MAC VS PC for Audio Production

[@RTXRetroGo]

I'm going through this dilemma right now and I am heavily leaning towards PC as it can not only serve as a music production machine, but it can also Game, Video Edit, and etc all in one box for a much cheaper price. People compare the base macs with only 512gb of SSD storage space and don't take into consideration when you start adding storage to the machines, that's when they get expensive. PCs are upgradable over time and seem like a better fit. Just wish Logic worked on Windows.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yes, PC is definitely better for gaming. The macs get very expensive as you add storage. The price increase is consistent with the cost of top performing SSD’s, so they’re not ripping people off, but it’s very frustrating. I understand the dilemma, you kind of have to choose between overpriced computer, or overpriced software. Personally, I lean towards the macs, but they suck for gaming, as few games are compatible.

[@ZombieLincoln666]

modern PC laptops aren’t upgradable either The issue with gaming pc’s for music production is noise, both internal noise and also from the cooling.

[@1waylevy300]

The best decison i made was building a gaming pc for $1200 last year, you can do audio production, gaming, and video editing all with absoutely no performace issues at all. Ive had a couple friends who dropped $1500 plus on mac book pros and it couldnt run big and intense mixing sessions with alot of plugins without lagging and sometimes crashing pro tools. I just dont think Macs match the performace for the price point bro. The only reason i see Mac being worth it is if u just really love Logic bc i if u spend $1200 or more on a PC your going to get much better performace and a more versitle system.

[@onimisilovesonmusic4548]

Exactly

[@RockG.o.d]

try playing a guitar with a simple amp plugin through a daw.

[@waldosafari]

What’s your PC setup rn?

[@mj-x4416]

A friend of mine uses Logic on a circa 2008 Mac and I've never seen it holding him back.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yeah… I have a 2007 mac that I still use sometimes for music production.

[@Jaylzzz]

The most reasonable explanation of difference between mac and PC over all time

[@RockG.o.d]

I have tried switching to pc for audio production. so started using my overpowered gaming pc as a test bed before building a new one. well audio latency, not as good as my MacBook pro 2012, looked at software, but had plenty of licenses for lite versions, so tested them. maybe I didn't try every single driver to find the best one, but used the focus rite solo which I was using for the mac, and the goal was to play guitar with the softube marshal plugin I have without noticeable latency, well I gave up. just too many errors, too fiddly, didn't get down to the latency I wanted and asio driver was finicky. so got an m1 mac pro instead and happy. I don't mind the pc problems with a gaming pc, but when creating music, I really don't want the stress.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yeah… I think your experience is common for people. Congratulations on the Mac m1, it’s what I also use… it’s a great computer!

[@RockG.o.d]

@@Get.Beautiful.Recordings the computer is amazing as a workhorse for what I do, and sure it will be more than capable for making the music vids. Sold my Mac Pro from 2012 but keeping the MacBook Pro 2012 for compatibility reasons. Really didn’t need to upgrade, but I wanted something a little faster and better battery and quieter. Something which really blew me away was the audio of it. Though I wasn’t intending using the on board speakers, it does make a great addition when shared watching or showing people things. Fun thing with the pc. Gaming rig even has the sound blaster zxr which is a great sound card, but even that wasn’t a great experience. I actually get less latency going from the guitar to ua volt to Mac then to AirPod pro. With head tracking it does give that amp like experience, though still different, but great for nighttime creativity at 3am.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

@@RockG.o.d Older MacBook pro's are great for audio production, I also have a 2012 that I use for mobile recording.

[@RockG.o.d]

I have no use for mobile recording at the moment, though used to be a boom op/sound engineer, so got a Zoom H6 for external recording when not in home studio. Though I use that home studio term lightly.

[@gloryrow100]

Thank you so much....Im going through this and have asked everywhere and every inquiry came back as a new level of confusion...You put the cookies on the bottom shelf ,right where I can get at them!!! Quadruply applicable,as I am running UAD converters.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Thanks :) I’m glad it helped

[@ATGAllTymedaG]

A used MacBook with an intel chip can load both Mac and Windows for ppl who still need certain windows programs. And you can keep an older Mac current for a few more years with opencore so you can run Logic Pro on an older Mac if you buy one used.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yes… good point :)

[@TheHighsmith8]

Your video talked more about how negative Mac is currently rather than benefits over PC or PC in general.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

I don't think there are any real befits over pc, other than the apple specific software.

