eep!! Music production, apple or pc?

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J0n0

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hmmmm. Im into electronic music production and looking to go all "snazzy" by getting myself a laptop. Main software I use are Reason 4 and Cubase Studio 4. I'm told the Mac is the way to go...Now, question is, where do i get them at a decent price?

I can Get a Dell Studio, 4gb memory, 250gb Hdd etc. for roughly R11 000. And thats the one with the customisable shell. Still not as "Clean" as an apple though. But im looking for something I wont be shy about, and get decent sound quality is most important as well as ease of use. Cubase is giving me endless hassles on my Vista (spit, spit) based Desktop.

I'm not biased at all though. So please any advice would be greatly appreciated? :)
 
There is a wide choice available. May checkout the new Samsung Notebooks, Sony Vaio....there's a wide range on the market thesedays.

I don't know Mac, so can't really comment. But in the end it's what you're comfortable with that counts.

GL! :)
 
Comes down to software. Logic on Mac is supposedly pretty good but then again I use Audacity on my Mac to record Podcasts :)
 
If you own cubase and reason they'll install on either pc or mac, both will do the job well so it comes down to affordability. My advice, buy a really good soundcard, no matter which platform you choose - the soundcard is the centerpiece of your DAW. I personally like RME but there are some other good options too. Going forward, both xp and vista are dying out and no-one knows what kind of os win7 will be for pro audio, whereas osx is tried and tested.
 
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New 2.0ghz (White) Macbook with Firewire is a very nice & Flexible computer for Audio.
 
Synaesthesia said:
New 2.0ghz (White) Macbook with Firewire is a very nice & Flexible computer for Audio.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid Apple has done away with firewire on all the new Macbooks. So if thats an important consideration then you have to look at the Macbook Pro which starts at R24k.
 
If you own cubase and reason they'll install on either pc or mac, both will do the job well so it comes down to affordability. My advice, buy a really good soundcard, no matter which platform you choose - the soundcard is the centerpiece of your DAW. I personally like RME but there are some other good options too. Going forward, both xp and vista are dying out and no-one knows what kind of os win7 will be for pro audio, whereas osx is tried and tested.
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Exactly, they both install on either os, but as a said, Vista is giving me too much hassles especially getting my reason to rewire to cubase and my cubase staying stable. I'm getting endless errors with the VST's. I'm thinking of going 64bit if I stick to PC, for the added memory. I have a very minimal setup consisting of the Korg nano series of devices. so portability is important. RME is really "sweet", but a wee bit cumbersone to lug around. I've never used a Mac even, but many people are telling me to go Mac. But I can get so much more hardware with a PC setup at a lower price. Confusion confusion i say...

I'm leaning towards the following (of which some I already have):

Dell Studio 15:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6400 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium, 64-bit edition (ill get myself XP64 see what this 64bit brings)
Hi Resolution/Bright, glossy widescreen 15.4 WLED display (1440x900) (upgrading the monitor a bit)
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz (Upgradeable to 8gb)
Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (i dont do gaming)
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Sound Card
Back-lit Keyboard (for added coolness. lol!!)

Already have a decent headset, and the Korg nano pad, usb midi keyboard etc.

Soooooooo, I think my mind is set... :)
 
well if you stick with pc, xp is still your best option for audio. xp with 4gb ram and suitable tweaks will do the job.
i've cranked out over 1000 tv episodes worth of music on an xp box and i can vouch for it's stability! xp64 does not support much software and vista is well.....vista.....

if you're planning on doing live stuff and playing with low latency you're going to have to upgrade your card! the rme fireface 400 is very small and portable but is currently going for around 15k - also take a look at the apogee duet - tiny but superb quality. Save on the machine, spend on the soundcard - i think that's the best course of action. That setup you described looks good (except for the soundcard) but do some research on the forums etc before leaping in - you don't want buyers remorse!
 
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White Macbook still has firewire (low end) this is why I mentioned it specifically.

And it has 9400M graphics too.
 
Im at all bothered about the graphics, as long as its adequate. I'll definitely have a look around at all the other "specialist" sound options.

You are right, I can cut down on the notebook a bit, its the sound i really want. :D I discovered the ESI Maya 44usb Sound Card. It looks promising. :D

Thanks so much for the advice to all though.
 
Well most of what you hear today is made with logic on a mac, Depeche Mode are also big logic users.
 
I do know for a fact Ryan Murgatroyd, Kosta K and few of the other Electric sushi members use Cubase with the z3ta vst and rewiring reason 4. They just so good at it its scary.

But then again, you dont always need to stick to one package. I've seen some people make a wicked drumloop with reason, export it or rewire to pro tools or cubase. Software wise, its personal preference i guess.
 
Synaesthesia said:
White Macbook still has firewire (low end) this is why I mentioned it specifically.

And it has 9400M graphics too.
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My bad, you're right. Didnt realise the white Macbook still had firewire. Looks like a pretty good deal to me then!
 
Aqua_lung said:
Well ok maybe not most but here's a list of artists/producers that use it...
http://logicprohelp.com/vip_users.php

But I think J0n0 is correct it's mostly a mix of packages.
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Lol... careful about what apple mean by people who "use" it... if they even vaguely think about using it, Apple list them as Logic/finalcut users.

ie. The film 300 was made using Finalcut (fineprint: 300 opening credits was made with finalcut)
 
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Lol... careful about what apple mean by people who "use" it... if they even vaguely think about using it, Apple list them as Logic/finalcut users.

ie. The film 300 was made using Finalcut (fineprint: 300 opening credits was made with finalcut)
Click to expand...

Very true indeed. One can make a complete track in Reason and master it in cubase. I say, try out demos of each, and see what suits you best. :p

Pro tools is good, but alas...I'm a reason junkie. lol. Thor just tickles my fancy. ;)
 
The thing with Final Cut Pro is that more professionals swear by it, and you can edit 35mm on it via EDL export.
BTW you can make whole tracks and sequences with FCS' Soundtrack Pro.

AND remember a Mac can run Windoze natively or in emu.
 
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mac or pc, it really doesn't matter if you're good at making music.
i can also list many multi-platinum albums made with nuendo on a pc
like i said in my previous post, i think mac has a slight advantage because of xp/vista being phased out and uncertainty about audio applications in win7. I use both, slowly transitioning to osx (slowly because my mac pro keeps breaking - so much for the supposed superiority of apple!)
 
J0n0 said:
Im at all bothered about the graphics, as long as its adequate. I'll definitely have a look around at all the other "specialist" sound options.

You are right, I can cut down on the notebook a bit, its the sound i really want. :D I discovered the ESI Maya 44usb Sound Card. It looks promising. :D

Thanks so much for the advice to all though.
Click to expand...

just a word of warning - usb soundcards generally have higher latency then firewire/pcmcia options - so if you want tight midi response i wouldn't really recommend a usb solution. If you can try one out first and it works for you that'd be cool - but i try and avoid usb soundcards based on my experience of their laggyness!
 
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