Sound difference between Mac and PC?

[agent314]

So my job just got me a fancypants new Retina SSD 15" MacBook Pro for work (after having always been a PC user)

I've installed Live 8.3.4 on it and have it on my desktop PC at home

I put together a bunch of tracks on my PC and ported the project files over to the Mac so I could bring it over to my sister's house and have my family sing on it

It worked like a charm and was wonderful to use for recording etc. Got everything sounding great, using all native Live effects (since all my third party VSTs etc. were on the PC)

I brought the project files back onto my PC hard drive and was surprised to hear how much different (worse) the projects sounded on the PC setup than the MacBook.

Virtually identical setup except for the OS - same interface, same monitors, same room, same project files, same everything. Literally took the USB cable out of laptop and plugged it into the desktop. Only difference was the hardware buffer: 192 samples on PC vs 128 samples on the MacBook, for about 8ms difference of latency.

Everything just sounded "off" - couldn't tell if it was a timing thing or if there was something else going on, but could that really be? Could changing the hardware buffer have that noticeable an effect on the overall sound? Could this be a PDC issue?

I haven't tried exporting and phase-canceling yet - going to try that today after work. But there was a noticeable sonic difference between the two, and I'm wondering what could be affecting that

(Edit: changed 'sample rate' to 'hardware buffer')

[Tone Deft]

c'mon man, you know better than this...

[beats me]

You need to optimize your PC for audio. This should be considered a wonderful feature, not a confusing hassle.

[H20nly]

i blame Ableton. this is clearly an issue caused by the lack of concern for PDC and could be resolved with dual monitor support.

[agent314]

c'mon man, you know better than this...

Exactly why it's so weird and frustrating to me!

What's also interesting to me is how I've never had any issues when only working on my own PC and old laptop (also running Windows), and never had any problems with audio quality - only when working between the two OS's did any issues crop up

[infernal.machine]

i blame Ableton. this is clearly an issue caused by the lack of concern for PDC and could be resolved with dual monitor support and scroll wheel zoom.

Fix't.

[Tone Deft]

c'mon man, you know better than this...

Exactly why it's so weird and frustrating to me!

What's also interesting to me is how I've never had any issues when only working on my own PC and old laptop (also running Windows), and never had any problems with audio quality - only when working between the two OS's did any issues crop up

louder always sounds better.

maybe the gain staging between Live and your sound card is different between the two systems. check your assumptions, look over the obvious stuff.

[pierce200]

That's the one problem with rMBP.
The matte screens are extremely punchy.

[timothyallan]

That's the one problem with rMBP.
The matte screens are extremely punchy.

Too right. I was using the gloss for ages, then I went to a pro producers house who had the matte and I was all like DAAAAAYAAAAMMM!

[OzWozEre]

That's the one problem with rMBP.
The matte screens are extremely punchy.

Too right. I was using the gloss for ages, then I went to a pro producers house who had the matte and I was all like DAAAAAYAAAAMMM!

FWIW the matte screens have been the graphic designers preferences since forever...

[timothyallan]

I can see why, my sound is so much punchier with matte. I can only imagine how sharper their graphics turn out.

[H20nly]

I can see why, my sound is so much punchier with matte

if you think that's hot... just wait until you hear your sound come out of a high res digital audio .jpeg like BitWig.

[OzWozEre]

The audio engine of jpegs sucks, trust me I did an extensive test between jpegs, gifs and pngs.

The only choice for true sonic dynamic range is TIFF!

[H20nly]

^ well yeah, if you're a purist.

i hear mpeg is pretty hot too. apparently Bitwig Studio Mpeg Edition is turning heads.

[OzWozEre]

^ Bitwig is really pushing the sonic graphic boundaries, it's true I tell ya!

I hear the're Mpeg Plugin Crash Protection is a Godsend.