KVR Audio

Tiles · Post by **Tiles** » Sun Feb 02, 2025 4:53 pm

I5 is two generations back. That's imho too old. You want to have it as fast as possible because of latency times. So best is to use the actual generation.

Ram, how much do you use actually? Maybe start with 16, and expand at a later time.

Next decision is intel or amd. I have no idea how the intel chips performs at the moment. I have to build a new pc this year too, and think about an AMD. Maybe the Ryzen 9 9900x. But i also wait for the X3d version that will appear later in the year before i decide. Maybe i even end in one of the weaker ones that just uses 65 watt. The 9 9900x eats 105 watt. And the X3d will most likely have more than 150 watt usage. And then there is the budget ...

Do you want to build your dream pc by yourself? Or do you want to buy a complete pc?

This is of course where the Mac shines. No decisions, no planning. Just buy, plug in and use ^^

clintmartin · Post by **clintmartin** » Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:45 pm

If I go PC I’ll probably buy one from Studio Cat. Jim has been good to me through the years. He has earned my business.
Having said that, surely he can get me the latest gen i5 or i7.
The iMac is tempting for a few reasons.
I enjoy learning new things one and two is Logic.
I’m an old school Cakewalk user but I’m not going to do the subscription thing.
I’ll probably at some point switch to a different daw.

clintmartin · Post by **clintmartin** » Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:55 pm

The i5 14400 is gen 14. Isn’t that current?

paramita123 · Post by **paramita123** » Mon Feb 03, 2025 3:29 am

clintmartin wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:45 pm If I go PC I’ll probably buy one from Studio Cat. Jim has been good to me through the years. He has earned my business.
Having said that, surely he can get me the latest gen i5 or i7.
The iMac is tempting for a few reasons.
I enjoy learning new things one and two is Logic.
I’m an old school Cakewalk user but I’m not going to do the subscription thing.
I’ll probably at some point switch to a different daw.

Then I'd say go with Jim, there's a lot of value in doing business with someone you know!
And a PC with Cubase 14 Pro is a wicked setup, a good soundcard, mic, some soundproofing, the rest is about creative use, hard work and passion !

Jac459 · Post by **Jac459** » Mon Feb 03, 2025 5:25 am

Anybody tried Snapdragon+windows on laptop? Is it a competition to MacBook already ?

Tiles · Post by **Tiles** » Mon Feb 03, 2025 7:00 am

clintmartin wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:55 pm The i5 14400 is gen 14. Isn’t that current?

You're right. I mixed that :/
As told, i am not into Intel. Sorry for confusion.

EDIT, i would go with the I7 then. That's closer to the power of the mac ...

clintmartin · Post by **clintmartin** » Mon Feb 03, 2025 6:00 pm

Still curious if Logic Pro would be worth the paradigm shift. I appreciate all of your inputs.

sprnva · Post by **sprnva** » Mon Feb 03, 2025 6:48 pm

The issue with going Logic is it will tie you into the Apple ecosystem. There's no going back to PC unless you're willing to wave Logic (and any projects you do in it) goodbye. That said, it's great value. Buy once and keep getting updates as long as your Mac can run the required OS.

I think PC is the safer bet. Regardless of how powerful and efficient the Apple Silicon Macs are, it can't offset the non-upgradable, non-repairable nature of them. At least for me.

vstdls · Post by **vstdls** » Tue Feb 04, 2025 12:43 am

12th Gen and up i5s are beasts. You most likely wont notice any differences between th 5 7 and 9 based upon what you've stated your use case is.

clintmartin · Post by **clintmartin** » Tue Feb 04, 2025 1:53 am

vstdls wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 12:43 am 12th Gen and up i5s are beasts. You most likely wont notice any differences between th 5 7 and 9 based upon what you've stated your use case is.

I believe you’re right. The i5 seems like the one for what I do. 32gb ram and a couple of tb of hard drive and I’ll be good for years.
Probably the way I’ll go.

Lerian · Post by **Lerian** » Tue Feb 04, 2025 2:47 pm

For that kind of money ($1900) I would get a used/refurbished macbook pro M3 pro with 36gb+ ram. Even M2 Max would do the job just fine. Apple is the only laptop I would buy, and you get to be mobile, and performance-wise is more than enough for audio.

Next in line, for the desktop, nothing beats a PC. You can build a really nice machine with that budget. Stay away form intel CPUs, they have big problems lately, meaning they physically melt and get damaged permanently. AMD 7900/7950x or 9900/9950x is what you want to buy.

Lerian · Post by **Lerian** » Tue Feb 04, 2025 2:59 pm

Jac459 wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2025 5:25 am Anybody tried Snapdragon+windows on laptop? Is it a competition to MacBook already ?

Not even close. First of all the software isn't there yet. Then the drivers.. excepting RME I don't know any other pro audio writing drivers for ARM.

Nothing can compete with Macbook Pro. Its way, way ahead any other windows laptop that I know of in terms of usability. I work mostly on PC, but for the laptop I only had apple, even on intel. Now with the M chips, there is no competition from windows laptops. Ridiculous battery life, exceptional performance, 99% of the time stays completely silent, and the best usability ever (trackpad gestures, trackpad quality, dedicated keys, instant-on, and many other that I forget right now).

Jac459 · Post by **Jac459** » Tue Feb 04, 2025 3:15 pm

Lerian wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 2:59 pm
Jac459 wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2025 5:25 am Anybody tried Snapdragon+windows on laptop? Is it a competition to MacBook already ?
Not even close. First of all the software isn't there yet. Then the drivers.. excepting RME I don't know any other pro audio writing drivers for ARM.

Nothing can compete with Macbook Pro. Its way, way ahead any other windows laptop that I know of in terms of usability. I work mostly on PC, but for the laptop I only had apple, even on intel. Now with the M chips, there is no competition from windows laptops. Ridiculous battery life, exceptional performance, 99% of the time stays completely silent, and the best usability ever (trackpad gestures, trackpad quality, dedicated keys, instant-on, and many other that I forget right now).

Pro audio on ARM exists... It is called apple silicon.

Well that's a shame because while I am sure you are right on M laptop usability (it is my own experience too), I am getting tired of no choice on oled screen, no choice on form factor, no choice on the ports you get...
MacBook is not bad.... But a bit of choice would be funnier....

Lerian · Post by **Lerian** » Tue Feb 04, 2025 8:12 pm

Jac459 wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 3:15 pm MacBook is not bad.... But a bit of choice would be funnier....

Totally, but unfortunately there's none atm.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Tue Feb 04, 2025 9:25 pm

clintmartin wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 1:53 am
vstdls wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 12:43 am 12th Gen and up i5s are beasts. You most likely wont notice any differences between th 5 7 and 9 based upon what you've stated your use case is.
I believe you’re right. The i5 seems like the one for what I do. 32gb ram and a couple of tb of hard drive and I’ll be good for years.
Probably the way I’ll go.

For your current usage 32gig is overkill. If you go the PC route you can expand it later.

If you're still curious about Logic, there are much cheaper ways of doing things.

Should I buy a new PC or new iMac?