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Mac or PC?

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btimm  
13 Mar 2013 22:27 | Quote
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
United States
Lessons: 2
Licks: 1
Karma: 16
Basically, I am curious what you all use for recording purposes: a Mac or a PC?

It seems, depressingly enough, that my latency issues involve hardware problems with my computer that aren't worth repairing due to cost. Frustrating to say the least, since I want to record, but it is what it is. Anyways, this means down the road I will need to get a new computer and am wondering what you use for your personal recording and what you think is the better of the two options. Let's discuss!
Guitarslinger124  
14 Mar 2013 10:19 | Quote
Joined: 25 Jul 2007
United States
Lessons: 12
Licks: 42
Karma: 38
Moderator
Well, I used to say PC because 1: Macs were unattainable and 2: Macs weren't programmer friendly.

While yes, Macs are still stupid expensive, they have adapted most of the good from Microsoft as far as the user tangibility. Yet still, until I can go to the store and buy a Mac, which nowadays isn't all that much of a performance upgrade from a Microsoft equivalent and is certainly a downgrade in efficiency when compared to a Linux OS, for a reasonable price, I cannot even think to consider them to be "better" than PC's.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that Macs will out-perform and out-look the competition but...

I vote PC all the way: More capable, more user friendly, more programmer friendly, more cost effective and more aggravatingly fun than Mac.
macandkanga  
14 Mar 2013 15:49 | Quote
Joined: 03 Oct 2008
United States
Karma: 21
I vote Mac. I'm writing this on my 2007 macbook pro that I got from a friend a year ago. I also have an iMac that i bought in 2005. Both are still incredibly fast. The macbook pro is faster though. I record on both and have no latency issues. I've used different software including cubase, pro-tools and cakewalk. I've settled into Garageband though. I record something in garageband, share it with iTunes and it automatically syncs with my iPhone (this happens in a matter of minutes). I can then get in my car and listen to what I just recorded on the road.

Yes they are more expensive but the 6 year old Mac that I have is faster and more reliable than my wife's 1 year old PC. A Mac will stay fast longer and is more user friendly overall. I've used both heavily at home and at work and always prefer a mac.

My opinion is really based upon the average user. A power user may find a PC to be a better choice especially considering cost.
btimm  
14 Mar 2013 16:26 | Quote
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
United States
Lessons: 2
Licks: 1
Karma: 16
Good news! The "almost certainly" hardware issue causing the latency on my machine? GONE! I did loads more research and finally, I solved the issue. It appears to be a common problem with the Dell Isnpiron 1545, where Windows Update asks you to update a certain driver and it leads to a faulty driver that causes massive latency (DPC Latency checker suggests that 2000 microseconds is bad; I was getting 200,000 microseconds). The solution at the time of the thread I read was to download the previous version of the driver. My solution was to download the most recent version. Funny thing is, when I told the computer to check into if any updates were available, it said my machine was up-to-date. >.<

I am still getting slightly over 2000 microseconds of latency, but I am fairly sure that when I try to record again (maybe tonight) that if I take Lanny's suggestion from before of disconnecting from the internet, that the latency wil be much much lower. Pretty excited to find the solution. Pretty annoyed it existed in the first place, lol.

So it seems I won't need a new computer for the short term, which is nice, since I can't justify the cost. I still will be getting an upgraded machine in 3-4 years, so I am still interested in the input from members of the forum. Pretty good posts here by gs124 and MACandkanga (bias due to your name? hahaha).
macandkanga  
14 Mar 2013 18:45 | Quote
Joined: 03 Oct 2008
United States
Karma: 21
Ha! Mac was actually the dog pictured in my profile. The pound we got him from actually named him Mac. He was like the machine though: He was reliable and friendly and lasted a long time!
macandkanga  
15 Mar 2013 12:19 | Quote
Joined: 03 Oct 2008
United States
Karma: 21
Ha! Mac was actually the dog pictured in my profile. The pound we got him from actually named him Mac. He was like the machine though: He was reliable and friendly and lasted a long time!
thatguitarguy  
15 Mar 2013 20:13 | Quote
Joined: 24 Aug 2010
United States
Lessons: 1
Karma: 12
I use a mac for mixing and things but I really have never used a PC for that kind of thing so I cant really make a good informed decision.
nullnaught  
15 Mar 2013 20:41 | Quote
Joined: 05 Jun 2010
Karma: 22
I only have used a PC for recording. I have never used my old mac for recording.


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