haven't seen anyone mention this yet but, Windows runs really great on a MAC haven't tried 10 or 8 on one but i had dual boot win on my old macbook pro it ran better then OSX on that thing.

 

just finished a dual boot hackintosh i7 4790 gigabyte z97x thunderbold 24 go ram with 1ssd per os. works perfectly with cloverboot, win8.1 and yosemite. Very fast and powerful set up.

 

Do you use the SSD's as OS drives only - with seperate file storage drive(s) ? Can you detect any issues regarding stability of the OS's ?

 

I use ssd for os, programs and some factory sounds banks, and 2 2to hhd (you can prefer sshd) for projects , recording and programs cache and temp , for windows , i also put most of my user folder : desktop, documents , downloads ....
i build it for a singer who works with logic mostly , so when i made the build i ran several projects he was working on, put some more hungry cpu reverb on several tracks and let it run for a day long without any trouble. All the apps and plugs are warez. win8.1 boot in less than 20 seconds, osx less than 25. If you are not a gamer, you don't have to buy expenssive graphic card a little ati about 40 euro is enough.

My personnal build is an amd phenom*8 , it's a live performance gear it was a osx and win8.1 but i'm not using logic pro anymore , so there was no reason to keep a os x . Optimizing Windows for the audio can be really useful ,there a lot of service than a music station doesn't use , i 've disabled about 30 services, made some tweaks in registry and msconfig , and it 's like a tank, working with 7go project in ableton with more than 12 vsti(serum, lush, fm8, spire, abl2,subboombass, stylus rmx drumazon and nepheton + a lot of ableton instruments racks), about 100 vst/ableton fx , apc20 bcf2000 bcr2000 and keyboard, and it rocks. the amd phenom 8 cores is a bit slower than i74790 but it seems to be more confortable for my kind of virtual performance config i can play with it all night long without drop outs or crash. my cpu meter is between 40 and 60% in ableton

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2015

I switched to mac/logic around 9 years ago, after working on pc/cubase for about 7 years, and for most of the time since then mac/logic felt far superior to me in both performance and workflow.
One thing people keep pointing out is the comparison of the pure stats on paper, but you shouldn't confuse stats with performance. Very often, projects which would max out a lot of pc rigs, would barely even come halfway on a mac which was supposedly "less powerful" and that's anecdotal, not just hearsay.

But, to be very honest, apple is on a downwards trend, especially concerning reliability of the hardware and functionality of the software. The last few OSX updates have been a major pain in the ass for many professional users, this while some years ago you could blindly trust and depend on mac os, which indeed is what really set it apart from windows in my opinion.

I think many software developers are starting to resent apple's policy of frequent OS updates, while not properly informing them, or giving them the time and tools to prepare ahead of time.

It's blatantly clear that apple is focussing on the consumer market and is letting its design choices and the direction they are taking the hardware being decided by the demands and desires of the average consumer.

So, to answer your question, yes i'd still advise a mac, but i'm uncertain how much longer mac will still maintain a clear edge for professional use.

 

If you want more power, go Pc

If you want to look cool, go Mac


I am not a rich guy so after using i3 pc for about 5 years, I am buying a mac book pro i5 next year because I want to look cool and trying new things for a change!I can buy i7 windows laptop with that same price!

 

Well i was always one of the people dishing on Mac, for being overpriced, and such. Even that i have my degree in graphic design
and that every single business that i worked in works with macs. Yesterday i decided to try and dualboot a hackintosh (Yosemite Niresh)
Since then i have totally changed my mind. Everything works so much more fluently and is much more focussed on business (design/audio).
It took me awhile to get everything configured, and had to change some bootflags and such, but my god what a difference to windows.....
Logic is a dream to work in (Ableton user). I have played around in Bitwig, everything works great, all my controllers are instantly mapped ...(such a pita in ableton to get all to work). I have 5ms latency now, where i had 20+ms latency in windows. (Old drivers, no longer supported, but updated 2 weeks ago for mac...) I'm lost for words really. I will change my whole setup from Windows/Android to Mac soon, i cannot wait!

 

Since you brought the fruits up, let's just say I compared Apples to lemons. But that's just fun.

To make your point you're telling me to look at details, correct? But it begins with an incorrect detail. I'm not suggesting yours was intentional by any means, but elsewhere on the interwebs there is a lot of intentional misinformation used to make anti-Apple points. It's become commonplace, expected even. I replied to the other post with 'Winner!' because he said what many of us think, but rarely bother to respond, when we see 'Macs cost eleventy hundred dollars more than [insert vague PC]', or that awesome post earlier in this thread 'Macs are for f*gs'. I'm used to seeing that kind of thing in these discussions. It just wouldn't be a proper discussion without it.

 

Hello!
I have been a on a Mac running Logic for years and have no complaints.... BUT, i want to buy a tiny 12 inch cheap PC laptop that can handle at least pro tools native for mixing/not tracking, and midi (virtual instruments, decent amount of plugins). Here are the specs, anyone please chime in, just please remember this is for a 12 inch laptop for plane rides and coffee shops etc.... Thank you!
2.13GHz Intel Core i7 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Windows 7 Laptop

 

If i were you i would go for a powerful CPU since this is equal to my old i3 550 3,20 ghz. Reverbs and Delays will kill your CPU in no time.