[@alextinsley9117]

PC software more expensive??? Any gaming class PC + Reaper. I can't imagine any Mac configuration outperforming or less expensive than that. But I'm no pro, so what do I know?

[@OudartPatricia-Claire]

I have Reaper, The licence is usable on All your family devices, mac, pc, and yes, gaming class is necessary, for ram, and real time process, and an Audio interface.

[@ZombieLincoln666]

Logic is widely considered the best value DAW, because it comes with tons of stuff. Reaper is relatively bare bones (and besides, it works on macOS too)

[@andywooten622]

I’ve heard hip hop and trap producers (using FL Studio) say that Mac produces “thinner” sounding drums than PC. Claiming they lack the “punch”…Is that true ? Or are they misunderstanding something about sound ?

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

They are definitely misunderstanding something about sound. The computer itself doesn't effect the sound, it simply routs the sound. The computer routs the sound from the audio interface into the daw, from there it's the DAW software that manipulates the sound. Cubase, Reaper, ProTools...or any daw that is cross compatible will sound identical on a Mac or a PC. Thanks for the question.

[@Jzh733]

Same daw, same sound card, everything sounds smoother and more musical on my pc than on mac..which is really not what i expected..

[@lance_corporeal]

I think what they don’t realise is that older versions of FL Studio used to load with a limiter on the master channel by default, nowadays it doesn’t

[@TrioLOLGamers]

@@Get.Beautiful.Recordings Not exactly: there are different ways of handling how the sound exit from the audio card. Bit-perfect is an example on what Mac lacks compared to Asio. Apple wants everything under CoreAudio that is exactly like Wasapi (exclusive or not)...

[@sezjames2472]

So latest version of Cubase with a latest apple mac is useless?

[@houseoflatin]

i would say RAM and SSD space is the main problem with Apple. Its basically not a flexible system. (I have macs)

[@nyambe]

It's quite the opposite, there has never been a better time to buy a Mac for business. M1 systems give you more bang for your dollar and you can also find crazy deals on used Intel Macs. It might be best to use it in parallel, and not replace your whole system at once specially if its critical.

[@MadNerve]

What year model macbook pro would you suggest for super cheap that I can use to just get a music software on it like pro tools or garage band etc? As well as just be able to plug a recording mic into it and apply an instrumental and record vocals. Didn't really plan to focus on mixing and mastering so much and would just pay someone to do that part for me.

[@MadNerve]

Edit to add: people were telling me get atleast an i7 processor, 16gb of Ram, and 1TB storage if I'm getting an old Mac.. thoughts? I'm just trying to get back into recording music and used someone's lil studio setup till that all stopped years ago. I have 500+ I can invest Into a home setup. Needs to be able to browse web too.

[@Charlux]

2012 ones are hit or miss but they can still work if you accept the fact that you won't be able to use it online. I have a 2009 macbook that I still use to make beats on even though it's slow to boot up it runs good with Ableton 9 😂😂😂

[@Charlux]

In saying that, my 2009 macbook worked well before I updated it back in 2015 which was a big sacrifice in performance, but I needed it for Ableton 9... You could probably find an old mac but it will only work well if you never update it

[@MadNerve]

@Charlux this is entirely false. You can upgrade all of it to work currently no problem on that 2012. Especially a mid 2015. People think you can't and that's the problem.

