Time for a change: pc or mac?

[Piol]

Hi all,
I am trying to understand if I'd better move to a mac. Up to now I have been using a PC and Sonar, which I know well. Unfortunately all the magic sounds of Protools are not there, and what you can hear on my stuff is all "live instruments" and a few samples. Can you please share your thoughts on this matter? Thanks a lot!

[andygabrys]

hey Piol

I am a little confused as to what you are looking for.

ProTools runs on Mac or PC so you don't need to buy a new machine if you want that.

There is no need to jump into a new machine and a new DAW (as you know Sonar doesn't run on MAC).

are you mostly thinking about virtual instruments and those kind of sounds?

[marcblack30]

Hey Piol, I took a listen to some of your tracks on SC, they all sounded great to me and it sounds like Sonar is treating you well and you've found some magic there! If I were you, I'd stick with what you know.

A couple of years ago, I considered moving to Mac, actually bought an iMac, it was beautiful and gorgeous, but unfortunately I bought it right as Lion was released and much of my software did not work as it was so new, many companies hadn't caught up yet, so I returned it within the first week and built me a new PC. For me, the transition would have been too hard at the time. I'm kind of a loner in my recording endeavor, but maybe you work with other Mac/PT's users so it could be ok for you, but for me, not so much. Anyways, I say stick with what you're comfortable with, your stuff sounds great!

Marc

[cardell]

Hey Piol, I took a listen to some of your tracks on SC, they all sounded great to me...

+1

Stuart

[Piol]

Thanks everybody for the replies! I am also a loner, I was just thinking of Mac because I love apple and I am at the moment not using any libraries, which means that my piano sounds i.e. Are not very very good. But maybe yes? I tend to underrate myself too much sometimes, but that's the key to make good things (to me). Thanks again for the replies! I have made all the music that you hear on soundcloud with a 4 channels peavey mixer, a roland xp50, fender bass and guitars, a pc and the yamaha ns10 monitors plus a cheap subwoofer that tells me roughly when the bass is too much. And of course Sonar!

Are film music composers all using macs?

Thanks and ciao from cold (unbelievable, in June) Italy

P.s. I am flying to Tallahassee, Florida, tomorrow (work)

[Cruciform]

Hi Piol,

Changing to a Mac won't necessarily get you better sounds. For the money you'd spend on the Mac you'd probably be better off upgrading your pc if necessary and spending the rest on quality sound libraries. Most of the best require Kontakt and it runs on pc or Mac. I haven't listened to your music so I don't know if you need 'better' sounds, I'm just pointing out that changing platform is an expensive exercise and may not be necessary.

Film composers use either.

[CHuckmott]

Agree no point in looking to switch computers or to Pro Tools from SOnar. SOunds like what yu are looking for is Virtual Instruments/soundlibraries. NI KOmplete is kind of an all pupose one many people use. Look at that before switching DAWS and computers. Look up Komplete on here, do some internet (put best soft synths in google , i.e.). Zebralette is a good free one if your system can handle it.

[Kolstad]

The specs of the computer is the most important thing, as the better specs, the more comprehensive software it can run. PC/MAC doesn't makes no difference.

On a 64bit system you can have 16gigs of ram or more, a couple Tera bytes of hdd space or more, and an i7 processor. That will get you going with either pc/mac.

If you are happy with Sonar, why change? Using a daw is very much a feel thing, where you need to be happy with your workflow.

What you have sounds very much in the ballpark of what the majority have to work with in here. Of course we all look for better gear all the time, but we also forget to study what we have closely and get the most out of it, while we waste our time dancing the consumption frenzy..

[mazz]

Ultimately it shouldn't matter which platform you're on, it's the music that counts in the end. To me, asking what DAW someone uses is like asking a carpenter which hammer he used to build a beautiful house. Who cares? The house is beautiful.

Many composers use a combination of the two. As a composer if instrumentals I sometimes need to use slave computers to run all my libraries and I have two PCs that I use as slaves to my Mac. Once I get my DAW and slaves going, I am working and could be on any platform.

There's no "magic sound of ProTools". Any of the major players in the virtual instrument world make instruments that work across platforms and formats. That's the beauty of things like VST and AU plugin formats. The "magic sound of anything" is in the hands and ears of the user of those tools.

I'm a long time Mac guy but I see no reason for anyone to switch unless their software only runs on Mac and there's only one DAW that I know of that is now only Mac and that's Logic. Digital Performer used to be that way but they recently went cross platform (a smart move, IMO). Macs are great and last a long time but in our world we may upgrade more often than the average user and PCs of the same specs are often (not always) more cost effective.

So if you have a work flow that works for you and you can create viable music for the marketplace, then it's not broken. And you know what they say.......................

Mazz

[Piol]

Thanks everyone for the answers!