 

Isn't that the truth. the amount of times i've dropped my mac. and it soldiers on with no problems.

 

Hey there, I found this guy... outside of a custom build this looks good. Any opinion?
CPU Solutions Intel i7 3.6ghz Quad Core PC. 32GB RAM, 1TB HDD & 240GB SSD, Windows 7 Pro, GTX960 w/2GB, 750W PS, Chaser A31 Snow Edition Case
Thank you!

 

Mac is by far the best. I got my first PC in 94,Windows 3.11. I learnt to program them , I was always pro PC. I started making computer music with Rebirth etc on PC, then I bought midi controllers , always issues. The trouble was I was spending too much time diagnosing why prorgams crashed or wouldn't run.

Then one xmas (2010) I borrowed a MacBook Pro, Wow, it worked, hot swapped controllers, worked straight away! Very little crashing compared to windows
My advice is spend the extra and buy a Mac because the "cost of ownership" of PC's in terms of time spent "resolving issues", is still too high when compared to the OSX platform. Time is money.

 

Thanks livewarp, you make a great point. I actually have a solid mac pro tower but need a satellite computer, so i'm looking for cheap. the problem is when you look for cheap you get cheap!

 

[QUOTE="But, to be very honest, apple is on a downwards trend, especially concerning reliability of the hardware and functionality of the software. The last few OSX updates have been a major pain in the ass for many professional users, this while some years ago you could blindly trust and depend on mac os, which indeed is what really set it apart from windows in my opinion.

I think many software developers are starting to resent apple's policy of frequent OS updates, while not properly informing them, or giving them the time and tools to prepare ahead of time.

It's blatantly clear that apple is focussing on the consumer market and is letting its design choices and the direction they are taking the hardware being decided by the demands and desires of the average consumer.
[/QUOTE]


That is SO true.

 

I would agree except the past 4 years and 3 Macbook Pros and my iMac that I had... ALL had hardware issues, some turned out to be recalls others were just crappy hardware builds. Either way, I was down for weeks at a time. One issue took 4 trips to the Apple Store.

Since Apple has everything soldered or glued shut, you can't troubleshoot anything yourself. Anyone ok with that is fine, but if you wanted to swap out the hard drive yourself so you can restore and keep working, you can't.

The older MBP were amazing, but I gave up on them after three, separate, consecutive computer failures.

I currently use a Macbook Air for Internet/research and always suggest them for any family or friend that I would have to be their "computer-guy"

 

seriously working with audio clips is perfect way for cpu usage =)

 

1. It's Faster
That’s right, audio is faster. If workflow is important to you, then bouncing MIDI to audio should be up there somewhere on your list of priorities.

It’s far quicker to chop out a section of an audio clip compared to a MIDI clip. With audio, you simply select a portion and delete it. However; with MIDI, in many DAWs you need to open up the MIDI clip, select the desired notes, and then edit it.



You’ll often see producers bounce down bass and synth sounds in order for easier and faster processing in genres such as glitch hop or complextro that feature complex processing and editing.

2. It's Easier
Not only is audio faster to work with, it’s easier.

Destructive processing is impossible with MIDI. You can’t reverse a sound, and if your patch has a long release, you can’t make sudden chops and cuts.



Working with audio combats this. You want to have the tail of your bass reverse into the transient of the next note? No problem. Select and reverse.

3. It's Visual
One of the main reasons I use audio is because it’s visual. While trusting your ears is vitally important, the visual aspect can’t be ignored.

Using audio means you can see the waveform; where it starts, where the body is, and how long the tail lasts. While you can use an oscilloscope plugin on a MIDI track, it’s much more convenient to be able to see and move around an audio clip.



This visual feature of audio can be taken advantage of when mixing kick and bass. Being able to see how long the tail of the kick is and where the bassline lies allows you to quickly and easily fix problems that you might not have picked up by ear.

4. It's Not As Demanding
On CPU, that is.

MIDI by itself is less CPU intensive than pure audio, but I can’t remember a time where I used MIDI without a soft synth and effects after it. The plugins are CPU intensive. Your soft synths, delays, reverbs, etc.



By bouncing down to audio, you’re consolidating the sound. Removing the need for all those plugins you had on the channel earlier.

5. It's Different


An easy way to promote creativity is to try something new. If you work with MIDI 100% of the time you might be surprised what new ideas pop into your head when playing around with audio.

Audio is different to MIDI, it has different characteristics technically, and you can process it differently. If you’re struggling for ideas, why not bounce down a stem or drag some audio into your DAW and go wild?

Conclusion




Hopefully by reading this you’ve been inspired to try out some new things, and work with audio a little more often. Working with audio isn’t a “fix” to anything. It’s not a solution, and there are cases where you should avoid working with audio (if you’ve got an element that will likely require notation change as the track progresses). It’s simply something you can add to your workflow.

 

was blowing the dust out, took a photo. Creation Station is made for music production, and look at all the heat sinks, fans and solid construction. Rack mount, more slots it you want. nice cards for audio and video, built in surge protection, etc.

 

Those Spec are great. I have a similar CPU that you mentioned and is running great. How about the price?