My determining factor would be software. If you want Logic, there's only one choice. Same with Sonar. There are some plugs that are only in Windows, and way more freebies as well.
Personally, I like Windows for my desktop, since I can use standard hardware and it stays inside my controlled environment, and I like Powerbooks because you can't really add much hardware to a laptop, and there are way fewer hassles when using various networks which a laptop is likely to encounter. I also look for cross-platform software like Reason, Live, and Tracktion that allow me to jump ship to another platform if the need ever arises. You never know what will be the best hardware choice in a year or two.
Personally, I don't think you can go wrong no matter what platform you choose.
mac me?
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- KVRAF
- 9096 posts since 5 Feb, 2004
If you have requests for Korg VST features or changes, they are listening at https://support.korguser.net/hc/en-us/requests/new
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- KVRer
- 21 posts since 24 Nov, 2004
I own a Powerbook (Titanium 1 ghz) and use it for all kinds of multimedia production, including audio. So far, it has been the most reliable machine and environment I've worked with to date. Yes, there are less software options than you have in Windows, but I've always found what I need. And hey, Windows users miss out on Digital Performer, Logic (recent), Final Cut, iLife, etc.
Religion aside, it's still just a tool. Both platforms are pretty stable at this point. It's a matter of preference . . . and if you want to be cool or not (just kidding). If you go the PC route, I recommend that you choose your machine carefully - as hardware configurations can vary greatly (this is where Windows PCs are at a disadvantage, imo). Best of luck.
Religion aside, it's still just a tool. Both platforms are pretty stable at this point. It's a matter of preference . . . and if you want to be cool or not (just kidding). If you go the PC route, I recommend that you choose your machine carefully - as hardware configurations can vary greatly (this is where Windows PCs are at a disadvantage, imo). Best of luck.
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- KVRist
- 92 posts since 28 Feb, 2004
I was a die hard PC user for about 12 years, and consider myself knowledgeble since I do work as an IT-consultant. 2 years ago I was buying a new laptop, and after careful concideration I choose to go with a 12" powerbook since it met my demands best. Since then I have dropped PCs entirely from my private life. I still own and run PCs professionally, but whenever given a choise I go with one of my macs. The reasons for this are not quantisizeable hard facts. Sure, I could whoop together a kickass PC from various parts at a fraction of the cost of my G5 tower, but even if I do, and even if it has more preformance at a lesser cost I won't be satisfied. In the two years of running macs I have become atleast as proficient with macs as I was widh PCs. Hard to explain, but when I first started using that 12" pb I thought to myself "hey, this is what computers are supposed to be like!"
I am not gonna argue that OSX is more stable then WinXP, since people claim win is as stable. But fixing problems on a mac i not in any way more difficult then fixing them on a PC. Maybe (and this is just a theory) the reason no one was able to help that guy with his crashed G5 is because regular Win users are acustomed to tinkering with their OS to get it to work the way it should, while regular OSX users are not since everything works pretty well out of the box. Sure it sounds like an apple ad, but so be it. It is my sincere opinion.
Another example: My mom has owned a PC for something like 5 years. Every time she was using it for even the most basic tasks like saving a picture from an e-mail she had to call me. She simply isn't very computer litterate. But since I got her an Imac a few months ago she is doing all kinds of things all on her own.
About the lesser availability of software: Yes, there are, naturally, less software for mac. But I have found that the main difference is that on Win there are 50 apps that does the same thing, and you have to try them all out to know wich one is the best, while on mac the ones that exist is usually very good. And if you really can't find it you can always learn to tinker with Unix and get it that way.
As far as Tracktion goes, I haven't noticed any kind of difference between the platforms. The GUI is exactly the same, and so are the functions. So if you are only going to use the comp for T you might as well save a bit and get a PC
I am not gonna argue that OSX is more stable then WinXP, since people claim win is as stable. But fixing problems on a mac i not in any way more difficult then fixing them on a PC. Maybe (and this is just a theory) the reason no one was able to help that guy with his crashed G5 is because regular Win users are acustomed to tinkering with their OS to get it to work the way it should, while regular OSX users are not since everything works pretty well out of the box. Sure it sounds like an apple ad, but so be it. It is my sincere opinion.
Another example: My mom has owned a PC for something like 5 years. Every time she was using it for even the most basic tasks like saving a picture from an e-mail she had to call me. She simply isn't very computer litterate. But since I got her an Imac a few months ago she is doing all kinds of things all on her own.
