MAC, PC or Workstation?

[Ricky Ricardo]

Have used PC's since 80's. Understand that most professionals use MAC's for recording/music app's. Seems that MAC has always been more stable and ahead of multimedia capabilities of PC.

I, the hobbyist, want to upgrade from Analog to Digital recording and would like to hear from MAC users why it is better than standalone recording units (i.e. Mackie, Yamaha, etc.) and how they use it with Digital Video as well. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[galaxiejer]

as for sound quality... macs, pcs and workstations are all going to be about the same...i.e. very good.

however, i get a lot more out of my mac than just recording. you mentioned video editing...all new macs can edit video on a hobbyist level out of the box and can easily be upgraded to a full fledged editing system (which you probably knew).

also, it's hard to surf the web on a mackie.

[Ricky Ricardo]

Thanks for the advice

Is the interface of a screen based mixer as functional or easy to use as the faders of a digital recording mixing board?

Is the Digi 001 package with ProTools better overall value discounting the video and computing abilities of the MAC

[kid-surf]

I have the Mackie D8B and the HDR24/96 and now PRO-TOOLS LE as well...

I would say if you already have pro-tools then the Mackie HDR is real cool, and sounds
great [well for digital]. But keep in mind, you still need some type of console to use the
HDR.

Pro-tools Le is the way to go if you don't want to spend that much. But if you need
multiple I/O's then this could be a problem with the digi001, so I guess you'd need some
type of mixer for this as well...

I love the HDR but the industry standard is "PRO-TOOLS", I'll be using it to edit...

[Sugarite]

This is an awful time to be choosing a new Protools system, since it doesn't support altivec, which would result in a 2.5x jump in processor power for 24-bit audio editing. Until then, PC's offer more processing power, but less plug-in support. Macs are decisively better for Protools except for a significant processing power disadvantage. When an altivec-enabled Protools version will be released is anyone's guess.

However, with the advent of OS X, now is a great time to jump into Mac for all-purpose computing. Both hardware and software have overcome the developmental challenges of Apple's ambitious transition into 128-bit processing and multi-platform operating system.

I'd advise against a standalone workstation since you're commiting to one company for all your upgrades, and you also don't get the benefit of other computing processes.

Considering the cost-effectiveness of PC's along with your previous familiarity, it's worth looking into, but you keep an eye out for an altivec-enabled Protools for Mac, which will very likely be the best choice.

[Ricky Ricardo]

Thanks kid-surf and sugarite...

I have a Mackie analog mixer with a MIDI studio.

Does that work for bring in analog signal(s) to the I/O's of the Digi001 or do I need something more akin to the Mackie HDR 24 with multiple direct-in Anaolg ports?

I'm leaning towards the Mac with the Pro Tools LE to start and bite off the full version in due time.