Mac audio production: MacBook or Mac Pro?

db

#chaplife
i'm toying with the idea of getting a mac.. i have been getting the urge to get back into music production recently, and cubase/sonar just doesn't cut it compared to what i'm used to (i.e. logic).. plus i figure it will do me good, career wise, to know my way round OS X..

initially, i was thinking of just getting a macbook.. they're not that expensive (start at around £600), and seeing as this is just a hobbyist thing i could easily justify it.. however, the thought of running logic on a 13" screen isn't terribly attractive, so then my thoughts turned to the mac pro..

trouble is, as sexy as the mac pro is, it's literally twice the price.. so now i'm in a quandry: do i bide my time and buy a mac pro once i can afford one, or do i just throw caution to the wind and get a bog-standard macbook? has anyone bought a macbook/mac pro and wished they had gone with the other option?
 

theflamingred

Well-Known Forumite
Hmmm - decisions ;)

Depends on your prorities - Just audio editing then the Mac Book will cope. We have one at work that we dig out if anyone is doing a bit of location recording for podcasts or something. Stick to GarageBand for such simple tasks.

Any other forms of entertainment that's heavy on the graphics go for the Pro. Tis also an all round beefier machine. Me personally, I'd scrimp the extra pennies for the Pro - and stare it lots, admiring it, possibley stroking it... telling it how pretty it is and everything. How I pray every night for a salary that would enable such a purchase.

Human nature if you go for the Mac Book - man always crave something bigger, better, faster and shinier.
 

db

#chaplife
theflamingred said:
Hmmm - decisions ;)

Depends on your prorities - Just audio editing then the Mac Book will cope. We have one at work that we dig out if anyone is doing a bit of location recording for podcasts or something. Stick to GarageBand for such simple tasks.

Any other forms of entertainment that's heavy on the graphics go for the Pro. Tis also an all round beefier machine.
well, the intention is to use it for two specific purposes, and nothing else:

a) music production

b) getting to know OS X

i definitely wouldn't be defecting from the PC camp, and would be using my existing PCs for the usual internet/torrenting/office app's/everything else..

all of this started from the fact that someone at work asked me how to map a printer in OS X and i didn't know.. those who know me will attest to the fact that i am a bit of a geek, and i absolutely cannot abide not knowing how to do something on a computer, so my failure in this area made me feel limp and infertile.. thus, i thought i would get a second hand mac so that i could learn my way round OS X, its networking fundamentals, etc..

then, once the seed was planted, i started thinking "ah, if i had a mac i could finally get back into Logic," - which was discontinued on the PC circa 2002.. so, of course, then i dropped the "second hand" idea and started eyeing up sexy new ones :P

theflamingred said:
Me personally, I'd scrimp the extra pennies for the Pro - and stare it lots, admiring it, possibley stroking it... telling it how pretty it is and everything. How I pray every night for a salary that would enable such a purchase.

Human nature if you go for the Mac Book - man always crave something bigger, better, faster and shinier.
well, that's the problem, innit.. if i plonk down for a macbook, i might get really into it and regret not saving a bit longer for a mac pro.. however, the other side of the coin is that if i shell out 1500 notes for a pro, and lose interest after a few months, i'll be kicking myself for jumping in at the deep end!

after giving it some thought, i think i'm defo going to go down the macbook route.. it makes no sense to spend Pro money on a hobbyist whim, and that's before i even factor in a decent audio interface and monitor!

theflamingred said:
P.S. How come Logic? Do you not fancy Pro Tools - t'would be my choice.

Each to their own.
i haven't used pro tools since uni, at which time i found it clunky and stuck in the dark ages.. it may well have changed now, but afaik it's still buggy on intel macs..

logic, on the other hand, i thought was beautiful.. i first used v4.7 on my old G4 power mac, and then migrated to v5.5 on the PC.. it had a steep learning curve initially, but once you "got" it it just became a joy to use.. and no messing about with proprietary hardware, RTAS, audio units, etc.. plus the built-in sampler, EXS, was the shiznit!
 

db

#chaplife
theflamingred said:
How I pray every night for a salary that would enable such a purchase.
i was looking at mac pros last night, and noticed a dangerous little link that said "Click here to find out how to own me from only £60 per month!" :eek:

but, no, i've resolved myself to staying in the more sensible "get a macbook" camp..
 

theflamingred

Well-Known Forumite
dirtybobby said:
but, no, i've resolved myself to staying in the more sensible "get a macbook" camp..
Probably sensible. I think it would be better to get in to this and then upgrade later down the line than find out you really don't get on with the world of Mac after forking out for the big boy.

You'll have to come back post purchase and let us know how you get on.
 

db

#chaplife
theflamingred said:
dirtybobby said:
but, no, i've resolved myself to staying in the more sensible "get a macbook" camp..
Probably sensible. I think it would be better to get in to this and then upgrade later down the line than find out you really don't get on with the world of Mac after forking out for the big boy.
yeah, i've fallen into this trap before.. back when i was at uni, i got friendly with a guy who was always banging on about macs.. i had never used one in my life, and this was back in the days when macs were really struggling, cos they were even more expensive than they are now and really weren't very clever technically, but for some reason i still fell for his hyperbole and ended up sticking a G4 power mac on my credit card whilst drunk one night lol.. completely frivolous and pointless £1400 purchase which, although i had fun with, i totally regretted after a short while..

nowadays, however, apple have become a much more serious contender.. £600 on such a high spec laptop is perfectly justifiable, especially when OS X is the only way to run logic these days (back when i bought my G4, logic was dual platform and i was already running it perfectly happily on my PC, so the mac really did bring no benefit)..

theflamingred said:
You'll have to come back post purchase and let us know how you get on.
don't worry, i'm sure i won't shut up about it.. you know what mac fanboys are like! :v:
 

db

#chaplife
hold on, why have i ruled out the imac? :?:

they're only marginally more than macbooks, and for the extra few quid you get a 20" screen, dedicated graphics, twice the cache, more USB, FW800, etc..

is there a reason i shouldn't be getting an imac? :raise:
 

theflamingred

Well-Known Forumite
If you want a cheaper option and don't mind having NO peripherals with your purchase, there's the Mac Mini. I thought about one of these, but more for the novelty value than anything else.
 

db

#chaplife
theflamingred said:
If you want a cheaper option and don't mind having NO peripherals with your purchase, there's the Mac Mini. I thought about one of these, but more for the novelty value than anything else.
nah, they haven't got the horsepower i want.. at the moment, it's a toss up twixt macbook and imac.. i was firmly in the former camp until just now, when i realised how highly spec'ed the latter are!

seeing as it's going to take me a good few months to save up, i would imagine my mind will change several times before i finally plonk down the cash.. i suspect new models for each range will be released around september as well, which may well tip the balance one way or another :)
 

db

#chaplife
theflamingred said:
PowerBook G4 defect: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2173&tag=nl.e550
well, i've settled on an imac now, so hopefully the same problem won't appear on those!
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Did you get your iMac in the end DB?

I love my black macbook 2.1 :lol: find it much more efficient to use than my PC these days.
 

db

#chaplife
shoes said:
Did you get your iMac in the end DB?
er, no lol.. i ended up moving house, which ate away pretty much all the money i had put away..

plus, i blagged an old emac from work for free which sated my immediate hunger for all things os x.. it's amazing how much power it's got for such an old machine! but yeah, a spiffy new one is still on the cards for some time in the near future, hopefully..

i want to get a mac mini to use as a media centre under the tv as well.. my current (massive) PC one just doesn't cut the mustard these days..
 
Top