[@hawtspotmedia]

Good points.. also I love the revamped studio set up. Wondering if you've vlogged that process. I'm interested in the wooden diffuser in particular

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Thanks for noticing the studio remodel. The diffusers are actually more for decoration than practical purposes. That whole wall is filled with rockwool, and covered with fabric. The wood is 1” thick, and a variety of 2”, 3”, and 4” width strips, which protrude about an inch away from the wall behind them. I don’t notice any sonic benefits from doing this, it’s just for show :)

[@hawtspotmedia]

@@Get.Beautiful.Recordings thank you I plan on doing the same. I already got rockwool on the wall covered with fabric. The wood is a good look to add

[@accentontheoff]

Wow, thanks for possibly the first ever balanced perspective on this topic. Now onto two typically, arguably, nerdy questions. One, what do you think of Studio One as a Logic substitute if I went the Windows way. Can it at least do half the job. On the other hand if I went the Mac way, would you know if guitar plugins by Neural DSP / Amplitube / Guitar Rig (esp the first) cope well inside Logic on the M1. Thanks. (Edit: Just checked and the three plugins I mentioned all seem to lack official M1 support so far, to varying degrees. Would you know of any guitar plugins that do.) P.S. When comparing the two platforms, there is also the issue of ports.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

I've never used studio one, but I know people who use it, and can it do at least half the job? way more than half. The most important aspect is your own skill, not which daw you use. I've been having a lot of problems with 3rd party plugins on my new Mac, even the ones that are M1 native. I'm getting better performance running logic through rosetta. I don't know of any guitar plugins that have M1 support, but it doesn't matter anyways, because like I said, I'm getting better performance through rosetta anyways.

[@accentontheoff]

@@Get.Beautiful.Recordings Yes sure thanks for the reply. Rosetta seems to be the best workaround.

[@joshuadelaughter]

I've used many different DAWs and Studio One is by far my favorite. In terms of features it doesn't really have more or less than any other professional DAW, it was just the most intuitive for me.

[@Greenypeter]

I was going to get an iMac 2017 or 2019 for garageband and pro tools. But i have a gaming laptop with ableton live thunderbolt 4 x2 and usb 4. So i thinkbthis will be enough? AMD Ryzen Processors AMD Ryzen 7 Mobile Processors with Radeon Graphics # of CPU Cores 8 # of Threads 16 Max. Boost Clock Up to 4.4GHz Base Clock 3.2GHz L2 Cache 4MB L3 Cache 16MB Default TDP 45W AMD Configurable TDP (cTDP) 35-54W

[@brianschuck4832]

Well, this may never be read since the video is a year old. But EXCELLENT job! It's nice to have a very honest and sincere opinion that shares the pros and cons. My journey was similar but endpoint was different. I learned how to use a DAW on my mac mini. I really liked Logic ProX. I especially liked the virtual instruments and flex pitch all within the cost of $150 or $200 for the program. But, as you noted Apple forces you to upgrade the OS.. and all of a sudden everything was slow. I couldn't upgrade RAM on my mac mini. The system became unusable it was so slow to respond. I had needs only a PC could provide for other things, so I bought a gaming laptop computer - not because I game, but because it had great specs and 32 GB RAM. I also went and bought a subscription to Pro Tools. I didn't like Pro Tools. I just kept having issues with it, it didn't play nice with the rest of the system. A year later I tried Reaper and WOW I love that program. To your point, it was an inexpensive program, and I've had to spend several hundred dollars on plug ins, but I'm still very happy with it and I have a lot of flexibility I wouldn't have had with an Apple Product.

[@alexeybobr4537]

Ssd is not an issue with mac anymore as you can buy samsung or western digital ssd chips and connect via thunderbolt interface which may work even faster than native ssd.

[@ZombieLincoln666]

No they won’t be faster, but yes they’re still fast

[@jadanoliver6237]

On the subject from dealing with my Mac now . I use Bitwig and it works a little bit better, better latency, able to run third party plug ins like Cherry Audio with over sampling on a MacBook Air vs a Dell XPS 13 laptop. I am sorry there is a BIG difference in what my Mac can do . Logic I am still getting used to , but I do know it is a lot better than protools. and from playing with it . Yeah windows has more software including free software. Cakewalk is pretty good too and its free. But editing looks to be great in logic. I am a newb to OSX coming from windows and before that System 7 Mac . But right away this thing is smoking my pc

[@russ254]

😢

[@abirtariq3692]

Noob here at recording music. I really wish I could afford MacBook but I can't. So have to use pc for the time being. I really want to know if Mac and windows will give me the same sound quality in terms of music production. Like will I achieve the same sound quality on say Reaper and Windows as compared to Logic Pro and Mac? please let me know thanks.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yes, there’s no difference in sound quality. The sound quality comes from the audio interface. The way the computer processes the sound is identical between Mac and pc.

