Time to upgrade - to what?

[LongTimeComing]

I am a relative Newbie, I've been in TAXI one year, and have one forward
It's time to upgrade my computer, as I have been using an old MacBook with a nearly full 500 GB SSD, Garage Band, a $100 Shure 58 mike, and a $100 Steinberg CI1 interface and want to get to broadcast quality
I am hoping to get comments from other members to help me decide on Mac vs. PC
I am familiar with Garage Band and Logic would be easy to learn, I assume?
What does Logic do that GB does not?
I am more familiar with Windows file storage etc. but don't know which software is best - Pro Tools? Cubase?
And does an expensive interface do that much better job?
Any words of wisdom would be appreciated
Thanks

[cosmicdolphin]

The DAWs all pretty much "do" the same. Some workflows are better suited to particular Daws and some are more all rounders. It really depends on the type of music you make and how you like to work. The best DAW is the one you know. In production music you have to work fast so knowing all the keyboard shortcuts etc will help.

Most DAWs are multi platform, except for Garage Band which is like the cutdown Logic & Logic Pro which Apple bought and then stopped developing for PC soon after. Cakewalk is free and fully featured but Windows only, they did beta test it on Mac a few years back but abandoned the project. Aside from those I think all the other main players are available for PC or Mac.

As for which platform you should go for that's a personal choice, we are a Mac & PC owning household but my studio machine is a PC because I can get a lot more bang for my buck, and I don't mind stripping a machine apart to do my own upgrades which is difficult on some Macs. I recently had a new machine with a 12 core Ryzen 3900x processor with 32gb ram , 2.5 Tb's of SSD's for about the same price as a Mac Mini with a 6 core i5 - 8gb ram & a 512gb SSD . Simply no comparison in the value for money stakes, YMMV depending on how you feel about the other factors aside from the pure specs but if you are comfortable in either environment and you're not married to the idea of sticking with Garageband / Logic then that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Expensive interfaces...I got 'cheap' one with this new PC that was a quarter of the price of the one I bought 10 yrs ago with my previous PC, it has better drivers , a better pre-amp , lower latency, and sounds just as good. Mostly what you pay extra for are more inputs etc. until you get into the expensive stuff. I only need to record one mic at a time so my Audient ID4 is a great little box for me personally. It's probably not that different to the $100 interface you have. The equipment you already have shouldn't prevent you making " Broadcast Quality " music, it's as much about your writing , arrangement , mixing and production skills. The audio quality of your final bounce doesn't depend on the audio interface.

Hope that helps

[LongTimeComing]

Lots of Words of Wisdom to mull over, C.D.
Thanks for all the detail

[LongTimeComing]

Your last comment hit home - I am learning about adjusting EQ etc. - and little tips like Ronan saying to record guitars through an amp, not into the interface - and now my guitars sound like real guitars. So maybe it's learning and practice...

[cosmicdolphin]

Your last comment hit home - I am learning about adjusting EQ etc. - and little tips like Ronan saying to record guitars through an amp, not into the interface - and now my guitars sound like real guitars. So maybe it's learning and practice...

Years back , I used to be quite prolific on Collab sites and to be honest a lot of those guys have way better studios than I do, and some of them are killer musicians but now whenever I listen to our old stuff just doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the stuff I've produced since getting into music licensing. I think by comparing yourself to modern references , and learning new production techniques you start to realise the gear most of us have is plenty good enough to get the result and we just need to improve our writing and production chops.

Mark

[Kolstad]

+1 to what Mark writes. Which computer, mac/pc, daw software ect does not matter.

What matters are your listening skills and your ability to compare your music with music in similar genres as yours. Your music should sound as loud, clear and interesting as music in similar/ comparable genres, and you should develop skills to describe the difference between your track and released tracks.

When you can describe those differences, you have real problems you can work on. For every problem there is a solution in terms of skills and gear, but you need to be real and confrontative with your own stuff.

If you can reach that plateau, where you can identify the problems with your music compared to reference tracks, you are on the path.

[cosmicdolphin]

Without this forum, I would not be getting anywhere. Screener feedback alone is not enough.

You should look into Sync Academy if you want hands on educational type stuff

[LongTimeComing]

What is Sync Academy pls.??
Rick

[lesmac]

What is Sync Academy pls.??

I'll give you a hint... g...o...o...g...

You might need an internet connection though.

[LongTimeComing]

Hey, just over a year ago, I would have had to google TAXI!!
Sync Academy promises a lot.... and charges a bit... Any TAXI members with experience there (besides CD)? They do promise an easy out if it's not working...
Rick