Ableton Forum

Hey peps. Iv been running ableton 6 at home now on my pc and am looking into getting a laptop to run ableton on for doing gigs and further producing. Im thinking a windows laptop at the moment for the sake of having to op systems the same for easy file transfer ect. However Iv noticed alot of people are using Macs when doing gigs, (because of their reliabiltiy i guess). Not wanting to spend a lot of money just something reliable to get me by. (maby 1500-2000NZD) The laptop would be only purely for ableton.

The big question. Go Windows or OS??
And can any one recommend any places to pick up a resonable laptop ?

If you buy a macbook or macbook pro you can run Windows as well as OSX!

But Live files (.asd's) are compatible cross-platform anyway. The only thing to condiser is if you have a lot of PC-only 3rd party plugins which might keep you in Windows world.

Nothing to lose by having the best of both worlds....

Pitch Black wrote:If you buy a macbook or macbook pro you can run Windows as well as OSX!

But Live files (.asd's) are compatible cross-platform anyway. The only thing to condiser is if you have a lot of PC-only 3rd party plugins which might keep you in Windows world.

Nothing to lose by having the best of both worlds....

So do these Mac book pros run windows reliably ? or just enough to get by on ?
like could you do a gig on them. comfortably ?

I think Mac will be more suitable for your purpose...

Personally I would get a PC (or a Macbook running XP - but make sure there are drivers for any external gear) if you are running a PC at home. If you are only using Lives instruments and effects, you will be fine with a Mac, but chances are you are running a number of 3rd party plugs. If you do, it might be a pain having to rework your set everytime you want to move it from PC <--> Mac.

It is not like your music will sound better or Live run faster on a Mac.

Michael-SW wrote:Personally I would get a PC (or a Macbook running XP - but make sure there are drivers for any external gear) if you are running a PC at home. If you are only using Lives instruments and effects, you will be fine with a Mac, but chances are you are running a number of 3rd party plugs. If you do, it might be a pain having to rework your set everytime you want to move it from PC <--> Mac.

It is not like your music will sound better or Live run faster on a Mac.

negative. the core audio is much stronger in quality and is much more dependable than any native drivers on a PC and ASIO (imho). also i've never had live crash on me once since I got my macbook and i can push it to 93% cpu running 18 channels live without a single stutter. this is just my experience so i have to disagree with you, ofcourse the downside of getting a mac is that its only been up until recently that a lot of UB support came out for the most common plugins and VST's. for example, you wont be able to run Z3+a on a mac and I dont think cakewalk has any plans to release UB au's. i think the quality and reliability of a mac far outweighs this though, considering that 80% of the time (imho) you'll find UB support for all your software.

cheers

And here starts another PC vs Mac war...

I've never had any problems with my Dell laptop. Not a single Live crash during 2.5 years of use. I've used both internal soundcard (with ASIO4ALL) and external firewire interface. Has worked perfectly fine with both.

(I've had Macs crash on me when running a ProTools HD system though. But I don't really blame that on the Mac. Rather on the hardware/software integration. I was probably doing something stupid like loading files from an USB drive too.)

computers crash. mac or pc. it's a fact of life.


the real big thing for me is that there is less fiddling around you have to do with macs. when installing new software or hardware on a mac it's painless. I'm sure it's not a big deal for people who know pcs, but it's hard to deny that there are simply more steps to get it to work.


for me, mac = less time fucking around with my os, more time fucking around with music. also, nice not to have to muck around with malware/spyware...

also, osx is just prettier. That's obviously not a real reason to go mac, but i dunno, it is nice to work with something that doesn't look ugly as sin. i have to use windoze all day at work, nice to escape it at home.


.lm.

macs rule. pc s drool.

and that is all i have to say about that topic.

mesaboogiewes wrote:macs rule. pc s drool.

and that is all i have to say about that topic.

Thank you for that very insightful comment. That really wants me to go out and buy a Mac. That way I could be as smart and cool as you.

So you are from New Zealand ? I assume as you mention NZD
I am an IT professional but my system is a MAcbookpro for an easy simple life I would suggest the same.
Try this guy.. Jens Muller for a new Apple price..
for example
Macbook
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
1Gb RAM
80Gb Hard Drive
Snuggle Sleeve
$ 1,725 Incl. GST/courier

that system should do the job easily for you and is cheaper than the apple store in NZ

here is a link. http://www.toshcomputers.com/mb20.html
I have bought several systems off him and they are fully apple warrentied in new box unopened. He just gets them direct from the states and saves you a few hundered..
a very nice guy

From my experience, The choice really only matters if you are a purist. I hating dogma in any form don't like to be limited by what kind of computer I get. The majority of my computer experience has been with using PC's. This is because I wanted to learn how to use computers not just... use them. That said, I would get a Macbook simply because the native audio hardware is going to be a little bit better. In fact I'm going to a local school because as a graduation present they give you the computer you will be using for classes. I have a Toshiba Satilite M115 that I absolutely love. It has not ever let me down. I have only been limited by what I know.. When I found out about ASIO4All it made all the difference.

These days the divide is getting very small. The ONLY reason I want to get a macbook now is because it is basically a *nix environment that will run Live.

And as for the Mac GUI being prettier than one on a windows computer.. That person has never seen my desktop. I don't use explorer.exe for my desktop I use Litestep.. Which makes my desktop look and act however I want it to.

I would say get a Mac... But don't get an "I've got a Mac, you got a PC" attitude. Apple picked up *nix and Intel for a reason.

Desktop: PC wins, cheaper, and easy to customize to your own special needs, plud plenty of free VSTs etc.

Laptop: Mac all the way. Personally, the macbook pro has a lighted keyboard that really helps out in the clubs etc. very much to me worth the one or two hundred extra you'll pay for a macbook pro over a Dell.

I could go on, but suffice to say if you aren't looking for the most extreme graphics in a laptop, then the macbook pro is the way to go.

I have a G5 desktop that I got for peanuts, and besides Live, I'm firmly nested in Mac DAWs like Logic and Digital Performer, but if I was new to this, I would go with a PC desktop, Mac laptop combo. Best of both worlds IMO, except I like Logic almost as much as Live, and it's better with dual monitors on a desktop, and Mac only.
Never got into Sonar or Cubase, but PC's have Audio Mulch, and Energy XT, and other odd small developer goodies that I would use if I was PC.

I have been running on a G4 for about a year now and i love it... OX 4eva!!!