About the lesser availability of software: Yes, there are, naturally, less software for mac. But I have found that the main difference is that on Win there are 50 apps that does the same thing, and you have to try them all out to know wich one is the best, while on mac the ones that exist is usually very good. And if you really can't find it you can always learn to tinker with Unix and get it that way.
As far as Tracktion goes, I haven't noticed any kind of difference between the platforms. The GUI is exactly the same, and so are the functions. So if you are only going to use the comp for T you might as well save a bit and get a PC
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- KVRer
- 6 posts since 30 Jan, 2005 from Chicago
I use Tracktion with both denominations.
One thing I like about the PC version, is I can right-click on a waveform and open it with my preferred audio editor. This cannot be done with the Mac version, yet. The only other complaint against the Mac counterpoart was the lack of FinialMix, but that is no longer an issue since it has been released for the Mac.
The Mac G5 (2x 2GHz) and PowerBook (1.25GHz) seems to struggle a bit more running Trackion than my AMD 2660+ XP, Shuttle XPC.
I love Apple computers and I will probably own at least one for the years to come. But since I'm a FL Studio/Tracktion/Audition whore, I rely on a PC for the bulk of my musical endeavors.
If you use cross platform apps, then there shouldn't be much to miss on the PC side.
One thing I like about the PC version, is I can right-click on a waveform and open it with my preferred audio editor. This cannot be done with the Mac version, yet. The only other complaint against the Mac counterpoart was the lack of FinialMix, but that is no longer an issue since it has been released for the Mac.
The Mac G5 (2x 2GHz) and PowerBook (1.25GHz) seems to struggle a bit more running Trackion than my AMD 2660+ XP, Shuttle XPC.
I love Apple computers and I will probably own at least one for the years to come. But since I'm a FL Studio/Tracktion/Audition whore, I rely on a PC for the bulk of my musical endeavors.
If you use cross platform apps, then there shouldn't be much to miss on the PC side.
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- Banned
- 22457 posts since 5 Sep, 2001
[DELETED]
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- KVRer
- 6 posts since 30 Jan, 2005 from Chicago
The Mac version does support "right-clicking," and opening a waveform in a selected audio editor is not a option.ttoz wrote: weird. tracktion on a mac doesn't support the pseudo right click function? (ctrl click from memory)..also, when i was on mac, i plugged in a microsoft intellimouse 3 and it rightclicked just fine...
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- KVRAF
- 9096 posts since 5 Feb, 2004
One thing that would make OS X feel a lot more speedy would be the ability to just show the outline of windows when dragging. It's beyond me why Apple didn't make the UI scalable for different machines. Even on my relatively fast 3.2 P4, I shut off all XP's 'eye candy (if you can call it that with XP 
)
)If you have requests for Korg VST features or changes, they are listening at https://support.korguser.net/hc/en-us/requests/new
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- KVRAF
- 1974 posts since 21 Jun, 2002 from Earth
I wish they would let you kill all animated effects as well.. like fading and sliding menus/window frames. It's just totally unnecessary when it could just change instantaniously. The dissolves are entirely too slow. It should be optional. Oh well, I don't see that happening for some reason... 
but it would be really cool if they did! 
but it would be really cool if they did! ModuLR / Radio
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- KVRAF
- 4878 posts since 13 Jun, 2002 from Montreal
I can't believe that they don't have this option.I wish they would let you kill all animated effects as well.. like fading and sliding menus/window frames. It's just totally unnecessary when it could just change instantaniously. The dissolves are entirely too slow. It should be optional. Oh well, I don't see that happening for some reason... but it would be really cool if they did!
I find that incredible.
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- KVRAF
- 1884 posts since 9 Feb, 2004 from Rochester, MN
So what you're saying is that iCandy can't be disabled on OS X?ModuLR wrote:I wish they would let you kill all animated effects as well.. like fading and sliding menus/window frames. It's just totally unnecessary when it could just change instantaniously. The dissolves are entirely too slow. It should be optional. Oh well, I don't see that happening for some reason...
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- KVRAF
- 9096 posts since 5 Feb, 2004
Actually, some of it can. I use two apps that can achieve this, but you can also use the unix terminal if you know the commands.Warmonger wrote:So what you're saying is that iCandy can't be disabled on OS X?ModuLR wrote:I wish they would let you kill all animated effects as well.. like fading and sliding menus/window frames. It's just totally unnecessary when it could just change instantaniously. The dissolves are entirely too slow. It should be optional. Oh well, I don't see that happening for some reason...
