Windows Studio computer, Macbook Pro for the road

[iggs]

Hello Abletoners
i am posting this request for howto's/opinions/ideas/workflows as i cannot seem to find much information out there.
currently i use a PC to produce in the home studio and a Laptop for the road(curent capabilities of this machine only allow me to play recorded audio and is dedicated to nothing else but ableton). after 5 years this trusty compaq looks like its comming to its last days of existence which means i will need to get myself a new laptop. the Macbook pro looks the most attractive in my situation and i will be using it for more than just music. the home studio PC is here to stay and likely to stay for a long time as i dont really see myself ever purchasing a macpro tower.
so the questions i have are:

-are live files cross compatible between OS's. E.G if i pull a windows produced live set will it work on a MAC laptop? and vice versa if i create a live set on the road (will likely be a live production set mostly Wavs and live VST strings) can i plug this back into my studio environment

which brings me to
- is there any set management tool out there where i can sync my on-the-road environment to the production and the production to the on-the-road environment

- ive heard about how good macs are for music and i totally hate the iphone so what are the bad things about making music on a mac.

-also with a more powerfull macbook pro i will be able to play live VST instruments. is there a way to eliminate the need for the VST USB dongle? i currently have the korg legacy collection which requires this.

i am trying to gather as much info about macs before i dive into purchasing one.

[3phase]

Hello Abletoners
i am posting this request for howto's/opinions/ideas/workflows as i cannot seem to find much information out there.
currently i use a PC to produce in the home studio and a Laptop for the road(curent capabilities of this machine only allow me to play recorded audio and is dedicated to nothing else but ableton). after 5 years this trusty compaq looks like its comming to its last days of existence which means i will need to get myself a new laptop. the Macbook pro looks the most attractive in my situation and i will be using it for more than just music. the home studio PC is here to stay and likely to stay for a long time as i dont really see myself ever purchasing a macpro tower.
so the questions i have are:

-are live files cross compatible between OS's. E.G if i pull a windows produced live set will it work on a MAC laptop? and vice versa if i create a live set on the road (will likely be a live production set mostly Wavs and live VST strings) can i plug this back into my studio environment

which brings me to
- is there any set management tool out there where i can sync my on-the-road environment to the production and the production to the on-the-road environment

- ive heard about how good macs are for music and i totally hate the iphone so what are the bad things about making music on a mac.

-also with a more powerfull macbook pro i will be able to play live VST instruments. is there a way to eliminate the need for the VST USB dongle? i currently have the korg legacy collection which requires this.

i am trying to gather as much info about macs before i dive into purchasing one.

a windows live set should work on the mac..but involved 3rd party plug ins wont in case its pc omnly plugs..and ther are many...
Thats the bad thing on the mac..not as much free plugs.. but also not as much trouble with malware..

i am not aware of syncing tools but there might be.. you should establish an ethernet network betwen the two computers for file exchange...

my guess is that your pc will getting dust in a while so you shouldnt worry too much..except you have special dsp cards like uad´s in your pc.. in this case you should look out for an expansion chassis.. because you want to use that cards with your mac book...

the best thing to eliminate dongles is too use good hacks... as an licence owner of the software its not illigal to use a hack..you payed the software, you have the licence to use it.. what version you use is on you.. but better get registred in case you are not yet..

[iggs]

thanks for the prompt reply

i dont think i will be using too many effects plg ins in the laptop its mostly going to be my VST instruments as i am going to attmept playing live. most of the work will be imported as audio so this is not too much of a problem.

i am still curious if anoyone has tried/tested working with files across OS's.

as for the management tool im mentioning, i already use a local network and this is fine. the only problem is its very involved and there are time when i bring back my laptop and files are absolutely everywhere because ive thought of an idea quickly and it was best to put it in a certain place other than the default directory of the set file, meaning i do sometimes(not all the time) miss data.

also what are the "bads" when working with a mac? im a linux head(except for my windows parttion running only ableton) and i like to do things the way i like not the way someone imposes and i know mac does this in many ways.

[3phase]

thanks for the prompt reply

i dont think i will be using too many effects plg ins in the laptop its mostly going to be my VST instruments as i am going to attmept playing live. most of the work will be imported as audio so this is not too much of a problem.

i am still curious if anoyone has tried/tested working with files across OS's.

as for the management tool im mentioning, i already use a local network and this is fine. the only problem is its very involved and there are time when i bring back my laptop and files are absolutely everywhere because ive thought of an idea quickly and it was best to put it in a certain place other than the default directory of the set file, meaning i do sometimes(not all the time) miss data.

also what are the "bads" when working with a mac? im a linux head(except for my windows parttion running only ableton) and i like to do things the way i like not the way someone imposes and i know mac does this in many ways.

??? i am not awrare of any mac related drawbacks in comparison with a windows machine... actually windows became in many regrdas now as comfortable as macs were all the time.. long file names for example...

when you copy multiple files the mac wont interupt the proces on the first problem... it just kees on doing the tasks and shows you the problematic files later... ??? actually it only has advatages like better midi timing...
an actual pro book is fast enough to do any audio task you want.. with an usb hub the conection hazzle is minimal...

i guess your pc will become a backup computer soon.. but you will find out yourself.. in general its a bit azzel involved to run two different systems in parallel..

if you are a hard dieing windows user you might instll windows on the pro book.. they run nicely with windows..some claim the apple books are the better windows laptops...

[rikhyray]

There are no problems with Live pc/mac . I keep same partitions (D: Live-projects partition, E: samples) since 7 computers (I usually upgrade yearly) mac or pc no difference. I collect and save, except for the library items, sometimes for safety pack project. i work mostly on mac but sometimes use pc because of other software- Sony Vegas, Soundforge or Cubase, move the latest projects versions between computers, absolutely no issues. Since pc is kind of backup machine for audio I regularly update the Live and Samples partitions with Synctoy. Zero issues with Live but for example with NI Traktor pc&Mac combo is a disaster.

[The Landwhale]

For syncing your projects, you can try Dropbox.
http://www.dropbox.com

I've heard SugarSync is good too, but haven't used it personally.

I sync my live sets with Dropbox by always using "collect all and save" and keeping current projects saved in the dropbox, then once they're finished put them on an external to free up space in my dropbox.

Ive synced ableton projects between macs this way with no issues, as long as youre versions of live are the same and youre not dealing with 3rd party plug issues. You should be able to sync between pc and mac fine as long as you aren't dealing with missing or incompatible vsts or au's.

Dropbox for me is a must have now, beyond the syncing between comps it makes incremental backups of your set each time you save. For instance, I had a set I was working on that became corrupt and I could not open it at all after it crashed.
Normally this would mean a big pain in the ass troubleshooting and trying to get the live set to open again, or use time machine to try and restore, etc.

Now I just went into the web interface for dropbox and restored the live set to the saved revision right before the set became corrupt, wait a few minutes for dropbox to sync the set back to the old version, it opens up and all is fine.