[@clipz1]

i go in circles about this and what i will say is i have 2 laptops and one used for music production running windows alienware blah blah and then i got a 2015 macbook pro 15'' and the macbook is running strong the alienware needed a battery replacement and i cant go ham making music i pretty much waiting to updrade and using both im so stuck i feel to custom build a tower or buy even a older mac tower or a mac mini and run windows on it lool but this way i could switch if i ever decide im done .. im stil stuck on what would be the best choice i feel maybe a custom pc i dont know but im in no rush i want to make the ''right'' choice

[@browneyedpoet7107]

I disagree with the comment about browsing the Internet on an older MacBook Pro 13. I have 2012 and I can browse the Internet great but production software does not work because Apple deleted it or it doesn’t upgrade. This has been my experience.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Ya, 2012 is still fine. I have a 2010 MacBook Pro, and I can still browse internet on it. Anything older than 2010 though I don’t think you’d be able to.

[@Hi-xs7wm]

Very happy with pc and intel. Amazing and friendly stuff ( and price !)...Very Powerful music productions .We left apple ....trap (trapple ?) and never regretted it !

[@marekwinski8854]

So you found out that new m1 Mac is not compatible with everything, even it’s own software like logic and is far more expensive than pc equivalent and you recommend Mac m1 for music production in 2023? 😮

[@netrodex]

I switched to windows since 2017 I think... but! one think I miss from macos the audio core built in.... Realtek is a pain... every single time I had a hard time trying to make it work. mac..... just work. I don't hate windows, but... man I'm sticking with a macbook pro 2015 anyday for music. specially because my plugins are not all 64 bit only. I'm Ableton user by the way so switching is not a big deal thanks god

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Cool. Thanks for sharing:)

[@anujmuzik]

Brilliant video!

[@peaceandrelaxationwithgodscrea]

Some very good interesting points

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Thanks Darryl :)

[@trentwaterman7049]

thanks, informative and to the point!

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

You're welcome. Thanks for the comment :)

[@WhenKenSavedThe]

Hi Kris, are you still shipping out iSK orders?

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yes, we are, but we are still struggling to bring in inventory.

[@ev3rsonix392]

I personally prefer windows though ive used both. I just dont really like logic as well as mac os as a whole though i can see the appeal. Ive never been unable to do what i need to in other daws. People argue that the soundcard is better in macs but people fail to realize that it is extremely easy to install an equally as good soundcard on a windows computer. Installing additional ram helps with latency which is another argument a lot of mac users come up with. I think out of the box macs are probably better but if you understand how to work with windows and how to upgrade your system than windows definitely beats macs for price and preformance. Outside of music production.. Mac has no 32 bit compatability without 3rd party plugins and theres tons of games that mac just outright doesnt let you download because they dont agree with the companies terms and condition.. I mean shit gaming is literally easier on linux than it is on mac now. Im not spending 90s-2000 honda civic prices on a computer that isnt compatable with older fallout games, tf2 and thousands of other titles. some games you literally have to play on streaming services like geforce now on a mac because mac os doesnt like that the company wont give them a cut of the money they make off in app purchases.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yeah, pc is hands down way better for gaming. There’s been games on Steam I wanted to play, but couldn’t because they’re windows only. Thanks for your comment :)

[@emansafavi]

Thanx for the information man

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

You're welcome :)

[@onimisilovesonmusic4548]

Any windows machine u buy for 1200usd , is hybrid and powerful. U will do anything and still have more headroom for upgrades..

[@somuchfortalent]

Pro tools isn't $1,000 per year. It's $299 for a year sub on sale for $199 for the consumer level bundle. $99 per year for the entry level version. You're only paying $1,000 a year if you go for their "flex" package. But who pays subs for a DAW unless you're making a serious living off audio production.

