Mac or PC for recording
so should you get a Mac or PC?
if you are first starting out on setting up your gear for recording, you probably have asked yourself this age-old question…
check out what Greg Price said recently… “There are two prerequisites to becoming a great audio engineer,” said Price. “First, you have to play an instrument and second, you have to use a Mac.” (see full article here)
musicians will swear by a Mac for doing anything and everything music. if you had watched coyote ugly, you would know what i mean. i thought i should get a mac too after watching that movie…
but “sadly”, the first time i tried recording on a Mac, it crashed. and who said Mac doesn’t crash? it’s a myth! and it should make you wonder seriously if the myth that Mac is better for music can “hold up” just as well…
actually, first of all, i think it depends on which platform you started out and grew out with. when i had to get my first computer, Mac was in the fruity iMac era. PC was also cheaper and more compatible with more applications (and games!!) then. so i started out with a PC, experimented recording and mixing with some early version of Cubase.
fruity iMacs…, that was ten years back. during the last decade, with the whole new branding of Apple, it’s just so cool to own a Mac isnt it? but is it better than a PC?
Price-wise,… we have this perception that PC gives you more power for the same buck. actually, if you did your homework right and compare the prices and capabilities, it’s more worthwhile getting Apple MacBook 
or Apple MacBook Pro
macbook pro than a PC laptop. And Garageband comes free to record your demos…
of cos, Garageband would not be sufficient if you needed more serious recording and mixing work done. you will need the quadcore Mac Pro. that’s where the price factor is skewed towards buying a PC. Between a PC desktop and a Mac Pro, the price difference is almost 1 is to 2. (and i’m comparing a PC desktop with 23″ LCD with a Mac Pro without display).
can you do what logic can do on a Mac using a PC? sure you can! Cubase 4 is pretty cool (err. if the bugs are fixed). Pro Tools is available in PC too. and for audio wave editing, i personally believe Adobe Audition is the best audio editing solution around and it’s only available in PC…. so Mac isnt necessary better than PC, right?
here’s the caveat: i’ve been a PC guy all this while, but i got myself a Mac and a new PC this year. after using both with a variety of applications… now, my christmas wishlist for 2008 is:
- 8-core Apple Mac Pro
(with 30′ cinematic display)
- Adobe releases Mac version for Audition
why? PC gets slower and more unstable somehow the more you use it (you get full of rubbish in your registry, while Mac is relatively more efficient in handling applications. there’s just so much hardware conflict in PCs these days that seriously the amount of time wasted troubleshooting it makes the extra amount you foot for a Mac Pro seems dirt cheap. imagine buying a car that suddenly stalls when you are into 4th gear, and you are late for your most important date…
so if you are getting your first comp now for making your own music, consider a Mac if you want peace of mind. bear in mind that, yes, Mac will crash, but not as often as a PC. but of cos, your music would not sound better on a Mac than on a PC.
one thing to note though, some hardware aren’t working too well with Leopard… so i’m hoping everything gets fixed by Christmas.. who know, i may have the lead on Mas Selamat by then to have enough money to fulfil my wishlist… and have plenty leftover… ha! (no, mas selamat is not dead!)
