PC or Mac Better for Audio Pro's

krisneph

I know some guy who has his own Sound Studio and he uses PC's. I told him I use a Mac for Video Editing and he said he doesn't like Mac's cause they don't have good software for audio. He swears PC's have better programs. Any reason's why tha Mac is good for sound.

codewarrior

I guess it depends on what he uses. A lot of software is on both platforms. Some is now only on Mac (Emagic). Some is only on Windows.

It's like anything else: depends what you are used to.



Here's a couple of links you might find interesting:

Apple Pro Audio Link



MacMusic link

hmurchison

This arguement is unwinnable. You can rattle of Logic and Digital Performer and Cubase and he'll trump your with Sonar or Fruity Loops. It's pointless.



Avoid this battle if you wish to keep your wits.

cake

As far as audio editing/mixing with Pro Tools is concerned, PT is much easier to maintain and use on a Mac.



I've used Pro Tools since it was beta, on PCs and on Macs, at many different studios and at home.



Mac for Pro Tools.

No other real choice.

krisneph

Your right I will avoid this battle with him, now that he knows I like Mac's he'll probably talk smack on purpose. But I was wondering if Mac's were better because of Quicktime and Mac OS X. Does that make a difference for audio?

hmurchison

Quote:

Originally posted by krisneph

Your right I will avoid this battle with him, now that he knows I like Mac's he'll probably talk smack on purpose. But I was wondering if Mac's were better because of Quicktime and Mac OS X. Does that make a difference for audio?

No not really what you want to hype. What makes OSX audio nice is



THIS



Here's a breakdown that might make it a little easier to understand.











Core Audio is the crown jewel here. It's a new API that takes OSX Audio functionality and gives audio low lever access. Core Midi replaces the need for OMS or FreeMidi(3rd party Midi tools used to link apps via midi of course) The Audio Toolbox contains Audio Units. Apples replacement for Steinbergs VST. AU's are nice but honestly there's not a huge difference between them and VST. Built in reverbs and DLS(Downloadable Sounds) allow you to run better built in synthesizer. The SR conveter and Output unit are appreciated with the Output unit you are only limited by computing power as far as your outputs go. That's why Final Cut Pro now supports 24 channels out.



The Audio Hardware Abstraction layer is the interface between the low level software and the core components. Apple has something good here with Core Audio. it's low latency and should only get better as Apple tweaks it. There is plenty to be excited about for the future of Audio and macs.

placebo

Cubase is the professional's ultimate audio tool. Fruitloops is just some toy that you use for your recording hobby.

giant

Quote:

Originally posted by krisneph

I know some guy who has his own Sound Studio and he uses PC's. I told him I use a Mac for Video Editing and he said he doesn't like Mac's cause they don't have good software for audio. He swears PC's have better programs. Any reason's why tha Mac is good for sound.

He's an idiot. For production, nothing beats Logic, and the only people who don't know that are those who haven't used it.



For everything else there is protools, and, as already mentioned, it should be used on a Mac.



Basically this 'guy' clearly likes to pretend he knows more than he does, so drop him from your life before he takes you down with him.

krisneph

Thanks for your replies guys I'll just continue doing my thing on the Mac I not worry about some hater. I need to focus on Final Cut Pro.



Thanks

kraig911

its just personal preference... I asked one of the studio engineers at KLBJ group here in austin why they use Sound Edit over Pro Tools (PC) , and they just said its cuz of money and that they thought pro tools for the cost involved didn't add a lot in terms of price/functionality. adobe just picked it up too by the way Audible or something right? Also remember if you like PC's you'll stick with them. A lot of them havn't messed with OS X tho yet which makes all the difference..



Knowing is half the battle, and knowledge is power

stupider...likeafox

I saw a similar Mac vs. PC for audio pros discussion somewhere else on the internet, and someone claimed that there where better music apps available for the PC.



When challanged he cited foobar2000 as one music app you can't get on the Mac.



Überlame, but that's the kind of mentality you're dealing with.



(note for those unfamilar: foobar2000 is an app for playing tunes, basically a geeked-out Winamp)

the cool gut

The reason that Apples have about a 90% share in audio is because OS 9 gave as much processing power as the application in the foreground wanted. Real time playback on a P.C. wasn't nearly as easy because Windows was such a processor hog. Although the P.C. gained some ground, Macs are still King in the audio field. Now with OSX, Apple is re-doubling it's efforts in audio, where Microsoft is doing absolutely nothing.

curiousuburb

Soundtrack is pretty cool, too.

trick fall

Quote:

Cubase is the professional's ultimate audio tool

Dude are you high? Why did Steinberg come out with Nuendo then?



PC's/Macs/Macs/PC's whatever works for ya. Personally as a hobbyist I prefer a Mac for audio mostly because I prefer Macs in general, but also because they're good to go out of the box. By this I mean most people will tell you not to buy a Dell, Gateway or whatever, but rather custom build a PC for audio using components known to work well together for the purpose.

michael wilkie

The most successful musicians in the industry who produce or co-produce their own music all use Macs: Dr. Dre, Radiohead, Coldplay, Trent Reznor, BT, P. Diddy, Wyclef...the list goes on and on. I'm willing to bet they've got a little more experience than your buddy. The bottom line is that what's true for all apps remains true for audio apps: Windows has more available, but the applications that are mac-specific tend to be much higher quality while cross-platform apps tend to perform better on macs...unless microsoft makes them. My friend is a producer who had to sell his PC because Pro Tools ran terribly...He would probably laugh at you if you mentioned fruit loops.

iwant

Although I dont know much on the subject, everyone I know who has done amature or proffesional audio has a mac based studio.My Mom has a good friend who owns a small recording company up here and he'll only use macs for work aswell, a music techer i had in junior high had his studio based on G4 sawtooth. In many if not most multimedia industries tend to use macs more often, not based on hardware but as all of you have said its simply the fact that the mac software most of the time is simply better.

placebo

Quote:

Originally posted by trick fall

Dude are you high? Why did Steinberg come out with Nuendo then?



PC's/Macs/Macs/PC's whatever works for ya. Personally as a hobbyist I prefer a Mac for audio mostly because I prefer Macs in general, but also because they're good to go out of the box. By this I mean most people will tell you not to buy a Dell, Gateway or whatever, but rather custom build a PC for audio using components known to work well together for the purpose.

I meant Logic. My bad.