Hey guys, I got a Dell XPS in March of this year- and it has been a TERRIBLE machine to work on. I know not all PCs are bad- but this one has performed very poorly and the customer service sucks. At work I use a Mac Pro and have been really impressed with how well it handles video and audio. Sooo.... for those Mac users out there- tell me what you think I should get. I'm leaning towards the: MAC PRO 2.66GHZ 1GB Ram (I've got 2 Gigs of spare Ram I can add to this) 250 Gig hardrive 7300GT SD WITH BOOT CAMP 1.1 AND MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME PRE-INSTALLED (from macmall.com) And no, this isn't a post to spark the debate of which is better: PC or Macs. I've been a PC user all of my life- and then started using Macs in college (MIDI Lab tech and such). Both are good systems and do things well. I just feel the need to switch over to Macs now that I'm doing more professional work. Then I want to make sure that Sonar will work on the Mac since its the Intel chip, and my other programs are made for both. This is correct right? I'll also need to get a new sound card. Suggestions? So- help me out!!!

Get multiple harddrives. I would put in a few if you can.

Sonar works on Macs with the Boot Camp, no problem so far. Some of my hardware doesn't dig it so much (at all) so I don't use it, but I know it works. I have a few Mac PT Rigs and a few Sonar PC setups and that is ultimately more convenient. Because if I finish a session on PT and then want to import to Sonar I just have to drag it across the network or transfer on USB stick. Using only one machine with Bootcamp would be frustrating to me because I imagine I'd finish the session, reboot as Windows OS, Load up Sonar then import...Damn! What if I forgot to bounce a track properly? Time to reboot!

Well, I'm just talking about hypothetical idiosyncrasies with Boot Camp, so I imagine I'm not being very helpful. I know you won't get 64 bit processing power anymore with Sonar on a Mac...that is if you're using Sonar 5 or 6. Also make sure whatever audio interface you have is compatible first. As for Mac Soundcards...I'm at a loss. I have Digi002's attached to my Macs so it's either that or Mac's native Core Audio. I'm pretty sure you either get an external audio interface or live with Core Audio.

Specs sound nice. As with any DAW, try to start with at least 2 physical drives. One for programs, VST's and other process, one for audio files...and if you have sample libraries one for that as well. Even if you split the 250GB, that's fine. Audio files tax even the best drives and when/if it fails, those partitions you created will go too.

My first machine was a Dell, but as soon as I started doing some heavy audio work, I killed it. Now I just build my own to spec, brand names be damned.

Good luck! I'm sure someone with some Mac specific knowledge will help out as well!

Tony

I think any of the new Mac Pro towers are suitable for audio work. I'm not sure how many samples you use in a typical arrangement, but I find I max out my 4 GB of RAM long before I run into processor troubles on my Dual 2.5 G5 Power PC. Your mileage may vary if you are using a lot of synthesis engines which tax the processor more. You may want to keep that Dell around to host software instruments if you need a second machine for RAM or processing power.

If you're streaming lots of samples, I'd recommend at least a 7200 RPM drive on either an internal or extertal SATA (1st choice) or external FW800 (2nd choice) bus. I'd also keep the samples on a dedicated drive. For this reason one of the nice things about the new Mac Pros is all the internal SATA drive bays.

Note: I'm not sure if this is the case in the Mac Pros, but I think my G5 might use the same bus internally for FW400 & 800. So if I plug in a FW400 device, I think any FW800 devices get reduced to 400 speed. This can limit performance when streaming samples from a FW drive. That said, I streamed samples from two FW400 drives for years on some pretty big orchestra arrangements with few problems as far as seek time. Again, it really depends on the size of your arrangements and how much streaming you do.

Not sure what the scoop is on Sonar w/Boot Camp. I seem to recall some manufacturer recently claiming their software worked fine on the Mac Intel chips, but can't recall if it was Sonar. Perhaps it was Cubase? If you definitely want to use Sonar, check this out carefully before you make the Mac plunge.

One final thing... I'm not sure how much noise is an issue for you, but I hate computer fan noise in my room. I found my G5 to get quite loud when the processors start cranking away with lots of calculations. I spent a good amount of money to buy a temperature-controlled cabinet for my tower because a separate room wasn't an option in my current location. That said, most PC's I've been around are as loud or louder. I just like quiet when I work because it reduces fatigue.

