Subject:Mac use

Posted by: dtsthx2

Date:8/18/2011 8:59:00 AM

Hi - Please help me understand.. I am looking to purchase a Mac.. and also install Windows 7 on it as a operating system. I have read countless reports of Sony Sound Forge Audio 9 not being able to be adaptive with a MAC. Regardless if an Operating system ( Windows is installed.. you cannot use the program correct? I have been getting corrected from people that are I T specialists saying that it will work regardless you just have to run an app etc.. can you please tell me if I am wrong and it will play on a Mac system ( pro, macbook etc ) or if indeed the software can only play on a PC. Any techincal help would be greatful, I recently had my pc hardrive fried by s surge and now have to buy a new computer. thanks .. Ric

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:8/18/2011 6:44:05 PM

Do you actually have a need for a Mac, or are you just believing the hype and spending double what you need to ?

geoff

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: kryten

Date:8/18/2011 8:48:46 PM

If your hard drive barfed on you, just replace it and rebuild the PC from scratch. Drives are mechanical (unless you use a SSD) and will die at one time or another. They do NOT last forever.

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: dtsthx2

Date:8/19/2011 6:55:32 AM

Hey Geoff - Thanks for your response.. I have always been a PC guy.. but my close friend is in the music industry and he had given me his opinion that a MAC may be something I would be interested in.. I think like you do.. and thought of that..

the type of work I do.. I am in the Music industry also and the people I deal with use ( Pro tools, etc.. ) and seem to all have Macs.. that is why I threw it out there.. I have always used a Gateway and built it from the ground up.. the spike fortunately kept my external Western Digital .wav files intact..

Do you know if I can give him information that it indeed is not compatiable with Macs.. just so I can show him..

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: dtsthx2

Date:8/19/2011 7:01:39 AM

HI .. Thank you for responding to me.. Great Point. My tower was about 8 years old.. and had much of it upgraded.. but thought that as long as the spike blew through the surge, router, hard drive etc.. ( the technicians ) verfified all components.. it is high time for me to get a new computer.. ( but my externals are all intact ) ... so that is why I proposed the question of a MAC or a PC... Being that Sound Forge is pretty sophisticated.. ( i used it to convert my DATS ) ..

thanks for any technical help you can give me .. on if it is compat with a MAC

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/20/2011 7:32:29 AM

While we wait for the plethora of people using Sound Forge on a Mac to respond ...

I would say your primary consideration is which software you need to use and how best to use it. If Sound Forge is your primary too and you don't have a need for any Mac-only software, then buy a computer that best supports Sound Forge. Don't let the elitist snobs make up your mind for you. Here's some actual statements i've heard from folks saying they *NEEDED* a Mac:

"If you want to get into the arts, the only computer that runs graphics, music, and multimedia software is a Mac."

"There is no software for composing music on Windows."

"You can't edit video with Windows. Only Macs can do that."

"If you want to record music you have to use a Mac. You can't do it with a PC."

"Everyone in the media industry uses Macs."

"The only professional music software is for Macs."

"But Macs are as cheap as PCs these days."

"The best thing about a Mac is no viruses."

Every one of these statements is false, and everyone who has made them has merely parroted what some other uninformed person said. I think my favorite though are the Mac advocates who say "But you can't do that on a PC" while i'm sitting there next to them DOING it on a PC while they're watching.

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:8/20/2011 7:46:17 PM

You forgot "Create people only use Macs" .

geoff

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: kryten

Date:8/20/2011 10:06:23 PM

I hope you meant "Creative people only use Macs".

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: jackn2mpu

Date:8/21/2011 7:12:20 AM

Let's get our terminology straight:
There has never been a virus in the wild on Mac OSX EVER. Trojans (and I don't mean the condom or ancient civilizations either) yes. And unlike on a pc you don't need or want antivirus software.

For the OP:
If you want to work on a Mac and do audio editing, stay on the OSX side and get something like Bias Peak Pro. Modern Macs are no longer restricted to running aiff files like they once were.

As to the Mac vs. pc debate - I use both and quite frankly at my age I've grown tired of the bs in the Windoze operating systems; I find OSX more elegant and easier to work with. I dread whenever I have to go back to my pc, which is mainly a slave machine for my Macs.

Jack

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: rraud

Date:8/21/2011 12:21:10 PM

I WILL ONLY USE A MAC, CREATIVE PEOPLE ONLY USE MACS, ALL OTHER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE IS INFERIOR.. PEOPLE WHO USE OTHER PRODUCTS ARE STUPID, INFERIOR INFIDEL BEINGS AND MUST BE ABSORBED OR ELIMINATED. I WILL BLINDLY FOLLOW AND OBEY APPLE PROTOCALL NO MATTER WHAT... IT IS THE WILL OF STEVE. STEVE, OUR CREATOR, SEES AND KNOWS ALL. FCP-X IS THE BEST NLE TO DATE. OTHER NLEs ARE INFERIOR. STEVE JOBS IS THE CHOSEN ONE .. STEVE IS OUR MESSIAH. STEVE IS GOD.. HAIL STEVE, HAIL STEVE, HAIL STEVE. I WILL ONLY USE A MAC, CREATIVE PEOPLE ONLY USE MACS.. ALL OTHERS ARE INFERIOR.. . and so on.

