apple or pc - which is better?

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ok, I realise that this is (a) kind of a ridiculous question (b) probably a matter of taste. but...

I am about to buy a computer and one of the main things I hope to do with it is make music. I am pretty much a total novice when it comes to computer music-making, however I am classically-trained, play in a band, dj etc so I know my way around notation, time-sigs etc etc... I would like to be able to compose on the computer and also make recordings using it.

My budget would cover a new intel-based i-mac (17") with a gig of ram or a pc laptop with maybe a slightly faster processor, smaller hard disk and the same amount of ram, plus a soundcard. I have a midi keyboard. I can get Re@son for either system.

I have asked a bunch of friends and everyone's answer seems to come down to personal taste at the end of the day. Is that all that matters here? (cos if so I would probably plump for a mac). Would appreciate your help/advice/comments… thanks

― fader, Monday, 6 March 2006 11:53 (twenty years ago)

Well, I plumped for the Mac, because it had a reputation of being better for music apps. I installed Reason in about ten minutes, plug and play for the MIDI controller. My friend with a PC tried to install Reason, and it took him several hours, mucking about in the sound settings and all this crap. So I feel quite smug about my decision.

But really, it sounds like your mind is made up. Go for the glowing apple. Join us! Join us! Join us!

― I'm Not Afraid Of Electricity (kate), Monday, 6 March 2006 12:00 (twenty years ago)

ONE OF US ONE OF US

(Seriously though, it is a matter of personal taste—I prefer working with Macs because things are more polished and stable on the whole, and though the PC world is rapidly catching up, there is more of a range of software available on the Mac)

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Monday, 6 March 2006 13:35 (twenty years ago)

classic flamewar material, this thread

― o -- (eman), Monday, 6 March 2006 14:15 (twenty years ago)

Yes, let the flame war begin!

― William Selman (William Selman), Monday, 6 March 2006 16:43 (twenty years ago)

You know, as many times as this question's been asked, it really seems to boil down to whether or not you know or want to know what you're doing with all kinds of configuration issues. Mac tends to work more easily out of the box, but it costs more. That's about the size of it really.

Me? I use both, but at the moment my studio runs on two PCs.

― martin m. (mushrush), Monday, 6 March 2006 17:43 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, exactly.

Mac = does what it does, reliably, and with no fussing around.

PC = does what it does plus maybe more, but this means you have to pop the hood a little and make it do the specific things you want.

Personally (personally!) I prefer working with a PC; this is because I do not have the tools of super-professional recording, and I appreciate the way that under-the-hood quality lets me tweak and work around various issues.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 6 March 2006 23:36 (twenty years ago)

Frankly, you're going to end up shouting and screaming at whichever computer you get. But probably screaming at the Mac slightly less.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 12:01 (twenty years ago)

Where is this flame war that you promised me? Everyone's being far too reasonable. Should I say something provocative? ;-)

― I'm Not Afraid Of Electricity (kate), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Macs just make music sound better. The CDs they burn don't need the green magic marker or to be kept in the freezer for a night!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 17:10 (twenty years ago)

I grew new hair!

My wife and kids came back!

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 17:16 (twenty years ago)

For the record, a few weeks ago I recorded an EP for Casuistry's band on an Athlon-powered PC. Had to reboot two or three times in a good 6 hour session, but my G4 does the same thing after it runs without stopping for a similar amount of time.

I guess the M1n0r Thirds think recording on a PC is lo-fi or somethin...

― martin m. (mushrush), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 19:34 (twenty years ago)

No, our other albums were recorded on PCs, except the first one, which was recorded on a hand-held tape recorder and then transfered to a Mac. "Which is better" for us comes down to "whichever the person willing to record us is using."

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 20:09 (twenty years ago)

I do want to set up a little MIDI set-up for my iBook. I was going to start a thread about it, but then I got lazy. Then I thought I'd just ask Martin. Then I figured I'd post it here. How much does is a reasonable amount to spend, what do I need to get, are there any issues I should be wary of, etc.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 20:10 (twenty years ago)

"Which is better" for us comes down to "whichever the person willing to record us is using."

Yeah, I know. I was just giving you a hard time after your facetious comment about Macs making music sound better.

What do you want to do with MIDI on your laptop? Hook up a keyboard and play synths in software? Or do you want to be able to playback through an external sound generator of some sort? You should be able to set something simple up relatively easy on the cheap, esp if you don't mind buying used on ebay.

― martin m. (mushrush), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 20:44 (twenty years ago)

Yes, both. Ideally for both live playing and for toying around with ridiculously cheezy arrangements etc.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 20:53 (twenty years ago)

I've been looking for the same thing, Chris, and can't stop thinking about getting this: http://www.ableton.com/index.php?main=news-archive&sub=ozone_audio

― gbx (skowly), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 21:15 (twenty years ago)

Well that is cute. Do I have to spend that much?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 21:32 (twenty years ago)

By "cute" I mean "poorly endowed in octaves".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 21:36 (twenty years ago)

If you already have a keyboard with MIDI outs (and ins), all you really need is a MIDI interface with an in and an out... something like this would work. (I have the 4-in, 4-out version of that product line, and it has worked like a champ for me for several years now.) Then the only other thing you'd need is some software that allows you to record and playback MIDI. There are hundreds of programs out there with that ability, and if you really don't need to record audio as well then you can probably find a cheap or free one that does what you need. If you wanted to experiment with software synths to give you more sounds than your keyboard's built in synth or sound module, then those could be additional expenses of course. But there are a lot of little freeware softsynths out there that run as standalone programs and would accept a MIDI input either from an interface like the one linked above (for live playing) or from an internal "virtual" MIDI input like the afforementioned program that records and plays back MIDI data.

― martin m. (mushrush), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 22:19 (twenty years ago)

I have no keyb right now. None that work, anyways.

I would want to record audio as well, of course. Vocals, etc.

I don't know how much that uhhhh GarageBand stuff does. I haven't really played with it.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 8 March 2006 04:50 (twenty years ago)

GarageBand is quite good, especially considering it's free... Talk to me about decent keyboards on the cheap... There are many...

I would want to record audio as well, of course. Vocals, etc.

Well you said you wanted a MIDI set up... Recording audio is a whole nother thing. ;) We shall talk.

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 8 March 2006 05:52 (twenty years ago)

I just meant as far as the program goes. Not the gear. If I want vocals recorded properly, I will get someone to record them. But for "scratch"/sketchbook type vocals, yes.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 8 March 2006 07:14 (twenty years ago)

I had that Ozone for a while and wound up disappointed -- something about the audio I/O just seemed off, though I couldn't in the least tell you how. It's even possible that I had something configured wrong. But a short return period made me take it back before I could really investigate, and I wound up spending only a tad more money on an Echo PC card I/O and a plain MIDI controller -- I use a four-track to do the pre-amp part of the I/O.

There are a million box I/O options -- for cheapness, the Line 6 Toneport one looks pretty great.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 8 March 2006 17:43 (twenty years ago)

I decided to go for the mac. Bought it on Saturday and have been playing with g-band almost constantly since. It's great! getting Live soon which shd be interesting...
Thanks for all the very helpful comments.

― fader, Monday, 13 March 2006 10:14 (twenty years ago)

Have to look into this properly but it seems like this could make the question moot - someone's devised a way of putting Windows XP on the new Intel-based macs...

― fader, Monday, 20 March 2006 10:02 (twenty years ago)

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