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yes, but but over the years, the lower cost options are still very expensive, and all you get is a watered down DAW. There are several other low cost DAW’s which have full use ability.

[@crancarenotafish]

I love PCs! .... To install Linux 🤣. But powerful PCs are very expensive. $900 Macbook Air M1 chip beat most of them. I have it and when I save a small project in Reaper or Bitwig it saves it so fast that I keep trying thinking I'm going to loose may project. Of course you may need more RAM but for home studio is lightning speedy.

[@ZEALm.e.studios]

Thx I'll get a new PC 🖥

[@kqharvey]

Do you still see the disadvantages of a Mac in 2024?

[@netrodex]

I know this is a old saying, but... since Steve died... everything went to hell. I just didn't think would be that bad.... also I need my ports lol

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Ya, the lack of ports is frustrating

[@netrodex]

@@Get.Beautiful.Recordings tell me about it...

[@DuroSamples]

heheheh "Logic is the best"...eeerrkkk then he realizes the mistake... Only Apple Fanboys use Logic because is cheap and that's all they know. LOL Cubase is for both platforms for the past 30 years dude.. In which rock have you been hiding under? All of my customers using Logic have problems all the time because Apple changes the OS X all the time and they screw my Virtual Instruments. AU is about the most ridiculous format ever in the history of plug-ins. Can't sand it. I stick with the pioneers. VST! My instruments work in all Windows versions. No issues with my Windows customers. I have used just about every DAW that you can find in wiki and none have more assets and functionality than Cubase. which by the way, comes with GB and GB of content and VSTi for $575 and it runs on both platforms.. can Logic do that? I rest my case. 9:02 mmmm really? I think you need to get out there boss.

[@ZombieLincoln666]

Apple is so much better when it comes to audio. No messing around with ASIO

[@pappayoyo]

for me Mac wins for dedicated audio work , i use both, windows pc are much more noisey , dont need a interface to edit or make some beats , on windows i need a interface , asio drivers kind fo suck

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Ya, Mac wins for me too, but both platforms have their own pro’s and con’s,. Thanks for your input :)

[@jalawto]

Delightful

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Thanks Jamie :)

[@TheManglerPolishDeathMetal]

Hello mr Zelensky !

[@RTXRetroGo]

lol

[@ThorD4602]

In his bunker grinding out tunes

[@jaceychan7099]

Your video is why I won’t ever use apple computers or pro tools for a home studio unless I’ve got top notch clients who are willing to pay to make it worth the time and money to keep up with the cost of owning and updating my computer and software it’s just a racket by the two of them to get your money And all you get in return is to say my software/Mac are the industry standard but what they won’t tell you is people with none industry standard setups are capable of making hit songs just fine without out it Smoking crack makes you feel like you need it but you really don’t

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yeah… I think protools is way overpriced. For an inexpensive recording rig, I often recommend a old used apple computer, like around the year 2009. It doesn’t work well for most things, you can’t even browse the internet on it, but you can put recording software like Reaper on it and it will work fantastic, and these computers usually only cost like $100.

[@agentooe33AD]

Dude, software is cheaper on PC. Yeah you don't get logic, but there's all kinds of cheap/free options for not only DAW software, but plugins too, which you can't get on MAC. The only real reasons apple is better than PC, is that MAC handles audio better, instead of having to use ASIO, MAC does tend to be more stable, and for certain particular software you can't get on PC like Logic and currently Altiverb 8 is only available on MAC. There is also, for those in the industry, the convenience of having a MAC since most pro studios use that platform. But, unless you're already rolling in it from making money in the industry, or just loaded in general, there's no real reason not to just build a PC that's more than capable for almost all producers.

[@dab7963]

Mac DRIVERS DRIVERS DRIVER. STABILITY so much better. Windows drivers suck

[@Get.Beautiful.Recordings]

Yes… i generally think so. However, drivers are usually made by product manufacturers, so they can vary. Thanks for the comment :)