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: iain_m

Date:8/23/2011 4:31:08 PM

Get a PC from somewhere that makes dedicated audio PCs. It is still more expensive than building one yourself, but you'll get a lot more performance for your money than you would from a Mac.

Plus, you'll avoid some of the headaches that affect "pro" Mac users, such as Apple's choice of low quality Firewire chipsets on some models.

And there's no reason for a PC to get a virus, if you install an anti-virus with sensible settings and use your PC carefully. I daresay that if you are enough of a power user to work with pro audio apps on a PC, you are smart and sensible enough not to do anything that would infect your PC.

FWIW, Pro Tools 9 works great on PCs, with minimal tweaking. The only advantage to having a Mac is that if you buy an Avid support plan, you can choose a fully qualified computer to avoid any tech support hassles. (That said, there are qualified PCs too, but less of those since HP stopped making hardware.)

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: roblesinge

Date:8/23/2011 5:02:20 PM

I have both, and use both for different things. However, for my work and what I consider, "power use," I always go back to my PC. Nothing works like Sound Forge, and Sound Forge runs on Windows. The emulations for Mac won't allow you enough access to the audio hardware, and the software drags. I move very quickly in SF, so any lag is unacceptable for my workflow. I haven't been brave enough to boot camp my Mac with Windows yet, but as long as I have a PC, there isn't a reason. Mac hardware is elegant and well-designed. However, I don't like the workflow they force on you whenever you use Audio/Video editors. I haven't found anything remotely close to the simplicity/power of Sound Forge that is native for Mac. Even the Mac port of Adobe Audition (pardon me, "rewrite" of Audition) was a disaster, IMO.

Everyone on this thread so far is correct: Macs are mostly hype. ProTools became the industry standard and originally only ran on Macs. This is no longer the case and I think PCs have far surpassed Macs in the digital media arena. If you want maximum flexibility with your hardware and software, get a PC. They are cheap and easy to build/customize, easy to upgrade, easy to expand. Your software options are more plentiful. If you already have a Mac, try out a Boot Camp partition of Windows with Sound Forge and see for yourself whether or not it will work for you.

Completely off-topic -- Ideally, I'd love a PC manufacturer to take a lesson from Mac Hardware and try and spice things up a bit. The case design for the MacPro tower is genius. All of that aluminum is just beautiful.

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: kryten

Date:8/23/2011 11:47:20 PM

That, and where the hard drives are. No effort at all. Sigh...still jealous of the design.

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:8/24/2011 4:47:31 PM

Easy to wipe down ....

geoff

Subject:RE: Mac use

Reply by: AtomicGreymon

Date:8/27/2011 4:47:15 PM

Buying a Mac and installing Win7 on it as on OS? I don't see the point in that. If you want to use Windows, just build your own PC, as others have already suggested. The only possible "advantage", if you want to call it one, to buying a Mac is OSX. The hardware used in Macs is no different, and no better, than anything in a mid- or high-end custom PC. Most of it is exactly the same hardware, only in a Mac you have less choice in alternatives. Build your own PC, fill it with quality components, and you'll end up with a high-performing system that'll cost you probably half what a good Mac will.

And like others have said, there's just as much excellent software for creative types for PCs as there are Macs. Between Vegas Pro, Sound Forge, Adobe's Creative Suite, and Sonar Cakewalk Producer Edition, I don't think there's any audio or video-related thing I've ever wanted to do that I didn't have an excellent and versatile tool for.


Let's get our terminology straight:
There has never been a virus in the wild on Mac OSX EVER. Trojans (and I don't mean the condom or ancient civilizations either) yes. And unlike on a pc you don't need or want antivirus software.

---

Why would someone write a virus for OSX, when they can afflict many, many times the number of people writing one for Windows? The only reason Macs don't have virus trouble is because they don't have enough of a market share to be a viable target. It certainly isn't because OSX is just that much more robust than Windows; and anyone who thinks that's the case is dreaming.


Completely off-topic -- Ideally, I'd love a PC manufacturer to take a lesson from Mac Hardware and try and spice things up a bit. The case design for the MacPro tower is genius. All of that aluminum is just beautiful.

---

It's not as if there are no nice cases for PCs, though. This is one of the ones I'm considering for my next build, hopefully in the next month or so:
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=Mjc0MyYx