Ableton Forum

I was having a casual discussion with someone at school about computers and unrelated to music but I had mentioned to this person that I use my PC for music production. Their response was that I should switch to Mac, but could not really offer a reason why. I don't plan on buying a Mac, and I really prefer to use PC because that is what I am used to but I am wondering what the advantages to using a Mac over PC for music production and particularly with Ableton Live. I don't really know too much about Macs besides the fact that they are expensive, but people tend to think they are superior to PC. Is it really just a matter of personal preference? In my personal opinion, I think that people favor Macs because they are just aesthetically pleasing to look at. Am I just totally wrong?

IMHO: The real question is not PC -v- Mac, but Windows -v- Unix and the latter (of which Macs are based) is better - one of the best laptops I have runs Ubuntu but I digress.... Back to music production: PC's are undoubtedly cheaper and there is more 'free' stuff, and well before you get serious with music production don't lay out a lot of dosh!

Best advice is a) what you are more comfortable with b) what suits your budget and c) doesn't (yet) offend your ears.

Get a PC and stick an Apple sticker on it

Boomshanka,
Mark

NB Samsung Galaxy S2 beats iPhone [fx: Mark ducks under table]

Indeed macs are more expensive. But ever since I switched 6 years ago I just had far less hassle maintaining the OS. For me, it's proven far more stable than any non mac I've used. Probably because all parts are tuned and choosen for each other by Apple. Doesn't mean nothing breaks, I had my Macbook Pro fixed due to a faulty optical drive, the battery has died twice and I manually replaced both fans recently. No hardware is perfect. But it just works for me. It's not about the hardware though, like someone else said it's all about the OS. Personally I think it's superior to Windows (I haven't used Vista or Win7 though since I switched). Yes, you're also paying extra for design and a name but it will last you longer and give you more in return. To each his own, I would invest in a mac.

Edit: Don't build a Hackintosh, you'll never get the same experience. I don't have experience with it but apparently Win 7 is pretty good.

someone finally got internet access for the first time...

These days you can pay for a PC laptop with nearly the same parts as a MBP and run OSX for easily half the price for the same specs/performance if not better.

I DJ as well as produce, and promote electronic shows and the amount of MBPs I see is insane..

I personally will never be able to justify the price as I've built PCs since I was 10 and know the value of the hardware over looks.. but have had at least 25 people try to talk me into buying a mac when I was in the market for a new laptop.. "best decision I ever made" etc.. Now mind you most of these people haven't been using computers as long as me nor have the background but it's almost comical the mentality of some of these people.. Very similar to the OP.. most can't really say why, other than they really like it, and it works well.

Back in the days when MAC cpus weren't Intel based the processors used to handle applications like Photoshop much better than their PC counterparts. These days I don't feel it matters much since the hardware is essentially the same on both platforms, and basically comes down to drivers and user experience - and maybe Apple's fancy screens.

drumboy02 wrote:could not really offer a reason why

That's unusual. Mac owners are mainly very verbose about why (they think) Macs are better than PCs.

Often the first thing they say is "Macs can't/don't get viruses", which isn't true. Any computer can get infected, even embedded systems.

Under the hood they're both computers, they can both go wrong, they can both last for years without issue. It comes down to how you use it.

the number 1 reason IMO is that Macs handle audio and MIDI better. I have spent a lot of miserable hours of my time over the years messing with drivers on PCs.

H20nly wrote:

Is that from Dick Cheney?

I spent a little over $2200 on a macbook pro in early 2007... I loved it, but.. In the first year of owning it, the screen blacked out, and the computer went in for warrenty repair. -- The whole time owning it, I felt, "well the operating system rules, but the computer feels like a cheap piece of crap made in china.. with all the other crap."

Truth is.. Mac, Toshiba, HP, Dell, Compaq, and whatever else, are all put together by the same suicidal foxconn employees.

Peeples... I'm not a mac hater. I own an iphone, and even though I've since sold my macbook pro, I still miss it sometimes. Cause Mac Osx rules. It just does. Great operating system...

However.. Guess what I just bought today? A quad core, amd, hewlett packard... 64 bit, micro windows home premium. 6 gigs ram, and 1 terabyte 7200 rpm disk. Samsung 21.4 inch monitor... which is just amazing

I've already installed Renoise, and Reaper, and Rapture... They look great. My huge, huge, huge Renoise Project, is using 20% cpu... For all this, I paid just slightly more than $600... R u kidding me? Hell yeah, Costco! Great to be member.

Now ofcourse, all my software is licensed.. which means, its nice and stable. Love to support the devs.

This economy, has been really hard on me since 2007. And last year, I started a non music related buisiness. And I'm so happy, to have this new machine, even though its not 8 cores, or its not 32 gigs of ram, or its not Mac.. Whatever.

Pro musicians use mac? Justin Beiber is a pro musician.. So is lady gaga...

I'll be working on my music tonight in 64 bits.. quad core, hewlett packard! don't forget my soundcloud link.. and check back in a week, cause like I said.. I had sold my macbook pro in 2010 or thereabouts, so all the stuff on my soundcloud was done with a machine, so pathetic, I wont even mention its name... cough acer atom laptop.. had a nice afternoon, uninstalling my software from that piece of.....

Moral of the story? If I had the $2200 for a macbook pro again. I think I'd spend $600 on a pc, and sooner buy a $1500 vocal mic.

no, but this one could be:

or this one:

I have a great one from a fortune cookie I stuck on my mini-disc player (which I still use to go from soundcard>amp with VU meter) - it says "Your talents will be recognised an suitably rewarded."

Didn't give me a time frame though so I just have to take it to mean "sometime before you die"

102455 wrote: Often the first thing they say is "Macs can't/don't get viruses", which isn't true. Any computer can get infected, even embedded systems.

Let’s be intellectually honest here. There has only ever been a handful of viruses for OSX, while there are literally thousands for Windows at any given moment. VIruses are not a concern for people who use OS X.

FWIW I use both. Mac for music though.