Better days

[ShiftStudios]

I was having no end of problems when I was running Pro Tools 11 on Mac with the latest version of OS X. However, since switching to PC, I have not had one single issue with the software, interfaces, or DAW controllers. I even upgraded to 12 recently and have still had the same solid performance that 11 was giving on PC.

I'm not blaming AVID or Apple for the problems, but I will say that even reading on here many of the problems seem to be on Mac computers. I know the majority of Pro Tools users are probably Mac users as well which probably adds to it, but I would find it interesting if there's others on PC that have found it as stable and reliable as I have after switching.

[junkerde]

friend had same issues on mac, it turned out to be the native instruments plugins, not sure if you happened to have those

[Drew Mazurek]

Success stories are always to hear.

[grayter1]

I had the opposite happen to me. I switched from Mac to PC a few years ago, and had nothing but problems. They may have been related to bad drivers from Focusrite (sample rates would switch at random times). I was on a deadline for a project, and it was smooth sailing once I switched back to mac.

I am curious though to try again with a PC. It's good to hear that many are having good luck with it.

tg

[Kris75]

For me, Pro Tools runs equally well on both platforms. It is usually the OS setup on either platform that dictates how well Pro Tools runs.

For me, I can not justify the ROI on a MAC when I can get so much more power for half the price, every 2 years.

Having said that, I work on Macs all the time and it often is just as stable as my PC.

Just depends on peoples OS prefs really.

[grayter1]

That's why it's been all Hackintosh's for me since 2012. I've been running the same box since then with minimal hardware updates.

tg

[knothardly]

well i have to say IMO... that apple computers ain't the best by no means... they just have a fine OS (very slimline) that makes them shine. PC's have ALWAYS been better... that is one reason apple is now using PC components as opposed to the old proprietary parts.

and i too have made a few hacintoshes myself. i hate windows bloat. windows OS tries to cover way too many bases.

[ShiftStudios]

I have not had any other problems with my Mac, and by all means it ran fine on Pro Tools up to and including 11.0.3. Anything after that I had no end of problems. Trouble connecting to the Artist Series, Trouble even opening Pro Tools most days.

The issue was I need to be able to work mobile, so I needed a laptop, and MacBook Pro used to come with a FireWire port (now it's thunderbolt with an adapter, one more point of failure). So I've bought a new primary device that is USB/Thunderbolt (MOTU 828x), and switched to PC. To date I have not had one single issue with my new setup.

It may be luck as I know some others have zero issues on Mac, but I believe a lot of those people have Mac Pro (minimum $5k for me here in Australia, and not portable), or Hackintosh (again not portable). Switching to a PC laptop made sense to me, I had always been a PC guy, only bought mac for Pro Tools really because of Firewire and it being a Qualified device by AVID.

One other unintended benefit of the switch is no more worrying about frying logic boards by not disconnecting and turning off firewire devices the right way.

Either way, I am happy to hear so many others are having success as well. There has been a lot of discontent on this board as of late, myself included because of the issues I'd been having on Mac. Nature of the beast when dollars are at stake I guess.

[diogo_c]

I run both PC and Mac, both with its own share of bugs. Can't say one is better than the other.

[The Weed]

"One other unintended benefit of the switch is no more worrying about frying logic boards by not disconnecting and turning off firewire devices the right way."

I'm on PC and, because I inadvertently forgot to turn off both my computer and 002 Rack, I fried the 002's firewire board - a $500 mistake I won't ever make again. For those who still use firewire, PLEASE turn everything off before disconnecting or connecting.

Cheers,