I use WindowshadeX to make background windows disable shadows. From my understanding, even windows that aren't visible 'draw' the shadows, so disabling this helps a lot. I leave the frontmost shadow because it does help define your current document/application. It's not just eye candy.
TinkerTool will allow you to speed up sheets considerably.
You can turn off dock animations, that's easy.
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One thing worth mentioning is OS X has a 'next generation' graphics system that is beyond Windows, which is introducing something similar in the next Windows rev. It'll be all good when hardware catches up, but I think it would have been better if Apple would give us all the choice. But it isn't as bad as some may say IMO, I have an old 667 Powerbook and it's pretty snappy actually.
If you have requests for Korg VST features or changes, they are listening at https://support.korguser.net/hc/en-us/requests/new
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- KVRer
- 10 posts since 9 Apr, 2004
I would like to put in my 2 cents since my day gig is customizing both rackmount and desktop PCs for a living.
I own a P4 laptop and2 desktops and purchased a G4 desktop about 4 months ago. Since then I basically just use the G4 for everything except running my Windows VSTs into tracktion.
The fact is that PCs are being made cheaper is because of cheap components and unless you build your own from the ground up, your buying in most cases a piece of crap. A matter of fact don't even attempt to get anything less than a 3U rackmount PC. Riser cards have not been perfected. My old 300MHZ PC on win98 still runs runs because I built it as a SCSI machine and fdisk it every 2 year. IMHO the folks at apple have always had high quality products. It's the 3rd party stuff that you need to research. OS X is an excellent platform for music. I use linux also and feel that X is the most user friendly. You think the Ipod was great - for $500 the mini-mac should replace everyones PC.
I own a P4 laptop and2 desktops and purchased a G4 desktop about 4 months ago. Since then I basically just use the G4 for everything except running my Windows VSTs into tracktion.
The fact is that PCs are being made cheaper is because of cheap components and unless you build your own from the ground up, your buying in most cases a piece of crap. A matter of fact don't even attempt to get anything less than a 3U rackmount PC. Riser cards have not been perfected. My old 300MHZ PC on win98 still runs runs because I built it as a SCSI machine and fdisk it every 2 year. IMHO the folks at apple have always had high quality products. It's the 3rd party stuff that you need to research. OS X is an excellent platform for music. I use linux also and feel that X is the most user friendly. You think the Ipod was great - for $500 the mini-mac should replace everyones PC.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1283 posts since 13 Nov, 2004
Both, or just the one laptop..........very important to me..........grutko wrote:I use Tracktion with both denominations.
The Mac G5 (2x 2GHz) and PowerBook (1.25GHz) seems to struggle a bit more running Trackion than my AMD 2660+ XP, Shuttle XPC.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1283 posts since 13 Nov, 2004
Sorry man........can't buy that.reconfig wrote:You think the Ipod was great - for $500 the mini-mac should replace everyones PC.
My "test" so far has been f(*^*&^in around with garageband 2 at like compusa.......and the mac mini is SLLLLLOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I mean really slow. All the other, regardless of ram (like a dual 1.8 with 256megs only) were really fast in comparison. Plus, there is only one slot for the ram, not good, and it's a 5400rpm ata. All others, imac and the lot, are 7200sata with at least two ram slots (mix and match as you see fit unlike dual pc ram)
Anyways.......thought Y'd like to know
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1283 posts since 13 Nov, 2004
One thing I noticed IMMD with the mac is that the graphics handling is topnotch. No wierd audio clicking and so on.........braj wrote:Actually, some of it can. I use two apps that can achieve this, but you can also use the unix terminal if you know the commands.Warmonger wrote:So what you're saying is that iCandy can't be disabled on OS X?ModuLR wrote:I wish they would let you kill all animated effects as well.. like fading and sliding menus/window frames. It's just totally unnecessary when it could just change instantaniously. The dissolves are entirely too slow. It should be optional. Oh well, I don't see that happening for some reason...
I use WindowshadeX to make background windows disable shadows. From my understanding, even windows that aren't visible 'draw' the shadows, so disabling this helps a lot. I leave the frontmost shadow because it does help define your current document/application. It's not just eye candy.
TinkerTool will allow you to speed up sheets considerably.
You can turn off dock animations, that's easy.
--
One thing worth mentioning is OS X has a 'next generation' graphics system that is beyond Windows, which is introducing something similar in the next Windows rev. It'll be all good when hardware catches up, but I think it would have been better if Apple would give us all the choice. But it isn't as bad as some may say IMO, I have an old 667 Powerbook and it's pretty snappy actually.
can't seem to escape that on a pc even if EVERY graphic eyecandy is turned off
