck yeah, bro, we gonna see some shit here. Hold TIGHT!"

It is no surprise to me that in by-the-hour production studios or live settings, the Macbooks are almost exclusive. But at home, where people use their computer for EVERYTHING (including gaming, which Macs don't do), I think Windows wins out. The bits he talked about with updates have become history in the last five years, and viruses have spread to being more browser-based than PC based in a lot of ways.

The worst virus cleanup I have EVER done in my life (and that's with several decades as a professional IT technician and manager) was the browser hijacker my wife got on her Macbook Air a couple years ago. That fucker made me want to kill people.

In the end, what Radu said is 100% correct - go with what you can afford and get going. I started recording on a 4-track cassette recorder. I was chatting on IG the other day about that with Keith Douglas (guitar player from 80s hair band "Tora Tora" and actually a bigger influence on my playing that I usually mention because no one's ever heard of him) and he started out with two tape recorders and using his hands on a leather chair for drums.

RECORD WITH THE TOOLS YOU HAVE.

100% agree with everything you said. I'd pick a pc everytime I've never even bought a laptop before.

I don't think it's worth searching for a Mac to reach perfection. You can easily get close enough with everything you got yourself. Especially in today's age you'll.get closer then any studio did 20 years ago. So if you even get it to that stage you're already good enough in my.books. the mastering and perfecting comes with time and experience.