Desktop or Laptop- PC or Mac?

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 15 Dec 2018 8:45 pm

Ok, bear with me...I'm taking the plunge into a home studio, so I'll probaly have a bunch of dumb questions in the next few weeks.Getting stared, I'm wondering which you guys prefer and why... Desktop or laptop. Seem to me the advantages are- Desktop, most likely more computing power, larger monitor. Laptop- portabilty, although I'm not sure I would be moving stuff around too often.
Talked to my computer guy regarding PC (which is what I'm used to) vs. Mac. He said Apples are built for audio & graphics and that's the way to go. You thoughts?
I'm looking at an Imac refurb 20" monitor, 2.00GHz processing speed, 4GB memory, 250GB hard drive. The computer would be dedicated to music production soley. Is that enough power? If not what do I need?
Thanks

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 16 Dec 2018 1:43 am

these days the PC/MAC platform is irrelevant, especially for a small home studio. A majority of the DAW's run just fine on either and the drivers are all compatible.

4 Gig ram is not enough. Thats old school like an XP machine. Especially if you are going to want to run some of the latest plug-ins on several tracks in a session. You will be limited. The Hard Drive is not necessarily an issue either as you want to run the DAW programs off the PC/ MAC but save all session data on an external drive, like a 1 TB drive. Then back that up now and then. 250 GB to save programs and session data is rather small, but ok for just programs.

If you go the WINDOWS route, a clean 7 or 10 will do the trick, dedicated machine. 64 bit is what you want. Use Solid State drives internally rather than spinning drives.

Whatever system you decide to use just make sure that the external peripherals are compatible, like the new monitors etc. Don't find out that in 24 months you are locked out of any hardware upgrades.

DAW's are running just fine and very efficiently on either platform. Just keep it clean, no mail, no YouTube, no daily programs, keep the internet disabled , only enable it to grab drivers and such.

Most of the big boy DAWS have a website with your account on it, whatever software you purchased can be re-acquired anytime you need it by download.

Personally, my opinion, if you are not going to be PORTABLE, grab a desktop. Making any sort of hardware or update changes will be a piece of cake.

8 to 10 G ram, or more, 250 GB HD for programs, 1 TB ext for session data. There will be no looking back !

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 16 Dec 2018 6:36 am

Thanks Tony, exactly what I was looking for

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 16 Dec 2018 6:39 am

Ditto to what Tony just said on the specs.

Dollar for Dollar I think you can get more computing power from a PC rather than an IMAC. If for music only that would be my path.

I only have one PC that does everything here at home. My DAW's run flawlessly on this machine and I have not had any problems in the 4 years of putting this box together.

When you do decide on a platform, please feel free to run it by Tony or myself. We are both old timers of doing this and Tony is a wealth of information and he and I can give you good advice on how to get the most of your budget.

Do go slow when you put it together. It can be a little overwhelming at times. Again we are here to help.

Happy Holidays.

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 16 Dec 2018 7:02 am

Thanks, Mark..so you use one machine for everything?....interesting. I have a Dell laptop with the specs Tony mentioned that I use for my business, personal computing, etc.. Figured the recording stuffing might overload it...?

Do you guys go with desk top or laptops?

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 16 Dec 2018 7:23 am

Jack,

Sent you a PM

M

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 16 Dec 2018 3:00 pm

Jack

Please send me a PM with your contact information and I will give you a call. I am receiving you PMs

Mark

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 16 Dec 2018 3:09 pm

I have a home recording studio. Been doing it for over 10 years. PC platform is the way to go. No use paying 3 to 4 times as much for and equivalent iMac.

Laptops will work if you can get it clean enough for recording. The free Resplendence Latency mon is an excellent program to check a PC. A multi-purpose PC won't do, it has to be setup for recording. A point, I bought a new Dell Inspiron 15 laptop last year for off-site recordings. As delivered it was not useful for recording and nothing I did could get it completely dropout free. The laptop came with an M.2. SSD and space to add a laptop hard drive or full size SSD. I installed a full size SSD and made it a dual boot, one with the Dell disc image and the second with only Windows 10, needed device drivers, my recording DAWs (Sonar and Studio One 3) and the drivers for my USB connected recording interface. This gave me the needed "clean" OS for recording.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 Dec 2018 5:57 am

mtulbert wrote:Ditto to what Tony just said on the specs.

We are both old timers of doing this and Tony is a wealth of information . Again we are here to help.

Happy Holidays.

Ha I'm not sure I am a wealth of information

I can share experiences but they may not apply to others !

I have two PC's running DAWS, an old XP with Pro Tools 8 and a custom built WIN 7 with Pro Tools 12. Both are dedicated.

I could run the WIN 7 machine with my daily needs , the PC can handle it I just don't want it filled up with CRXXP. ! Plus I don't want other things like Virus protection etc..I also don't want Windows to make any changes automatically. It's more of personal preference rather than whether it can handle the daily tasks, it can. I think for me the biggest reason is I turn OFF the recording PC's when not in use. I do not use them everyday. Whereas the daily clunker is on 24/7 and I have already burned up a drive or two ! ( without full backup)

There are many things I learn here from both Mark and Jack...and others of course.

Merry Christmas all!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 17 Dec 2018 7:26 am

From what I see on recording forums there can be issues of compatibility with some MAC OS versions and DAW software versions. Have to be careful with that.

PC DAW software in many cases have compatibility back to Win 7. Win 10 is best for latency as this was one area in audio recording that was updated in Win 10. I was using a Roland Octa-Capture when Win 10 first came out and the useable recording latency dropped almost 2ms.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 17 Dec 2018 7:55 am

I have MAC's and PC's. Either one will do a great job for a recording setup. No need to spend all the extra money for a MAC when an average PC will handle all your needs. I'm running 8GB of memory with the Reaper DAW, and reverb/ EZDrummer/EZKeys plug-ins and full blown apps in parallel like RealTacks.

One caveat: I grab my real instrument tracks on a Zoom R24 which avoids any issues with latency, software and noise.

Here's an overview of my setup and process:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Zoom%20R24%2 ... tudio.html

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 17 Dec 2018 1:57 pm

I am a mac guy from way back but now see no reason not to use a PC for music. My next computer will most likely be a pc.

For recording needs in a way laptops are more convenient. You will spend most of the time just editing and organizing. If you have a laptop you can take it with along with you when you are traveling. Or you can work in a more quiet part of the house if needed. The PC laptops with touch screens are super handy.

If you are used to PC's then don't waste time learning a new computer system .

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 17 Dec 2018 2:26 pm

Lots of great stuff here, thank guys,
More stupid questions coming soon ( I promise to use the search function first)