Specifically to do with Sonar, here's a discussion on the cakewalk forums. Nathan, are you registered there? It's a fantastic forum.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=892144&mpage=1

There's some PC vs Mac stuff going on in the thread (it's hard to discuss the merits of both without it happening) but if you filter it out you might learn something from their experiences!

Tony

I use Parallels with my MacBookPro to run both OS X and Windows at once. The best $95.00 I ever spent. I'd recommend it. I now do almost all my dev work on my Mac.

Cheers
Chris

chollida1- which sequencer do you use?

Thanks for all of the input guys!!!

Sorry, I've been away.

I don't use a sequencer, I'm a developer;)

Cheers
Chris

I use a pc and I am very happy with it! I handpicked every single component it has.

You REALLY need to understand how everything should work in order to make a decent pc.

I also unmounted and then remounted every single component, once I had my computer in my studio. I had to be sure every single cable is well used.


Specs:
Fast Dual Core Pentium Processor
4Gbs RAM
1x 400Gbs + 2x 300Gbs + 1x 250 Gbs + (external)1x160Gbs Hard drives (one for OS, one for projects and some less used libraries, and the rest to put libraries distributed (in case I use Direct from Disk I never get any kind of problems since most of my libraries are read from 4 hard disks at the same time. For example my woodwinds libraries are in a different hard disk than my strings library.)

Gforce 7600GT (to have good dual monitor support)


Now the most important thing on a pc is not this, first thing is the case. I bought a very high end Tower Case from Antec.

Then you need lots of fans. I have 3 fans, one near each hard drives placement, and one for the main box.

Also don't use the normal CPU fan, I bought a Zalman fan (really big and low noise) for the CPU to ensure it is really cool.

Then the CPU uses a very special Thermal Cream (is this the right name?) and I need to put a new dose from time to time (it has always to be fresh, otherwise the CPU cooler won't cool the CPU with enough efficiency)

After this the most critical aspect of your PC is the Power Unit. I use a high end Corsair Power Unit with around 600W. Each component is fed by a separate cable that comes directly from the Power Unit (this is VERY important), so each hard drive and everything else has a really "pure" energy available.

This Power Unit is connected to an UPS system from one of the best brands out there, APC.

Even when you have all this Pure Energy Power and Cooling capability, the component that can, sometimes, get into trouble is the motherboard. Be sure to choose a high end one that has 6 SATA slots (for internal hard drives), has the right chipset for your CPU, is well designed, etc. I use a motherboard from ASUS. Any motherboard from ASUS, MSI, etc is good, you need a bit of luck in this section.

Another aspect that really avoids problems when using a pc is RAM. Buy good RAM from Corsair or Kingstone (choose at least DDR2 800Mhz) and make sure it has a hear sinker around it. For this PC choose 2 sets of paired 1Gb dual channel RAM

To avoid compatibility problems buy a graphic card from the same manufacturer as the motherboard.

Make sure you have one or 2 Firewire slots and at least 6 USB slots.


If you choose everything correctly and don't "save" money buying lower quality components (like 4Gbs of Cheaper RAM, a cheaper Power Unit, a low quality Motherboard) you will have a ROCK SOLID PC that works even better (and surely faster) than a Mac.


Don't buy branded PCs. Most of the time they use lower quality components on things no one notices, like Power Units, type of power cables (yeah forgot to mention these, Corsair power units bring high quality power cables), Lower quality motherboards, etc, etc. and just put excellent CPU (using the crappy default CPU fan it comes with) only mentioning that the computer has like 4Gbs of RAM (but the truth is that it has crappy RAM, my RAM costed the double of "normal" RAM).

If you want a top end pc everything needs to be top end.


Even buying all this high end stuff you still get a PC which costs much less than a branded pc or mac with half the power (and quality in case of a pc).

Hope this helped,

Cheers,
Pedro

I think that saying that a rock-solid PC is faster than a Mac is moot. Having well-working, and fast, hard drives, when working with samples is as important as having a well ventilated case or a stable PSU.